Solving the Ancient Mystery of Knossos and the Minotaur

'Unravelling the Mystery of Knossos and the Minotaur'
The legend of the Minotaur and its labyrinth has captivated us for centuries, but is there any evidence of it really existing?
History Hit presenter Tristan Hughes visits the Ashmolean museum in Oxford to interview Dr. Andrew Shapland, the curator of a new exhibition exploring the Bronze Age settlement of Knossos in Crete - the home of the mythical King Minos, the Minotaur and the labyrinth.
Together they explore ancient artefacts that hint at human sacrifices being carried out, and find out through archaeological evidence if there is any truth behind the myths.
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#historyhit #greekmythology #minotaur

[@well-blazeredman6187]

I spent a week in Crete last summer. By the end of my stay, I had done six excursions and only spent two hours sun-bathing. First time that's happened! Knossos? Well worth a visit. Good video.

[@musicloverlondon6070]

Great comment! Many countries have nice beaches and you can sunbathe anytime but there's only one Knossos so why not see it whilst you have the opportunity! It's definitely on my bucket list. ☺

[@MikeLiteraus]

Had my Honeymoon there last summer. What a great place 😀

[@JiveTrkey]

I've got 17 nights booked in July. The itinerary isn't yet set in stone. Any specific recommendations? On our list so far is Knossos, Phaistos, Matala, Melidoni Cave, Eleutherna, Aptera, Agia Sofia Cave.... Missing any stand-outs?

[@gwynwellliver4489]

Lovely to see this as I finish Stephen Fry's audio trilogy, "Mythos", "Heroes", and "Troy".

[@JiveTrkey]

I can listen to these audiobooks endlessly. He's got a new one coming up in September; a retelling of the Odyssey

[@Backwardlooking]

Visited Knossos in 2001. Well worth a visit.

[@jetsons101]

So much history, so little time............ Great watch.

[@Angela-en6oh]

This was a really informative video. My grateful thanks to all those involved in its production. It was a joy to watch.

[@bobcprimus]

Visiting Knossos back in 1984, while on holiday in Crete, as a young teenager I was amazed by the archeology there, such a wonderful place.

[@DragonsAndDragons777]

Literally 1984

[@PeterRevesz]

The Linear B script that is illustrated at 14:45 is the earliest record of the Greek language and was deciphered in 1952. The older Linear A script of the Minoans reflects a pre-Greek language which is now being deciphered: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpqvqoFviZemqrs

[@user-bb4hu8ff5y]

linear a is not a pre greek language..linear b is pre greek, as in, there are connections between these two, but no connetctionw between linear a and modern greek..also, wihtout meaning to diminish your work, it is one thing to say it is being deciphered, and another to say that you are making efforts to decipher it...Linear A has not been deciphered yet, and that is the only thing to say about it. we will aaaaaaall hear about it when it is

[@TT3TT3]

It has not been deciphered yet.

[@CrisSelene]

Such an informative video. I learned a lot of new information about Knossos and the Minoan civilization. Thank you

[@RhiHart]

One of my favourite archaeological sites! Looking forward to visiting one day 🤩

[@harpo345]

Great video, but I think it should be pointed out that the frescoes, although they were clearly vibrant and fabulous, are largely imaginative reconstructions based around a few surviving fragments.

[@eh1702]

But when you look at the fragments that do survive (as in the bull-leaping scene at the beginning) there is a lot that can be filled in with a high degree of certainty. The position of the youth on the bull’s back. The patterns on clothes, the position of the bull. Other details like faces, it’s fair enough to fill them in with near copies of known faces, since the ones that survive are pretty uniform and stylised anyway.

[@harpo345]

@@eh1702 I agree with what you say - it was done with a lot of care - but still, the equivalent of Mozart's Requiem being finished off by one of his students.

[@rosesacks7430]

Don't think the word "imaginative" is deserved. People who work in art reconstruction are very well schooled.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

The body of a human, the head of a bull, and the teeth of a lion…a monster made of the three most dangerous animals with whom these people lived. Btw this is best video I’ve seen on the Minoan civilization. Thank you!

[@IrishEye]

Excellent video, full of knowledge and engaging. HH never lets you down.

[@Mortismors]

Asterion the half Bull son of Tectauus the Bull who the constellation of Taurus is named after!

