Ancient/Mythological Mazes
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The Cretan Labyrinth in which Theseus encounters the Minotaur offers perhaps the most famous ancient maze, through which the Ancient Greek hero found his way only with the help of Ariadne’s thread. While such necessity suggests that the structure was a maze, having multiple decision points, early depictions of the structure were labyrinthine, in other words, monocursal. Why would anyone, Greek hero or no, need a string to find their way through a labyrinth, a unicursal twisted passageway without deadends or choices? And yet that is exactly the kind of maze depicted in most of the ancient imagery. Regardless of the depictions, the myth portrays a space of twisting paths that is difficult to navigate, and it establishes the challenge of path-finding puzzle in Western culture. | The Cretan Labyrinth in which Theseus encounters the Minotaur offers perhaps the most famous ancient maze, through which the Ancient Greek hero found his way only with the help of Ariadne’s thread. While such necessity suggests that the structure was a maze, having multiple decision points, early depictions of the structure were labyrinthine, in other words, monocursal. Why would anyone, Greek hero or no, need a string to find their way through a labyrinth, a unicursal twisted passageway without deadends or choices? And yet that is exactly the kind of maze depicted in most of the ancient imagery. Regardless of the depictions, the myth portrays a space of twisting paths that is difficult to navigate, and it establishes the challenge of path-finding puzzle in Western culture. | ||
| − | Plutarch tells of Athenians sent off as a tribute to Crete who met their fate, whether slain by the Minotaru or "wandering the labyrinth, and finding no possible means of getting out, they miserably ended their lives there" (excerpted in Kern 41). The Minotaur, part man, part bull, was the merciless monster of the maze. Actually, this is merely one of the main competing stories Plutarch recounts. | + | Plutarch includes in his lives the myth of the labyrinth of Knossos, designed by Daedalus. In the story, in payment for the slaying of his son Angrogeos by the Athenians, Minos required the Athenians send as a tribute to Crete seven men and women who met their fate, whether slain by the Minotaru or "wandering the labyrinth, and finding no possible means of getting out, they miserably ended their lives there" (excerpted in Kern 41). The Minotaur, part man, part bull, was the merciless monster of the maze. Actually, this is merely one of the main competing stories Plutarch recounts. |
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| + | Theseus set off to end the bloody tribute, by serving as one of the seven. When he arrives at Crete, he wins the affection of Ariadne, the king's daughter, who offers him a technique for defeating the labyrinth by tying a string to the entrance and unraveling it as he proceeded through the maze. Theseus makes his way through the maze, slays the Minotaur, and follows the string back to the entrance. The victorious Greek hero takes Ariadne back with him to Athens. | ||
The Cretan maze may have its origins in Egypt, where Herodotus describes a labyrinthine building: [I won’t be using all of this] | The Cretan maze may have its origins in Egypt, where Herodotus describes a labyrinthine building: [I won’t be using all of this] | ||
