Speaker 1: Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help
Speaker 1: you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about labyrinths in Greek mythology.
Speaker 1: The labyrinth is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built
Speaker 1: by the mythological artificer Dedalus for Team Minus of creed
Speaker 1: at Nassus. Its function was to hold a minotaur, the
Speaker 1: monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Didalus had so
Speaker 1: cunningly made the labyrinth that he could barely escape it
Speaker 1: after he built it. Although early cretent coins occasionally exhibit
Speaker 1: branching multiicursal patterns, the single pass unit cursal's seven course
Speaker 1: classical design without branching or dead ends became associated with
Speaker 1: the labyrinths on coins as early as four hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty BC, and similar non branching patterns became widely used
Speaker 1: as visual representations of the labyrinth, even though both logical
Speaker 1: and literary descriptions make it clear that the minotaur was
Speaker 1: trapped in a complex branching maze. Even as the designs
Speaker 1: became more elaborate, visual depictions of the mythological labyrinths from
Speaker 1: the Roman era until the Renaissance are almost invariably unicursal
Speaker 1: branching mazes were reintroduced only when hedge mazes became popular
Speaker 1: during the Renaissance. In English, the term labyrinth is generally
Speaker 1: synonymous with maize as a result of the long history
Speaker 1: of unicursal representation of the mythological labyrinth. However, many contemporary
Speaker 1: scholars and enthusiasts observe a distinction between the two. In
Speaker 1: this specialized usage, maize refers to a complex, branching, multiicursal
Speaker 1: puzzle with choices of path and direction, while a unicursal
Speaker 1: labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A
Speaker 1: labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the
Speaker 1: center and back and presents no navigational challenge. Unicursal labyrinths
Speaker 1: appeared as designs on pottery or basketry, as body art,
Speaker 1: and an etchings on walls of caves or churches created
Speaker 1: many primarily decorative unicursal designs on walls and floors in
Speaker 1: tile or mosaic. Many labyrinths set in floors or on
Speaker 1: the ground are large enough that the path can be walked.
Speaker 1: Unicursal patterns have been used historically both in group ritual
Speaker 1: and for private meditation, and are increasingly found for therapeutic
Speaker 1: use in hospitals and hospices. Labyrinth is a word of
Speaker 1: pre Greek origin whose derivation and meaning are uncertain. Maximilian
Speaker 1: Mayer suggested in eighteen ninety two that labyrinthus might derive
Speaker 1: from labras, a Lydian word for double bladed acts. Arthur Evans,
Speaker 1: who excavated the Minoan palace of Nassus in crete early
Speaker 1: in the twentieth century, suggested that the ruins there inspired
Speaker 1: the story of the labyrinth, and since the double axe
Speaker 1: motif appears in the palace ruins, he asserted that labyrinths
Speaker 1: could be understood to mean the house of the double axe.
Speaker 1: The same symbol, however, was discovered in other palaces in crete.
Speaker 1: Nilsen observed that in crete the double axe is not
Speaker 1: a weapon and always accompanies goddesses or women, and not
Speaker 1: a male god. Pliny's Natural History gives four examples of
Speaker 1: ancient labyrinths, the Cretan labyrinths, an Egyptian labyrinth, a Lemnian labyrinth,
Speaker 1: and an Italian labyrinth. These are all complex undergrounds structures,
Speaker 1: and this appears to have been the standard classical understanding
Speaker 1: of the word. When the Bronze age side at Nassis
Speaker 1: was excavated by archaeologist Arthur Evans, the complexity of the
Speaker 1: architecture prompted him to suggest that the palace had been
Speaker 1: the Labyrinths of Dedalus. Evans found various bold motifs, including
Speaker 1: an image of a man leaping over the horns of
Speaker 1: a bull, as well as depictions of labras carved into
Speaker 1: the walls. On the strength of a passage in the Iliad,
Speaker 1: it has been suggested that the palace was the site
Speaker 1: of a dancing ground made by Ariadne by the craftsman Dedalus,
Speaker 1: where young men and women of the age of those
Speaker 1: sent to creed as prey for the minotaur would dance together.
Speaker 1: By extension and popular legend, the palace is associated with
Speaker 1: the myths of the minotaur. In the two thousands, archaeologists
Speaker 1: explored other potential sites of the labyrinth. Oxford University geographer
Speaker 1: Nicholas Howarth believes that evans hypothesis that the Palace of
Speaker 1: Nassus is also the Labyrinth must be treated skeptically. Howarth
Speaker 1: and his team conducted a surge of an underground complex
Speaker 1: known as the Scotano cave, but concluded that it was
Speaker 1: formed naturally. Another contender is a series of tunnels at Gorton,
Speaker 1: accessed by a narrow crack, but expanding into interlinking caverns.
