Cassie complied. “First, there’s a round hill, and then back in the distance, a mountain top.”
“Yes, that is Mount Jouctas which was sacred to the goddess in ancient times. There is a reason why the palace was built exactly here, and it was not for military defense. It was an act of worship.”
Griffin picked up the thread. “All four palaces on the island take advantage of the same topographical features. First, there is an enclosed valley where the palace is set, then a mounded hill on axis with the palace and beyond that, a mountain peak, also on axis with the palace. The landscape becomes part of the shrine.”
“You have heard of the monoliths at Stonehenge and Avebury, have you not?” Xenia asked.
“I’ve heard of Stonehenge,” Cassie admitted.
“All such structures had a cosmic significance to the people who built them. The monoliths connect the sky with the earth through their sophisticated calendar measurements,” Xenia said.
“Nineteenth-century archaeologists posited that the monoliths in Britain had been built by some war chief and had a military function,” Griffin added. “But, of course, they were wrong. Just as wrong as it would be to assume Knossos was built for defense.”
Cassie remained standing behind the horns of consecration and considered the landscape from that perspective. “When Faye first started my training, she told me about ancient civilizations that didn’t go to war.”
“And this was the last of them,” Xenia murmured.
“The last of them?”
“The palace was damaged and rebuilt many times because of natural disasters, but it was finally destroyed by fire around 1350 BCE,” the trove keeper said.
“That’s still over three thousand years ago,” Cassie insisted. “How can this be the last of those peaceful civilizations?”
Griffin nodded. “I’m afraid she’s right, Cassie. Cultures nearly as sophisticated and equally peaceful go back ten thousand years.”
The pythia shook her head in disbelief.
“Perhaps we should begin our search now,” the trove keeper suggested.
They paced through the central court, their eyes sweeping every stone for the lily symbol that matched the one on the granite key. As they moved farther afield, their search led them through a confusing array of short passageways, interlocking rooms, light shafts, and stairways.
Cassie found herself becoming disoriented. “Wait, stop for a minute. I think I’m getting dizzy. Where are we?”
Her two companions paused and exchanged a look. “That’s probably how the invading Hellenes felt when they first came to this place,” Griffin commented. “That’s why they invented the myth of the labyrinth and the minotaur.”
“The what now?” Cassie asked blankly. “Classical mythology always rated high on my list of trivia I could live without.”
“Surely, you know the legend.” Xenia sounded surprised. “That is the story that gives the civilization its name.”
“It’s safe to assume that Cassie’s knowledge of antiquity is sketchy at best,” Griffin confided to the trove keeper.
“But she is the pythia,” Xenia protested.
“I’m afraid she came late to her calling,” the scrivener explained.
“Would somebody please tell me about this—”
“Labyrinth and minotaur,” Griffin cut in. Turning to Xenia, he asked, “Would you like to do the honors?”
“If you wish.” She nodded and launched into the tale.
Chapter 32 – Art and Facts
“The ancient Hellenes said that this island was once ruled by an evil king named Minos. He was evil because each year he demanded that the Athenians send him a tribute of maidens and youths who would be sacrificed to the minotaur. The minotaur was a mythical beast with the head of a bull and the body of a man. He lived in a maze that was called a labyrinth. It was so confusing that anyone who entered the labyrinth could never find their way out again before being devoured by the monster. A Hellenic hero called Theseus was able to navigate the passages of the labyrinth with the help of King Minos’ daughter. He slew the minotaur so that no more Hellene youth would be sacrificed to the bull-man ever again.”
Cassie listened skeptically to the account. When Xenia was finished, she commented, “Given what I’ve learned lately about Hellenic legends, I’m not sure I believe their version of anything.”
“You are wise to doubt the tale. Overlord mythology is often propaganda to explain why the conquerors should be in charge of society. The Hellenes wished to create a story that would favor their heroes and discredit the civilization that came before.”
“Was there ever a real King Minos?”
“No one knows.” Griffin shrugged. “But Sir Arthur Evans was familiar with the legend, and that’s the reason he called this civilization Minoan in honor of the fabled King Minos. You see, the language of the original inhabitants has been lost, so we don’t know what these people called themselves. With respect to the minotaur, the bull was a sacrificial animal to the Minoans. As a result, it would have been easy for the Hellenes to fuse the notion of man and bull and give it a negative connotation. In fact, they said the beast was conceived by King Minos’ wife after she mated with a bull. As for the labyrinth, the word roughly translates as ‘place of the double axes.’ Given the profusion of that particular symbol around the palace and the confusing architectural design, I think the Hellenes got the idea for their mythical labyrinth from Knossos itself.”
They had been continuing their search the whole time Griffin and Xenia were unfolding the story. By the time the tale was finished, the trio found themselves in a room with paintings covering the walls.
