Daedalus and his labyrinth - An interesting fact via open spaces ← Hodor. Daedalus and his labyrinth - An interesting fact via open spaces ← Hodor Myths and legends

Medieval scholars considered the labyrinth of Daedalus the most complex ever created.
According to legend, Daedalus created this labyrinth to enclose the Minotaur in it.
Daedalus very cleverly used the psychological factors of behavior that the probability of escaping from the labyrinth is practically zero.

If the passages of this labyrinth were a meter wide, and the walls were 30 centimeters thick, the only path leading out of it would be more than a kilometer long. Most likely, any person would rather die of hunger or thirst before finding a way out.

Arthur Evans conducted excavations for almost 30 years and unearthed not a city, but a palace, equal in area to the whole city. This was the famous Knossos labyrinth, which was a structure with total area 22 thousand square meters, which had at least 5-6 above-ground levels, floors, connected by passages and stairs, and a number of underground crypts. Cretan labyrinth turned out to be not an invention of the ancients, but a real miracle of architecture, in which there was something incomprehensible to the mind.

The Labyrinth is a real Myth, it is a story about heroes and events that historical science does not recognize as real, but considers them as symbols.
We believe that any myth, any image, any symbolic narrative is based on reality, even if not always historical. The myth accurately describes psychological reality: human experiences, mental processes and forms are hidden behind symbols that have been passed down from generation to generation and finally come down to us so that we can unravel them, remove the veil from them and again see their innermost meaning, realize their deep essence.
The myth of the Labyrinth is one of the oldest, and, I dare say, it is similar to the myths of all ancient civilizations, saying that the labyrinth is a difficult and obscure path, on the complex and winding paths of which it is not surprising to get lost. Sometimes the plot of this myth is woven into a story about an extraordinary person, about a hero or a mythical character who overcomes the labyrinth and finds the key to solving the riddle that appeared before him in the form of a path.

When we talk about labyrinths, we immediately remember the most famous of them, of which evidence has been preserved in Greek mythology - in a simple and accessible form, close to a children's fairy tale: the labyrinth of the island of Crete. I do not want to talk about it in the same simplistic way as it is done in famous legends, we will open its deeper layers and analyze the archaeological finds made in Crete in order to understand what the Cretans worshiped and what the labyrinth really was for them. And we will see how this story will take on a complex symbolic form, and it will no longer seem so childish to us.

Knossos labyrinth
So, one of the ancient symbols of Crete, associated with its supreme deity, was a double-edged ax, which can be represented as two pairs of horns, one of which is directed upwards, the other downwards. This ax was associated with the sacred bull, whose cult was widespread in Crete. It was called Labrys and, according to an older tradition, served as a tool with which the god, who later received the name Ares-Dionysus from the Greeks, cut through the First Labyrinth.

Here is his story. When Ares-Dionysus, the god of primordial times, is very ancient god, descended to earth, nothing had yet been created, nothing had yet taken shape, there was only darkness, darkness. But, according to legend, Ares-Dionysus was given a tool from heaven, Labrys, and it was with this tool, with this weapon that he created the world.

Maze of Daedalus
Ares-Dionysus began to walk in the midst of darkness, describing circle after circle. (This is very curious, because modern science has discovered that when we find ourselves in the dark in an unfamiliar room or trying to get out of some spacious but unlit place, we most often start walking in circles; the same happens when we get lost or wander through the forest We made this comparison because from the very beginning we want to emphasize that the symbolism of the labyrinth is associated with certain atavisms inherent in man.)
And now Ares-Dionysus began to walk in a circle, cutting through the darkness and cutting furrows with his ax. The road that he cut through and which became lighter with every step, is called the "labyrinth", that is, "the path cut by Labrys."

When Ares-Dionysus, cutting through the darkness, reached the very center, to the goal of his path, he suddenly saw that he no longer had the ax that he had at the beginning. His ax turned into pure light - he held in his hands a flame, fire, a torch that brightly illuminated everything around, for God performed a double miracle: with one edge of the ax he cut the darkness outside, and with the other - his inner darkness. In the same way that he created light outside, he created light in himself; just as he cut the outer path, he cut the inner path. And when Ares-Dionysus reached the center of the labyrinth, he reached the end point of his path: he reached the light, reached inner perfection.

Such is the symbolism of the Cretan myth of the labyrinth, the most ancient of those that have come down to us. Later traditions we know much better.
The most famous of them is the myth of the mysterious labyrinth created by Daedalus, an amazing architect and inventor from ancient Crete, whose name is now always associated with a labyrinth, an intricate path.
The name Daedalus, or Dactyl, as he is sometimes called, in the ancient Greek language means "He who creates", "He who works with his hands, builds." Daedalus is a symbol of the builder, but not just the creator of the complex of parks and palaces, which was the labyrinth of King Minos, but the builder in a deeper sense of the word, possibly similar to the symbolism of the very first deity who built the Labyrinth of Light in the darkness.
The Daedalus Labyrinth was neither an underground structure, nor something dark and sinuous; This was huge complex houses, palaces and parks, conceived in such a way that those who entered it could not find their way out. It's not that the labyrinth of Daedalus was terrible, but that it was impossible to get out of it.
Daedalus built this labyrinth for the Cretan king Minos, an almost legendary character whose name allows us to get acquainted with very ancient traditions of all the peoples of that era.

Minos lived in fairytale palace, and he had a wife, Pasiphae, because of whom all the drama associated with the labyrinth played out.