Speaker 1: Unlike the Scordino Cave, these caverns have smooth walls and columns,
Speaker 1: and appear to have been at least part human made.
Speaker 1: This psy corresponds to a labyrinth symbol on a sixteenth
Speaker 1: century map of Creed and a book of maps in
Speaker 1: the Library of christ Church, Oxford. A map of the
Speaker 1: caves themselves was produced by the French in eighteen twenty one.
Speaker 1: Howurs investigation was shown on a documentary produced for the
Speaker 1: National Geographic Channel. In book two of his histories, Herodotus
Speaker 1: applies the term labyrinth to a building complex in Egypt,
Speaker 1: near the place called the City of Crocodiles that he
Speaker 1: considered to surpass the pyramids. The structure, which may have
Speaker 1: been a collection of funerary temples such as are commonly
Speaker 1: found near Egyptian pyramids, was destroyed in antiquity and can
Speaker 1: only be partially reconstructed. During the nineteenth century, the remains
Speaker 1: of this ancient Egyptian structure were discovered at Hawera and
Speaker 1: Fayumawasis by Flinders Petrie at the foot of the pyramid
Speaker 1: of the twelfth dynasty pharaoh Ammanin had the Third reigned
Speaker 1: circa eighteen sixty b C. To circa eighteen fourteen b C.
Speaker 1: Plenty of the Elder's Natural History lists the legendary Smilus,
Speaker 1: reputed to be a contemporary of Diedalus, together with the
Speaker 1: historical mid sixth century BC architects and sculptors Rocus and Theodorus,
Speaker 1: as two of the makers of the Lemnian labyrinth. According
Speaker 1: to Pliny, the tomb of Lars Porsena contained an underground maze.
Speaker 1: Plenty's description of the exposed portion of the tomb is intractable. Plenty,
Speaker 1: it seems clear, had not observed this structure himself, but
Speaker 1: is quoting historian and Roman antiquarian Vara. A design essentially
Speaker 1: identical to the seven course classical pattern appears in the
Speaker 1: Tonoho Dasho culture of the Sonoran Desert. It features Eoe
Speaker 1: the man in the maze. The Tonoho Dshan pattern has
Speaker 1: two distinct differences from the classical It is radial in design,
Speaker 1: and the entrance is at the top, where classical labyrinths
Speaker 1: have the entrance at the bottom. The earliest appearances cannot
Speaker 1: be dated securely. The oldest is commonly dated to the
Speaker 1: seventeenth century. Unsubstantiated claims have been made for the early
Speaker 1: appearance of labyrinth figures in India, such as a prehistoric
Speaker 1: petroglyph on a river bank in Goa purportedly dating to
Speaker 1: circle twenty five hundred BC. Other examples have been found
Speaker 1: among cave art in northern India and on a Dolman
Speaker 1: shrine in Thenlgri Mountains, but are difficult to date accurately.
Speaker 1: Securely datable examples begin to appear only around two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty b C. Early labyrinths in India typically follow
Speaker 1: the classical pattern or a local variant of it. Some
Speaker 1: have been described as plans of forts or cities. Labyrinths
Speaker 1: appear in Indian manuscripts from the seventeenth century onward. They
Speaker 1: are often called Chakravuha in reference to an impregnable battle
Speaker 1: formation described in the ancient mah Bahata epic. Lanka. The
Speaker 1: capital city of mesek Ravana is described as a labyrinth
Speaker 1: in the nineteen ten translation of Alberuni's India by the
Speaker 1: White Sea. Notably in the Solovetsky Islands, there have been
Speaker 1: preserved more than thirty stone labyrinths. The most remarkable monument
Speaker 1: is the stone labyrinth of Bolshoi Zaatsky Island, a group
Speaker 1: of some thirteen stone labyrinths on point four square kilometer
Speaker 1: area of one small island. Local archeologists have speculated that
Speaker 1: these labyrinths may be two thousand to three thousand years old.
Speaker 1: The most researchers remain dubious. The seven course classical or
Speaker 1: Cretan pattern, known from Cretan coins, circle of four hundred
Speaker 1: to two hundred b c appears in several examples from antiquity,
Speaker 1: some perhaps as early as the Late Stone Age or
Speaker 1: early Bronze Age. Roman floor mosaics typically unite four copies
Speaker 1: of the classical labyrinth or a similar pattern, and are
Speaker 1: linked around the center, squared off as the medium requires,
Speaker 1: but still recognizable. An image of the minotaur or an
Speaker 1: allusion to the legend of the minotaur appears at the
Speaker 1: center of many of these mosaic labyrinths. The four axis
Speaker 1: medieval patterns may have developed from the Roman model, but
Speaker 1: are more varied in how the four quadrants of the
Speaker 1: design are traced down. The minotaur or other danger is
Speaker 1: retained in the center of several medieval examples. The Shartra pattern,
Speaker 1: named for its appearance in the Shartra Cathedral, is a
Speaker 1: most common medieval design. It appears in manuscripts as early
Speaker 1: as the ninth century. When the early humanist Benso de
Speaker 1: Lessandria visited Verona before thirteen ten, he noted the labyrinthum,
Speaker 1: which is now called the Arena. Perhaps he was seen
Speaker 1: the cubicle beneath the arena's missing floor. The full flowering
Speaker 1: of the medieval labyrinth came about from the twelfth through
Speaker 1: fourteenth centuries with the grand pavement labyrinths of the Gothic cathedrals,
Speaker 1: notably Chartre, Reronce and Amiens in northern France. Thembolism or
Speaker 1: purpose behind these is unclear and may have varied from
Speaker 1: one installation to the next. Descriptions survive of French clerics
Speaker 1: performing a ritual Easter dance along the paths on Easter Sunday.
