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Summary
Knossos is the first city in Europe ever seen the
light of the world. Homer praised Knossos and its King Minoa in
his epic poem Odyssey. The great poet Pindar sang about Knossos
and many writers wrote about the power, the wealth and its prevalence
in the ancient world.
Knossos is in Crete, a place said to be in the mythic
years as the center of action for gods and heroes.
According to the myth, god of gods, Zeus, fell desperately
in love with a young princess from Phoenicia, called Europe. In
order to conquer her he transformed himself into a playful bull,
deceived beautiful Europe who climbed on his back while he crossed
the sea and brought her to Crete. Their union produced three sons.
One of them was Minoa. Meanwhile Europe married the king of Crete,
Asterius, and after his death Minoa became the new king.
Minoa with a divine origin reigned according to the
rules of his father, god Zeus. Thucydides wrote that Minoa built
a strong navy and took action on the Agean sea. He forced out the
Cares from the Cycladic islands and reduced piracy.
Minoa built the city of Knossos with a glorious palace
and created a marvelous culture which came down in history as Minoan
culture.
Minoa married Pasiphay, daughter of the Sun and the
Nymph Crete. According to the myth Minoa had a great desire to offer
a sacrifice to god Poseidon and therefore he prayed to god to send
him the sacrificial victim. One day Poseidon sent him a beautiful
white bull. It was so beautiful that Minoa was reluctant to sacrifice
it and instead he replaced it with another bull. When Poseidon realized
that Minoa had deceived him he got furious and decided to punish
Minoa by inspiring to the queen great love passion for the bull.Daedalus
who was an excellent craftsman living in the court of the palace
created an effigy of a cow, where the queen hid and satisfied her
love passion for the white bull.
The union of Pasiphay and the bull produced Minotaur,
a creature with human body and a bull’s head. Daedalus created a
complex construction, called labyrinth, where Minotaur lived. Each
year Minotaur demanded a sacrifice of seven young men and seven
young women, a very heavy duty paid by the Athenians.Theseus, the
son of king of Athens, wanted to relieve his fellow citizens from
this painful and irrational sacrifice of humans. Therefore he set
off to Crete on a volunteer mission to exterminate the Minotaur.
Ariadne, daughter of Minoa, who fell in love with Theseus helped
him with the so called “string of Ariadne” to find his way out from
the labyrinth where he got to kill the Minotaur.
Today visitors of the palace of Knossos are impressed
with the ruins of the palace brought into light by the excavations
of Evans at the end of the 18th century. One still wonders about
the myths and is overwhelmed by the wall paintings full of color,
while the Minoan culture revives before his eyes.
Some of the most impressive sights are the crown chamber
of king Minoa, the big staircase, the apartments of the queen, “the
prince with the lilies”.
This magnificent picture is complemented by the findings
of the excavations, today seen at the museum of Heraklion. Placed
there the visitor may see the famous Minoan frescos, as generally
called the works of ancient Cretan painting with themes taken from
nature, everyday life, worshiping and athletic events. The eye is
captured by a variety of exhibits such as the dolphins, the ladies,
the dancers, the Parisian woman and so many others...
The film presents all these unique exhibits along with
the magnificent palace of Knossos and its history.
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