Wanting to become king, Minos counted on the help of another powerful god, the ruler of the waters and oceans of Poseidon. In order for Minos to feel his support, Poseidon performed a miracle: he created a white bull from the waters and sea foam and presented it to Minos as a sign that he really was the king of Crete.
However, as the Greek myth says, it so happened that the wife of Minos fell hopelessly in love with a white bull, dreamed only of him and desired only him. Not knowing how to approach him, she asked Daedalus, the great builder, to build a huge bronze cow, beautiful and attractive, so that the bull would feel attracted, while Pasiphae would hide inside her.
And now a real tragedy is played out: Daedalus creates a cow, Pasiphae hides in it, the bull approaches the cow, and from this strange union of a woman and a bull, half a bull, half a man appears - the Minotaur. This monster, this monster settled in the center of the labyrinth, which at the same moment turned from a complex of parks and palaces into a gloomy place that inspires fear and sadness, in eternal reminder about the misfortune of the king of Crete.
Some ancient traditions, in addition to the Cretan ones, have preserved a less simplified interpretation of the tragedy of Pasiphae and the White Bull.

For example, in the legends of pre-Columbian America and India, there are references to the fact that millions of years ago, at a certain stage in human evolution, people went astray and mixed with animals, and because of this perversion and violation of the laws of nature, real monsters appeared on earth, hybrids that are difficult to even describe. They instilled fear not only because they possessed, like the Minotaur, an evil disposition; they bore the stamp of shame from a union that should never have taken place, from a secret that was not to be revealed until all these events were erased from the memory of mankind.

So, the connection of Pasiphae with the Bull and the birth of the Minotaur is related to the ancient races and to those ancient events that at a certain moment were erased from the memory of people.
On the other hand, the monster, the Minotaur, is blind, amorphous matter without reason or purpose, which hides in the center of the labyrinth, waiting for victims from its benefactor.
Years pass, the legend continues, and the Minotaur in his labyrinth really turns into something terrifying. The king of Crete, having defeated the Athenians in the war, imposes a terrible tribute on them: every nine years they must send seven young men and seven innocent girls to sacrifice to the Minotaur. When the deadline for paying the third tribute comes, in Athens, a hero with all the virtues, Theseus, rises against this. He promises himself not to accept the rule of the city until he frees him from misfortune, until he kills the Minotaur.
Theseus himself enters the number of young men who should become victims of the monster, goes to Crete, captivates the heart of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, and achieves that she gives him a ball of thread with which he can go through the labyrinth and then, having killed the Minotaur, find from him an exit. The ball played a crucial role in this story. Theseus enters the labyrinth and, penetrating further and further into its complex and intricate corridors, unwinds the thread. Having reached the center, thanks to his colossal strength and will, he kills the Minotaur and finds a way out.

In simple and naive stories, Theseus kills the Minotaur with a sword, sometimes with a dagger. But in the most ancient narratives, as well as in the images on ancient Attic vases, Theseus kills the Minotaur with a double-bladed axe. Once again, the hero who has made his way through the labyrinth, having reached the center, performs a miracle with the help of Labrys, a double ax.

We have to solve another riddle: Ariadne gives Theseus not a ball - but a spindle with threads. And, penetrating into the depths of the labyrinth, Theseus unwinds it. But the hero returns to the exit, picking up the thread and winding it up again, and from the labyrinth he takes out a really ball - a perfectly round ball. This symbol also cannot be called new. The spindle with which Theseus goes into the labyrinth symbolizes the imperfection of his inner world, which he must “unfold”, that is, pass a series of tests. The ball that he creates by picking up the thread is the perfection that he achieved by putting the Minotaur to death, which means passing the tests and leaving the labyrinth.

There were many labyrinths, as well as Teseev. They also exist in Spain. All along the way to Santiago de Compostella and throughout Galicia there is an infinite number of ancient images of labyrinths on stone, which call the pilgrim to set foot on the path to Santiago and pass this road, and they directly indicate to us that in its symbolic and spiritual meaning this the path is a maze.

In England, in the famous castle of Tintagel, where, according to legend, King Arthur was born, there are also labyrinths.
We also meet them in India, where they were a symbol of reflection, concentration, turning to the true center.
IN Ancient Egypt in the ancient city of Abydos, founded almost in the predynastic period, there was a labyrinth, which was a round temple. In its galleries, ceremonies were held dedicated to time, evolution, and the endless roads that a person traveled before reaching the center, which meant meeting with a true person.
According to the history of Egypt, the labyrinth from Abydos was, apparently, only a very small part of the huge labyrinth described by Herodotus, who considered the Egyptian labyrinth so colossal, amazing and unimaginable that even Great Pyramid.
Today we can no longer see this labyrinth, we have only the testimony of Herodotus. For many centuries, for the peculiarities of his presentation, people called him the father of history, Herodotus the truthful, and gave many more similar names, but when not all of his descriptions were confirmed, we naturally decided that Herodotus was not always sure of his words. On the other hand, modern science has confirmed the truth of so many descriptions of it that it is probably worth being patient and waiting - all of a sudden, archaeologists will open the labyrinth that the Greek historian wrote about.
There were many labyrinths in the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages. One of the most famous, images of which are quite common, is a labyrinth laid out on the stone floor of the main cathedral in Chartres. It was created not for someone to get lost in it, but for it to be walked: it was a kind of path of initiation, a path of accomplishment and a path of achievement that a candidate, a student, one who aspired to be accepted in the Mystery.
Indeed, it is extremely difficult to get lost in the labyrinth of Chartres: all its roads are purely symbolic, all turns and crossroads are visible. The most important thing here is to reach the center, a square stone on which the various constellations are marked with nails. For a person, this allegorically means reaching Heaven and becoming one with the deities.
It is very likely that all such myths of antiquity and all the symbolic labyrinths of Gothic cathedrals reflect not so much a historical reality as a psychological one. And the psychological reality of the labyrinth is still alive today. If in ancient times they spoke of the initiatory labyrinth as a path through which a person could realize himself, today we must speak of a material and psychological labyrinth.

