The myth of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth is, for me, the most intriguing of the Greek Myths. And Georgia Xanthopoulou (one of my personal favorite writers on NPX), with "Monstrogenesis", gives us a unique, probing take on this classical tale. The humanity in this piece is similar to that in "The Elephant Man", and just as embracing.

Who creates monsters? We do, of course. Humanity. Society. Sometimes as grotesqueries. Sometimes in our own image. In “Monstrogenesis”, Georgia Xanthopoulou summons the mythic hybrid, the Minotaur, to challenge us directly as to why we as people need to invent such creatures. Is it really to explain that in the world which we do not understand? Or do perhaps we do it to defray the blame from our own monstrous natures? A true thought piece.

One of my favorite things about myth is its malleability. There’s countless ways to tell these stories that change over lifetimes and millennia, but their hearts never do. Xanthopoulou brings us into the Labyrinth via the POV of its iconic “monster,” unpacking what the word truly means, and what monsters truly look like. Lovely monologue that shoulders a poignant gravitas.