| Greece | Crete | A Short History of the Island Mythology
Mythology
Crete has a very rich mythology. According to tradition and
myths, Crete was the birthplace of Zeus, the mightiest of the Gods.
Rhea, his mother, with the help of Uranus and Gaea, hid the
new-born Zeus in the Idaean Cave to protect him from his father Kronos, who devoured his
children in the fear that one of them would take over his throne. Rhea, to protect her
son, wrapped a long stone, which Kronos swallowed without realising it was not a baby.
The divine infant was cared for by the Nymphs, while a goat,
Amaltheia, fed it with her milk. When the baby cried, the Kouretes danced the
"pyrrichios" war-dance outside the cave, banging their spears on their shields
to keep the cries from reaching Kronos' ears.
When Zeus became king of the Greek gods, he honoured
Amaltheia by changing it into a star, the constellation of Capricorn. Zeus wore its hide
and made it an unassailable shield against the Titans. Amaltheia’s horn was the symbol
of abundance.
When Zeus grew up, he fought against his father and beeing
superior in strength and skill, he defeated him. Then, Kronos threw up the rest of his
children and Zeus governed the world with his eleven brothers and sisters. The stone,
which Kronos had shallowed instead of Zeus, had been placed in the oracle at Delphi in
order for people to see it and admire the power of Zeus.
Zeus and Europa
According to a myth, while Europa was in a prairie with her
friends gathering flowers, close to the shore, Zeus, who had changed himself into a
strong, white bull, approached them. He was calm and lied down to Europa’s feet. She
jumped on his back and, suddenly, he stood up and went to the sea. Europa screamed but her
friends couldn’t save her. So, Zeus with Europa on his back crossed the sea and reached
Crete. There, Ores had prepared the wedding bed in the Idaean Cave. Zeus had three
children with Europa, Minos, Radamanthys and Sarpedon.
Minos, a mythical and historical figure, with his golden
sceptre managed to join all the towns of Crete and created an impressive fleet of ships,
chased away the pirates, made wise laws and headed the Minoan religion. To reign
efectively over his country, Minos divided it into three regions: the first one faced to
Asia and had Knossos as its center, the second one faced to Africa and had Festos as its
center and the third faced to Europe and had Kidonia as its center.
Minos’ representative was his brother Radamanthys. Sarpedon
left Crete and made his own kingdom at Likia. Minos charged Talos with the administration
of justice. Talos, with the copper plates of the law on his back, was travelling all over
Crete to show to Cretans the rights and wrongs.
During Minos’ reign, Daedalus, a craftsman and inventor,
visited the island. Minos had invited him to decorate Crete with his famous marble statues
which were so life like with their legs open, their arms outstretched or up and with eyes
which looked like real. He also built the big palaces, the baths, the Labyrinth (a maze
impossible to get out of and the place where Minotaur was beeing held prisoner) and the
marble choir, where Ariadne, Minos’ daughter, danced with her friends during the
important feasts of the year.
Pasifae and Minotaur
Minos asked from Posidon to send him a sign that he was the
king of Cretans with the will of gods. Then, a beautiful bull jumped up from the waves.
This bull had to be sacrificed to Posidon but Minos kept him and he sacrificed another
one. Posidon was very angry and in order to punish Minos, he made Minos’ wife fall in
love with the bull. Pasifae, wanting to make love with the animal, she asked Daedalus for
help. He made a wooden cow which outside had real hide and inside Pasifae was hidden. The
bull approached the fake cow and Pasifae managed to fulfill her wish. After this mating,
Minotaur was born, a monster which had the head of a bull and the body of a man. Minos
didn’t kill Minotaur, but he inprisoned him in the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth, one of
Daedalus’ best works, was in the basement of the palace and although it was very easy
for someone to get in, it was impossible to get out. This strange structure had many
corridors that turned in a complicated pattern, which usually led nowhere. Minos used to
throw his enemies in this Labyrinth, where Minotaur lived and fed on human blood.
Ariadne and Thesseas
Athens having been considered responsible for Androgeos’
murder, one of Minos’ sons, was forced to pay a heavy toll to Crete by sending each year
some of its young men to become food for Minotaur. One year, Thesseas the son of the king
of Athens, Aegeus, decided to accompany his friends wanting to find a way to save Athens
from this humiliation for good. Ariadne, the daughter of Minos and Pasifae fell in love
with him and when she heard his intention, she volunteered to help him, if he took her
with him to Athens as his wife.
According to the decree, Athens would give food to Minotaur
until his death. So, Thisseas had to kill the monster to save Athens and himself. Daedalus
had said to Ariadne that if someone took a ball of wool and tied one end at the entrance,
he could, by holding the thread, move in and out of the Labyrinth as much as he wanted.
Thesseas following the instructions, found Minotaur in the center of the Labyrinth and
after a fierce fight he defeated and killed him leaving his blood flow as an offer to
Neptune.
Ariadne followed Thisseas to Dia or Naxos, but after their
mating, she didn’t see Thesseas again.
Daedalus and Ikaros
Daedalus, after having made the wooden cow for Passifae’s
mating with the bull, was afraid that Minos would punish him. So, he decided to leave.
Passifae helped him by giving him a boat. He took his son Ikaros with him. Sailing east
from Cyclades, near an island, Ikaros failed his step and fell overboard and drowned.
daedalus buried his son to the closest island, Ikaria, and the sea around was named Ikario
sea. Daedalus continued his journey alone and arrived to Cicely. He went to Kamino or
Iniko and stayed under the hospitality of king Kokalos.
According to a variation of the myth, Minos heard what
Daedalus had done, before he disappeared from Crete, and was seeking to punish him. But
Passifae was hiding him in a secure place. Then Minos ordered his men to investigate all
the ships which left the Cretan ports and he promised gold to the man who would turn in
Daedalus. So Daedalus had to find another way to save his son and himself. Finaly,
watching the birds fly, he thought that they could escape the same way. He gathered
feathers from every kind of bird, stuck them with wax and made wings for his son and him.
So one day father and son flew away from Crete like birds. During their flight, Ikaros
went too close to the sun and so the wax melted and his wings fell apart. Ikaros fell to
the sea and disappeared. Daedalus continued the flight alone and arrived to Cicely.
Another saying tells us that Daedalus and Ikaros escaped
using a ship with sails of which they were the inventors. Theirs’ was faster than the
pursuing ships which used oars and everyone who saw the sails of the ship disappear to the
horizon, said that daedalus and Ikaros acquired wings and flew.
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