Labyrinth
A labyrinth (from the Latin labyrinthus, and this from the Greek λαβύρινθος labýrinthos) is a place formed by streets and crossroads, intentionally complex for confuse whoever enters it. The etymology of the word is doubtful, although it seems to come from Asia Minor.
Classification or types of mazes
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Square or rectangular mazes are the oldest in existence; the first known representation of such a labyrinth is found on a Pilo tablet and also appears, as a seal, in ancient Egyptian tombs, where the Faiyum Labyrinth became famous since ancient times., cited by Herodotus. Round or circular labyrinths appeared at the end of the VII century B.C. C. in Etruscan Italy; later, they appear on coins from Knossos, at the end of the III century BCE. C. and it is believed that they were used as a map of the famous Labyrinth of Crete.
Labyrinths are basically classified into two large groups "according to the relationship that exists with the center and the exit from it". The first group of these labyrinths is the classic labyrinth or univiary labyrinth: it is the one that makes you go through, when entering it, all the space to reach the center through a single path, path or trail; that is to say, it does not offer the possibility of taking alternative paths, there are no forks, but rather there is only one exit door, which is the same one through which one enters the maze. Due to the fact that there is only one path or path to follow as one progresses within it, it is not possible to get lost within it. Because it is the simplest maze, it is frequently used to carry out computer science robotics experiments, especially popular in Japan.
The second group of labyrinths are the multiway labyrinths (labyrinths, perderados or labyrinths of alternative paths) where when going through the interior of the labyrinth one can follow the correct path or an incorrect one, which will lead or not at its exit. These types of mazes began to be used in hedge gardens in England in the 12th century, as they were the place auspicious for a love date; from there they progressively spread throughout Europe, especially in France and Italy. In this sense, the labyrinthine gardens of André Le Nôtre in Versailles and the one designed by Gerolamo Frigimelica at the Villa Pisani, near Venice, in Italy, stand out.
On the other hand, each of these two large groups is divided into subcategories, based on "the way the labyrinth was built":
- Classical labyrinth or cretense: it is a unique labyrinth of ovoidal and very simple design.
- Roman labyrinth: univiary labyrinth, which was initially square, divided into four quadrants around the center; later, it was formed of concentric circles, with the same subdivision of quadrants or zones framed the center of the labyrinth.
- Baroque labyrinth: it is a maze-like labyrinth that has several "Dead roads"or"roads without exit"in addition to possessing a single correct way out of it.
- Mannerist labyrinth: maze with arboreal structure, that is, at the end of some corridors are forks in Y.
- Labyrinth rhizome: labyrinth of infinite ramifications.
- Hampton Court labyrinth.
- Stolp's labyrinth.
- Medieval labyrinths: they are typical univiary labyrinths, used in the decoration of the cathedral floor. They have a complex design.
- Boughton Green maze.
- Labyrinth of Altjessnitz.
- Russian Maze (called "City of Troy").
- Modern labyrinths: that labyrinth where all the corridors that make it interconnect with each other and does not possess paths or paths of "closed circuit"that is, that corridor that comes back to the same starting point.
Image gallery
The oldest known labyrinth on a Pylos tablet.
Bosquejo de Villard de Honnecourt (c.1230).
Labyrinth mural, cathedral of Lucca, Italy (probably medieval).
Basilica of Saint Quintin, Aisne, France.
Stone maze on the island of Blå Jungfrun (Blue Virgin), Sweden.
Small maze in Dalby, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Labyrinth on lawn. Wing, in Rutland, United Kingdom.
Portrait of a man with the design of a maze in the chest, by Bartolomeo Veneto, Italy, early 16th century.
Minotaur in the center of the maze, gem of the sixteenth century.
Maze in San Lamberto, Mingolsheim, Germany, following the Roman style.
Hemet stone maze, a prehistoric petroglyph near Hemet, California, United States.
Roman Mosaic of the fourth century, with a maze. Caerleon, Wales.
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Cretan Labyrinth
The labyrinth owes its name to the legendary construction designed by the inventor Daedalus at the request of King Minos of Crete to keep his son Minotaur (a half-man, half-bull monster) prisoner, who ended up killed by Theseus, who entered the labyrinth the inextricable corridors leaving a trail of thread (given to him by Princess Ariadne, the monster's sister).
Although no site on Crete has been positively identified as the Labyrinth of the Minotaur, coins from the 4th-3rd century BCE were found at Knossos. C. with the symbol of the labyrinth on them. The typical format during this period is a circuit of seven meanders or lanes, known as the 'classical maze'. The world's oldest surviving examples of this type of labyrinth are not, however, in Crete or its surroundings, but in a series of rock art petroglyphs in the province of Pontevedra (Spain), dating from the Bronze Age.
Palace of Knossos
Another element in the formation of the Labyrinth myth may have been that the palace at Knossos—the house of the labrys or double axe—was a complex of rooms and corridors in which Athenian invaders they had difficulty finding and killing the king when they took him.
An open space in front of the palace was occupied by a dance floor with a labyrinthine pattern that served to guide those who danced an erotic spring dance.
The origin of this drawing, also called a labyrinth, seems to have been the traditional maze of bushes that was used to attract partridges to one of their males, caged in the central fence, with calls for food, complaints of love and challenges; and the dancers would imitate the limping, ecstatic love dance of male partridges, destined to be struck on the head by the hunter.
The labyrinth from which Daedalus and his son Icarus escaped could have been the mosaic floor on which it was drawn and which they had to follow in the ritual dance of the partridge.
It seems that in the spring an erotic dance of the partridge in honor of the Moon goddess was performed throughout the Mediterranean basin and that the dancers limped and wore wings.
Labyrinthine dances in Palestine
In Palestine, this ceremony, called the Pesach ('the limping one'), was still performed, according to Saint Jerome, at Beth-Hoglah ('the Temple of the Lame'), where the devotees they danced in a spiral. Beth-Hoglah is identified with the "age of Atad", in which the death of the lame King Jacob, whose name could mean Yah Akeb ('the god of the heel'), was mourned. The prophet Jeremiah warns the Jews not to take part in these orgiastic Canaanite rites, quoting: "The partridge gathers chicks that have not hatched."
The dance of the partridge
An Etruscan wine jug from Tragliatella showing two heroes on horseback shows the religious theory of the partridge dance. The rider in front carries a shield on which a partridge is drawn, and a demon of death sits behind him; the other hero carries a spear and a shield on which a duck is drawn.
Behind them is a labyrinthine pattern resembling that found not only on certain Knossos coins, but also on the intricate lawn patterns trodden on by British schoolchildren at Easter until the 17th century XIX.
Labyrinth and the death of the king
According to the English writer and historian Robert Graves, the idea of the labyrinth is related to the monarchical system of prehistory: the best of the men of a tribe was elected king, had absolute power over the group, but was killed after a period (believed to be a year). Only the exceptional hero - a Daedalus or a Theseus - returned alive from the labyrinth.
In this context, of great importance is the discovery (in the 1950s) near Bossiney, Cornwall, of a Cretan labyrinth carved into the surface of a rock. The ravine where Dr. Renton Green discovered the labyrinth it is one of the last dens of the Cornish chough crow. The chough was said to house the soul of King Arthur who disturbed Hell and with whom this Labyrinth of Bosinney is closely connected in legend.
Dances in Brittany
A labyrinthine dance appears to have been brought to Britain from the eastern Mediterranean by Neolithic farmers in the third millennium BC. C. since crude stone mazes, analogous to the British ones made on grass, occur in the "Beaker B" area of Scandinavia and north-eastern Russia; and in south-eastern Europe there are ecclesiastical labyrinths, once used for penitential purposes.
The oldest known examples of labyrinths are small, simple petroglyphs that are presumed to be 3,000 years old. They are found in numerous places around the world, from Syria to Ireland.
Spiral dances, in which young men and women turned toward a center and then away, were still very popular in the 19th century XIX, the labyrinthine dances that are still practiced in Europe descend from the ancient dance of the crane, or geranos, supposedly performed on the Greek island of Naxos by Theseus and his friends to celebrate their victorious exit.
“City of Troy” Mazes
English mazes made on grass are called "city of Troy", and the same is true for those in Wales: caer-droia. The Romans probably called them that because of their Trojan Game, a labyrinthine dance performed by young aristocrats in honor of Augustus' ancestor, the Trojan Aeneas. According to Pliny, it was also danced by children in the Italian countryside.
The two main designs are classical and medieval, and while there are many variations, the basic shape is easily recognizable.
Modern interpretations of the Greek labyrinth
In recent times the myth of the labyrinth has been transformed into a play by Ilinka Crvenkovska, in which notions of man's abilities to control his own destiny are explored.
Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was fascinated with the concept of the labyrinth and used it many times in the development of his stories. The literary use that this writer gave to the theme has inspired a large number of other authors around the world, such as Umberto Eco (in The Name of the Rose).
Construction of modern mazes
In recent years there has been a revival of interest in the maze symbol, which has inspired a notable building revival at Willen Park (Milton Keynes), St. Francis' Grace Cathedral and Chesterfield's Tapton Park.
The labyrinth as a symbol
The cultural significance and interpretation of the labyrinth as a symbol is very broad and rich. It is present in various cultures, times and places, always presenting itself as a symbol linked to the spiritual. For example, many labyrinths drawn on the ground served as a kind of trap that caught evil spirits. This function is known from prehistoric times onwards. Even in some Catholic churches it is possible to find them drawn on the floor, near the baptistery (place where new believers are baptized). In some houses, the image of the labyrinth was drawn on the entrance door, as a protection system. But one of the most important meanings of the symbol of the labyrinth is associated with initiation rituals. Therefore, the labyrinth is the symbol that represents the search for the personal center, for the self of the human being. In order to find such a precious find, an initiation ritual is required that involves passing a test in different stages.
During the Middle Ages, the labyrinth was strongly related to the hard path of believers to God. The tortuous route of the tangled and difficult paths until finding the center symbolized participation in the sufferings of Christ on the cross. The path of the labyrinth is the pilgrimage, it is death to the ancient, sinful man. The discovery of the center represents being born again.
In the Renaissance, the human being became the center of the labyrinth, as a reflection of the anthropocentric humanist teachings.
Currently, the labyrinth remains a living symbol present in different fields, from the artistic sphere in numerous proposals in painting, sculpture, cinema, etc., in anthropological, psychological academic research, as well as in graphics, advertising and even in different areas of entertainment such as computer games.