Zeus - ruler of the Olympian gods

Zeus was the son of Cronus and Rhea and belonged to the second generation of gods, so-called Olympians. His father Cronus was predicted, that one of his children is going to deprive his power. For this reason, he always swallowed all his children immediately after they were born. Thanks to the ruse of his mother Rhea, he was the first descendant who survived because Rhea gave secretly birth on Crete and handed over Cronus a stone wrapped into diapers, who swallowed it not aware of anything.

The lifeway of Zeus begun in the Dikteon Andron Cave (close to the Lassithi Plateau, in the Dikti Mountains), where he was born. But because of his safety, the little Zeus was moved into another Cretan cave of Ideon Andron (in the Ida Mountains). Here, the child grew up in care of the nymph Amalthea. When he became adult, the prophecy of overthrowing Cronus from the throne by one of his sons was fulfilled. After a long fight, Zeus defeated his father and became the supreme ruler of the other gods. His wife was Hera, but Zeus was known for many love affairs with other women.

Labyrinth and Minotaur

One of the lemans of Zeus was also the beautiful Europa, daughter of the king of Tyre Agenor and his wife Telephassa. Zeus took on himself the shape of a white bull and carried Europa to Crete to enjoy her love. (exactly to the place, where later the famous city of Gortyn was built) They had three sons Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. Later, Europa married the Cretan king Asterion and after her death, one of the continents was named after her as an act of honour.

Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa and the heir to the throne of Knossos (after his "second" father Asterion) became the most powerful and the longest-reigning king on Crete. He could rely on the protection from his father Zeus and visited regularly the cave of Ideon Andron, to hear on his advices and Crete was prospering under his rule. His wife was Pasiphae, with who he had several children, however he also did not forsake a number of lemans. Minos also broke the word which he gave to the sea god Poseidon and denied to sacrifice him a promised white bull. Poseidon took revenge on him by cursing his wife Pasiphae with a sexual passion for the bull. She confided with her feelings for the bull to the inventor Daedalus and he built her a wooden hollow cow where she hid and got impregnated by the bull as he mated with the wooden cow.

After the love rapprochement between Pasiphae and the bull of Poseidon, the mythical Minotaur, a monster with human body and a head of a bull, was born. King Minos wanted to hide this creature away from the rest of the world and called for this purpose the Athenian builder and inventor Daedalus. Daedalus built a system of dark tangled corridors known as Labyrinth under the palace of Knossos, where Minotaur was locked up. (The word labyrinth has its origin in the Greek "labris", what translated means "double axe"; the word got its today´s meaning for labyrinth later) Every year 7 Athenian girls and boys had to be sacrificed to Minotaur as a punishment for Athens for killing the son of King Minos Androgeos.

One day, Theseus, the son on the king of Athens Aegeus, took place voluntarily in this group of misfortune children with the target to kill Minotaur and release by that Athens from the horrible punishment. The Cretan princess Ariadne helped him with his fight. She fell in love with Theseus and gave him a ball of thread and a magic sword before his entrance into the Labyrinth. After a long fight, Minotaur was killed by Theseus and thanks to the thread, which Theseus unwind on the way to Minotaur, the Athenian hero could find the way back out of the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, his triumph also had a bitter taste, because on his return to Athens, he forgot to pull down the black sails, which should announce his death. When his father saw the black sails, he threw himself full of sadness from the cliffs into the sea, which is called Aegean Sea since that time.

Daedalus and Icarus

Daedalus was an inventor and versatile artist, sometimes he is even considered to be the greatest inventor of Ancient Greece. Unfortunately, he had to pay a high price for his dexterity and fame. Maybe because of the worries, that he could reveal the secret, which the royal family was hiding in the Labyrinth or maybe as a revenge because he built the wooden cow for the queen Pasiphae, king Minos put Daedalus and Icarus into prison.

However, they managed to escape from the prison by a unique invention. Daedalus made two pairs of wings out of feathers and wax for him and his son Icarus and together they escaped from Crete. Although Daedalus warned his son not to fly very high to the sun, the young boy did not listen and flew higher and higher. The sun rays melted slowly the wax fixing the feathers and Icarus fell into the sea and drawn. Daedalus landed on Sicily, out of the reach of the Cretan rulers. Here he dedicated his wings to Apollo and built for him a magnificent temple with golden roof.

Historical sights

Today, the above told stories are more likely fairy tales for us – nice, sometimes also scary and often with a kind of lecture coming out of it. But the life of the people of that time was strong influenced by these stories and gods, what is proven by many good preserved historical items and artefacts. The most interesting ones, which have a direct connection to these legends:

• A big sculpture of Europa sitting on the back of a bull was found in the amphitheatre of Gortyn during the archaeological explorations (today it is a part of the exhibition of the British Museum) Many coins with the same illustration were found as well.
• Sculptures of Daedalus and his son Icarus, looking far out into the sea, are standing on a hill close to the harbour of Agia Galini
• The wide archaeological site of Knossos belongs to the most interesting historical jewels of Crete – ruins of the Labyrinth were found under the palace and the walls of the royal rooms were decorated by beautiful frescoes, including illustrations of a bull (or maybe Minotaur?)
• The birth and life of Zeus is a favourite trip theme, together with the visit of the caves of Dikteon Andron and Ideon Andron
• A big number of temples, palaces and other buildings, dedicated to the Olympian gods