Mythical Beasts (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Wrath of the Minotaur - full transcript
A new excavation at the mysterious home of the Minoans leads to a startling discovery about real-life origins of the Minotaur, and experts decode artifacts that point to bloody human sacrifices for the ferocious monster.
[ ROARS ]
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR.
A TERRIFYING MONSTER.
HALF MAN, HALF BULL.
[ ROARING ]
THE MINOTAUR WAS BORN BECAUSE A WOMAN
FELL IN LOVE WITH A BULL.
Narrator: SO DANGEROUS, IT WAS IMPRISONED
IN A HUGE LABYRINTH AND FED ON HUMAN FLESH.
BEYOND THE SACRIFICE, THEY
WERE INTENTIONALLY BUTCHERED.
Narrator: THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THIS BLOODY MYTH
BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY SAW HERE.
THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS IN CRETE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS WERE CONVINCED THAT BURIED
BENEATH THE CITY OF KNOSSOS,
THEY WOULD FIND THE LABYRINTH.
Narrator: BUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
TO INSPIRE THIS MONSTROUS TALE?
IT REALLY WAS A VERY LARGE, VERY TERRIFYING
BULL-LIKE ANIMAL.
Narrator: COULD THERE BE FAR MORE
TO THIS ANCIENT MYTH THAN WE REALIZE?
FOUND A REALLY, REALLY
INTERESTING FEATURE HERE,
A SUBTERRANEAN FEATURE.
Narrator: AND WILL
DECODING IT FINALLY REVEAL
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO
AND WHAT THEY REALLY DID?
TO WORSHIP A MONSTER,
SACRIFICING OUR CHILDREN,
IT'S HARD TO RELATE TO TODAY.
Narrator: NOW EXPERTS USE THE
LATEST SCIENCE IN ARCHEOLOGY
TO INVESTIGATE CRETE'S MYSTERIOUS RUINS.
Woman: PRETTY LOOSE
HERE, SO JUST BE CAREFUL.
Narrator: AND VENTURE DEEP
INTO ITS HIDDEN UNDERWORLD
TO UNCOVER THE TERRIFYING REALITY
BEHIND THIS MYTHICAL
BEAST OF ANCIENT TIMES.
[ ROARING ]
♪♪
KNOSSOS IN CRETE,
SAID TO BE THE BIRTHPLACE
OF THE MYTHICAL MINOTAUR.
WAY BEFORE THE X-MEN, GREEK MYTHOLOGY
WAS ALREADY COMBINING HUMANS AND ANIMALS
TO CREATE MONSTERS AND HEROES.
THE AVENGERS, YOUR
"GAME OF THRONES" CAN RUN
FOR MULTIPLE SEASONS.
THE GREEK MYTHS, THOSE
STORIES HAVE BEEN GOING ON
FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS.
MINOTAUR IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MONSTERS
OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IT'S THE FIRST SUPER-VILLAIN.
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR MYTH TELLS
OF A TERRIFYING RITUAL.
EVERY NINE YEARS, 14 YOUTHS
FROM THE GREEK MAINLAND
ARE TORN FROM THEIR FAMILIES AND SHIPPED
TO A MAGNIFICENT PALACE
ON THE ISLAND OF CRETE.
♪♪
HERE THEY ARE FORCED
INTO A GIGANTIC LABYRINTH
SO COMPLEX, THERE'S NO ESCAPE.
♪♪
THEY ARE A SACRIFICE TO A
MUTANT MAN-EATING MONSTER.
♪♪
THE MINOTAUR.
[ GROWLING ]
BUT IS THIS JUST A TALE?
OR DID TERRIBLE THINGS
REALLY HAPPEN ON THIS ISLAND
THAT INSPIRED THE ANCIENT GREEKS
TO CREATE THIS MYTH?
MOST MYTHOLOGY IS BASED IN SOME FACT,
SOMETHING THAT WAS REALLY OBSERVED.
Narrator: ARCHEOLOGIST,
ALEXANDER MacGILLIVRAY
SEARCHES FOR ANSWERS AT KNOSSOS.
THIS ANCIENT PALACE CITY
WAS BUILT 4,000 YEARS AGO
BY A POWERFUL AND
MYSTERIOUS CIVILIZATION...
THE MINOANS.