[@michaelleblanc7283]

A co-incidence perhaps but a map of the island of Crete bears a striking general similarity to the shape of the 'Bull & the Bull Jumpers.

[@perryclark9354]

i have visited Crete twice, spending extended time both times. I had studied and taught ancient history and so I was fascinated by the bull stories from Crete. I believe there is a possible part-truth to the fable. Crete had a remarkable geographical position in the Aegean. It lay east of what was to become many famous naval societies, but by necessary had developed a strong blue water navy first. Egypt had a navy, but was best suited to river and shore- hugging navigation. Rich through trade, Crete did however fear what would happen if they were invaded. The fear of the minotaur was a useful ruse to dissuade any body from trying to raid its riches. The only common thing most tales tell of the minotaur were of its bull roar. If the Cretans had some thing that ate people, lived a long time and roared like a bull, there was a possible basis for the fabled beast. Egypt to the south has its Nile crocodiles, which could have been caught as small babies, perhaps as pets. The various palaces in Crete had often dark basements built to store food etc. A perfect place to keep a grown crocodile. If foreigners were forced to listen to the bulls roars as it dismember slaves, I believe a smart ruler could have cultivated a very useful myth..

[@williamrobinson7435]

What an amazing place! It's nice to be able to put pictures to the denouement to the story of 'Pasiphae And The Amazing Wooden Cow'.. Nice one team! 🌟👍

[@breezey1643]

Thank you for all the great content!!

[@hapa7791]

Love it. I would like to see more Byzantine videos as well, it’s really not much online.

[@jamesleonard2870]

So much info on a fascinating site! I’ve watched this three times already. Great video. Ty 🌊🏄‍♂️🌱☀️

[@HistoryHit]

Thank you James!

[@footscorn]

No, Crete was part of the Ottoman Empire till the end of the nineteenth century not the twentieth. The last Ottomans left in 1898 after which Crete became an independent state.

[@Astronic]

Such a good video. I like the professor at the museum. Hope you will do more videos with him.

[@LuisAldamiz]

The first part of the word Labyrinth clearly relates to Italic "lava" and Basque "laba" (furnace or oven, which also produces "labana" = knife, which has another form "azto", the distinction being originally IMO the latter being stone knife, aitz, az- = rock, and the former metallurgic knife instead). This word is not necessarily Vasconic in origin but was probably a pan-Mediterranean wanderwort, much like iri/ili/uli/uri for "city". Labrys or labaros probably also mean something similar thus: "of the oven" or "furnace-made". Whether and how exactly the word Labyrinth is also related to this issue of metallurgy is open up for grabs but IMO it seems very likely. The bull (and lioness) connection also looks quite pan-Mediterranean, those symbols should immediately draw connections to Çatalhöyuk, and should surprise nobody as the memory of that goddess and here iconography still remained much more recently in concepts like Cybele or Gaia. The bull cult somehow also reached Iberia in the Bronze Age, where bull icons replaced in the rock art older ones of stags and where bullfighting (incl. bull leaping) remains a tradition to present day (we like it or not).

[@ZacharyZorbas]

I'm preparing to make some Minoan oil paintings and this was so insightful and helpful. Thank you!

[@RealSalica]

Really interesting , thank you .

[@VSI-]

Excellent

[@kaloarepo288]

The word" labyrinth" comes from the Lydian word "labrys" which was a double axe - so the labyrinth was the house of the double axe.

[@user-bb4hu8ff5y]

he actually talks about this theory in the video, explaining why it cant be widely acccepted

[@nahkanukke]

Thanks for the nice video. It was good info.

[@oldmonkey7720]

Minoans were always fascinating civilisation for me

[@Intervaloverdose]

really excellent

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Fantastic

[@garyburkin]

An excellent and very tantalising video, thanks. Q. Have any more linear A tablets been found in recent decades? Q. Are we any closer to having enough text for a decipherment?

[@IreneWY]

I went there 3 weeks ago. It's extremely impressive

[@Caligulashorse1453]

The bull was used in many societies as a god Egypt Phoenicia Greece the philistines and I also notice when it’s around there tends to be human sacrifice

[@powerfrenzy]

I love the legends of Knossos and the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. My pronunciation of the names is certainly different, however, haha.

[@MrPossumeyes]

Thanks, guys.

