Labyrinth
An impossibly complex maze built beneath the palace of Knossos on Crete by the master craftsman Daedalus. The Labyrinth imprisoned the Minotaur at its center.
The Story of Labyrinth
King Minos of Crete commissioned Daedalus, the greatest inventor and craftsman of the ancient world, to build a structure so complex that nothing inside could ever find its way out. The result was the Labyrinth — a maze of countless corridors, dead ends, and winding passages beneath the palace of Knossos.
The Minotaur was imprisoned at its heart. Every nine years, fourteen Athenian youths were sent into the Labyrinth as tribute, where they wandered lost until the Minotaur found and devoured them. No one who entered had ever returned.
Theseus broke the pattern. Armed with a sword from Ariadne and, crucially, a ball of thread, he entered the Labyrinth, unwinding the thread as he went. He found and slew the Minotaur, then followed the thread back to the entrance. Minos, furious at Daedalus for helping Ariadne help Theseus, imprisoned the craftsman in his own Labyrinth. Daedalus escaped by building wings of wax and feathers for himself and his son Icarus.
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Labyrinth of Knossos
🏛 placearchitecture, mystery
The legendary maze built by Daedalus to contain the Minotaur, possibly inspired by the elaborate palace at Knossos with its hundreds of interconnecting rooms.
Labyrinth
💭 conceptInescapable maze
The Labyrinth was the maze built by Daedalus beneath Knossos to contain the Minotaur — its name became the word for any complex, confusing structure.
Minotaur
💭 conceptMythology and architecture
The bull-headed monster imprisoned in the Labyrinth of Crete, whose myth gave English the concept of the labyrinth as a place of confusion and entrapment
Knossos
🏛 placePalace of Minos and the Labyrinth
Knossos was the vast Bronze Age palace complex in Crete — seat of King Minos and the mythological site of the Labyrinth.
Mycenae
🏛 placeCitadel of Agamemnon
Mycenae was the great Bronze Age citadel in the Argolid, seat of King Agamemnon who led the Greek expedition against Troy — its Lion Gate still stands after 3,200 years.
Cocalus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A king of Sicily who sheltered the craftsman Daedalus after his escape from Crete and whose daughters killed King Minos with boiling water
Tartarus
🏛 placeThe deepest pit of the underworld
The deepest abyss beneath the earth, as far below Hades as heaven is above earth. Tartarus was the prison of the Titans and the ultimate place of punishment.
Daedalus
🗡 herocraft, invention
The legendary master craftsman of Athens and Crete who created the Labyrinth, artificial wings, and living statues, embodying the Greek ideal of techne.
Daedalus
🗡 heroMaster craftsman and inventor
The greatest inventor and craftsman of Greek mythology. Daedalus built the Labyrinth, crafted wings for human flight, and created automata — living statues.
Crete
🏛 placeIsland of the Minotaur and Minoan civilisation
Crete was the largest Greek island and the seat of the Minoan civilisation, home to King Minos, the labyrinth, and the bull-cult that produced some of mythology's most famous stories.
Thebes
🏛 placeCity of Cadmus and Oedipus
Thebes was the great city of Boeotia, founded by Cadmus who sowed dragon teeth, and the setting for the tragedies of Oedipus, Antigone, and the Seven Against Thebes.
Ilium
🏛 placeGeography
The citadel of Troy, site of the legendary ten-year siege by the Greek forces