Knossos
placeKnossos was the vast Bronze Age palace complex in Crete — seat of King Minos and the mythological site of the Labyrinth.
The Myth
Sir Arthur Evans excavated Knossos beginning in 1900 and revealed a palace complex covering over 20,000 square metres with 1,300 rooms, advanced plumbing, frescoes of bull-leaping, and storage magazines for olive oil and grain. He named the civilisation "Minoan" after King Minos. The palace's complexity — corridors within corridors, rooms within rooms — may have inspired the Labyrinth myth. The double-axe symbol (labrys) found throughout may be the Labyrinth's etymological source.
Symbols
Fun Fact
Evans controversially reconstructed parts of Knossos in concrete — creating the colourful "palace" tourists see today, which divides archaeologists.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Labyrinth
placeAn impossibly complex maze built beneath the palace of Knossos on Crete by the master craftsman...
Minos
heroMinos was the legendary king of Crete who ruled the first great maritime empire, commissioned the...
Acheron
placeThe Acheron was the River of Woe in the underworld, which the dead had to cross — in some...
Aeaea
placeAeaea was the mythical island home of Circe, the divine sorceress who transformed Odysseus's men...
Arcadia
placeArcadia was both a real mountainous region in the central Peloponnese and an idealised landscape of...
Argo (Ship)
placeThe Argo was the ship built by Argus for Jason's quest — the first long-voyage ship in Greek myth,...