It is not difficult to see the material labyrinth: the world around us, what we encounter in life, how we live and how we manifest ourselves, are all part of one labyrinth. The difficulty is different: the one who got into the Cretan parks and palaces did not even suspect that he had entered the labyrinth; so we in our daily life do not realize that we are in a labyrinth that draws a person into itself.

From a psychological point of view, the confusion of Theseus, who longed to kill the Minotaur, is of the same nature as the confusion of a man who is confused and frightened.
We are frightened because we do not know and cannot do something; afraid because we do not understand something and because of this we feel insecure. Our fear usually manifests itself in the fact that we cannot choose, we do not know where to go, what to devote our lives to; it manifests itself in eternal routine and mediocrity, debilitating and sad: we are ready for anything, just not to make decisions and not show at least a little firmness.
Confusion is another disease that haunts us in the modern labyrinth on the psychological plane. This confusion arises because it is very difficult for us to decide who we are, where we came from and where we are going. These three questions are main reason our confusion, although they are so simple and unsophisticated that they seem childish to us. Is there any meaning in our lives other than being constantly at a loss? Why do we work and why do we study? Why do we live and what is happiness? What are we striving for? What is suffering and how to recognize it?
From a psychological point of view, we are still wandering in the labyrinth, and although there are no monsters and narrow corridors in it, traps constantly lie in wait for us.
And of course it is the myth that offers us the solution. Theseus does not enter the labyrinth empty-handed, and it would be strange if we were looking for a way out of it empty-handed. Theseus takes two items with him: an ax (or a sword - as you prefer) to kill the monster, and a spindle with threads, his ball, to find his way back.

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According to ancient legends, thousands of years ago, there was a hopeless labyrinth of endless corridors and alleys, created by an architect Daedalus, where a terrible creature with a human body and a bull's head, called the Minotaur, lurked. It was a product of evil, sent down to people as the fruit of unnatural love between the wife of King Minos - Pasiphae and the bull sent by Poseidon to the ruler of the island. According to one version, this labyrinth was located in the dungeons of the Knossos Palace and was conceived by Daedalus at the behest of the king, in order to confuse the exits from it as much as possible, in such a way as to exclude the return of a person who got there, given into the clutches of a bloodthirsty beast.

Having defeated the Athenians in a bloody war, Minos ordered them to pay a terrible tribute. Every 9 years they had to send 7 boys and 7 young girls to Crete as victims for the Minotaur, placed in a labyrinth. However, according to the prophecy, after the payment of the third tribute, a hero was destined to appear in Athens, capable of defeating the monster and saving the city from a terrible fee. Soon, a mountain appeared, and his name was Theseus. By virtue of his position, he was supposed to become the Athenian ruler, but after learning what he had to do, the young man decided not to clothe himself with power until he had rid the city of the insatiable Minotaur.

Voluntarily enrolling in the ranks of the next victims, Theseus went to Crete, among other young people doomed to death. Once on the island, he charmed the beautiful Ariadne, daughter of Minos, and encouraged her to give her lover a ball of thread with which he could get out of the labyrinth without any extra effort. As a result, having gone to the very center of the puzzle tangled by Daedalus, thanks to courage, dexterity and strength, he defeated the Minotaur and, following the thread of Aridna, left the lair of the beast, freeing subsequent generations from it.

Today, the Daedalus labyrinth can only be seen on ancient Cretan coins and various souvenirs as symbols, but its meaning can be found in the reflection of everyday life, which for each person also has its own form in the form of hardships and hardships, patience and choosing the right path. These concepts underlie the myth itself, given that Theseus achieved his goal, also overcoming himself in many ways, overcoming fear and doubt, and leaving the labyrinth, he fulfilled his destiny. Of course, unlike the hero of ancient Greek legends, not every person initially knows about the purpose of his stay in this world, but it is precisely in finding the right path and the right answer that the meaning of any labyrinth lies.

Arthur Evans conducted excavations for almost 30 years and unearthed not a city, but a palace, equal in area to the whole city. This was the famous Knossos labyrinth, which was a structure with a total area of 22 thousand square meters, which had at least 5-6 above-ground levels, floors, connected by passages and stairs, and a number of underground crypts. The Cretan labyrinth turned out to be not an invention of the ancients, but a real miracle of architecture, in which there was something incomprehensible to the mind.

The Labyrinth is a real Myth, it is a story about heroes and events that historical science does not recognize as real, but considers as symbols.

We believe that any myth, any image, any symbolic narrative is based on reality, even if not always historical. The myth accurately describes psychological reality: human experiences, mental processes and forms are hidden behind symbols that have been passed down from generation to generation and finally come down to us so that we can unravel them, remove the veil from them and again see their innermost meaning, realize their deep essence.

The myth of the Labyrinth is one of the oldest, and I dare say, it is similar to the myths of all ancient civilizations, saying that the labyrinth is a difficult and obscure path, on the complex and winding paths of which it is not surprising to get lost. Sometimes the plot of this myth is woven into a story about an extraordinary person, about a hero or a mythical character who overcomes the labyrinth and finds the key to solving the riddle that appeared before him in the form of a path.

When we talk about labyrinths, we immediately remember the most famous of them, which is evidenced in Greek mythology - in a simple and accessible form, close to a children's fairy tale: the labyrinth of the island of Crete. I do not want to talk about it in the same simplistic way as it is done in famous legends, we will open its deeper layers and analyze the archaeological finds made in Crete in order to understand what the Cretans worshiped and what the labyrinth really was for them. And we will see how this story will take on a complex symbolic form, and it will no longer seem so childish to us.