THE PALACE HERE AT KNOSSOS WAS EXCAVATED
120 YEARS AGO, AND YET,
EVEN IN ALL THAT TIME,
WE'RE STILL KINDA SCRAMBLING TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT THIS PLACE IS.
Narrator: THESE RUINS HOLD MANY SECRETS.
BUT EVIDENCE FOUND HERE CONFIRMS
THAT ALEXANDER IS DEFINITELY
IN MINOTAUR TERRITORY.
MacGillivray: HUNDREDS OF THESE
COINS HAVE BEEN FOUND HERE
OVER THE CENTURIES.
WHAT WE HAVE ON THE
FRONT SIDE IS THE MINOTAUR,
WE CAN SEE HIM SORT OF
LEAPING THROUGH THE AIR.
AND WHEN YOU FLIP IT OVER,
WE HAVE THE LABYRINTH,
SO THEY'RE BOTH REFERENCES TO THE MYTH
OF THE MINOTAUR AND ON MANY COINS,
THERE'S THE INSCRIPTION THAT SAYS KNOSS.
AND SO WE KNOW THAT IT'S KNOSSOS.
Narrator: THE MINOANS WERE ONCE
THE MOST POWERFUL
CIVILIZATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
FIERCE ENEMIES OF THE MAINLAND GREEKS.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT ANCIENT GREECE,
A LOT OF TIMES WE THINK ABOUT IT
IN MODERN TERMS, LIKE IT'S A COUNTRY,
BUT AT THE TIME, IT WAS A
LOT OF LITTLE CITY STATES
THAT WERE NOT ALWAYS
GETTING ALONG VERY WELL.
THE ENTIRE MAINLAND OF GREECE
MUST HAVE BEEN TERRIFIED
OF THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION.
Narrator: BUT DID A CREATURE REALLY KILL
GREEK YOUTHS HERE AND IF SO, WHAT WAS IT?
ALEXANDER THINKS THE ANSWER COULD LIE
IN THE MINOAN RELIGION AND
THE MYSTERIOUS CEREMONIES
ONCE PERFORMED HERE.
THESE BUILDINGS ALL CONTAIN RITUAL ROOMS.
IT WAS UP IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD
THAT OUR EXCAVATIONS CAME UP
WITH THIS VERY, VERY
UNUSUAL COLLECTION OF BONES.
♪♪
Narrator: REMAINS OF ANIMAL SKELETONS
ARE COMMON ON ARCHEOLOGICAL DIGS,
BUT THESE SPECIMENS
REVEAL A VERY UNUSUAL STORY.
THIS IS WHAT WE'RE USED TO FINDING
ON EXCAVATION, FRAGMENTS OF ANIMAL BONES
THAT HAVE BEEN DE-FLESHED.
YOU'LL FIND CUT MARKS,
AND THAT WAS THE STANDARD
WAY OF PREPARING MEAT.
SOMETIMES, IF YOU'RE NEAR A FIREPLACE,
YOU'LL FIND THAT SOME OF
THESE BONES HAVE BEEN BURNT.
Narrator: BUT SOME SPECIMENS REVEAL
A PARTICULARLY DISTURBING
ASPECT OF LIFE HERE
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
WE FOUND BONES THAT
WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
VERY, VERY INTERESTING, INDEED.
THEY WERE HUMAN BONES.
Narrator: ALEXANDER BELIEVES THESE PEOPLE
MET A BRUTAL AND VIOLENT DEATH.
SOME OF THE BONES, LIKE THIS FEMUR HERE,
WERE SMASHED UP, INTENTIONALLY BROKEN.
THESE ARE THE FRAGMENTS
OF FOUR INDIVIDUALS,
AND THEY'RE ALL CHILDREN.
THEY'RE TOO YOUNG TO EVEN
KNOW WHAT GENDER THEY ARE.
Narrator: COULD THESE BE
THE YOUTHS REFERRED TO
IN THE MYTH?
WHO, OR WHAT, WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THESE GRIZZLY DEATHS?
HERE YOU CAN SEE EVEN
ON ONE OF THE VERTEBRAE
WHERE THERE'S BEEN CUTTING ON THE VERTEBRAE
AND THE BACKBONE ITSELF.
YOU CAN SEE THE SORT OF CUT MARKS
SLICING AWAY EXACTLY THE SAME WAY
THAT YOU REMOVE THE FLESH FROM ANIMALS
WHEN YOU'RE PREPARING A MEAL.
