Minos, Molech and the Minotaur - How cruel man can be to his fellow man

I've always been fascinated by Mythology and that fascination goes hand-in-hand with demonology, I suppose. I have a number of books on the subject.

The Minotaur, a Greek vase painting from the 5th Century BC

King Minos of Crete, son of Europa and Zeus, brother to Rhadamanthus, commanded Daedalus to construct the Labyrinth to contain the Minotaur.

After his death, King Minos took a position as one of the judges in Hades (Dante features him in the Purgatorio and the Inferno).

Gustav Dore's illustration to Dante's Inferno, showing Minos as Supreme Judge over Hades

The Minotaur, part-bull, part man, was born of Pasiphae when she had sexual relations with a bull. Now, I'm not one to judge, but that seems a little odd. The bull of course, was the innocent party in this because Pasiphae tricked him into sex by disguising herself as a heifer.

Gustav Dore's wood engraving illustrating Canto xii of Dante's Inferno

Pasiphae's son, the Minotaur became a little unruly it would seem and he had to be imprisoned in the labyrinth, and was eventually slain by Theseus.

In classical times, the Minotaur wasn't considered demonic until Dante adopted it into Inferno. Dante's portrayal of the Minotaur as a symbol of perverted appetites sealed its fate and permanently wrote it into demonological literature.

And where does Molech (sometimes Moloch) come into all of this?

Well, Molech was worshipped by the Ammonites and later associated with the sacrifice of children. Molech is portrayed as a human form with the head of an ox.

This massive bronze statue housed a number of cells for children.

To me, this has far too many similarities with the Brazen Bull, used in Ancient Greece as a method of torture and execution.
Unlike the Brazen Bull, however, the sacrifices in the statue of Molech were accompanied by cymbals and drums to drown out the screams of the victims.

Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris.
From Wikipedia

The Brazen Bull had a channel running from the body (where the victim was imprisoned) up to the mouth and nose so the bull 'bellowed' when the victim screamed and steam rose from its nose.

Perhaps it's poetic justice that the designer of the Brazen Bull should also be its first victim.