Since ancient times, people have tried to understand how our world was created, who created the Sun, the sky, the Earth, and people.
In different countries, people created myths and legends in which the creators and rulers of the world were various monsters and apes with the bodies of snakes, animals, or fish.
Why do people all over the world love and know the myths of ancient Greece?
Because the Greek gods were like humans—with their own weaknesses and cunning. Although they lived on the highest mountain in Greece, it was Zeus and his brothers and sisters who cast the Titans—the monsters—down to the underworld and reigned supreme on the mountain.
The Greek gods lived, loved, suffered, and cunning like ordinary people. Crete played a special role in Greek myths.
It was here, in the deep Dikti Cave, that Zeus was born. It was here that he hid and grew up. It was the local semi-mythical figures, the semi-real people—the Curetes—who guarded the peace of the future Lord of the World.
Throughout Crete, you can visit places associated with Zeus in one way or another.
Even after becoming the chief god of Olympus, the ruler of the world did not forget his island and the goat Amalthia, who nursed him with her milk.
Later, Crete was ruled by Zeus’s son, Minos, who became a legendary king thanks to his wisdom.
Rumors of the king’s wisdom reached the farthest reaches of the known Greek world.
Minos later had a son—half-bull, half-man—who terrified nearby islands and countries.
The Minotaur lived in an underground palace, the Labyrinth, which became a symbol of confusion.
It was here that Theseus slew the Minotaur, freeing Athens from its bloody toll. The beautiful Ariadne, having fallen in love with the son of the Athenian king, Aegeus, gave him a skein of thread that led him out of the Labyrinth.
The legendary architect of antiquity, Daedalus, lived and worked on Crete. This outstanding engineer designed and built not only the well-known Labyrinth but also many temples, which, unfortunately, have not survived to this day.
One could go on and on about the various mythical heroes and gods associated with Crete, but it’s better to visit the island once than to walk in the places where Greek heroes walked and celebrated their victories many centuries ago.