[@katherinecollins4685]

Very good

[@Russia-bullies]

I would have loved to see/find bull remains of that time to know the size & power of the bulls then.

[@BenSHammonds]

most enjoyable, the early peoples of Crete, as far back as Neoliithic etc. and of Greece etc, is of much interest.

[@hypsyzygy506]

If the murex snails were so important to the economy, why did the octopus become such a prominent symbol?

[@eh1702]

Octopus eat molluscs, among other things. Maybe you could find piles of murex near where octopus hang out? The Minoan representations have lots of other things in with their octopus designs - little starfish and seashells and stuff. So it is more like a depiction of the world underwater. Maybe they saw the octopus as master of this domain because (a) they have been far more numerous then (b) an important food source for ordinary people and (c) their intelligence. And (d) they have that undeniable magical colour-changing and shapeshifting ability. I saw a small octopus caught and escaping on a boat in harbour in Greece once, and was amazed at its speed and agility out of the water. It got away along the deck, over the wheelhouse, and even down a line back to the water. It was practically doing cartwheels.

[@barbarossarotbart]

One single case of the remains of ahuman sacrifice being found does not mean that this was common pratice.

[@JiveTrkey]

There are also endless explanations as to why those objects ended up in the same spot. Perhaps the man was injured. Perhaps they were attempting a surgical procedure and needed to restrain him. Going directly to human sacrifice seems a bit of a spectacle

[@JiveTrkey]

I'll be visiting Knossos in a few months. I'm incredibly excited, but I'm also torn on the reconstruction aspect of the site. I know a portion of the palace was heavily and obviously reconstructed, but I'm worried that will always be in the back of my mind when I'm looking at the rest of the ruins. ie: how much is as it was found and how much was put back together with some creative license?

[@merlinp6301]

Did he say Crete was part of the Ottoman Empire "until the end of the 20th century"? I think he meant 19th century. @~ 1:30m

[@suchanhachan]

Yes. I think he had a choice of saying "...the end of the 19th Century" or "...the beginning of the 20th Century" and it ended up coming out as "...the end of the 20th Century"...

[@merlinp6301]

@@suchanhachan A very good documentary all the same!

[@mikeoffthebox]

The original discriminating buffalo man.

[@melissa-wilson]

Ahaahaaa perfect

[@etiennenobel5028]

What gets me is the ceramic container of an obvious chicken. So they had chickens in bronze age Crete. I thought they were introduced into the Med. much later . Great stuff

[@Matow27]

Evans used concrete for the reconstruction. Concrete was not known in the Minoan Era. Nowadays, the frescoes in Knossos are copies. A. Evans decided what new work should look like. The original artifacts are in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Of great archaeological value are statues of the Snake Goddess.

[@ShamanKish]

According to myth, Daedalus told Theseus to go 'straight' and kill the king, pardon, Minotaur 🤣 Two headed axes, the symbols of king, were called 'labrys', so the name Labyrinth probably comes from that.

[@TheTristanmarcus]

'Crete was part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of the 20th century' 😮😮😮 Otherwise, an excellent, gaffe-free documentary 🙏🏽 I think some of that Minoan art had an influence on Picasso, alongside African and ancient Etruscan art. 😊

[@Scriptorsilentum]

i noticed the gaffes with respect to dating. shocking.

[@Voice_of_Adam]

The bits about the double-axe are interesting in that in modern fantasy, minotaurs are often depicted wielding big double-headed axes similar in appearance to what we see in this video. I'm sure that's pure coincidence, but I find it an interesting parallel all the same.

[@joelkurowski9276]

The image at 5:32 is from a video game-'Assassin's Creed Odyssey'. It's not meant to be a historical representation but rather a fanciful reimagining. Odd to see it in a documentary, don't you think?

[@jordonez42]

Good eye haha. That is strange….

[@Ukraineaissance2014]

based extremely closely on the original site for the game

[@Orfeus3000]

More Andrew

[@alexray1710]

What fell from the wall at 0:09? Is it crumbling before our very eyes? Edited - typo

[@eh1702]

It’s a bird. If you watch at 0.25 speed, you can see it flap three times.

[@alexray1710]

@@eh1702 thank you, my eyes are starting to fail me.

[@eh1702]

@@alexray1710 Mine too - I use slo-mo a lot!

