First Text
Page
Previous Text Page
in his journal of his impressions of his early nineteenth century visit to the "labyrinth". He explains that he and his party had "taken the precaution to bring with them a great length of string wound upon two sticks, and it was fortunate that they did so, for ‘the windings’, says Cockerell, ‘bewildered us at once. ... The clearly intentional intricacy and apparently endless number of galleries impressed me with a sense of horror and fascination I cannot describe. At every ten steps one was arrested, and had to turn to right or left, sometimes to choose one of three or four roads" (Matthews, 26). Despite its mazelike nature, the theory that the cavern at Gortyna was the legendary Cretan Labyrinth is generally rejected.
Another theory regarding the location of the Cretan Labyrinth suggests that it was actually the Palace of Knossos, excavated by Dr. (later ‘Sir’) Arthur Evans in the year 1900. Contributing to the theory is the fact that the first account of the legendary Cretan Labyrinth was not written until several centuries after the destruction of the Palace of Knossos. Therefore, various aspects of the mythical Labyrinth can be attributed to misinterpretations regarding various aspects of the palace, including its design and numerous signs of both the double axe and the cult of the bull.
It has been determined that the complexity of the design of the palace, which covered approximately five acres, would have made it difficult for one unfamiliar with it to find their way through it. However, "... the plan of its remains exhibits no resemblance to a designed labyrinth of the conventional type" (Matthews, 35).
The double axe was a significant ritual object in Minoan worship, and its symbol was predominantly displayed throughout the palace. The numerous symbols of the double axe within one of the palace’s rooms resulted in it actually being named "the Hall of the Double Axes". The resemblance of a repeated meander pattern on the palace walls to the double axe is also apparent.
The significance of the proliferation of double axe signs in the palace is said to "lie in its bearing on the derivation of the word ‘labyrinth’" (Matthews, 32). For, in fact, another name for the double axe is "labrys", and it has been suggested that "when the Greeks found the ruins of what had been the palace of Knossos – a veritable maze- they called it the House of the Double Axes, or the labyrinth" (Streep, 135).
Much evidence was also found in the palace regarding the cult of the bull. This evidence included a life-size plaster relief of a bull’s head and a painting depicting the popular sport of "bull-leaping".
Another interesting feature included the two deep pits found beneath the palace that probably served as dungeons for prisoners. In addition, "on a floor level about thirty feet down, the opening of an artificial cave with three rough steps leading down to what was apparently the lair of some great beast" (Matthews, 36).
Due to the aforementioned aspects of the palace, Dr. Evans concluded that, "the palace of Knossos was the Labyrinth, or House of the Labrys, which gave rise to the classic legend, the idea of the Minotaur originating in the practice of training captives to participate in the dangerous sport of bull-leaping. (Tauros = bull, hence Minotaur = Bull of Minos), (Matthews, 34-5). Although accepted