Mazes
From Maze
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(→Ancient and Mythological Mazes) | (→Mazes in Dance) | ||
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Kern suggests that even the labyrinth of Knossos refers to, not a building, but a dance and the depiction of that dance. For evidence he turns to the Ilias and the shield of Achilles. | Kern suggests that even the labyrinth of Knossos refers to, not a building, but a dance and the depiction of that dance. For evidence he turns to the Ilias and the shield of Achilles. | ||
| − | The legend of Theseus also includes a dance. On the way back from their mission, Theseus and the mane celebrate with dance and song on the islands. As Miller includes, "on the island of Delos they performed a peculiar dance called the ''Geranos'', or 'Crane Dane,' in which they went through the motions of threading the Labyrinth, and...this dance was perpetuated by the natives of that island until fairly recently" (19). | + | The legend of Theseus also includes a dance. On the way back from their mission, Theseus and the mane celebrate with dance and song on the islands. As Miller includes, "on the island of Delos they performed a peculiar dance called the ''Geranos'', or 'Crane Dane,' in which they went through the motions of threading the Labyrinth, and...this dance was perpetuated by the natives of that island until fairly recently" (19). Indeed Bord has found these dances alive in Italy, Muich, and BAvaria. |
| − | Crane Dance. | + | A maze becomes a dance when the pathways become the visual depiction of the dancer's path. Miller traces references of several Roman writers to a Game of Troy, which appears to be a kind of formal demonstration performed by youths, perhaps a military review. Others seem to be pat of an exclusin right, in which "movements ....are intended to weave a magical entanglement and spread a field of magical force to exclude all that is not wanted to enter the guarded place" (Knight qtd. in Bord)". Others appear to be tied to rites of Spring. |
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| + | But where is the maze in the Maze Dance? It may have been one of the locations in which the dance was performed (Bord 13). However, more than likely the labyrinth is produced by the movement of the dancers. It is as if we can see through the walls to Theseus on his way through the Cretan trap. As a result, rather than a set of walls or lines, the maze comes to name a series of constraints to movement, a set of paths to be traversed, a procedure. | ||
* Note Kern's section on Easter Dance | * Note Kern's section on Easter Dance | ||
