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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ryro, post: 6538781, member: 91461&quot;]Like a bull faced man stalking the halls of his labyrinth for the next sacrificial victim, I&#039;ve been searching for a coin with the &quot;house of the double axe&quot;.</p><p>However, for such a well known myth, the type is as hard to find as the exit sign in this place!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261769[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Fortunately, BAC had over priced so many of their items, that folks just weren&#039;t looking at the inventory. I snagged this at opening bid<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261775[/ATTACH]</p><p>CRETE, KNOSSOS.</p><p>AE (2.54 g), approx. 200-67 BC BC: head of the bearded Zeus to the right. Back: Labyrinth between ΚΝΩΣΙ / ΩΝ. Svoronos, Crete 116.2.00, Lindgren. Nice. Ex BAC Numismatics 2/9/20201</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Knossos, the famous city of the mythical King Minos, is closely linked to the mythical tales of Daidalos and Ikaros, Theseus and Ariadne, Minos and Pasiphai, and of course, the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. According to legend, Daidalos built the labyrinth at the request of King Minos, who wanted a secure place to confine the son of his wife, Pasiphai. The son - the Minotaur - was the unnatural result of the union of Pasiphai with a sacrificial bull, and was monstrously half-human and half-bull. Daidalos cleverly built the labyrinth so that the Minotaur could never escape (and according to Ovid, in doing so almost lost himself within its walls).</p><p>Each year seven youths and seven maidens were brought from Athens, at the time subject to Knossos, to be sacrificed to feed the Minotaur. One year, wishing to free Athens from this ghastly tribute, Theseus, son of King Aigeus of Athens, connived with his father to join the next shipment of youths so that he could slay the Minotaur and free his fellow victims. With the help of King Minos&#039; daughter, Ariadne, he smuggled into the labyrinth a sword and some string to help him navigate his way out again. He slew the beast, but on his return voyage to Athens he neglected to raise a white sail, the signal by which his father the king would know of his success. King Aigeus, in despair at seeing a black sail on the returning ship, hurled himself into the sea, which now was henceforth called the Aegean.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Though, not as lovely nor as <i>silver</i> as the two beauties of [USER=44357]@AncientJoe[/USER], that woke me up to the type, I&#039;m thrilled to own one (hopefully he&#039;ll share his<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />)</p><p>As we know, the site of Knossos doesn&#039;t have any &quot;labyrinths&quot; but just a big palace complex.</p><p>So, how did ancient Greeks confuse a palace of their even more ancient predecessors for a maze?</p><p>Pretty easily when you borrow Daedalus&#039; wings:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261782[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261778[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>But Ry to the ro, you might say, where did the term labyrinth come from?</p><p>The walls of the palace at Knossos were decorated with numerous labyrs or double headed axes. Hence our origin for the word labyrinth.</p><p>For those unfamiliar with labyrs, here&#039;s some on the obverse and reverse of MSCs:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261789[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261790[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>So misunderstood, what can we glean of who they were?</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]LYb_nqU_43w[/MEDIA]</p><p>How about we look at some of the stunning art showing the advancement of a people, from 3 to 4 millennia ago, found at the &quot;labyrinth&quot;?[ATTACH=full]1261833[/ATTACH]</p><p>(They appreciated beautiful woman)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261834[/ATTACH]</p><p>(Athletic contests like bull leaping)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1261837[/ATTACH]</p><p>(They appreciated the under water world as well)</p><p><br /></p><p>All I can say looking at these wonders from the dawn of history is...</p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]cdDPR8GzXy8[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>So please, post your coins of labyrinths, labyrs, Minotaurs, Perseus, coins from Crete, corrections or anything that slays your beast!<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie58" alt=":jimlad:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1262080[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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