in fabulous history, king of Crete, was Rhadaman- Minotaur, the son of Jupiter and Europa. He is said to have built several cities in the island of Crete; to have given laws to the Cretans; and to have had a son, from whom sprung Minos II., king of Crete, Sarpedon, and Rhadamantus, who distributed justice with such severity, that they were, according to the poets, constituted judges of hell, where the most difficult cases were referred to Minos, who was distinguished from the rest by his holding a sceptre of gold.