♪♪
WE SUSPECTED THAT THEY
WERE, PERHAPS, SACRIFICED,
BUT THEN BEYOND THE SACRIFICE,
THEY WERE INTENTIONALLY BUTCHERED.
♪♪
Narrator: THIS DISCOVERY IS NOT UNIQUE.
INVESTIGATORS HAVE UNCOVERED EVIDENCE
OF SACRIFICIAL RITUALS
RIGHT ACROSS THE ISLAND.
THREE MILES SOUTH OF KNOSSOS,
WHEN ARCHEOLOGISTS EXCAVATED
THE REMAINS OF A TEMPLE,
THEY MADE A GRIZZLY
FIND IN ONE OF THE ROOMS.
LYING ON A TABLE, A TEENAGE MALE,
HIS LEGS CURLED BACK LIKE HE'D BEEN BOUND
AND A BRONZE DAGGER BY HIS SIDE,
SIGNS THAT HE WAS A VICTIM OF SACRIFICE.
AND AT THE WESTERN END OF CRETE,
IN THE PALACE OF KYDONIA,
ARCHEOLOGISTS UNEARTHED
CAREFULLY ARRANGED PILES OF ROCKS.
THEY CONCEALED ANIMAL BONES AND THE SKULL
OF A YOUNG WOMAN WHO
COULD BE ANOTHER VICTIM
OF A DEADLY RITUAL.
THE EVIDENCE LEAVES NO DOUBT,
HUMAN SACRIFICE WAS
HAPPENING HERE ON CRETE.
BUT WHY WAS THE FLESH
BEING CUT OFF THEIR BONES?
WAS IT TO FEED A MONSTER?
[ ROARING ]
THE IDEA THAT A MONSTER
WOULD EAT HUMAN FLESH
IS SOMETHING THAT'S ALWAYS
FREAKED HUMAN BEINGS OUT
AND SO ANY MONSTER THAT DOES EAT PEOPLE,
THAT'S JUST ONE MORE
THING TO MAKE THAT MONSTER
SOMETHING TO BE FEARED.
Narrator: WAS THIS BEAST THE INSPIRATION
FOR THE MINOTAUR?
THAT IS A HUGE HEAD.
I MEAN, WE'RE STARTING TO
APPROACH DINOSAUR SIZE NOW.
Narrator: CAN FINDING THE
MYTHICAL MONSTER'S PRISON,
THE GIANT LABYRINTH,
FINALLY PROVIDE THE ANSWERS?
[ ROARING ]
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: AT THE ANCIENT
PALACE OF KNOSSOS IN CRETE,
EXPERTS INVESTIGATE WHY THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THE TERRIFYING MINOTAUR MYTH.
WAS A MUTANT MONSTER EATING THE FLESH
OF PEOPLE SACRIFICED AT
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES HERE?
INVESTIGATORS TURN TO THE
TALE TO HUNT FOR MORE CLUES.
♪♪
THE STORY GOES THAT THE
GOD, POSEIDON, GIVES KING MINOS
A WHITE BULL AS A GIFT.
HE THEN CURSES THE QUEEN
TO FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.
SHE GIVES BIRTH TO A MUTANT BABY,
HALF BOY, HALF BULL AND TRIES
TO NURSE THE CHILD HERSELF.
BUT SHE SOON DISCOVERS, HE'S CURSED.
A MONSTER THAT CAN ONLY EAT HUMAN FLESH,
THE MINOTAUR IS BORN.
THE KING IS SO ANGRY,
HE IMPRISONS THE BEAST
IN A HUGE LABYRINTH, A GIANT
MAZE SO LARGE AND COMPLEX
THAT NO ONE CAN EVER FIND THEIR WAY OUT.
[ ROARING ]
THERE'S A NUMBER OF STORIES
THROUGHOUT GREEK MYTHOLOGY OF HUMANS
HAVING SEX WITH ANIMALS.
THIS DOES NOT SUGGEST
THAT COPULATION WITH BULLS
WAS PART OF THE EVERY DAY LIFE OF MINOANS.
I THINK IT WAS A CURIOSITY
THAT IS EXPLORED IN MYTH
SO THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE
TO BE EXPLORED IN REAL LIFE.
