Page "Cretan Bull" Paragraph 2

Apart from being a bull, Taurus contains a very bright and red star ( Aldebaran ), meaning that many took it to be evil.

Some forms of Greek mythology associated the constellation with the tame white bull, in some versions Zeus in disguise, that seduced Europa and took her to Crete ( Minos ), whereas others associate it with the white bull that fathered the Minotaur.

The Cretan Bull which fathered the Minotaur was originally calm and sent from Poseidon, but king Minos whom it was sent to fell out of favor with Poseidon, and so in some versions of the story, Poseidon made the bull angry.