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In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (Greek λαβύρινθος ''labyrinthos'') was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it.〔.〕 Although early Cretan coins occasionally exhibit branching (multicursal) patterns,〔Kern, ''Through the Labyrinth'', 2000, item 43, p. 53.〕 the single-path (unicursal) seven-course "Classical" design without branching or dead ends became associated with the Labyrinth on coins as early as 430 BC,〔Kern, ''Through the Labyrinth'', 2000, item 50, p. 54.〕 and similar non-branching patterns became widely used as visual representations of the Labyrinth – even though both logic and literary descriptions make it clear that the Minotaur was trapped in a complex branching maze.〔Penelope Reed Doob, ''The Idea of the Labyrinth'', pp. 40–41.〕 Even as the designs became more elaborate, visual depictions of the mythological Labyrinth from Roman times until the Renaissance are almost invariably unicursal. Branching mazes were reintroduced only when garden mazes became popular during the Renaissance. In English, the term ''labyrinth'' is generally synonymous with ''maze''. As a result of the long history of unicursal representation of the mythological Labyrinth, however, many contemporary scholars and enthusiasts observe a distinction between the two. In this specialized usage ''maze'' refers to a complex branching multicursal puzzle with choices of path and direction, while a unicursal ''labyrinth'' has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not difficult to navigate.〔Kern, ''Through the Labyrinth'', p. 23.〕〔The usage restricting ''maze'' to patterns that involve choices of path is mentioned by Matthews (p. 2–3) as early as 1922, though he does not find the distinction useful and does not follow it himself.〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 website=The Labyrinth Society )〕 Unicursal labyrinths appeared as designs on pottery or basketry, as body art, and in etchings on walls of caves or churches. The Romans created many primarily decorative unicursal designs on walls and floors in tile or mosaic. Many labyrinths set in floors or on the ground are large enough that the path can be walked. Unicursal patterns have been used historically both in group ritual and for private meditation, and are increasingly found for therapeutic use in hospitals and hospices. ==Ancient labyrinths== ''Labyrinth'' is a word of Pre-Greek (Minoan) origin, which the Greeks used for the palace of Knossos in Crete, and it is derived from the Lydian word ''labrys'' ("double-edged axe").〔(). Plutarch, ''Greek Questions'', 45 2.302a.〕〔F. Schachermeyer (1990), ''Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta'', pp. 161, 237, 238〕 This was a symbol of royal power, which suggests that the labyrinth was originally the royal Minoan palace in Crete and meant "palace of the double-axe" (the suffix -nth as in Korinth).〔Pre-Greek word in -ινθος according to R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 819.〕 This designation may not have been limited to the palace of Knossos, because the same symbols were discovered in other palaces of Crete.〔Criticised by W.H.D. Rouse, "The Double Axe and the Labyrinth" ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 21 (1901), pp. 268-274, noting the reappearance of the same inscribed symbols at the newly discovered palace a Phaistos (p. 273).〕 Pliny's ''Natural History'' mentions four ancient labyrinths: the Cretan labyrinth, an Egyptian labyrinth, a Lemnian labyrinth, and an Italian labyrinth. 'Labrys' was a cult-word introduced from Anatolia. In Labraunda of Caria the double-axe accompanies the storm-god Zeus Labrandeus (). It also accompanies the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub (his Hittite and Luwian name was Tarhun).〔(Tarhun )〕 A lot of these symbols were found in the Minoan palaces in Crete, and they usually accompanied goddesses. It seems that the double-axe was the symbol of the beginning (''arche'') of the creation.〔 The goddess of the double-axe probably presided over the Minoan palaces, and especially over the palace of Knossos. The Linear B (Mycenaean) inscription on tablet ΚΝ Gg 702, is interpreted as ''da-pu2-ri-to-jo,po-ti-ni-ja'' (''labyrinthoio potnia'', "Mistress of the labyrinth), and she was undoubtedly the goddess of the palace.〔〔She must have been a Great Goddess: Kerenyi, ''Dionysos'', p. 91.〕〔 (【引用サイトリンク】website=DĀMOS Database of Mycenaean at Oslo )〕 The word ''daburinthos'' (''labyrinthos'') may possibly show the same equivocation between initial ''d-'' and ''l-'' as is found in the variation of the early Hittite royal name ''Tabarna'' / ''Labarna'' (where written ''t-'' may represent phonetic ''d-''). The complex palace of Knossos in Crete is usually implicated, though the actual dancing ground, depicted in frescoes at Knossos, has not been found. Something was being shown to visitors as a labyrinth at Knossos in the 1st century AD (Philostratos, ''De vita Apollonii Tyanei'' iv.34).〔Kerenyi, ''Dionysos'', p. 101, n. 171.〕 The labyrinth is the referent in the familiar Greek patterns of the endlessly running meander, to give the "Greek key" its common modern name. In the 3rd century BC, coins from Knossos were still struck with the labyrinth symbol. The predominant labyrinth form during this period is the simple seven-circuit style known as the ''classical'' labyrinth. The term ''labyrinth'' came to be applied to any unicursal maze, whether of a particular circular shape (illustration) or rendered as square. At the center, a decisive turn brought one out again. In Plato's dialogue ''Euthydemus'', Socrates describes the labyrinthine line of a logical argument: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Labyrinth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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