Narrator: BUT WHAT REAL
EVENT COULD'VE INSPIRED
THE TALE OF A BOVINE
MONSTER HERE AT KNOSSOS?
WHAT DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS SEE?
ARCHEOLOGIST ALEXANDER MacGILLIVRAY
INVESTIGATES.
MacGillivray: THERE'S EVIDENCE
FOR BULL ICONOGRAPHY
ALL OVER THIS BUILDING.
THIS IS A PLAN OF THE PALACE.
THERE IS THIS BULL'S HEAD.
ACROSS THE CENTRAL COURT,
THERE WERE FRAGMENTS
OF THESE MINOAN HORNS OF CONSECRATION.
A GREAT CHARGING, BELLOWING BULL
THAT WE HAVE IN THE NORTH ENTRANCE PASSAGE
THAT GREETS YOU ON THE WAY IN.
THINK OF THE IMPRESSION THAT WOULD MAKE
ON PEOPLE COMING IN FROM ALL OVER CRETE
AND EVEN FROM OVERSEAS.
Narrator: BULLS CLEARLY
HAD INCREDIBLE STATUS HERE.
BUT DID THE MINOANS
INCLUDE THEM IN A RITUAL
THAT INVOLVED HUMAN SACRIFICE?
♪♪
AT THE HEART OF THE PALACE,
ALEXANDER UNCOVERS MORE CLUES.
MacGillivray: THE WHOLE
ARCHITECTURE OF THIS BUILDING
LOOKS INTO THIS COURT.
THIS IS REALLY WHAT DEFINES THE PALACE.
Narrator: THIS CENTRAL PLAZA
STANDS OUT AT KNOSSOS.
IT'S HUGE AND IS THE ONLY
AREA HERE LEFT EMPTY.
WAS THIS THE LOCATION OF
THE SPECTACULAR, BUT DEADLY,
BOVINE RITUAL?
MacGillivray: SO YOU'VE
GOT BUILDINGS AROUND
IT ON ALL SIDES.
YOU COULD HAVE PEOPLE
GAZING DOWN INTO THE COURT.
SO WHATEVER HAPPENED IN THIS COURT
WAS HUGELY IMPORTANT.
[ GROWLING ]
Narrator: THE REMAINS OF A PALACE MURAL
COLD PROVIDE THE ANSWER.
SOME EXPERTS BELIEVE THIS COULD BE EVIDENCE
THAT PEOPLE WERE,
INDEED, KILLED BY BULLS HERE
IN A DRAMATIC EVENT.
THIS IS PART OF A MUCH,
MUCH LARGER COMPOSITION
THAT WOULD HAVE COVERED SOMETHING LIKE
THAT WHOLE SPACE UP THERE.
Narrator: PIECING TOGETHER
THE REMAINING FRAGMENTS
GIVES AN INCREDIBLE INSIGHT INTO THE EVENT.
WHEN RESEARCHERS UNEARTHED
THIS ANCIENT MEGASTRUCTURE,
THEY FOUND HUNDREDS OF
FRAGMENTS OF PAINTED PLASTER
CREATING A HUGE PUZZLE
NEARLY 3,500 YEARS OLD.
TOGETHER, THEY REVEALED
THE FIGURE OF A MIGHTY
CHARGING BULL.
AROUND IT, THREE MINOAN FIGURES.
ONE GRABBING THE BULL'S HORNS,
ONE SOMERSAULTING OVER IT'S BACK,
AND ONE TO CATCH THE PERSON JUMPING.
FIVE OF THESE PAINTINGS WERE FOUND,
FORMING A GIANT BILLBOARD OF WHAT COULD BE
AN EXTREME ANCIENT RITUAL... BULL LEAPING.
ONE WRONG MOVE AND YOU CAN BE KILLED.
WHAT WE SEE FROM THE PAINTINGS
IS THAT BULL LEAPING WOULD'VE
TAKEN PLACE RIGHT HERE.
THEY PROBABLY LED THE
BULLS UP THE RAMP HERE
IN THE NORTH ENTRANCE PASSAGE
AND THEN LEAPED OVER THE BULLS RIGHT HERE
WITH EVERYBODY WATCHING.
Narrator: THIS RITUAL COULD'VE INSPIRED
THE IDEA OF BULLS AS KILLERS AT KNOSSOS.