Knossos labyrinth

Here is his story. When Ares-Dionysus, the god of primordial times, a very ancient god, descended to earth, nothing had yet been created, nothing had yet taken shape, there was only darkness, darkness. But, according to legend, Ares-Dionysus was given a tool from heaven, Labrys, and it was with this tool, with this weapon that he created the world.

Maze of Daedalus

And now Ares-Dionysus began to walk in a circle, cutting through the darkness and cutting furrows with his ax. The road that he cut through and which became lighter with every step, is called the "labyrinth", that is, "the path cut by Labrys."

Such is the symbolism of the Cretan myth of the labyrinth, the most ancient of those that have come down to us. Later traditions we know much better.

The most famous of these is the myth of the mysterious labyrinth created by Daedalus, an amazing architect and inventor from ancient Crete, whose name is now always associated with a labyrinth, an intricate path.

The name Daedalus, or Dactyl, as he is sometimes called, in the ancient Greek language means "He who creates", "He who works with his hands, builds." Daedalus is a symbol of the builder, but not just the creator of the complex of parks and palaces, which was the labyrinth of King Minos, but the builder in a deeper sense of the word, perhaps similar to the symbolism of the very first deity who built the Labyrinth of Light in the darkness.

Daedalus built this labyrinth for the Cretan king Minos, an almost legendary character whose name allows us to get acquainted with very ancient traditions of all the peoples of that era.

Minos lived in a fabulous palace and had a wife, Pasiphae, who caused all the drama associated with the labyrinth.

However, as the Greek myth says, it so happened that the wife of Minos fell hopelessly in love with a white bull, dreamed only of him and desired only him. Not knowing how to approach him, she asked Daedalus, the great builder, to build a huge bronze cow, beautiful and attractive, so that the bull would feel attracted, while Pasiphae would hide inside her.

And now a real tragedy is played out: Daedalus creates a cow, Pasiphae hides in it, the bull approaches the cow, and from this strange union of a woman and a bull, half a bull, half a man appears - the Minotaur. This monster, this monster settled in the center of the labyrinth, which at the same moment turned from a complex of parks and palaces into a gloomy place that inspires fear and sadness, an eternal reminder of the misfortune of the king of Crete.

Some ancient traditions, in addition to the Cretan ones, have preserved a less simplified interpretation of the tragedy of Pasiphae and the White Bull.

So, the connection of Pasiphae with the Bull and the birth of the Minotaur is related to the ancient races and to those ancient events that at a certain moment were erased from the memory of people.

On the other hand, the monster, the Minotaur, is blind, amorphous matter without reason or purpose, which hides in the center of the labyrinth, waiting for victims from its benefactor.

Years pass, the legend continues, and the Minotaur in his labyrinth really turns into something terrifying. The king of Crete, having defeated the Athenians in the war, imposes a terrible tribute on them: every nine years they must send seven young men and seven innocent girls to sacrifice to the Minotaur. When the deadline for paying the third tribute comes, in Athens, a hero with all the virtues, Theseus, rises against this. He promises himself not to accept the rule of the city until he frees him from misfortune, until he kills the Minotaur.

We have to solve another riddle: Ariadne gives Theseus not a ball, but a spindle with threads. And, penetrating into the depths of the labyrinth, Theseus unwinds it. But the hero returns to the exit, picking up the thread and winding it up again, and from the labyrinth he takes out a really ball - a perfectly round ball. This symbol also cannot be called new. The spindle with which Theseus goes into the labyrinth symbolizes the imperfection of his inner world, which he must “unfold”, that is, pass a series of tests. The ball that he creates by picking up the thread is the perfection that he achieved by putting the Minotaur to death, which means passing the tests and leaving the labyrinth.

In England, in the famous castle of Tintagel, where, according to legend, King Arthur was born, there are also labyrinths.

We also meet them in India, where they were a symbol of reflection, concentration, turning to the true center.

In ancient Egypt, in the ancient city of Abydos, founded almost in the predynastic period, there was a labyrinth, which was a round temple. In its galleries, ceremonies were held dedicated to time, evolution, and the endless roads that a person traveled before reaching the center, which meant meeting with a true person.

According to the history of Egypt, the labyrinth from Abydos was, apparently, only a very small part of the huge labyrinth described by Herodotus, who considered the Egyptian labyrinth so colossal, amazing and unimaginable that even the Great Pyramid pales next to it.

Today we can no longer see this labyrinth, we have only the testimony of Herodotus. For many centuries, for the peculiarities of his presentation, people called him the father of history, Herodotus the truthful, and gave many more similar names, but when not all of his descriptions were confirmed, we naturally decided that Herodotus was not always sure of his words. On the other hand, modern science has confirmed the truth of so many descriptions of it that it is probably worth being patient and waiting - suddenly archaeologists will open the labyrinth that the Greek historian wrote about.

There were many labyrinths in the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages. One of the most famous, the images of which are quite common, is a labyrinth laid out on the stone floor of the main cathedral in Chartres. It was created not for someone to get lost in it, but for it to be walked: it was a kind of path of initiation, a path of accomplishment and a path of achievement that a candidate, a student, one who aspired to be accepted in the Mystery.

Indeed, it is extremely difficult to get lost in the labyrinth of Chartres: all its roads are purely symbolic, all turns and crossroads are visible. The most important thing here is to reach the center, a square stone on which the various constellations are marked with nails. For a person, this allegorically means reaching Heaven and becoming one with the deities.

It is very likely that all such myths of antiquity and all the symbolic labyrinths of Gothic cathedrals reflect not so much a historical reality as a psychological one. And the psychological reality of the labyrinth is still alive today. If in ancient times they spoke of the initiatory labyrinth as a path through which a person could realize himself, today we must speak of a material and psychological labyrinth.

From a psychological point of view, the confusion of Theseus, who longed to kill the Minotaur, is of the same nature as the confusion of a man who is confused and frightened.

