10 interesting facts about Knossos Palace

The most famous legend associated with Knossos is the story of the Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull. King Minos of Crete kept the Minotaur in a labyrinth beneath Knossos Palace, which was so complex no one could escape it. Each year, Athens sent seven youths and seven maidens as a tribute to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. The hero Theseus ended the cycle by slaying the Minotaur and used a thread from Ariadne, Minos's daughter, to find his way out.

After constructing the labyrinth, Daedalus and his son Icarus were imprisoned by King Minos to ensure its secrets remained hidden. To escape, Daedalus crafted wings from feathers and wax. Despite his father’s warnings, Icarus soared too close to the sun, melting the wax in his wings. He plunged into the sea and drowned—a poignant tragedy that underscores the dangers of hubris and the peril of defying nature’s boundaries.

According to the legend, Minos prayed to Poseidon for a sign to confirm his right to the throne. Poseidon sent a magnificent white bull from the sea, which Minos was supposed to sacrifice in the god's honor. However, Minos was so taken by the bull’s beauty that he kept it and sacrificed a different bull instead. Angered, Poseidon cursed Minos’s wife, Pasiphae, causing her to fall in love with the bull. This unnatural union resulted in the birth of the Minotaur, the half-man, half-bull creature confined to the labyrinth.

After falling in love with Theseus, Ariadne helped him navigate the labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread (sometimes referred to as ‘Ariadne's thread’), allowing him to retrace his steps after killing the Minotaur. However, after they escaped from Crete, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos. Some versions of the myth suggest that she was later rescued by the god Dionysus, who made her his wife.

Talos, a giant bronze automaton, circled the island three times a day, hurling rocks at approaching ships to drive them away. Some legends say Talos was a gift from Zeus to protect Europa, while others claim he was crafted by Hephaestus at King Minos's request. Talos had a single vein running through his body, filled with ichor—the life force of the gods. He was ultimately defeated by Medea or the Argonauts, who removed the nail in his ankle, causing him to bleed out and die.

According to the legend, Zeus fell in love with the Phoenician princess Europa and transformed himself into a white bull to abduct her. He swam across the sea to Crete, where he revealed his true form and made Europa the queen of Crete. She bore him three sons, including Minos, who would become the king of Knossos. The union between Europa and Zeus is seen as the foundation of the Minoan dynasty.

After being cursed by Poseidon, Pasiphae fell in love with the Cretan Bull, a magnificent creature that was supposed to be sacrificed to the god but was instead kept by King Minos. To satisfy her unnatural desire, Daedalus constructed a hollow wooden cow in which Pasiphae could hide to mate with the bull, leading to the birth of the Minotaur.

Androgeus, the son of King Minos, was a celebrated athlete who met a tragic fate in Athens. After winning every contest at the Panathenaic Games, he aroused the jealousy of the Athenian king, Aegeus, who ordered his assassination. In retaliation for his son's death, Minos waged war against Athens, eventually forcing them to pay tribute by sending young men and women to be sacrificed to the Minotaur in the labyrinth.