Is this not the most amazing photograph? Many thanks to Catharina who sent this to me after we chatted about mazes. A few weeks back I read the story of Daedalus and his Labyrinth. As that same labyrinth comes up in today's story about Theseus it seemed appropriate to share this postcard here. This is Chartres Cathedral in France where there is a labyrinth that fills the nave. It dates from the early 13th century and is beautifully preserved. By the way, did you know that mazes and labyrinths aren't the same thing? They are used almost interchangeably, but labyrinths have only one path (usually quite circuitous) whereas in a maze there is a choice of paths.
The labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral has quite a different use/meaning than that found in Crete, but in a way the idea is the same--depicting arduous paths or journeys. I think I'm only going to share the part of Theseus's story that has to do with the Minoan Labyrinth, though I read about a number of adventures he had. Theseus is one of the best known and most loved of heroes. He was the son of the Athenian King Aegeus, who would later give his name to the Aegean Sea. Theseus was left with his mother to be raised in the country. When he was old enough and strong enough to roll away a large stone that covered a sword his father buried for him, he would be allowed to come to Athens and where the King would claim him as his son.
It wasn't long before Theseus grew into a strong young man and retrieving the sword was not difficult for him. He was so anxious to make his mark and show his abilities he took the most dangerous route he could think of in order to become a hero. And he was a hero in the best sense--loved and respected because the feats he performed were to the benefit of others. Wanting to endear himself to the Athenian people he volunteered to go to Crete where every nine years a group of young men and women were given as a tribute to King Minos. They were sent to the Labyrinth and certain death as that was where the Minotaur, a creature half man and half bull, was found.
Of course Theseus volunteered to go with the idea of slaying the minotaur. When he and the other youths were paraded before the people, King Minos's daughter fell for him at first sight. She went to Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth, to find a way for Theseus to escape as long as he would promise to take her with him back to Athens. Daedalus told Ariadne to have Theseus tie a ball of thread to the door and unwind it behind him in order to be able to find his way back out again. An easy enough solution and after killing the Minotaur Theseus fled with Ariadne back to Athens, though she sadly did not make it. Theseus, however, lived to have many more adventures including traveling on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.
Next week: Hercules (who is Theseus's cousin by the way), and perhaps Atalanta (as that's a really short tale). After that it's onwards to the Trojan War.
On a related topic--thanks to Caroline for sharing information about a free online course on Greek and Roman Mythology. It's put on by the University of Pennsylvania and they offer a variety of really interesting sounding online classes. I'm quite tempted to do it, though it does sound like it might be a little intense. It lasts ten weeks beginning September 24. The course workload would be about 8-10 hours a week. The texts covered in the class include: Homer's Odyssey, Hesiod's Theogony, Homeric Hymns to Apollo and Demeter, Aeschylus's Oresteia, Sophocles's Oedipus the King, Euripides's Bacchae Vergil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphoses. It would be perfect timing as I might be able to finish Hamilton's Mythology before and then try and read along as I can and listen in on the lectures. I love the idea of these online courses, for self-learners they are a wonderful opportunity to have a little online guidance.