[@TT3TT3]

Kamares ware is so beautiful.

[@4everseekingwisdom690]

The labyrinth was a mystery school teaching device. It works on consciousness at least according to the oral tradition. It was real and a myth. The myth being an allegory for how to know thyself. Directly experience that part of us that is divine while still alive

[@katkalocova]

Okay, no. Crete became Greek in 1913, not at the end of the 20th century. That must have been a slip of the tongue or something.

[@Aemirys]

I really wanted to watch this but the S's keep clipping when one of thr gentlemen speaks. Audio is so important to viewer enjoyment.

[@ericastier1646]

The lioness head with canal in her nose was not a drinking vessel, it was obviously a sacrifice implement where they would pour blood in the input orifice on top the head and it would come out at the snout and drip down around her jaw like a lioness bloodied after a feast.

[@martinaakervik]

@rook-andalus was thinking of you when seeing this. (It’s strange that people you actually don’t know, but that have made impact feels like someone you know.)

[@rosesacks7430]

I think I saw a speculation of the "sea peoples" attacking this civilization, and others, during a wide spread chaos.

[@skjaldulfr]

Uh-oh. Our Knossos tour guide taught us the Labyrinth/Labrys etymology theory as establishing that Minoan palaces are in fact where the word Labyrinth comes from. Tsk tsk.

[@MultiCappie]

17:05

[@sirdgar]

20:50 i didnt knew at the emperors of rome dyed their own chlothes. what an odd thing to say

[@willardSpirit]

I wonder if the seal stones have sheep on would the minotaur myth be half man half sheep? 🤔

[@neilmatthews-zh4vl]

Purple die was a product of the Phoenicians and wer produced in other meridian ports such as TYA, SIDON, BIBLON, Cyprus to name but a few.

[@barneypaws4883]

He said "Crete was part of the Ottoman empire until the end of the 20th Century"

[@eh1702]

It was pretty obviously just a slip of the tongue.

[@sophitsa79]

It's funny that no-one picked the error before finalising the video

[@eh1702]

@@sophitsa79 At different stages of TV production, it's passing into the hands of people who each have their own technical work to do and may know nothing much of the specific content. So if it’s not caught immediately, it may be a very late stage. Often a documentary is still being edited hours from transmission, so the people involved in the interview may never have had a chance to review a coherent, let alone a final version.

[@neatchipops3428]

Apparently, Art Deco started 4000 years ago.

[@MultiSirens]

I took a course years ago on this subject! Actually every society practiced Child sacrifice it was well known to have existed! Even the kings and leaders would sacrifice their child! Unfortunately children didn’t have protection until much later!

[@frankmedrisch7451]

In cambridge?

[@sarij3950]

You mean the museum? It's in Oxford.

[@madalinam6183]

Not in Greece for sure

[@Satanna.avemaria]

There’s also the kouros the boy god statue which suggests a break away from a matriarchal society. And sparked a new movement which the Minoan women did not like and I think panic ensued because they thought it was betraying the mother goddess. Therefore in their eyes the catastrophes were because of that then there was resorting to sacrifice and cannibalism. Maybe to keep certain things at bay but everything was declining rapidly. I also think Mycenaeans were part of the decline because they seemed to dictate and maybe they suggested the kouros 🤷‍♀️

[@stillse2130]

Im proud to have Cretan roots

[@janice4938]

nice rucksack.

[@yvonnerogers6429]

👍🏻

[@richardpierce4680]

Visited so much is just recreation if u visit ask to see original walls

[@ellen4956]

Many of the frescoes are fake. The artists hired by Arthur Evans had very little to go on so made them up based on as little as two or three small pieces with some, like the so-called "prince of lillies". It was purely imagination. A lot of the artifacts were also fake, like the so-called snake goddess figurines. When they were dated they were found to be fake. He did it because he had to keep interest up and keep money coming in, and even the way the buildings were "restored" using concrete was wrong, according to archaeologists and local people. I still want to see Crete someday, but the only place to see frescoes of that time that were not made up is in Akrotiri on Thera (Santorini). And it's absurd that the curator doesn't believe the island was hit by massive tsunamis when Thera blew up. It wasn't just a volcano erupting, it was plunged into the cold water of the sea causing a massive explosion. I follow scientific studies about it and have for years. I'm surprised neither of them seem to know any of that tragedy. The whole coastline of Crete was blasted by the tsunami. There are other places to read about it all - I am not an expert in geology but if you want to know the extent of the damage I encourage you to read research papers and published articles about it.

