Escaping the Labyrinth

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Escaping the Labyrinth

• Greek Mythology
• 10/28/08

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Cathedral at Chartres, France
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Cathedral at Chartres, France
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The cathedral of Chartres, France (SW of
Paris) 11-circuit labyrinth Built in the 13th
century
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The cathedral of Chartres, France (SW of
Paris) 11-circuit labyrinth Built in the 13th
century
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Late Roman villa mosaic labyrinthSalzburg,
Austria, late 3rd cent. A.D.
????
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Coins of Knossos, Crete (of various dates
Classical to early Roman)
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The dark heart of Greek myth

• In the middle of the generations of heroes
• On the great island of Crete in the middle of the
  Aegean
• The subtlest craftsman of Athens built a dark,
  mysterious maze
• To hide the bestial shame of the daughter of
  great king Minos, son of Zeus and Europa

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Labyrinthus Hic Habitat MinotaurusGraffito of
7-circuit labyrinth, Pompeii (before 79 A.D.)
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Remember Europa
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Remember Europa
European Council -- Brussels
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Europa and Crete

• After Zeus turned into a bull and raped Agenors
  daughter Europa, carrying her across the sea to
  Crete (Ovid Met. Book 2, end)
• She marries king of Crete Asterios, has sons by
  Zeus Minos, Rhadamanthys, Sarpedon
• READ ACM pp. 45-6, sect. L1-2

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The sons of Europa
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Minos Pasiphae

• Minos becomes king of Crete
• Marries Pasiphae, daughter of Helios and Perseis
  (thus sister of Aietes and Circe)
• Among their children son Androgeos, daughters
  Ariadne and Phaidra
• And Pasiphaes son, Asterios / Asterion or

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The Cretan Bull

• King Minos boasted of his power, prayed that
  Poseidon send a bull up from the sea, said he
  would sacrifice it
• Poseidon sends the bull, but Minos refused to
  sacrifice it
• Or, Pasiphae neglected sacrifices to Aphrodite
• So Minos/Pasiphae are punished queen lusts for
  the bull

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Daidalos

• Pasiphae gets the clever Athenian craftsman
  Daidalos to help her
• He builds a hollow mechanical cow in which
  Pasiphae mates with the bull
• She gets pregnant and has a son Asterios /
  Asterion a.k.a. The Bull of Minos Minotaur

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Daidalos

• Minos then has Daidalos build the labyrintha
  mazein which to hide the shameful monstrous
  Minotaur
• Daidalos and the labyrinth is among the stories
  which Ovid places in the central book of the
  Metamorphoses (book 8 of 15)

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Pasiphae and baby Minotaur
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Daedalus Pasiphae (Giulio Romano 15th century)
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Pasiphae(Henri Matisse, 1869-1954)
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Pasiphae (Diane Victor, 2002)
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Minotaur and wife (Pablo Picasso 1881-1973)
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Minotaur in 20th century art

• The 20th century saw a resurgence of the minotaur
  and Cretan myths as themes in art and literature
• Recall Europa Europe
• Minos, Pasiphae, Daidalos, Minotaur, Labyrinth
  become symbols of crisis of modernity

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Minotaur in 20th century art

• Daidalos the artists (enforced?) collusion in
  creation of false masks and prisons of
  civilized culture
• Pasiphae primal animal passions which bourgeois
  culture attempts to conceal
• Minotaur modern man (?) the hybrid man-bull
  monster
• Labyrinth the dark maze ofhuman psyche
  (Freud), technological civilization
• Symbolic of the barbarities of war/genocide which
  erupted in civilized Europe 1914-1945

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Le labyrintheAndre Masson 1938
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Picasso Minotaur
If all the ways I have been along were marked on
a map and joined up with a line, it might
represent a Minotaur. (Picasso, when 80 years
old)
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Minotaur 1933
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Minotaur 1933
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Picasso Minotaur
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Minotaur and his wife 1937
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Palatte, Candlestick, and head of Minotaur (1938)
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Blind Minotaur 1934
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1937 Nazis and Italian Fascists bombed Basque
town of Guernica, Spain on Apr. 24, 1937 during
Spanish Civil War. Painting first displayed at
1937 Paris International Exhibition
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Picassos Guernica

• 1937-1950s toured world, regularly in
  exhibitions against war
• Until 1981 at MOMA in NYC, became focus of
  anti-war vigils during Vietnam War
• 1981 MOMA gave painting to Spain, following
  death of Franco and establishment of a democratic
  constitutional monarchy (in accord with Picassos
  wishes)
• 1985 Nelson Rockefellers estate bequeaths
  tapestry copy to UN it hangs outside Security
  Council
• 2003 Tapestry draped upon occasion of Secretary
  of State Colin Powells presentation to UN
  arguing case for war in Iraq

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Minotaure designer fragrance

• The Minotaur is a reoccurring theme in Pablo
  Picasso's work, and this is where his daughter
  got the name for her only masculine fragrance.
  Minotaure cologne by Pablo sic should read
  Paloma Picasso has top notes of citrus and
  middle notes of Lavender, Geranium, and Jasmine.
  Minotaure base notes include Sandalwood, Vanilla,
  and Leather.

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What happens next?

• What happens when prince Theseus of Athens is
  sacrificed to the Minotaur?
• How does Minos daughter Ariadne become the bride
  of Dionysos?
• How does Theseus escape the murderous wiles of
  Medea?
• Read ACM pp. 54-57, and stay tuned
• What grade did I get on the midterm?
• Check Sakai later today