We are frightened because we do not know and cannot do something; afraid because we do not understand something and because of this we feel insecure. Our fear usually manifests itself in the fact that we cannot choose, we do not know where to go, what to devote our lives to; it manifests itself in eternal routine and mediocrity, debilitating and sad: we are ready for anything, just not to make decisions and not show at least a little firmness.

Confusion is another disease that haunts us in the modern labyrinth on the psychological plane. This confusion arises because it is very difficult for us to decide who we are, where we came from and where we are going. These three questions are the main reason for our confusion, although they are so simple and unsophisticated that they seem childish to us. Is there any meaning in our lives other than being constantly at a loss? Why do we work and why do we study? Why do we live and what is happiness? What are we striving for? What is suffering and how to recognize it?

From a psychological point of view, we are still wandering in the labyrinth, and although there are no monsters and narrow corridors in it, traps constantly lie in wait for us.

And of course it is the myth that offers us the solution. Theseus does not enter the labyrinth empty-handed, and it would be strange if we were looking for a way out of it empty-handed. Theseus takes two items with him: an ax (or a sword - as you prefer) to kill the monster, and a spindle with threads, his ball, to find his way back.

And for me - "House of Asterius" by Borges.

House of Asterius.

Maria Mosquera Eastman

And the queen gave birth to a son, who was named Asterius.

Apollodorus. Library, III. 1

I know I've been accused of being arrogant, and possibly hating people, and possibly being insane. These accusations (for which I will pay in due time) are ridiculous. It is true that I do not leave the house, but it is also true that its doors (of which there are an infinite number) *1 are open day and night for people and for animals. Let whoever wants to enter. Here you will not find either pampering luxury or the magnificent splendor of palaces, but only peace and loneliness. And a house that has no equal in all the earth. (Those who claim that there is a similar house in Egypt are lying.)

Even my detractors must admit that there is no furniture in the house. Another absurdity is that I, Asterius, am a prisoner. To repeat that there is not a single closed door, not a single lock? Besides, one day, when it was getting dark, I went out into the street; and if I returned before nightfall, it was because I was frightened by the faces of the common people - colorless and flat as a palm. The sun had already set, but the inconsolable cry of a child and the pleading cries of the crowd meant that I was recognized. People prayed, ran, fell to their knees, some climbed to the foot of the Twinax Temple, others grabbed stones. Someone seems to have thrown himself into the sea. It was not for nothing that my mother was a queen, I cannot mix with the mob, even if, out of modesty, I wanted to.

The thing is, I'm unique. I'm not interested in what one person can communicate to others; as a philosopher, I believe that nothing can be conveyed by writing. These irritating and vulgar trifles disgust my spirit, which is destined for the great; I have never been able to remember the difference between one letter and another. Some noble impatience prevents me from learning to read. Sometimes I regret it - the days and nights are so long.

Of course, I have enough entertainment. Like a ram, ready to fight, I rush along the stone galleries until I fall exhausted to the ground. I hide in the shade near a pond or around a bend in the corridor and pretend that they are looking for me. From some rooftops I jumped and broke into blood. Sometimes I pretend to be asleep, lying down with my eyes closed and breathing deeply (sometimes I actually fall asleep, and when I open my eyes I see how the color of the day has changed). But most of all games I like to play another Asterius. I pretend that he came to visit me, and I show him the house. With great respect I say to him, "Let's go back to that corner" or "Now let's go to the other yard" or "I thought you'd like this ledge" or "This is a vat filled with sand" or: “Now you will see how the underground passage splits into two.” Sometimes I am wrong, and then we both laugh with joy.

I not only invent these games, I also think about the house. All parts of the house are repeated many times, one part is just like the other. There is not one reservoir, yard, watering hole, feeder, but there are fourteen (an infinite number) feeders, watering holes, yards, reservoirs. The house is like the world, or rather, it is the world. However, when the yards with the pond and the dusty galleries of gray stone bother me, I go out into the street and look at the Temple of the Double Ax and the sea. I could not understand this until one night I dreamed that there were fourteen (an infinite number) seas and temples. Everything is repeated many times, fourteen times, but two things in the world are unique: above - an incomprehensible sun; below - I, Asterius. Perhaps the stars and the sun and this huge house created by me, but I'm not sure about it.

Every nine years, nine people appear in the house so that I can deliver them from evil. I hear their steps or voices in the depths of the stone galleries and joyfully run towards them. The whole procedure takes only a few minutes. They fall one after another, and I don't even have time to get dirty with blood. Where they fall, there they stay, and their bodies help me distinguish this gallery from others. I do not know who they are, but one of them, in his hour of death, foretold me that one day my liberator would also come. Since then, loneliness has not bothered me, I know that my deliverer exists and in the end he will set foot on a dusty floor. If all the sounds in the world reached my hearing, I would distinguish his steps. It would be nice if he took me somewhere where there are fewer galleries and fewer doors. Who will be my deliverer? I ask myself. Will he be a bull or a man? Or maybe a bull with a human head? Or like me?

The morning sun played on the bronze sword. There was no more blood left on him.

Would you believe, Ariadne? Theseus said. - Minotaur almost did not resist.

Scientists rank the Cretan culture as one of the most mysterious in world history. Until the 30s of the XX century. practically nothing was known about her until the English archaeologist Arthur Evans made a discovery that became a real sensation, perhaps even more than the excavations of the tomb of Tutankhamen.

On the trail of an ancient civilization that was spread over everything east coast Greece and the islands Aegean Sea centered on the island of Crete, Heinrich Schliemann, the discoverer of the legendary Troy, also came out. But the scientist did not have time to start excavations of cultural monuments, which received the name "Crete-Mycenaean" ("Crete-Minoan") - he died. But Evans managed to find something completely fantastic that even Schliemann could not have imagined: the existence of a people and a state that were a thousand years older than Ancient Greece. For the first time sticking a spade into the land of Crete, Evans met with a real island of mysteries.

