Crete – the Birthplace of Zeus, the home of the
Minotaur….and I am here in the midst of it all in ‘Heraklion’ or Iraklion.
First Zeus or ‘Jupiter’ as he was re-named by later Romans!
The Ancient Goddess Rhea was married to her brother Cronos (himself a son of
even older Gods) and gave birth to many children. Her husband had the bad habit
of swallowing all the newborns, as he desired to be top god forever, and would
not tolerate competition from his offspring. Rhea got sick of that onerous family
tradition, and took off when pregnant with Zeus. She left a stone behind, which
Cronos was to mistake for his last born son. He swallowed the stone believing
it was Zeus. Rolaids of the Gods – here we come.
In the meantime Rhea hid herself in a high mountain cave on
Crete (I saw it, so it must be true…) where she gave birth to Zeus. She
gathered drummers around here to drown out the crying of newborn Zeus (Cronos
had bad eyes, but good ears) and she employed nymphs to look after the baby. A
goat named Amalfi provided milk, and bees provide honey. So here in the cave of
‘milk and honey’ Zeus grew up strong enough to head out to kill his dad Cronos,
and thus began not only his ruling of Olympus (the home of Greek Gods) but also
his colourful love life, which involved about 250+++ recorded lovers, mostly females.
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| Zeus was borne at the Base of this Mountain... |
He changed himself into various other images, depending on
the circumstances surrounding the winning of his love object.
Also, here on Crete, he changed himself into a white bull to
seduce Europa, a beautiful maiden who liked – just like here equally gorgeous
girlfriends – to play with little bulls. She committed the error or trying to
ride this little bull, the disguised Zeus. Zeus extended the playful ride into
a long flight, and when he landed he did the dirty deed and impregnated Europa
– after changing back into human form, luckily for little Europa.
That impromptu union resulted in the birth of Minos, the
famous ‘Minoan’ King who constructed the labyrinth of Minos, where in turn he
hid the Minotaur (half man half bull) one of HIS children by his unhappy queen.
But that is another story closely connected with the labyrinthic construction
of Knossos Palace some 3700 years ago by good old King Minos/Midas. The
Minotaur was finally killed by a Greek hero, who found his way in and out of
the Labyrinth by using a ball of wool, provided by his girlfriend.
Crete was the location of hundreds of stories about Greek
Gods and Heroes and Semi Human Monsters. It also was home to ‘Zorba the Greek’,
and his creator Nikos Kazantzakis, who is buried in a place of honour in
Iraklion.
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| Miniatures and Icons from a Monastry |
Crete and Iraklion appear to be the very place to relax in a
quiet corner – and get out the Greek Myth, enjoy a good meal with a good wine,
and read about the Life of the Greek Gods and live the life of a Greek God
transplanted into modern more gentle times. I headed for the Lassithi Plateau –
site of Zeus birth – and enjoyed fabulous vistas fit for the Gods as well as
quiet refreshments in the village of Seli, where the bells of a flock of sheep
provided sweet background music.
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| The Last Supper as per Monastry Icon...the lamb looks a little too small to feed twelve hungry Apostles and Jesus. |
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| A Shepherd and his Helper |
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| Rounding up the Flock....reminds one of returning to a tour bus after visiting a site... |
A visit to the Byzantine Cloister of Kera (Our Lady) and
ancient windmills dotting a wind battered mountain pass rounded out my day –
too short again, but definitely a temptation to return and stay awhile on one
of the most intriguing Greek Islands.
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| Ancient Windmills |
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| Adios Greece.... |
