Have you ever been to the Greek island of Crete? If so, I hope you had the opportunity to visit Knossos to see the reconstructed Minoan palace, the reputed home of the Minotaur.

I have visited it twice but, although I descended into the Labyrinth, I never saw the Minotaur, Theseus or Ariadne.

ariadne

Ariadne
John Wiliam Waterhouse 1896

Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete.

Minos commanded Daedalus to build a Labyrinth, a house of winding passages, to house the bull-man, the Minotaur, the beast that his wife Pasiphae bore after having intercourse with a bull.

Minos required tribute from Athens in the form of young men and women to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.

Theseus, an Athenian, volunteered to accompany one of these groups of victims to deliver his country from the tribute to Minos.

Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and gave him a thread which he let unwind through the Labyrinth so that he was able to kill the Minotaur and find his way back out again.

(N.B. As always, click on the image to enlarge)