About this once flourishing area, only what was related to the field of mythology was known. According to myths, Zeus the Thunderer himself was born here, and then his son Minos, one of the most powerful rulers, reigned in Crete. ancient world. The skillful master Daedalus built a legendary labyrinth for the king, which later became the prototype of all future labyrinths.

Arthur Evans began with excavations near Knossos. Already after a few hours it was possible to talk about the first results, and two weeks later the astonished archaeologist stood in front of the remains of buildings that covered an area of 2.5 hectares. On this huge rectangle stood a structure whose walls were made of hollow bricks, and whose flat roofs were supported by columns. But the chambers, halls and corridors of the Palace of Knossos were placed in such a bizarre order that visitors really risked getting lost among the countless turns and randomly placed rooms. It really looked like a labyrinth, which gave Evans no hesitation in declaring that he had found the palace of Minos, the father of Ariadne and Phaedra, the owner of the terrible bull-man Minotaur.

The archaeologist really discovered something amazing. It turns out that the people, about which nothing was known before, was drowning in luxury and voluptuousness and, probably, at the top of its development, reached that sybaritic "decadence", which already harbored the germs of decline and regression.

The pearl of the sea, a precious diamond set in the blue of the sky, this capital should have seemed to sailors approaching the island. At least two great people - Ovid and Herodotus, who saw the Cretan Palace in a more or less preserved form - described it in unusually enthusiastic tones. True, the Hellenes themselves already vaguely imagined what a labyrinth was and what its purpose was. They only retell the legends and beautiful legends, like the mythical "thread of Ariadne", which helped the beloved princess Theseus to get out of the labyrinth.

It is enough to take a look at the plan of the Palace of Knossos to be convinced that it was a grandiose building, surpassing the Vatican, the El Escorial, and Versailles. The labyrinth consisted of a central courtyard surrounded by many buildings, courtyards, a theater and the king's summer villa. The structure stands on a solid foundation and forms a complex system of temples, halls, rooms, corridors, passages and warehouses located at different levels and connected by countless stairs and passages. But this is by no means a chaotic pile of buildings, but a single architectural concept, one huge palace-city, a building-state that has no analogues in the history of architecture. The richly decorated entrance to the palace was a majestic portico with a colonnade, the lower part of the wall of which was covered with paintings, interspersed with frescoes with complex compositions.

Through the main portico, the visitor entered the main hall, then the throne room and the hall for exits. On the floor of the corridor leading to this part of the palace, there is a path made of limestone slabs, bordered by stripes of blue asp. A special passage led directly from the chambers of the king to the theater, to the royal box, where Minos passed, bypassing the curious glances of the crowd. This was followed by the chambers of the queen, the royal family, nobles and close associates of the sovereign.

Things found in the labyrinth confirm the idea of the richness of its environment. Objects and fragments of magnificent furniture have survived to our time, among which are tables with intricately made legs, decorated alabaster chests, metal lamps, gold, silver and faience vases. Statues and figurines of gods, depicting sacred symbols, very common among the Aegeans, have also been preserved. Other treasures were found in the pantries, for example, swords with elegant inlay, men's belts with precious stones, gold reserves. There were especially many kinds of women's jewelry - necklaces, tiaras, bracelets, rings, earrings, perfume bottles, lipstick boxes, etc.

Evans also found pantries full of giant vessels (pithoi) with wine, the total capacity of which, according to the archaeologist's calculations, was 80,000 liters. This was the palace supply of only one drink.

The heyday of the Crete-Mycenaean culture, scientists attributed to 1600 BC. e. - the estimated time of life and reign of Minos, the leader of the Cretan fleet and the ruler of the seas. Civilization was already experiencing clear signs of decline, it was replaced by irrepressible luxury, and beauty was elevated to a cult. The frescoes depicted young men gathering crocuses in the meadows and filling vases with them, girls among lilies. In painting, which was previously subject to certain forms, now dominated by a violent sparkle of colors, the dwelling served not only as a cloister - it was designed to please the eye; even in clothes they saw only a means for the manifestation of refinement and individuality of taste.

Is it any wonder that scientists who have studied the nature of wall paintings and architectural features labyrinth, used the word "modern"? In fact, in this palace, which was not inferior in size to Buckingham, there were drainage channels, and magnificent bath rooms, and even ventilation. A parallel with modernity was also suggested in the images of people, which made it possible to judge their manners and Cretan fashion. If at the beginning of the Middle Minoan period women wore high pointed headdresses and long colorful dresses with a belt, a deep neckline and a high bodice, then their clothes acquired an even more refined look. And when today we say that women, in imitation of men, wear short hair, then the Cretan ladies were super fashionable from the current point of view, because they had hairstyles even shorter than their gentlemen.

On the walls of the Cretan labyrinth, other, deeper, and even philosophical plots were discovered that reveal the Minoans' idea of the universe. These are not just symbols, but the very life of matter, reflecting the rhythm of the cosmos, appearing in the ceramic ornament. All the frescoes of Cretan buildings are permeated with the same attitude. In the center of these horizontally running drawings is a man, surrounded on top by the earth framed by flowers, and below by mountains. The figures resemble the image of the Mother Goddess, patroness natural world. “Everything flows” - this thought of Heraclitus fully reflects the attitude of the Minoan civilization.

The builders showed considerable architectural skill and imagination in drawing up the very plan of the palace. They skillfully placed its individual parts, connecting large halls and temples into one whole, not disregarding the possibility of optimal lighting of the building. To this end, special passages were arranged in the labyrinth, courtyards-wells through which light fell either on the stairs or directly into the halls, thus receiving illumination on one side. The use of columns made it possible to increase the size of the rooms during the study, bringing them closer in area to the most extensive halls of modern palaces.

