Cretan myths
Greek myths, told by Greeks about Crete, NOT
told by Cretans
Cretans
THE OTHER
Stereotype: Cretans
lusty rogues and liars
Actual Cretan society
(pre-Greek, that is) known to us only
through archaeology
Minoan Civilization on Crete
They did not call themselves Minoans!
• Named by Sir Arthur Evans from stories of King Minos. Discovered through excavations of Sir Arthur Evans, Bulls an important cultural symbol
– Strength and power;
Horns of Consecration
Called horns of consecration
by Evans.
• Found throughout Crete; were
placed in prominent positions
on top of buildings.
• Bull imagery ubiquitous in
Minoan culture
Labyrinth
place of the double
ax
Cretan Myth: Bulls
Europa: descended from Io
• Zeus smitten with her and appears to her as an especially friendly bull.
• She climbs on top of this bull, and he manages to swim out into the Aegean, taking her
with him.
• He swims to Crete as the bull, reveals himself, and keeps her there as his mistress.
• Europa bears several children to Zeus:
• Minos (after death, becomes a judge in Hades).
Minos and the Bull of the Sea
Minos and his brothers fight over a young boy, and Minos banishes his
two brothers.
• Minos will claim the kingship of Crete when his step-father Asterius
dies.
• As proof of his worthiness, he asks that a great bull should rise
from the sea, which he promises to sacrifice to Poseidon.
• A splendid bull rises, so splendid that Minos hides it and sacrifices
another one in its stead.
• Marries Pasiphaë, a daughter of Helius, a sister of Circe!
• Children: Ariadnê, Phaedra, and Androgeus
Pasiphaë and the Bull of the Sea
Angry that Minos did not sacrifice the bull from the sea to him,
Poseidon causes Pasiphaë to lust for the bull.
• She reveals her desire to the master craftsman Daedalus, who happened
to be visiting Crete at that time, in exile from Athens for murder of his
nephew.
• He builds a rolling wooden cow in which Pasiphaë crouches out in the
pasture.
• The bull mounts the wooden cow and impregnates Pasiphaë (!)
• She bears the man-eating Minotaur, with the head of a bull and the
body of a man.
• Minotaur = “bull of Minos”
Minos and Athens
Minos then moves on from Megara to Athens, but he cannot capture
the city; he prays for Zeus’ help.
• Zeus helps Minos, sends plague and famine; Athens surrenders to
Minos.
• Athens’ punishment: send regular shipments of 7 boys and 7 girls
for the Minotaur to eat.
• Theseus, newly appeared as the rightful son of Aegeus, volunteers
to go and face the Minotaur.
• Theseus seeks to free Athens from Minos (i.e., liberate Athens from its
Cretan master)
Theseus and the Minotaur
When Theseus arrives on Crete, Ariadnê (daughter of Minos) falls for him at
first sight (sound familiar?).
• She gives him a ball of thread on the suggestion of Daedalus.
• Our word clue originally meant a ball of thread: its metaphorical meaning
comes from this very story!
• Theseus unrolls the thread as he hunts the Minotaur, kills him, then follows the
thread back out.
• Theseus then flees with Ariadnê, but he soon dumps her on the island of
Naxos.
• Remember Minos and Scylla in Megara? If she’ll betray her own father and
people, can he trust her?
• Dionysus comes upon Ariadnê watching Theseus sail away.
Ariadnê as Cretan Goddess?
Dionysus then marries Ariadnê.
• Possibly explainable if Ariadnê
understood as a Cretan Great Mother
figure, snake goddess.
• The Greek name Ariadnê = “the very
holy one”
Daedalus and Icarus
Theseus returns to Athens, becomes king, etc.
• Minos turns on Daedalus because he helped Ariadnê with the ball of
thread.
• Plus, he made Pasiphaë’s cow structure in the first place!
• Minos imprisons Daedalus and his son Icarus in the Labyrinth.
• Daedalus makes wings (feathers bound with wax), and escapes by
flying out with Icarus.
• Icarus flies too close to the sun, the wax melts, and he falls into the
sea.
– Clear moral: ‘Nothing in excess’; avoid the extremes
– Gives name to the Icarian sea (etiology).
Musée des Beaux Arts
W.H. Auden - painting of icarus
Theseus’ story: male initiation
• Young initiate is driven from his native town.
– Theseus journeys to a far land.
• He undergoes mock death and encounters demons from the other world.
– Theseus overcomes death and a monster.
• He has some form of sexual experience.
– Theseus has an amorous adventure (Ariadne).
• The initiate returns to society with the full privileges of an adult.
– Theseus is elevated to kingship upon his return.
– Theseus was considered the protective spirit of ephebes in Athens, young men
on the verge of adulthood
thalassocracy
Crete was once a great sea power (thalassocracy).
• Minos thought to have the first navy, sails to Greece to attack Athens.
• Theseus sails to Crete to free Athens; Athenians themselves become a great sea power in the 5th century
