Minoan Labyrinth In Greek Culture

Greek Mythology can be seen as the merging of human beliefs, imagination, artistic convention and perceptions of divinity. The most interesting and perhaps one of the very few enigmas from the past that continues to blur the lines between reality and mythology is the Minoan Labyrinth at Knossos. A structure so ingenious and elaborate that it went down in history and mythology. The Labyrinth is symbolic a tale of eternal love, deceitful men and vengeful gods – the legend of the Minotaur and goes to demonstrates the cognitive complexity of human perception and his ability to create

The term Labyrinth applies to any sort of a maze, though the difference between a maze and a labyrinth is that a maze offers choices and many outcomes depending …show more content…
The Labyrinth is located in the ancient island of Crete that belongs to an elaborate palace complex. It was constructed during the “Old Palace” Period (c. 1900-1700 BCE). Tragedy struck and unfortunately it was destroyed during a series of continuing Earthquakes and fires; but it was reconstructed during the “New Palace” Period (c. 1700 – 1450 BCE), which is when the structure started resembling a maze. The structure itself is described as “a baffling array of doors leading to unfamiliar rooms, stairs, yet more corridors, or even dead ends. Admittance could be denied by blocking corridors, and some rooms were accessible only from upper terraces.” (Stokstad and Cothren 86). The complex was built under the rule of King Minos; according to mythology the person he commissioned to build this structure was Daedalus, the same famous architect who also built a wooden cow for Minos’ wife. Legend has it that King Minos, before ascending to the throne, had a tiff with his brothers, who challenged his authority over the throne. He prayed to God Poseidon for a sign of approval, that he was meant to be the rightful king, in the form of a snow white bull; he promised the God that it would be offered in