[@freethegays]

I have visited the museum in Heraklion, much of what you're saying is (luckily) not completely true. Even the prince of lillies fresco is mostly accurate, just no flowers in the back. You can see the original pieces in the museum. They have done a lot to undo the damage of Evans.

[@ellen4956]

@@freethegays Ask an archeologist who has studied Crete and they'll tell you the same thing. The prince of lilies fresco was based on one small fragment. There is one fresco that was a blue monkey that the artists painted as a blue boy until they saw another figure like it that was a monkey and realized their mistake. Yet this museum still shows it as a boy because that's the copy the museum bought from Evans.

[@etiennenobel5028]

21:30 ceramic of a chicken

[@kealani6535]

If only those objects could talk...!!

[@madsdahlc]

Yes the minoans saw the bull as something sacret . What is was . We dont know . Linear A has not been decoded yet. But later greeks would see bulls representations of Zeus. So after mycenean greek conquest of crete in 1450 bce. Its possible. That the new greek speaking elite indentified the minoans gods as representations of their own olympian pantheon....

[@johnashleyhalls]

Uh, drinking ceremonies a.k.a. after dinner toasts? Then the blood bucket, cannot modern science discern what species of blood was in the bucket? And later about the fall of Knosos, "Do I C people?" as part of the bronze age collapse.

[@user-fj3kq4ok7z]

hi

[@Beautiful_oWorld]

how you all doing?

[@AbcDef-gw4dg]

Secret cult of minatour

[@judithparker4608]

KING 🦁 OVER 🐑

[@vice4134]

I truly believe Minoans are the real Atlantis people!

[@masqerader]

Is it me or does that picture look tilted

[@EduardQualls]

@1:29 *"Crete was part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of the 20th Century..."* *I'm sure this is going to be news to both the Turks and the Greeks (as well as the Ottomans)!*

[@judithparker4608]

BULL FIGHTING 🎯 💃

[@ricardollorente]

OK, what on earth is Moses doing in a documentary on Knossos and the Minotaur?

[@amazinggrace5692]

Thank you, I thought the same. They were trying to say that was king Minos?

[@judithparker4608]

GNOSIS

[@777dragonborn]

So why do archaeologists fight over claims over Minoan artifacts when obviously they don't belong in Britain or turkey they obviously belong to Crete And the Minoans same with Egyptian and Roman artifacts show some respect for culture and ancestry.

[@bardmadsen6956]

The Double-Axe is the Thunderweapon or superbolide, not lightning, from the Taurus Constellation.

[@judithparker4608]

OCTOPUS.....MADUSA

[@dp6003]

No horses? really

[@Grumszy]

The myth, bit like todays bigfoot yarns.

[@judithparker4608]

MERCHANT....SCARY STORIES

[@prozbinh9858]

I play Assassin's Creed Odyssey and i fought the Minatour, i also found and open the labyrinth so yeah it's real 😂😂😂😂

[@dp6003]

In English, the K is silent

[@Celtopia]

"Crete was part of the ottoman empire until the end of the 20the century?"......erm NO!

[@MrBrownnn696]

I always thought the Muths were real… when the gods lmfao….

[@judithparker4608]

PAGAN CELTS ANGLES SAXONS

[@henrykeresey8201]

Of course Greek myths are the best of the myths, but I always felt the Minotaur is a flat note. I mean, really, how threatening can a half man, half bull monster really be? No way, in my opinion, to make a half man, half bull a serious threat, but making the head bull and the body human? The strength of a regular man, but wait - he has the intellect of - a bull. And he was taking on seven youths. How young were they, toddlers? There's seven of you. You can take down one guy, who is really stupid. You want to scare me? A tiger body with a human head, now there's a threat. Can't really eat you, but still has the claws, speed, and power, and the human smarts.

[@TeutonicEmperor1198]

I laughed at your comment. In that case, are Centaurs the most dangerous mythological creatures?

[@amazinggrace5692]

Perhaps his body was “strong like bull”

[@judithparker4608]

SHEEPLE