Nevertheless, a period came when this whole huge kingdom with a population of at least one hundred thousand people was destroyed for some reason. The first version of the death of Knossos was put forward by the same Arthur Evans. He proceeded from something Crete- one of the most earthquake-prone areas of Europe, and therefore the scientist's hypothesis boiled down to the fact that only the strongest earthquake was able to completely destroy the palace of Minos.

However, not all scientists share this hypothesis. The objections boil down to the following: suppose that a natural disaster, including an earthquake or a fire, is quite enough to destroy the palace buildings. But for the death of the entire Cretan civilization - hardly.

For almost a century, historians have been looking for an answer to this question. And only in our days, after the next excavations in Crete, new facts surfaced, which once again baffled experts. What was the labyrinth of Knossos really? It turned out that some details and the general configuration of the ensemble give reason to assume a completely different purpose. Not a palace, but a kind of columbarium, that is, a sacred burial place for dead people - this is what the Knossos labyrinth could actually be. Firstly, the people in the frescoes are shown not in everyday clothes and not in a domestic setting. And they're not all fun. Not a single person is smiling on any of the frescoes - the faces are depicted in an emphatically severe and restrained way. Refined and refined women with open breasts are dressed in bluish dresses and pinafores with mountain flowers embroidered on them. We can come to the conclusion that before us are not court actresses, but mourners. By the way, the priestesses of Ancient Egypt also bared their breasts during a memorial service, and Herodotus wrote about a similar sign of mourning among the Greeks.

In the labyrinth of Knossos there was a rather large room with stepped stands, which Evans' colleagues called the "court entertainment theater." On one of the famous frescoes there is an image of this "theater". Nothing festive there, too, can not be seen. Fourteen priestesses on a rectangular stage stand in ritual poses, they are dressed in blue dresses. In the stands there are women with white faces and men with brown paint on their faces, which may mean a ritual that was in use during the funeral of the dead. In a word, it is quite possible that a funeral service is taking place here, for which the relatives of the deceased have gathered.

However, once again it must be emphasized that this is only a hypothesis that is waiting for confirmation, an attempt at a new reading of the history of the Knossos labyrinth. His mystery remains unsolved to this day. Perhaps the main discoveries are yet to come, if there are specialists who will be lucky enough to fully decipher the inscriptions, called "Cretan Linear B", and it is very likely that ancient civilization appear in an even more amazing light.
What do we know about the labyrinth itself?

According to legend, this labyrinth was built by Daedalus in order to imprison the Minotaur. Medieval scholars considered this labyrinth the most difficult of all ever created. The mathematical chances of getting out of there are extremely small, Daedalus used the psychological factors of behavior so ingeniously that the probability of escaping from the labyrinth is practically zero. If the passages of this labyrinth were a meter wide, and the walls were 30 centimeters thick, the only path leading out of it would be more than a kilometer long. Most likely, any person would rather die of hunger or thirst before finding a way out.

During its long history, the Cretan labyrinth was destroyed and rebuilt several times, and in 1380 BC it was completely destroyed and abandoned, until the English archaeologist A. Evans discovered a mysterious hieroglyphic letter in the Oxford Museum. The letter spoke of an ancient labyrinth. In 1900, an archaeologist arrived in Crete and began excavations. Arthur Evans conducted excavations for almost 30 years and unearthed not a city, but a palace, equal in area to the whole city. This was the famous Knossos labyrinth, which was a structure with a total area of 22 thousand square meters, which had at least 5-6 above-ground levels, floors, connected by passages and stairs, and a number of underground crypts. The Cretan labyrinth turned out to be not an invention of the ancients, but a real miracle of architecture, in which there was something incomprehensible to the mind.

The Labyrinth is a real Myth, it is a story about heroes and events that historical science does not recognize as real, but considers them as symbols. We believe that any myth, any image, any symbolic narrative is based on reality, even if not always historical. The myth accurately describes psychological reality: human experiences, mental processes and forms are hidden behind symbols that have been passed down from generation to generation and finally come down to us so that we can unravel them, remove the veil from them and again see their innermost meaning, realize their deep essence. The myth of the Labyrinth is one of the oldest, it is similar to the myths of all ancient civilizations, saying that the labyrinth is a difficult and obscure path, on the complex and winding paths of which it is not surprising to get lost.

Sometimes the plot of this myth is woven into a story about an extraordinary person, about a hero or a mythical character who overcomes the labyrinth and finds the key to solving the riddle that appeared before him in the form of a path. When we talk about labyrinths, we immediately remember the most famous of them, of which evidence has been preserved in Greek mythology - in a simple and accessible form, close to a children's fairy tale: the labyrinth of the island of Crete. I do not want to talk about it in the same simplistic way as it is done in famous legends, we will open its deeper layers and analyze the archaeological finds made in Crete in order to understand what the Cretans worshiped and what the labyrinth really was for them. And we will see how this story will take on a complex symbolic form, and it will no longer seem so childish to us.

So, one of the ancient symbols of Crete, associated with its supreme deity, was a double-edged ax, which can be represented as two pairs of horns, one of which is directed upwards, the other downwards. This ax was associated with the sacred bull, whose cult was widespread in Crete. It was called Labrys and, according to an older tradition, served as a tool with which the god, who later received the name Ares-Dionysus from the Greeks, cut through the First Labyrinth. Here is his story. When Ares-Dionysus, the god of primordial times, a very ancient god, descended to earth, nothing had yet been created, nothing had yet taken shape, there was only darkness, darkness. But, according to legend, Ares-Dionysus was given a tool from heaven, Labrys, and it was with this tool, with this weapon that he created the world.