LEAPING OVER THE BULL IS LIKE,
IF YOU MAKE IT, YOU'VE
SURVIVED THIS INCREDIBLE FEAT.
IT'S LIKE OVERCOMING YOUR FEAR OF DEATH.
WHAT I CONTINUE TO FIND SO FASCINATING
ABOUT THE MYTH OF THE MINOTAUR
IS THAT WE STILL HAVE THE SAME FEATURES
IN RITUALS TODAY.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE RUNNING
OF THE BULLS AT PAMPLONA,
WE SEE THE SAME MOTIFS.
HUMANS PUTTING THEMSELVES
IN THE WAY OF DANGER,
USING BULLS TO SHOW STRENGTH.
[ GROWLING ]
THE MINOTAUR'S STILL AROUND
IN DIFFERENT FORMS TODAY
Narrator: BUT NOT ALL BULLS HERE
WERE LIKE THE BEASTS OF TODAY.
ALEXANDER BELIEVES SOME
WERE SUPERSIZED MONSTERS.
A PALACE ROOM DESTROYED 3,500 YEARS AGO
PROVIDES THE EVIDENCE.
THESE BLOCKS HAVE BEEN
HURLED BY A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE
RIGHT OFF THE SOUTH FACADE OF THE PALACE.
AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, THE MINOANS WENT BACK
INTO THE ROOM AND PLACED
THESE TWO MASSIVE BULL SKULLS
AS A PART OF AN OFFERING.
Narrator: EXAMINING X-RAY
IMAGES OF THE SKULLS
REVEALS THESE WERE, INDEED,
NO ORDINARY CREATURES.
YOU CAN SEE THE BULL'S
HEAD, GREAT LONG HEAD.
AND THEY WERE PLACED, THEY
WERE SEVERED FROM THE BODY
AND THEY WERE PLACED
INTENTIONALLY IN THE CORNER
OF THE ROOM.
IF YOU LOOK AT THIS DETAIL OF THE HORNS,
YOU'LL SEE THAT, IN FACT, THEY'RE HUGE.
THESE ARE FROM VERY, VERY LARGE ANIMALS,
MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT
FROM REGULAR DOMESTIC CATTLE.
Narrator: BUT JUST HOW LARGE AND
POWERFUL WERE THESE BEASTS?
[ GROWLING ]
COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST, DR. JOY REIDENBERG
DISSECTS AND STUDIES THE BIGGEST CREATURES
IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
TODAY, SHE INVESTIGATES
THE REAL WORLD ORIGINS
OF MYTHICAL MONSTERS.
JOY BELIEVES THESE SKULLS ARE FROM
A GIANT ANCIENT SPECIES CALLED AN AUROCH.
THIS IS A PHOTO OF AN AUROCH SKULL.
THESE ARE THE TYPES OF
SKULLS THAT WERE IN THE PALACE
AND THIS IS ACTUALLY REDUCED PICTURE.
IF I WERE TO MEASURE THIS
SKULL, END TO END LIKE THIS,
IT WOULD, IN REALITY, BE ABOUT THIS BIG.
ALMOST AS WIDE AS I COULD REACH.
YOU COULD IMAGINE, THAT IS A HUGE HEAD.
I MEAN, WE'RE STARTING TO
APPROACH DINOSAUR SIZE NOW.
Narrator: THESE EXTINCT SUPER-BULLS
WERE ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCALE
THAN THE CATTLE OF TODAY.
BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE SKULLS
THAT WERE FOUND AT THE SITE,
ESTIMATES ARE THAT THEY
WERE PROBABLY BETWEEN
1,500 AND 3,000 POUNDS
AND PROBABLY MORE
THAN SEVEN FEET IN HEIGHT.
THAT WOULD BE A TERRIFYING SIGHT TO SEE.
Narrator: AUROCHS DIED
OUT NEARLY 400 YEARS AGO,
BUT THESE BEASTS WERE COMMON
IN ANCIENT GREECE AND CRETE.
THERE MAY ACTUALLY BE SOME
TRUTH BEHIND THIS LEGEND.
MOST LEGENDS REALLY
START WITH A LITTLE FACT
THAT IS TRUE.
