Labyrinth (Crete)

The Labyrinth of antiquity was located on the island of Crete and the prison of the Minotaur. [1]

History

According Taurus, his ancestor was imprisoned in the Labyrinth, where he was starved and ultimately killed by Theseus, a human "hero". The Minotaur only spent the last few years of his life there. ("The New Olympians") [2]

Real World Background

According to legend, King Minos commissioned Daedalus to build the Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur and hide it from the world. The design proved so complex that Daedalus himself struggled to exit it.

However accurate the legends of an ancient complex prison are located on the island of Crete, excavation since the 16th Century has unearthed Cretan coins as old as 300 BC depicting a Labyrinth on their faces. [3]

See Also

• Labyrinth at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia