Theseus, prince of Athens, awakens injured and bound inside an unknown hut. Facing him stands his captor - a mighty, bull-headed man! There, at the centre of the labyrinth built by engineer Dedalus for the king of Crete, Minos, Theseus is astonished to discover that the blood-thirsty monster that the legends describe is in fact a rational being named Asterios, who begins to recount the story of his life. Between the young Athenian sacrifice and the feared creature, grudging respect emerges ...