Conjunction of Myth and Archaeology

My current novel in progress involves the conjunction of myth and archaeology, among other things. I’m reimagining the Greek myth of Achilles and Deidamia. I’m having fun with this novel, and in a short time, I’ll explore its mythical/historical setting, the island of Skyros. More on that in future posts.

Cretan Myth and Archaeology

But this week, the conjunction of myth and archaeology that has caught my attention is an article in LiveScience “Mysterious 4,000-year-old ‘palace’ with maze-like walls found on Greek island of Crete.” Any maze found on Crete brings up the myth of the labyrinth of King Minos in which the monstrous minotaur was kept. Often, scholars pass off the complicated building remains at Knossos as quite maze-like enough to explain the origins of this mythic maze/prison, but maybe not. (Photo at top of the minotaur on a 5th century BC Attic kylix © Marie-Lan Nguyen CC-BY 2.5 Wiki, in Madrid’s National Archaeology Museum).

A Maze by Any Other Name

While clearing an area for a new airport radar installation, workers uncovered unusual remains. Until now, excavated Minoan buildings were rectangular. However, archaeologists have excavated a circular structure about 157 feet in diameter with a circular building in the center and then walls radiating out from that structure. The bird’s eye photo of the excavated site looks exactly like a quintessential maze. Early days in digging this, much less interpreting what it was used for. Nonetheless, archaeologists have determined it wasn’t a residence, royal or otherwise. It seems likely to have served for some ritual event(s). Indeed, the abundance of animal bones currently excavated point toward communal feasts.

Further Reading

You may click through to the article to see the photo and read about more of the currently available details.

If you’d like to explore the minotaur myth through one of the novels of myth retelling that are enjoying such a delectable surge in popularity at the moment, I recommend Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne. Another mythic retelling that I enjoyed and reviewed recently is Eilish Quin’s Medea.