Cretan maze

Silver Coin of Cnosos in which the maze is represented.

The labyrinth of Crete is, in Greek mythology, the labyrinth built by Daedalus to hide the Minotaur.

Today, the legend of the labyrinth is thought to have its basis in the palace at Knossos. A construction as sophisticated and high-tech as said palace, packed with multiple rooms and with all the improvements known to the technology of the day (including a sewage system) that must have seemed somewhat intricate to the Achaeans. This thesis is supported by the fact that drawings of double-edged axes have been found everywhere in the palace of Knossos, which in Greek are called labrys, and which would have given the construction its name.

The mythological labyrinth could also take as a reference any of the Cretan caves such as the Gortyna cave, the Arkalojori cave or the Escoteino cave, as well as the dances that were celebrated in the Aegean islands in which the dancers covered a path labyrinthine of the hand.

Plane of the Cnossos Palace.

The myth of Icarus and Daedalus

Daedalus was an Athenian architect exiled to the island of Crete. He was the builder of the labyrinth, where Minos imprisoned the Minotaur, who was appeased periodically with human sacrifices.

Daedalus fell in disgrace and was locked up, along with his son Icarus, in the same labyrinth. But Daedalus built for himself and his son some wax wings with which, saving the walls of the strange prison, they soared over the Mediterranean. Icarus, disobeying the advice of his father, flew so close to the sun that the rays melted the wax on his wings, and he fell into the sea.

The myth of the Minotaur

Roman Mosaic of Recia in which the Teseus and the Minotaur are represented in the maze.

After the city of Athens lost a war against King Minos, seven maidens and seven men in the prime of life were sent as tribute, destined to be devoured by the Minotaur. When such a humiliating obligation had to be fulfilled for the third time, the Athenian prince Theseus had himself designated as one of the seven young men, with the purpose of killing the Minotaur, thus ending the periodic sacrifice and freeing the Athenians from the tyranny of Minos. He had the consent, albeit grudgingly, of his father, King Aegeus, who forced him to hoist the white sails if he came out alive from the labyrinth so that when he returned he would know of his victory, but if he did not, he would ask in his honor to hoist the black sails. Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, fell in love with him and taught him the simple trick of unwinding a thread as she progressed through the maze so that she could get out later. It is not clear how Theseus faced the Minotaur. While most of the ancient paintings illustrate him fighting it with a sword in hand, a weapon possibly provided by Ariadne herself, there are however other sources that would indicate that Theseus faced him without weapons. Theseus killed the Minotaur and, following Ariadne's lead, managed to get out of the labyrinth. However on his way back to Athens he forgot to hoist the white sails leaving the black sails exposed. Aegeus was waiting at Cape Sounion, a strategic point to observe the ships that were approaching Athens. Spotting the ship, believing him dead, he threw himself into the sea and drowned. Hence the name of the well-known Aegean Sea.

Some authors argue that this legend could have arisen from the interpretation of scenes in Knossos paintings showing young men leaping from the bull. The personal name of the legendary king was derived from the title used by sovereigns Cretans, Minos appearing as the personification of all "minos" from Crete. The Minotaur is a reminiscence of the cult that was rendered to the bull as the incarnation of divinity. The idea of the labyrinth is reminiscent of the complicated construction of Cretan palaces. The Athenians considered this story as true history. For centuries they preserved, subjecting it to continuous repairs, the ship in which Theseus had left for Crete and which they used as a sacred ship to carry the embassy that attended the festivals of Apollo in Delphi each year.

The palace of Knossos and the dance of the partridge

The labyrinth of Minos could indeed be the complex of Knossos whose rooms and corridors could be considered a real labyrinth for the Athenians when they searched for the king to assassinate him. Another possibility was that it was a dance floor in the open space in front of the palace, where there was a labyrinthine design drawn on the floor, as a guide for the dancers who in spring performed an erotic dance imitating the movements of a partridge..

The labyrinth as a religious concept

The labyrinth as a concept of a deadly place from which only heroes of stature like Theseus or Daedalus were able to get out is embodied in the Etruscan jar of Tagliatella, where next to a parade there is a small drawing of a labyrinth in which the word "Troy" is read. The origin of the Easter egg as a symbol of the resurrection of the hero king as a god would be conceptualized in the drawing of the jug in question, as the hero has the ability to avoid death, the labyrinth being one of the ways to represent it.

Also under the name of "city of Troy" British turf mazes are known, which may have been brought to that region via the Mediterranean by Neolithic farmers in the third millennium BC. British schoolchildren at Easter walked on labyrinthine designs drawn on the floor, until the 19th century. Unlike the grass mazes of Britain, crude stone mazes were found in Russia and parts of Scandinavia.

In Knossos, the cult of the celestial bull succeeded that of the partridge. In some maze dances, participants hold a rope that helps them follow a correct sequence without fail while keeping their distance. It is possible that the myth of Theseus and the ball given to him by Ariadne could come from a dance of this style.