The Greek myth of the Minotaur, Theseus and the labyrinth originated from and is set on Crete. This tale of gods, kings and heroes may appear to be simply a good story, but it is also one full of symbolism, possibly preserving preserve elements of historical events.

Crete’s Bull-Headed God and Minoan Religion

Certain aspects of the myth could refer to the religious beliefs of Bronze Age Crete, in particular the Minoan culture. Central to this is the emblem of the bull, one of the Minoan’s sacred animals. The Minotaur in the labyrinth could be a symbol of the rituals of bull worship that centred occurred in the palace complexes of Crete. At the root of this worship is the concept of the sacred marriage between heaven and earth — the bull-headed god of the Minoans and the island of Crete itself.

Queen Pasiphae, herself of divine origins as the daughter of the god Helios, is often identified as a moon goddess. She is also the personification of Crete. The bull is associated with the heavens. Asterius, one of the versions of the Minotaur’s name, means “of the sky”. One of the sacred symbols of the Minoans is the double-headed axe or labyrs, from which the word labyrinth derives. The labrys is also a symbol of the sun god. Therefore, the bull of Poseidon/the Minotaur becomes the heavens who mates with Crete, as represented by Mino’s Queen.

The association of young men and women with the Minotaur in the labyrinth may not refer to acts of sacrifice but the worship related to this sacred cult. Echoes of elements of the myth are found in religious ceremonies recorded in the frescos of Knossos. The Minoan rite of bull leaping, which involved youths and young women, is one, as are the spring dances, which involved young dancers weaving a maze-like pattern in the ceremonial courtyards of the palace.

The Minotaur and History

The myth could also preserve fragments of historical facts. It possibly alludes to events dating from the period of Minoan dominance of the Greek world.

Minos may have been the name of the ruling dynasty of Minoan Crete during its heyday, rather than an individual king. Theseus’s mission to Crete could be an allegory for a revolt of Greek subject peoples who were obliged to send tribute to Knossos. In this context, Knossos becomes the labyrinth. The term “labyrinth” (as already mentioned, taken from the labyrs, one of the sacred symbols of Knossos, is believed by some to mean “house of the double axe”.

The myth in this context could preserve a memory of a time when the maze of Knossos’s rooms and corridors were overrun by a revolting Greek force, searching not for a mythical beast but Mino’s himself as the representative of an oppressive dynasty. The resolution of the affair was a marriage between the heiress of the dynasty of Minos and one of the Greeks, the memory of which is preserved in the myth as the doomed romance between Ariadne and Theseus.

Resources

Vasilakis, Andonis, (2001) Minoan Crete: From Myth to History. Adam editions: Athens

Graves, Robert (1996) The Greek Myths Volume I. The Folio Society: London.

Price, Simon and Kearns, Emily (eds) (2003) The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion. Oxford University Press: Oxford