I finished reading a giant book on Labyrinths today (whew!) and they turn out to be quite a fertile source of ideas, so I thought I'd summarize here in case anyone was curious about them. [smile] A labyrinth is, technically, not a maze. A maze has branches and dead ends, whereas a labyrinth has one passage, twisty but otherwise straightforward, from the outside to the center. No one knows exactly where labyrinths originated but they seem to have arisen in Europe in the neolithic era, approximately 5,000 years ago (3,000 BCE). One guess is that they originated from a dance where a chain of dancers spiraled and twisted, and the labyrinth itself was the dance floor, marked with a path of rocks, chalk, or paint so that the dancers knew where to go. Another guess is that they were a cult initiation structure associated with sun worship, the Orphic passage through the underworld, and Mithraism with its associated bull/minotaur imagery (and Stonehenge would also have been a structure related to this, possibly having had a processional labyrinth cut or worn into the turf inside it). The symbolism of this labyrinth was as follows: the initiate or orphic/lunar hero entered the labyrinth from the west, the place of the setting sun, and like the sun's path through the underworld the initiate journeyed through the labyrinth in an overall clockwise direction. The sun symbolically died in the underworld and was reborn in the east each morning, and also the solar year died and was reborn at winter solstice. The windyness of the path also symbolized a snake with its connotations of death and rebirth (via shedding its skin). The cave-like darkness, claustrophobic walls, and twistyness made the initiate feel stressed, afraid, and requiring faith to go further and further in, toward the mysterious center, where a monster might lurk. The central chamber of the labyrinth represented the earth's womb where the initiate became united with magical force. Then retracing the path back to the outside world symbolized the initiate's rebirth as a magician or full member of the cult. Romans acknowledged this birth and death symbolism by performing ritual labyrinth dances at the founding of new towns and at funerals. Christianity co-opted the labyrinth as it did many other pagan symbols and rituals, but really didn't change the symbolism or meaning all that much. The center of the labyrinth became eden or heaven, again a place of spiritual power requiring inner balance to enter. The winding paths became either a centering prayer, similar to a rosary, or they represented the distractions and spiritual confusion of the material world. Several European cathedrals to this day have labyrinths on the floor for people to walk through or on the wall for people to trace with a finger as meditative prayer exercises. In a few cases theological writings describe the labyrinth journey in reverse. The labyrinth has a minor secondary symbolism relevant to alchemy, farming, and romance. It was seen as a symbol of divine marriage between the male sun and female earth, and a spring/fertility dance opposing male and female dancers, possibly involving ribbons and a maypole in the middle of an outdoor labyrinth, was performed at many locations throughout Europe up through the 1900s. Hedge maze labyrinths were both symbolically and in actuality used as an ideal place for romantic trysts from 1700-1900, and in modern times movies like Jim Henson's Labyrinth and songs like Kate Price's Labyrinth emphasize the journey through the labyrinth as a romantic pursual as well as one of personal growth. Modern fictional labyrinths are also often represented as more like a maze or an obstacle course, a series of tests which teach the hero/ine various lessons resulting in personal growth (an in turn this personal growth may be what makes the character deserve their beloved at the center of the labyrinth when they didn't before they entered. Similar to the centering meditation effect of traveling through a labyrinth which brings the initiate into harmony with the magic of the earth, a journey toward a beloved can symbolically bring the two lovers souls into harmony, with the natural conclusion being their 'divine wedding'. There are also a few interesting modern cases where one character, particularly their subconscious mind and/or memories, _is_ the labyrinth, while the other character comes to know the first deeply by journeying through this realm. Tie-in with the myth of the while stag: The white stag and/or the unicorn is a symbol of purity and nature magic (light of the sun combined with earthy animalistic form) which appears to the hero/ine to lead them through confusing adventures to a promised or magical land (in other words, through the twists of a labyrinth to its center). So there you are, more than you ever wanted to know about labyrinths, lol. [wink] [Edited by - sunandshadow on April 9, 2008 7:14:47 PM]

