Dikteon Cave, Childhood home of Zeus

On a hot day last week my guest Ian Murphy and I made the trek across Crete to Mount Ida and the Dikteon Cave.

It is about a three hour drive although less that 200 kilometres. Such is travelling on Crete through the rugged mountains. We took a wrong turn and discovered the wonderful village of Mochos- a place to which I certainly want to return.




















Zeus appears to have had his roots in Crete.

Many other places make this claim as well but this Canuck is convinced that it was here that Zeus came into existence in the minds of the people long ago. Why- because I can.

Before any written record that can be read Zeus was worshipped on Crete.

It may be that when the Linear A texts are deciphered [the Minoan writings] they will record an earlier version of Zeus' evolving story than previously known

According the oldest Greek myths Zeus was born to the sister and brother Rhea and Cronus

The goddess Rhea appear to mean "ground" or Mother Earth and she was mother to all the Olympian gods although not an Olympian herself. The second largest moon of Saturn is named for her.

Cronus had killed his own father - Uranus- to become the most powerful god and knew one of his children was to dethrone him.

So Cronus ate his sons and daughters as they were born so none could challenge him.




Rhea was disturbed by this pattern of behaviour so when the 6th child was born on Crete, Zeus, she tricked Cronus with a stone which he swallowed believing it to be Zeus.
She then secreted Zeus away to the Dikteon Cave, where he was raised by the nymph Adamanthea.




Cronus was the god of earth, air and water so hiding him was a challenge. Adamanthes suspended him on a rope in the middle of the cave so Cronus could not know where he was.

The Dikteon Cave is found within Mount Ida- the highest mountain on Crete at 2500 m or just over 8000 feet.


The mountains on Crete are quite dangerous as they are limestone and full of caves and holes into which many explorers and hikers have disappeared. Remember the old movie- "Journey to the Centre of the Earth?" The survivors of that movie emerged on Crete.


To get to this side of Mt Ida requires a trip across the spectacular Plateau of Lisithi and up to Psychro - which means the "cold village" and is one of the few villages in the Mediterrean that is above 800 meters. It gets several feet of snow in the winter.











I have a bad knee so I had an excuse to take a donkey so Dora took me to the top of the trail to the Dikteon Cave while Ian took the "scared way" and thus is a true worshipper of Zeus.

The cave is almost vertical and defends steeply into a cool, damp gloom. I can only imagine the ancient people with some sort of fire torch making their way down the treacherous rock falls with the slimy algae growths on the rock. The torch would have cast strange and terrifying images as the stalagmites and stalactites emerge from the ceiling and down the walls, walls etched in coatings akin to those found in the horror movie Alien 1.

The entrance to the cave is down a set of steep steps and care has to taken as these are damp and slippery.

This map of the cave depicts the stairways- not a boardwalk as I had first assumed when I saw it. 















The subdued cave lighting is just enough to make one's way around safely and to see the incredible rock formations yet dark enough to let the imagination wander. It is weird and magnificent at the same time and I can easily see why such a place was attributed spiritual significance for surely a god did live here.

According to an old legend mortals were forbidden to enter the scared cave. Laius, Cerberus, Celeus and Aegolius were determined to enter the cave to collect the sacred honey from the countless sacred bees that make this home.

Entering the cave they found the swaddling clothes of Zeus who was enraged and threw thunder bolts at them. I guess we could conclude they found themselves in deep "s..t on more than one level at the same time. But it was impossible to die in the sacred cave so Themis and the Fates turned the men into birds to save them from eternal torture at the hands of Zeus.

Another myth has it the Minos, king of the Minoans, met his father Zeus in this cave every nine years to receive the renewed laws of people.

This myth resulted in the myth that Minos became the absolute judge of all and after his death became the judge of Hades where all injustices of life were accounted for in the afterlife.

Another myth says that Minos was born in this cave. When Zeus abducted Europa from Phoenicia where she was a princess, he took her here and after their union Minos was born.

 Epimenides was attributed as being one the wisest men of he ancient world. He visited this cave and fell asleep. He awoke many years later having not aged but having acquired his great wisdom and insightful divine knowledge.

The Diktone Cave has been a special place for millennia and remains such a place to this day.

I feel wiser for just having been here

Worshippers throughout many centuries made their own pilgrimages to this cave to worship Zeus and offer sacrifices such as these incredible, but impractical, bronze shields from the Bronze age. These appear to have been buried in the cave as offerings to Zeus. 

Thank you for reading this post. I would welcome some feedback or questions and of course any inaccuracies that you may have found.

New and Old, Odds and Sods

This entry to to compile some interesting items that either stand alone or juxtapose past and present. I hope you enjoy some of these pictures and contrasts.



Take for example this shop window in the Bourgo. It features a couple of shelves of papas [Greek Orthodox Priests] engaged in various activities. Some you would expect: baptizing, holding an icon. praying etc. But others are curious. We have the fishing priest or the priest mending nets in the centre front of the top shelf.