Narrator: GIANT BULLS CLEARLY
HAD EXTRAORDINARY STATUS
AT KNOSSOS, BUT WAS AN EVEN BIGGER ONE
IMPRISONED SOMEWHERE IN THIS PALACE?
TO FIND OUT, EXPERTS NOW HUNT FOR EVIDENCE
OF THE GIANT LABYRINTH, SAID
TO BE THE MINOTAUR'S HOME.
MacGillivray: IT'S LIKE A COMPLICATED
UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY.
Narrator: WAS A HUGE MAZE
EVER BUILT AT KNOSSOS?
AND WHAT COULD IT REVEAL ABOUT
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE?
[ ROARING ]
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: EXPERTS UNCOVER THE TRUTH
BEHIND THE BLOODY LEGEND
OF THE MUTANT MINOTAUR.
[ ROARING ]
NOW, THE HUNT IS ON TO FIND THE MAZE,
THE PRISON SAID TO HOLD THE BEAST CAPTIVE.
♪♪
THE CLUE TO ITS LOCATION IS IN THE MYTH.
[ BIRDS CALL ]
ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THE LABYRINTH IS SAID
TO LIE DEEP BENEATH THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS.
IT'S A HUGE WEB OF WINDING
TUNNELS SO COMPLEX
AND SO VAST THAT ONCE YOU ENTER,
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND YOUR WAY OUT AGAIN.
THE CERTAIN FATE OF ANYONE BROUGHT HERE
IS DEATH IN THE MINOTAUR'S JAWS.
WHEN THE PALACE WAS FIRST DISCOVERED,
I THINK A LOT OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
DID GENUINELY THINK, NOW
WE'LL FIND THE LABYRINTH.
YOU KNOW, IT'S GOTTA BE HERE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS WERE
CONVINCED THAT BURIED BENEATH
IN THE CITY OF KNOSSOS THEY
WOULD FIND THE LABYRINTH.
♪♪
Narrator: BRITISH ARCHEOLOGIST,
SIR ARTHUR EVANS
WAS ONE OF THESE.
HE DEDICATED MOST OF HIS WORKING LIFE
TO HUNTING DOWN THE MINOTAUR'S LABYRINTH.
IN 1900, HE BEGAN HIS FIRST EXCAVATIONS
OF THE PALACE.
TODAY, ARCHEOLOGIST ALEXANDER MacGILLIVRAY
CONTINUES THE INVESTIGATION.
WITHIN FIVE YEARS,
ARTHUR EVANS HAD GIVEN A PRETTY CLEAR
PICTURE OF THIS ENORMOUS BUILDING.
Narrator: WHAT EVANS DISCOVERED
WAS A TRULY BEHEMOTH STRUCTURE.
IN ANCIENT TIMES, IT WOULD
HAVE DWARFED ANYTHING
IN EUROPE.
THIS PALACE WRAPPED
AROUND A LAVISHLY DECORATED
THRONE ROOM AND TOWERED
UP TO FOUR STORIES HIGH.
THERE WERE OVER 1,000 ROOMS
SPREADING OUT ACROSS 200,000 SQUARE FEET.
BUT DID THE MINOANS CONSTRUCT
A CONCEALED LABYRINTH HERE, AS WELL?
♪♪
MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS CARVED ACROSS THE PALACE
SUGGESTS THE MAZE COULD INDEED
BE MORE THAN JUST A STORY.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A MASON'S MARK
IN THE SHAPE OF A DOUBLE BITTED AX.
YOU CAN SEE THE TWO TRIANGLES
AND THE STAFF IN THE MIDDLE.
Narrator: THE ANCIENT GREEK WORD
FOR THIS TYPE OF AX IS LABRYS.
IT CONVINCED EVANS HE
WAS CLOSE TO HIS GOAL.
THIS GAVE HIM EVIDENCE FOR THE LABYRINTH,
THE PHYSICAL LABYRINTH.
♪♪
Narrator: EVANS DISCOVERED
MORE CRUCIAL CLUES.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PALACE PROVED
THE MINOANS HAD THE ENGINEERING EXPERTISE
TO BUILD A GIANT MAZE.
THE SCALE OF THE BUILDING WAS ENORMOUS.
♪♪
ALL OF A SUDDEN, HE WAS
EXCAVATING THIS BUILDING
OF 1,000 ROOMS.