Speaker 1: Some labyrinths may have originated as allusions to the Holy City,
Speaker 1: and some modern writers have theorized that prayers and devotions
Speaker 1: may have accompanied their parambulations of their intricate paths. Although
Speaker 1: some books in particular guide books suggest that the mazes
Speaker 1: on cathedral floors served as substitutes for pilgrimage paths. The
Speaker 1: earliest attested use of the phrase path to Jerusalem dates
Speaker 1: to the late eighteenth century, when it was used to
Speaker 1: describe mazes at Ronz and Saint Omer. The accompanying ritual
Speaker 1: depicted in Romantic illustrations as involving pilgrims following the maize
Speaker 1: on their knees, while praying may have been practiced as
Speaker 1: schartra during the seventeenth century. The cathedral labyrinths are sought
Speaker 1: to be the inspiration for the many turf mazes in
Speaker 1: the UK, such as survive at wing Hild in Opera
Speaker 1: and saffron Walden. Over the same general periods, some five
Speaker 1: hundred or more non ecclesiastical labyrinths were constructed in Scandinavia.
Speaker 1: These labyrinths, generally in coastal areas, are marked out with stones,
Speaker 1: most often in the simple seven or eleven course classical forms.
Speaker 1: They often have names which translate as Troy Town. They
Speaker 1: are thought to have been constructed by fishing communities. Trapping
Speaker 1: malevolent rolls or winds in the labyrinth coils might ensure
Speaker 1: a safe fishing expedition. There are also stone labyrinths on
Speaker 1: the Isle of Scilly, although none is known to date
Speaker 1: from before the nineteenth century. There are examples of labyrinths
Speaker 1: and many disparate cultures. The symbol has appeared in various
Speaker 1: forms and media petroglyphs, classic form, medieval form, pavement, turf
Speaker 1: and basketry at some time throughout most parts of the world,
Speaker 1: from native North and South America to Australia, Java, India
Speaker 1: and Nepal. Starting in the late twentieth century, there has
Speaker 1: been a resurgence of interest in labyrinths and a revival
Speaker 1: in labyrinths building of both universal and multicursal patterns. Approximately
Speaker 1: six thousand labyrinths have been registered with the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator.
Speaker 1: These are located around the world in private properties, libraries, schools,
Speaker 1: gardens and recreational areas, as well as famous temples and cathedrals.
Speaker 1: Mark Wallingers created a set of two hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: enamel plaques of unicursal labyrinth designs, one for every tube
Speaker 1: station in the London Underground to mark the one hundred
Speaker 1: and fiftieth anniversary of the Underground. The plaques were installed
Speaker 1: over a sixteen month period in twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen,
Speaker 1: and each is numbered according to its position in the
Speaker 1: route taken by the contestants and the two thousand nine
Speaker 1: Guinness World Record Tube Challenge. Prehistoric labyrinths may have served
Speaker 1: as traps for malevolent spirits or as paths for ritual dances.
Speaker 1: Many Roman and Christian labyrinths appear at the entrances of buildings,
Speaker 1: suggesting that they may have served a similar apotrophic purpose,
Speaker 1: and their cross cultural study of signs and symbols patterns
Speaker 1: that can act. Karl Schuster and Edmund Carpenter present various
Speaker 1: forms of the labyrinth and suggest various possible meanings, including
Speaker 1: not only a sacred path to the home of a
Speaker 1: sacred ancestor, but also perhaps a representation of the ancestor
Speaker 1: him or herself. Many New World Indians who make the
Speaker 1: labyrinths regarded as a sacred symbol, a beneficial ancestor a deity.
