An Amazing Puzzle: The Enigma of Mazes and Labyrinths

Image Credit

The most famous labyrinth of ancient times is said to have been constructed at Knossos in Crete by the famed architect and sculptor Daedalus, under the orders of King Minos. According to legend, its innermost sanctum was the lair of the fearful Minotaur. A monstrous creature that was half man, half bull, the Minotaur devoured the seven young men and seven maidens whom the people of Athens were forced to send annually to Minos. Minos demanded this compensation for the death of his son at the hands of the Athenians. Finally Theseus – with the help of Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of Minos – slew the Minotaur and escaped the winding passageways.

Image Credit

Despite the popularity of the legend, the actual form of the Cretan labyrinth is unknown. It may have been no more than a decorated pavement for ritual dances, or the legend may refer to a network of caverns today known as the Gortyna Caves; they are linked by winding tunnels near the Palace of Minos at Knossos.

Image Credit

Image Credit

Some experts believe that the labyrinth never existed at all, that the word is derived from the Greek word labrys, meaning “double ax.” Crete and Knossos in particular, was well known for a bull cult that flourished in classical times. Double-headed axes were used to slaughter sacrificial bulls, and the palace of Minos may simply have been called the Labyrinth because it was “the place of the double axes.” So far, at least, the archeologist’s spade has revealed at Knossos no trace of the kind of labyrinth described in the legend.

Image Credit

Rituals and Games

Image Credit

In medieval times, mazes were drawn on the floors and walls of some of the great churches and cathedrals built in Europe. Some of these were known as the Chemin of Jerusalem. The idea seems to have been that people who were unable to make an actual pilgrimage to the Holy Land could make a symbolic one, either by tracing the paths of a maze on the church wall with a finger or, on their knees, shuffling uncomfortably along the pathway of a floor maze. Other mazes were thought to represent Christ’s final journey from the house of Pontius Pilate to Calvary.

Image Credit

In Britain mazes specifically designed for pagan games were cut in the fields; probably hundreds of such turf mazes existed in ancient times. They had different local names, such as Mizmaze, the Shepherd’s Race, or Julian’s Bower, and the country people played games such as the Game of Troy or Treading the Maze on them. Unfortunately, the rules have long been lost. Today there are only nine turf mazes left in Britain.

Image Credit

Spiral Motifs – Mazes throughout the world take many shapes and forms. The Mizmaze ‘Julian’s Bower’ in Alkborough, Lincolnshire, England (above) is one of the few remaining turf mazes in Britain.

Image Credit

After the 14th century, hedge mazes were built in the gardens of grand homes to entertain visitors. Louis XIV of France built a spectacular one at Versailles; it was destroyed in 1775. The most famous hedge maze is probably the one laid out in 1690 at Hampton Court in London.

Image Credit

In less verdant areas of Europe, such as the coastline of Scandinavia, mazes have been constructed from the most abundant available material: stones, ranging in size from pebbles to boulders. Yet once again their purpose is in dispute. For example, at Visby on the island of Gotland off Sweden, a historian making inquiries in the 19th century was told that the local maze was used for children’s games, but other evidence suggests that they may have been ritual sites where sailors danced for luck before a voyage.

Image Credit

More recent times have seen a revival of maze building in places as diverse as Varmland in Sweden, the Château de Beloeil in Belgium, and Floors Castle in Scotland. In 1968 the sculptor Michael Ayrton constructed a 1,680-foot-long “Cretan labyrinth” at Arkville in New York State, using stone and 200,000 bricks.

Image Credit

New mazes and labyrinths will continue to be built. Whether they are symbols, places of ritual, or for entertainment, mazes are testaments to human ingenuity and to a love of puzzles as old as time.