Ares-Dionysus began to walk in the midst of darkness, describing circle after circle. (This is very curious, because modern science has discovered that when we find ourselves in the dark in an unfamiliar room or trying to get out of some spacious but unlit place, we most often start walking in circles; the same happens when we get lost or wander through the forest We gave such a comparison because from the very beginning we want to emphasize that the symbolism of the labyrinth is associated with certain atavisms inherent in man.) And so Ares-Dionysus began to walk in a circle, cutting through the darkness and cutting furrows with his axe. The road that he cut through and which became lighter with every step, is called the "labyrinth", that is, "the path cut by Labrys."

The Daedalus Labyrinth was neither an underground structure, nor something dark and sinuous; it was a huge complex of houses, palaces and parks, conceived in such a way that those who entered it could not find their way out. It's not that the labyrinth of Daedalus was terrible, but that it was impossible to get out of it. Daedalus built this labyrinth for the Cretan king Minos, an almost legendary character whose name allows us to get acquainted with very ancient traditions of all the peoples of that era. Minos lived in a fabulous palace and had a wife, Pasiphae, who caused all the drama associated with the labyrinth.

This monster, this monster settled in the center of the labyrinth, which at the same moment turned from a complex of parks and palaces into a gloomy place that inspires fear and sadness, an eternal reminder of the misfortune of the king of Crete. Some ancient traditions, in addition to the Cretan ones, have preserved a less simplified interpretation of the tragedy of Pasiphae and the White Bull. For example, in the legends of pre-Columbian America and India, there are references to the fact that millions of years ago, at a certain stage in human evolution, people went astray and mixed with animals, and because of this perversion and violation of the laws of nature, real monsters appeared on earth, hybrids that are difficult to even describe. They instilled fear not only because they possessed, like the Minotaur, an evil disposition; they bore the stamp of shame from a union that should never have taken place, from a secret that was not to be revealed until all these events were erased from the memory of mankind.

Theseus himself enters the number of young men who should become victims of the monster, goes to Crete, captivates the heart of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, and achieves that she gives him a ball of thread with which he can go through the labyrinth and then, having killed the Minotaur, find from him an exit. The ball played a crucial role in this story. Theseus enters the labyrinth and, penetrating further and further into its complex and intricate corridors, unwinds the thread. Having reached the center, thanks to his colossal strength and will, he kills the Minotaur and finds a way out. In simple and naive stories, Theseus kills the Minotaur with a sword, sometimes with a dagger. But in the most ancient narratives, as well as in the images on ancient Attic vases, Theseus kills the Minotaur with a double-bladed axe. Once again, the hero who has made his way through the labyrinth, having reached the center, performs a miracle with the help of Labrys, a double ax.

The ball that he creates by picking up the thread is the perfection that he achieved by putting the Minotaur to death, which means passing the tests and leaving the labyrinth. There were many labyrinths, as well as Teseev. They also exist in Spain. All along the way to Santiago de Compostella and throughout Galicia there is an infinite number of ancient images of labyrinths on stone, which call the pilgrim to set foot on the path to Santiago and pass this road, and they directly indicate to us that in its symbolic and spiritual meaning this the path is a maze

One of the most famous, images of which are quite common, is a labyrinth laid out on the stone floor of the main cathedral in Chartres. It was created not for someone to get lost in it, but for it to be walked: it was a kind of path of initiation, a path of accomplishment and a path of achievement that a candidate, a student, one who aspired to be accepted in the Mystery. Indeed, it is extremely difficult to get lost in the labyrinth of Chartres: all its roads are purely symbolic, all turns and crossroads are visible. The most important thing here is to reach the center, a square stone on which the various constellations are marked with nails. For a person, this allegorically means reaching Heaven and becoming one with the deities. It is very likely that all such myths of antiquity and all the symbolic labyrinths of Gothic cathedrals reflect not so much a historical reality as a psychological one. And the psychological reality of the labyrinth is still alive today. If in ancient times they spoke of the initiatory labyrinth as a path through which a person could realize himself, today we must speak of a material and psychological labyrinth. It is not difficult to see the material labyrinth: the world around us, what we encounter in life, how we live and how we manifest ourselves, are all part of one labyrinth. The difficulty is different: the one who got into the Cretan parks and palaces did not even suspect that he had entered the labyrinth; so we in our daily life do not realize that we are in a labyrinth that draws a person into itself.

From a psychological point of view, the confusion of Theseus, who longed to kill the Minotaur, is of the same nature as the confusion of a man who is confused and frightened. We are frightened because we do not know and cannot do something; afraid because we do not understand something and because of this we feel insecure. Our fear usually manifests itself in the fact that we cannot choose, we do not know where to go, what to devote our lives to; it manifests itself in eternal routine and mediocrity, debilitating and sad: we are ready for anything, just not to make decisions and not show at least a little firmness. Confusion is another disease that haunts us in the modern labyrinth on the psychological plane. This confusion arises because it is very difficult for us to decide who we are, where we came from and where we are going. These three questions are the main reason for our confusion, although they are so simple and unsophisticated that they seem childish to us. Is there any meaning in our lives other than being constantly at a loss? Why do we work and why do we study? Why do we live and what is happiness? What are we striving for? What is suffering and how to recognize it? From a psychological point of view, we are still wandering in the labyrinth, and although there are no monsters and narrow corridors in it, traps constantly lie in wait for us. And of course it is the myth that offers us the solution. Theseus does not enter the labyrinth empty-handed, and it would be strange if we were looking for a way out of it empty-handed. Theseus takes two items with him: an ax (or a sword - as you prefer) to kill the monster, and a spindle with threads, his ball, to find his way back.

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