Labyrinth
[15] The association with "labrys" lost some traction when Linear B was deciphered in the 1950s, and an apparent Mycenaean Greek rendering of "labyrinth" appeared as da-pu₂-ri-to (𐀅𐀢𐀪𐀵).
[22] When the Bronze Age site at Knossos was excavated by archaeologist Arthur Evans, the complexity of the architecture prompted him to suggest that the palace had been the Labyrinth of Daedalus.
On the strength of a passage in the Iliad,[23] it has been suggested that the palace was the site of a dancing-ground made for Ariadne by the craftsman Daedalus,[24][25] where young men and women, of the age of those sent to Crete as prey for the Minotaur, would dance together.
[26] Oxford University geographer Nicholas Howarth believes that "Evans's hypothesis that the palace of Knossos is also the Labyrinth must be treated sceptically.
In Book II of his Histories, Herodotus applies the term "labyrinth" to a building complex in Egypt "near the place called the City of Crocodiles", that he considered to surpass the pyramids.
[32] Pliny the Elder's Natural History (36.90) lists the legendary Smilis, reputed to be a contemporary of Daedalus, together with the historical mid-sixth-century BC architects and sculptors Rhoikos and Theodoros as two of the makers of the Lemnian labyrinth, which Andrew Stewart[33] regards as "evidently a misunderstanding of the Samian temple's location en limnais ['in the marsh']."
[34] A design essentially identical to the 7-course "classical" pattern appeared in Native American culture, the Tohono O'odham people labyrinth which features I'itoi, the "Man in the Maze."
[35] Unsubstantiated claims have been made for the early appearance of labyrinth figures in India,[36] such as a prehistoric petroglyph on a riverbank in Goa purportedly dating to circa 2500 BC.
[37][better source needed] Other examples have been found among cave art in northern India and on a dolmen shrine in the Nilgiri Mountains, but are difficult to date accurately.
[36] Early labyrinths in India typically follow the Classical pattern or a local variant of it; some have been described as plans of forts or cities.
Lanka, the capital city of mythic Rāvana, is described as a labyrinth in the 1910 translation of Al-Beruni's India (c. 1030 AD) p. 306 (with a diagram on the following page).
[41] Roman floor mosaics typically unite four copies of the classical labyrinth (or a similar pattern) interlinked around the center, squared off as the medium requires, but still recognisable.
[43] Some labyrinths may have originated as allusions to the Holy City; and some modern writers have theorized that prayers and devotions may have accompanied the perambulation of their intricate paths.
[45] The accompanying ritual, depicted in Romantic illustrations as involving pilgrims following the maze on their knees while praying, may have been practiced at Chartres during the 17th century.
[45][46] The cathedral labyrinths are thought to be the inspiration for the many turf mazes in the UK, such as survive at Wing, Hilton, Alkborough, and Saffron Walden.
The symbol has appeared in various forms and media (petroglyphs, classic-form, medieval-form, pavement, turf, and basketry) at some time throughout most parts of the world, from Native North and South America to Australia, Java, India, and Nepal.
Examples include Piet Mondrian's Pier and Ocean (1915), Joan Miró's Labyrinth (1923), Pablo Picasso's Minotauromachy (1935), M. C. Escher's Relativity (1953), Friedensreich Hundertwasser's Labyrinth (1957), Jean Dubuffet's Logological Cabinet (1970), Richard Long's Connemara sculpture (1971), Joe Tilson's Earth Maze (1975), Richard Fleischner's Chain Link Maze (1978), István Orosz's Atlantis Anamorphosis (2000), Dmitry Rakov's Labyrinth (2003), and drawings by contemporary American artist Mo Morales employing what the artist calls "Labyrinthine projection."
[citation needed] Many Roman and Christian labyrinths appear at the entrances of buildings, suggesting that they may have served a similar apotropaic purpose.
The earliest known example is from a fourth-century pavement at the Basilica of St Reparatus, at Orleansville, Algeria, with the words "Sancta Eclesia" [sic] at the center, though it is unclear how it might have been used in worship.
Many churches in Europe and North America have constructed permanent, typically unicursal, labyrinths, or employ temporary ones (e.g., painted on canvas or outlined with candles).
The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was entranced with the idea of the labyrinth, and used it extensively in his short stories (such as "The House of Asterion" in The Aleph).
Additionally, Roger Zelazny's fantasy series The Chronicles of Amber features a labyrinth, called "the Pattern," which grants those who walk it the power to move between parallel worlds.
Australian author Sara Douglass incorporated some labyrinthine ideas in her series The Troy Game, in which the Labyrinth on Crete is one of several in the ancient world, created with the cities as a source of magical power.
