Has The Labyrinth of Minos and The Minotaur Finally Been Found?

I'm sure you've heard many stories, legends and myths. Theseus slaying the infamous Minotaur, which means, "Bull of Minos," is one of those religious stories that has stayed with mankind since it was told thousands of years ago. When Sir Arthur Evans unearthed the remains of the Knossos Palace on the island of Crete in 1878, he named the civilization Minoan, after King Minos. Because of the grandeur of the palace, it was thought that Minos must have surely lived there, and a search for the famous labyrinth beneath it began, but was never found. Because of the many hallways of the palace, it was theorized that perhaps the building itself was the labyrinth, but this was never proven.

However, Greek archaeologists have recently unearthed a groundbreaking find, standing atop a ceremonial hill on the island. Upon clearing the ground for a new airport radar station, they discovered an eight walled labyrinth, dating back to about 4,000 years, which roughly places its youngest days in the Greek Heroic Age, when Theseus was thought to have lived. Could this have been where Minos eventually imprisoned his monster and where one of the greatest battles of human civilization took place to free humanity from tyranny and human sacrifice?

In the very early days of the structure, it was definitely used for worship and sacrifice, as smaller findings have revealed, although at this point, the sacrificial victims discovered have all been animals, but who knows what else they might uncover as the excavation continues? And the fact that it was built atop a very high point overlooking the populations below, makes me think it may have been Minos' way of reminding the people around of his dominating power and the fate of those who opposed him. That was, until Theseus came along. Minos could have also placed the structure at such a remote location as to keep the monster away from civilization.

Theseus has always been my Patron Hero in my life as a Greek worshiper. Like Heinrich Schliemann, I know the old stories are true, it's simply a matter of looking until we find them. In fact, my love for Theseus has been so vast over the years, and my fascination with His research so prevalent, that I wrote a wonderful book about Him back in 2016 called Theseus: His Life, Mysteries and Virtues, where I find evidence of the Hero's life and relate him to people in our own time. I even had the pleasure of doing a public speaking event on the book at a Freeport, Illinois July 4th event in 2016 about Theseus as the Father of Western Democracy. A link to the book can be found HERE. 

It's my hope that this new archaeological find will bring more interest, research and validation to ancient Greece and the realities that the people in it lived with and defined their lives by. A link to the article can be found HERE.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.