Narrator: AT THE TIME MOST STRUCTURES
ON MAINLAND GREECE WERE SMALL AND SIMPLE,
KNOSSOS WAS ON A
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCALE.
MacGillivray: SO IMAGINE
SOMEBODY COMING TO CRETE
AND THEN WALKING INTO THIS BUILDING
WHERE YOU'VE GOT WINDING
BASEMENT CORRIDORS,
DIFFERENT FLOOR LEVELS
GOING UP AND DOWN STAIRS.
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY.
Narrator: BUT IS THERE
EVIDENCE OF BUILDING WORK
BENEATH THE PALACE, WHERE
THE MYTH PLACES THE LABYRINTH?
MacGillivray: I FOUND A REALLY,
REALLY INTERESTING FEATURE HERE.
A SUBTERRANEAN FEATURE.
Narrator: AT THE WESTERN END OF THE PALACE,
ALEXANDER EVENTUALLY FINDS A WAY IN
TO THIS MYSTERIOUS NETWORK.
MacGillivray: IT GOES IN
UNDERNEATH THE BUILDING.
IT'S LIKE A COMPLICATED
UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY.
Narrator: WHERE DO THESE CHANNELS LEAD?
COULD THIS BE THE ENTRANCE TO A MAZE?
IT LOOKS LIKE IT GOES IN A LONG WAY.
IT'S REALLY KINDA DARK AND
CLAUSTROPHOBIC IN THERE
SO TO GET A BETTER IDEA,
I'M GONNA PUT THIS CAMERA IN ON A POLE
AND MONITOR IT ON THIS PHONE.
♪♪
OKAY AND AS WE GO IN DEEPER AND DEEPER,
WE FIND, IN FACT, THAT
THE CHANNEL IS BLOCKED.
♪♪
IT'S OBVIOUSLY INCREDIBLY WELL-BUILT.
IT'S PART OF A WELL ENGINEERED SYSTEM,
BUT WE CAN'T GET ANY FURTHER HERE.
Narrator: DIGGING UP THESE RUINS TO HUNT
FOR THE MINOTAUR'S MAZE IS NOT POSSIBLE.
THE PALACE IS SIMPLY TOO DELICATE.
BUT NEW TECHNOLOGY MAY
FINALLY HAVE FOUND THE ANSWER.
GROUND PENETRATING RADAR WORKS
BY SENDING A RADIO SIGNAL INTO THE SOIL.
THIS DETECTS ANYTHING HIDDEN UNDERGROUND.
EXPERTS HAVE NOW COMPLETED A NUMBER
OF DIFFERENT PAINSTAKING SURVEYS.
COMBINING THE RESULTS
GIVES A DEFINITIVE ANSWER.
♪♪
THERE IS NO MAZE BENEATH THE PALACE.
THESE CHANNELS ARE
BELIEVED TO BE THE REMAINS
OF A WATER NETWORK.
IT IS SUBTERRANEAN, IT IS
BURIED BELOW THE PALACE,
BUT IT'S CLEARLY NOT THE LABYRINTH.
SO WITH OUR COIN, WE'VE GOT OUR EVIDENCE
FOR THE MINOTAUR.
WHAT ABOUT THE FLIP SIDE?
WHERE'S OUR EVIDENCE FOR THE LABYRINTH?
AND IF THERE'S A LABYRINTH DOWN HERE,
GROUND PENETRATING RADAR WOULD'VE FOUND IT.
MAYBE IT'S NOT HERE.
MAYBE WE HAVE TO LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE,
BEYOND THE PALACE.
Narrator: THE SEARCH IS FAR FROM OVER.
SOME EXPERTS NOW BELIEVE ARCHEOLOGISTS
HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR
THE WRONG KIND OF MAZE.
THEY SUSPECT THE ANCIENT GREEKS
WERE DESCRIBING A NATURAL
UNDERGROUND STRUCTURE
ELSEWHERE ON THE ISLAND.
ONCE THAT WAS USED FOR
BLOODY RELIGIOUS RITUALS.
♪♪
THE LABYRINTH, ITSELF, MIGHT NOT BE
WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.
A LABYRINTH IS STRUCTURE
COMBINED WITH CONFUSION.
SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT MIGHT LURE YOU IN,
SOMETHING THAT CATCHES
YOU AND KEEPS YOU IN THERE.
