A Pertinent Starter On Greek Mythology:

This entry provides a brief sketch on aspects of mythological background to understanding what is known of the Minoans. Insight into this extensive civilization remains elusive as its early written language, Linear A, has yet to be deciphered.

This is where I begin my ancient archaeological exploration on this trip.

Crete is the mythological birthplace of Zeus. His father, Kronos [time: giving us such words as Chronology], learned one of his children would seize his power so he ate each as they were born. Rhea, Kronos' wife, was rather displeased with his behavior. She schemed a trick to preserve her last child, Zeus. She hid Zeus on Mount Ida in central Crete and gave Kronos a stone to swallow instead. 

The nymphs raised Zeus. Later they joined him in a plot to force Kronos to regurgitate his sisters Hera, Demeter, Hestia and brothers Poseidon and Hades. After defeating Kronos, Zeus became the lord of the universe but chose to share his power with Poseidon who he made lord of the sea and Hades lord of the underworld.

Poseidon

Hades

Europa

Zeus liked pretty girls and seduced them on several occasions. One young maiden who caught his desire was Europa. Zeus, disguised as a white bull, enticed her as she gathered flowers, to embrace him. When she did he ran to the shore and jumped into the waves. Terrified, Europa held his horns as he swam her to Crete. There, they had three sons. One was Minos.

Minos became the first king of Crete, Lord of the Aegean and founder of the Minoan civilization with its center in Knossos. He is credited with giving the first set of codified laws.

The Minoan civilization flourished as a centre of trade and culture here for over a thousand years beginning about 2600 BCE. It’s cities were unfortified as it appears the Minoan navy was its defense. It mysteriously disappeared around 1200. No one has found a complete reason why.

You may be familiar with the myth of the Labyrinth. A failure of Minos was not to fulfill a pledge of sacrifice of a favorite bull to Poseidon. Angry at the dishonor, Poseidon caused Minos’ wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull. The unnatural union resulted the birth of the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The terrifying man eating Minotaur was consigned to live in the Labyrinth, a complex maze designed to be so confusing that neither the Minotaur, nor anyone else, once in, could find his way out.

Athens, as a consequence of a crime against the Minoans, [another story for another time] had to send a tribute of 7 youths and 7 maidens annually to be fed to the Minotaur. If this sounds familiar, perhaps it is because the modern book and movie called the “Hunger Games” is resonant of this ancient legend, and illustrative of how alternative versions of an old myth can be made new again.

The central divinity of the Minoans was The Great Mother. There exists a direct line between her myth and our term Mother Nature. She was depicted alternatively as either the Snake Goddess or the Goddess of the Sacred Tree. Isn’t it uncanny how the same themes emerge in creation myths? The serpent in the Garden of Eden who was turned into the snake, the scared tree in the center of the garden, and more, connect us to the Minoans.

The Athenian Theseus wanted to end this gruesome tax of its youths' lives fed to the Minotaur. So Theseus volunteered himself to one of the chosen. Aphrodite [goddess of love] wanted Theseus to end this terrible offering of young life and so she caused Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, [pronounced air-ee-ad-nay] to fall in love with Theseus. She gave Theseus a ball of twine and held one end, and Theseus the other, so he could find his way out again, after killing the Minotaur. They destroyed the Minoan ships and escaped.  

Theseus

Ariadne

Theseus’ father Aegeus, king of Athens, feared for his son’s life. If Theseus lived he was to change the black sail of the Athenian ship to white as he approached home. Unfortunately, as a result of other events on the journey home, including the loss of Ariadne, he forgot. Upon seeing the black sail on the horizon the grief stricken Aegeus through himself into the sea. From then on the sea was known as the Aegean.

Thus endeth this lesson.