What is the market for two priest playing ping pong- or pocket billiards?

Shop windows in the Bourgo are premium space. how does it get given over to these? Just how high is the demand for these images of the priests?










Here a priest doing laundry and a boxer priest. Very different indeed.

In reality the priests seem to be rather aloof. As i walk the streets I often make eye contact with the locals and they are quire friendly while the priests on the other hand seem to look through me or just avoid any eye contact. Strange I think.

This was once a sidewalk or roadside shrine site for commemoration or veneration. Whatever it may have been, the shrine item has been removed and replaced with a public phone in the mountain village of Apeiranthos.

The mountain villages originated when piracy became became a plague several centuries ago. After the fall of the Byzantine [Eastern Roman Empire] beginning around 1000 CE, the pirates [Saracens] made life difficult. Naxos was relatively safe as the population abandoned the coast for the mountain villages in the interior.  The villages were sited first so they could not be seen from the sea and secondly around defensive and agricultural values such as water.






Now this was a really interesting and intriguing scene. On this wind swept ridge high on a mountain pass is an old windmill, the kind that is distinctive of these islands and seen in many places.

Yet right behind is the contemporary wind power generators we see across the world. The old technology and new technology juxtaposed in an eye catching scene.

If you were following my winter blogs you may remember the story of Zeus and Europa . If not you can scroll down and find that entry  from last January on this blog. Here, at the museum  in  Naxos, is a tile floor mosaic of Zeus disguised as a white bull swimming Europa to Crete  after  tricking her.  This mosaic  is especially well preserved and still conveys the brilliant colours

Chalki is another quaint little village and here a family has been making Kitron for five generations. Kitron [ a kind of lemon tasting liquor] is only made on Naxos and thus another feature of the island culture. This distilling kiln was  built by the great great great grandfather of the young woman who gave us the tour. This family business makes only 35,000 bottles a year but it is enough for the family to make a living from their own work, on their own farms and from their distillery. Kitron is a citrus fruit resembling gigantic lemons however it is the leaves of the tree that are used for the distilling of kitron. The peel is used in spoon sweets often used to welcome company to one's home. It is very good. And yes of course we have a bottle. 

Walking along the waterfront I came across this cat in the flowering shrubs- very intent on catching supper. Not sure what creature was there. A bird probably. Cats run wild here and are important for rodent control. Some live a hard life for them. Some islands have an animal rescue league of volunteers composed of ex-pats like the British, and some of the local people. These non-profit groups to try and help these animals with such things as flee collars so they don't suffer as much.

The sheep can be hobbled by some owners so they can't get out the fields and wander around. It is sad to see them restrained in this way and trying to eat the stubble. But again, who wants them grazing in gardens? This is the dry season. Once the rain returns the field spring into green life.

I did not expect to find a tortoise in  the Bourgo 

but here one is. They are rather common
 apparently  but hard to see as they find little 

hideaways during the heat of 

the day and then find their food at night.

Looking through the base of Portara there is an interesting view of the town. This structure has 'watched' the town change and evolve for 26 centuries! Hard to imagine what all has been seen through this space over time- like looking through a portal.

In the Bourgo little unexpected things brighten up an otherwise dull wall such as this decorative feature

A shop in the village of Apeiranthos still features the "old"ways. The mountain villages are known as being a bit a of throw back in time. This is a small grocery store that offeres many home made items. Many of these bottles are various homemade wines, kitron, ouzo and preserves. Fascinating place to shop and the spices are incredible. 

As I mentioned previously, it is very refreshing to shop in 'real' stores where I do not know what I will find, instead of the box stores we are so familiar with and are so predictable. The shop owners and staff add to the enjoyable experience with their helpfulness and wonderful smiles especially when I try to say a few words in Greek- which must sound awful to them. It is also nice to be able to sample each owners wine, olives and spirits - all at very reasonable prices.

Europa and Zeus

Earlier in this blog I introduced the myth of Europa and Zeus.

I visited the site where Zeus supposedly took the young maiden to complete...  well, to have his way with her... etc





I rather doubt mutual consent was part of the thinking then.

So,  a brief review:

Zeus liked young women.










One day he took a fancy to Europa, a young women from Attica.

One day, as she gathered flowers, he disguised himself as a beautiful white bull.

He enticed her to embrace him and, when she did, he ran to the sea with her holding on for dear life - jumped into the waves and swam her to Crete



This is an ancient Athenian vase that depicts the myth. Note the use of both red and white in the depiction which indicates a date late in the Athenian pottery skill phase.








In Crete, they had three children.

One was Minos who became the king of the Minoans and founder of the civilization.

On my visit to Gortys,  I came across not only the place, but the "very plane tree" under which Zeus and Europa - well - you know.  For a myth that goes back a few millenia, the darn thing looked pretty hale and hearty.








Legend has it that this plane tree has refused to shed its leaves ever since - out of bashfulness? Respect?

And you know what- it still has its leaves!

Regardless- it's official - this sign says so.

Honest- No Bull !