A Short History of Mazes.
Maze, labyrinth - what’s the difference?
Nowadays the terms are virtually interchangeable though many will argue differences. One of the descriptions of the difference is that the word maze usually refers to growing mazes- those of trees, hedges, grass or other plant material whereas labyrinth refers to mineral or constructed mazes – wood, stone, mirror.
Some say a labyrinth is just a complicated winding path without choices whereas a maze has many decisions and usually some dead ends. This definition would describe a labyrinth as unicursal and a maze as multicursal.
Mazes date back thousands of years. The oldest surviving maze is one carved into a stone wall in Sardinia. It is believed to be over 4,000 years old.
This design is very similar to many old maze designs found in various places around the world. Mazes of this classic design are found in England, in Indian culture in Southern Arizona USA, Nazca Plains in Peru, Nyland in Finland, Stockholm in Sweden, in Syria, Ireland, Turkey, Pompei, Southern India, France, Germany, South Africa …
They have been found on clay tablets, coins, basket, as mosaics, laid out in grass, arrangements of stones and scratched in stone walls and in the walls of tombs & churches.
It is believed that the unicursal labyrinth represents life. The idea being that of fate – we make many twists and turns but there are no real choices and we finally achieve our destination.
Unicursal labyrinths are also used for meditation or contemplation. Following the path through the long twists and turns can slow and relax the mind and many are created in tiles on the floor of churches for religious meditation. The most famous of these is at the Chartres Cathedral near Paris.
Some of the stone mazes that were created on beaches were believed to have been made by fishermen while they waited for good conditions. It is said that they walked the maze to bring them good luck in their fishing and on their journey. This superstition fits with the Chinese belief that bad luck or demons only travel in straight lines. Hence the maze would stop misfortune from following them.
One of the most famous mazes in the world is Hampton Court Maze in England. Its notoriety stems mainly from its age (oldest in Britain) and that so much has been written about it in novels and poetry. It features in the novel Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, in Lauren Royal’s novel Rose and in Larry's Party by Carol Shields. It’s not a particularly difficult maze and there are dozens of copies of it around the world including several in Australia.
Another famous maze doesn’t really exist at all. This was the maze in Stanley Kubrick’s movie The Shining starring Jack Nicholson.
Greek Mythology also contributed to the history of mazes. The most famous story is that of the Minotaur. This is another maze that may not have really existed other than in the myth. For a version of the Minotaur story go here.
Mazes are experiencing a sort of renaissance with much interest in the old mazes and a lot of inventiveness in new mazes.
Many new materials are being used as well as old materials in new ways. This maze here at Amaze ‘n’ Place is a new form of a hedge maze with tree trunks forming the wall instead of hedge. The use of moveable gates is also a relatively new innovation.
Wooden mazes are now very popular. They are not as attractive as a living maze but they are more attractive to the owner – being quicker to establish and requiring less maintenance. There are some excellent examples of these mazes in Japan where they become 3 dimensional with bridges over sections. There are many wooden ones in Australia.
Mirror mazes are also popular but expensive to set up. With clever use of lights and reflected items the confusion can be compounded.
The latest innovation in mazes is the Maize Maze. Though often not really made of maize they are usually of some sort of grain crop which has the maze pattern cut into it after it has been grown. These mazes are usually very big and are relatively easy to set up with the right equipment. They are ephemeral, usually open to the public only for a few weeks before being ploughed in and replanted. The use of accurate GPS equipment has made the creation of these mazes much easier. Other plants are used such as Sunflowers. The nearest to us is on the Central Coast of NSW and there is also one on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. They are particularly popular in America.
The Labyrinth
If anyone talks about The Labyrinth with a capital ‘L’ they are usually referring to the one found in Greek mythology. As with much of mythology, there are several variations on this story.
The story starts in ancient Greece and involves the Minotaur – the ferocious half man/half bull.
There are 2 versions of the origin of the Minotaur – both involving Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos of Crete.
The first is that the Minotaur was the offspring of an encounter between Pasiphae and a bull that King Minos refused to sacrifice to Poseidon. The second is that she fell in love with Zeus who was king of the gods. She convinced the engineer, Daedalus, to make a model of a cow which she could hide in and await Zeus who appeared in the form of a bull. The Minotaur was the result of this meeting.
Whatever the origin, Asterion the Minotaur, was a fearsome beast – requiring human flesh to survive.
Minos secured the Minotaur in a complex labyrinth designed and constructed by Daedalus.
As Minos had recently defeated the Athenians he ordered them to regularly send 7 young men and 7 young women to be fed to the Minotaur.
Of course the Athenians were not happy about this arrangement (particularly the young Athenians) and Theseus (the Athenian hero) travelled to Crete to kill the Minotaur.
Theseus’s main problem was how to find his way in and out of the maze.
King Minos had a daughter named Ariadne who knew how to traverse the maze. Theseus seduced her and she helped by giving him a ball of golden thread. He unwound this as he went into the maze, slew the Minotaur and followed it to get out. He then escaped taking Ariadne with him (and that’s another story).
King Minos was furious and locked Daedalus and his son, Icarus, in the maze.
Daedalus, being the clever inventor, created two sets of wings which he attached to the arms of Icarus and himself using melted wax.
Using these wings they were able to escape. However, Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and Icarus fell to his death.
An interesting aside to this story is that the Greek word for a ball of string is clew.
Consequently, Ariadne gave Theseus a clew (clue) to solve the maze.
In Greek Mythology many characters and stories can be attributed to real people, places and events. However, no-one has ever located the labyrinth in the story. One theory is that it is not a normal maze but possibly a building. The Palace of Knossos is a possible location. With its large number of interconnecting rooms and many staircases it could well have been the labyrinth built to contain the god’s offspring.