Speaker 1: In this they may be preserving its original meaning, the
Speaker 1: ultimate ancestor here evoked by two continuous lines joining its
Speaker 1: twelve primary joints. Schuster also observes a common theme of
Speaker 1: the labyrinths being a refuge for a trickster. In India,
Speaker 1: the demon Ravenna has dominion over labyrinths. The trickster Jnaha
Speaker 1: lives in a labyrinth, according to Sumatron Bottocks and Europeans
Speaker 1: say it is the home of a rogue. One can
Speaker 1: think of labyrinths as symbolic of pilgrimage people walking the
Speaker 1: path ascend towards salvation or enlightenment. Mystical teachings and traditions
Speaker 1: across sentries suggests that they may also be understood as
Speaker 1: coded maps of the spiritual path. Labyrinth walking is a
Speaker 1: form of active meditation in which one navigates the labyrinths
Speaker 1: for meditative or therapeutic purposes. Modern labyrinths have been built
Speaker 1: in places of rehabilitation, such as prisons and hospitals, to
Speaker 1: be used in this way. While this activity is often
Speaker 1: connected with a religious practice, it has been introduced into
Speaker 1: medical settings for spiritual and secular usage alike. Some phaith
Speaker 1: based researchers have claimed that labyrinth walking can help calm
Speaker 1: the mind and guide people through internal growth, while secular
Speaker 1: studies regarding its effectiveness and reducing stress are still ongoing.
Speaker 1: Labyrinths have on various occasions been used in Christian tradition
Speaker 1: as a part of worship. The earliest known example is
Speaker 1: from a fourth century pavement of the basilica of Saint
Speaker 1: Reparatus at Orleansville, Algeria. Was the words sunct Ecclesia at
Speaker 1: the center, though it is unclear how it might have
Speaker 1: been used in worship in medieval times. Labyrinths began to
Speaker 1: appear on church walls and floors around one thousand a d.
Speaker 1: The most famous medieval labyrinths, with great influence on later practice,
Speaker 1: was created in Shartra Cathedral. The use of labyrinths has
Speaker 1: recently been revived in some contexts of Christian worship. Many
Speaker 1: churches in Europe and North America have constructed permanent, typically
Speaker 1: unicursal labyrinths or employed temporary ones e g. Painted on
Speaker 1: canvas or outlined with candles. For example, a labyrinth was
Speaker 1: set upon the floor of Saint Paul's Cathedral for a
Speaker 1: week in March two thousand. Labyrinths and mazes have been
Speaker 1: embraced by the video game industry, and countless video games
Speaker 1: include such a feature. For example, the nineteen ninety four
Speaker 1: video game Maraison features many maze like passages. The player
Speaker 1: must navigate a number of film, game and music creations
Speaker 1: feature labyrinths. For instance, the avant garde multi screen film
Speaker 1: In the Labyrinth presents a search for meaning in a
Speaker 1: symbolic modern labyrinth. The well received two thousand six film
Speaker 1: Pans Labyrinth draws heavily upon Labyrinth's legend for symbolism. A
Speaker 1: magical labyrinth appears in the third episode, and the horns
Speaker 1: of a Dilemma of the Librarians. The cold classic film
Speaker 1: by Jim Henson Labyrinth nineteen eighty six. Film features an
Speaker 1: enormous other worldly maids which a young woman must traverse
Speaker 1: to save her younger brother. The Argentine writer Porte Luis
Speaker 1: Borges was entranced with the idea of the labyrinth and
Speaker 1: used it extensively in his short stories, such as The
Speaker 1: House of Astyrion in the oliph His use of it
Speaker 1: has inspired other authors. Additionally, Roger Zelsny's fantasy series The
Speaker 1: Chronicles of Amber features a labyrinth called the Pattern, which
Speaker 1: grants those who walk at the power to move between
Speaker 1: parallel worlds. In Rick reardon series Percy Jackson and the Olympians,
Speaker 1: the events of the fourth novel, The Battle of the Labyrinth,
Speaker 1: predominantly take place within the Labyrinth of Diedalus, which has
Speaker 1: followed the Heart of the West to settle beneath the
Speaker 1: United States. Ursula. Gwynn used an underground labyrinth in the
Speaker 1: second book of her Earth Sea series, The Tombs of Attwin,
Speaker 1: in which the series hero ged is captured by the
Speaker 1: book's protagonist Tenor on his trip to the Cargish Empire.
Speaker 1: The spiritual power of the Nameless Ones is vested, at
Speaker 1: least in part, in the labyrinths. Australian author Sarah Douglas
Speaker 1: incorporated some labyrinthine ideas in her series The Troy Game,
Speaker 1: in which the labyrinth on Crete is one of several
Speaker 1: in the ancient world created with the cities as a
Speaker 1: source of magical power. Lawrence Durrell's The Dark Labyrinth depicts
Speaker 1: travelers trapped underground and creed because the labyrinth can serve
Speaker 1: as a metaphor for situations that are difficult to be
Speaker 1: extricated from. Octaviopause titled his book on Mexican identity The
Speaker 1: Labyrinth of Solitude, describing the Mexican condition as orphaned and
Speaker 1: lost