That's true, the most well-known story of the labyrinth is that it was created as a prison for the minotaur (at Knossos, Crete). The other half of the story is about Theseus. Theseus was the prince of Athens, and Athens was required to 'sacrifice' some of its youths to Crete every so many years, which the people of Athens were of course unhappy about. One explanation of what was done with these youths was that they were fed to the minotaur. Aided by Ariadne the princess of Crete and half sister of the minotaur, Theseus used a ball of thread to reach the center of the labyrinth without losing his way and slay the minotaur.

The book I read had some speculation of whether there was any historical truth behind this. On possibility is that the labyrinth was a prison, not for the minotaur but for these tribute captives from Crete among others. The minotaur was actually a large mean man named Taurus who had twice in a row won the tournament of which the Athenian captives were given as a prize. Because he was egotistical and mean nobody in Crete liked him much, so when the prince of Athens arrived in with the tribute captives (a political disaster in the making) King Minos gave Theseus permission to fight in the tournament and, if he won, take the other captives back home with him. He did win, killing Taurus, and happy with the removal of this tyrant King Minos and the other Minoans let Theseus and the Athenians go home.

Quote: Original post by lemonk9
Great post. I think that the symbolism within most myths are great fodder for books, movies, and games.

This particular post and its timing is great for me, as I am researching myths from around the world for possible incorporation in a game.

Thanks!

Glad you like the post, and that's cool that you're researching myths too. [smile] Have you found any of particular interest yet? And what sources are you looking at? In this case I was mostly lucky to grab the 3 books on labyrinths my library had and discover one was _the_ authoritative work on labyrinths (at least, as of 1985.) I also just finished Claude Levi-Strauss' The Story of Lynx and have his The Jealous Potter sitting on my floor for when I feel recovered enough to tackle another one, lol. I've also had success with a folktale theme index (cited in one of the forum stickies I think), an encyclopedia of creation myths, and Vladamir Propp's work with Russian fairy tales. I wish I could find anyone doing structural analysis of European fairy tales though, especially comparing older harsher versions with modern revisions.

Quote: Original post by sunandshadow
I wish I could find anyone doing structural analysis of European fairy tales though, especially comparing older harsher versions with modern revisions.

Check out: The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Note that Bettleheim has some controversy associated with him. I've read this book and found it much better than expected. I've also read his "Individual and Mass Behavior in Extreme Situations" which is a chilling first hand analysis of life inside a Nazi death camp.


It might be interesting to compare the journey of the labyrinth with the journeys described in Plato's Republic and Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Another labyrinth movie yet unmentioned is El Laberinto del fauno, wherein the labyrinth isn't a maze so much as a lair.

lemonk9 - I'm not sure why it is that Campbell has such a zealous following, but his work basically combines Vladamir Propp's research into Russian folktales with Jung's ideas about archetypes. Campbell was then followed by Christopher Vogler who wrote The Writer's Journey. I don't hate Campbell but, it annoys me how everyone focuses on him because hero's journey stories are not the only type of myth, or even the most important type. Also Campbell and Jung let their mysticism bias and taint their work, rather than being logical like Propp, Levi-Strauss, and Vogler. Um, if that sounded like a rant, it was unintentional, because I do think Campbell and Jung are interesting and worth reading, just not the only or best fish in the sea.

LessBread, thanks, Uses of Enchantment just went on my list of things to pick up next time I'm at the library. [smile]


Oh, on a mailing list to which I also posted the labyrinth stuff one poster pointed out that I missed the symbolism of the Thread of Ariadne - it symbolizes instinct/intuition, avoiding confusion, making progress without losing a connection to the past. Also the thread was wound on a clew, which is where our modern word clue, with its connotation of solving mysteries comes from. And metaphorically 'thread of Ariadne' is the name of the unicursal (single line) path walked or drawn through a labyrinth.