Narrator: COULD THE MINOTAUR'S MAZE
HAVE BEEN A HUGE CAVE SYSTEM?
[ GROWLING ]
AND WHAT COULD THESE DARK CAVERNS REVEAL
ABOUT THE BEAST AND WHAT IT DID HERE?
[ ROARING ]
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS
SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
BEHIND THE MONSTROUS MINOTAUR MYTH.
THEY WANNA LOCATE THE LABYRINTH DEPICTED
IN THE LEGEND.
THEY HOPE FINDING IT WILL REVEAL
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE
AND WHY THIS MYTH BEGAN.
♪♪
THE LEGEND CLAIMS THAT
THE MINOTAUR WAS IMPRISONED
INSIDE A VAST LABYRINTH
UNDER THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS.
EVERY NINE YEARS, 14 ATHENIAN YOUTHS
WERE FORCED INTO THIS GIANT MAZE.
HERE, THE MINOTAUR WOULD HUNT THEM DOWN
AND EAT THEM.
♪♪
ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE NEVER FOUND
ANY EVIDENCE OF A GIANT MAZE AT KNOSSOS.
BUT ARE THEY LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE?
ACCORDING TO SOME HISTORIANS,
THE LABYRINTH MIGHT NOT HAVE
BEEN A MAN-MADE STRUCTURE,
BUT A NATURAL FEATURE.
♪♪
ARCHEOLOGISTS LOETA
TYREE AND ANTONIA STAMOS
INVESTIGATE A SIGHT JUST
OVER EIGHT MILES EAST
OF THE PALACE, DEEP IN
THE CRETAN COUNTRYSIDE.
THEIR WORK ON HOW THE
MINOANS USED CAVES LIKE THIS
COULD ALSO THROW LIGHT
ON THE REAL INSPIRATION
FOR THE LABYRINTH.
Tyree: I THINK IT'S QUITE
PLAUSIBLE THAT A CAVE
COULD HAVE BROUGHT UPON
THE IDEA OF A LABYRINTH.
YOU ARE MOVING THROUGH A SPACE
THAT IS VERY COMPLICATED
AND YOU'RE HOPING TO BE ABLE TO RETURN.
♪♪
Narrator: THE SKOTINO CAVE IS A COMPLETELY
NATURAL FEATURE OF
CRETE'S LIMESTONE BEDROCK.
IT'S A COMPLEX WEB OF CHAMBERS.
BUT HOW LIKE A LABYRINTH
COULD IT REALLY BE?
[ SNARLING ]
THE TEAMS RESEARCH INVOLVES MAPPING
THIS PARTICULAR SYSTEM.
♪♪
Tyree: IT'S A WHOLE LOT MORE
CAVE THAN WE WERE EXPECTING.
SOME PLACES ARE ACTUALLY
COMPLETELY INACCESSIBLE.
Narrator: THIS CAVE IS SO DARK AND COMPLEX,
IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
TO TELL WHAT'S DOWN HERE.
Tyree: YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THESE CAVES
IN A SIMPLE IMAGE.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND
THE SHEER SENSE OF THE SIZE,
THE SENSE OF THE DEPTH OR HOW THEY DROP OFF
SUDDENLY INTO THE DARKNESS.
IT'S PRETTY LOOSE HERE, SO JUST BE CAREFUL.
WOW.
Narrator: IF A CAVE SYSTEM DID
HELP INSPIRE THE LABYRINTH,
IT WOULD NEED TO BE SO BIG
AND COMPLEX THAT PEOPLE
COULD EASILY LOSE THEIR WAY.
ANTONIA AND LOETA USE
A THEODOLITE TO BUILD UP
A VERY DETAILED PICTURE
OF THIS SUBTERRANEAN LAIR.
♪♪
Stamos: IT'S A ELECTRONIC DISTANCE MEASURE
AND IT MEASURES ELEVATION
AS WELL AS DISTANCE.
OKAY, I FOUND YOU.
START LEVELING.
LEVEL.
GOT IT.
GIVING US EXACT MEASUREMENTS,
DOWN TO THE MILLIMETER.
Narrator: THE TEAM MUST
COLLECT THOUSANDS OF READINGS
TO MAP OUT ALL THE PASSAGEWAYS.
♪♪
OH, THERE WE GO.
Narrator: THEY COMBINE THE DATA FROM MANY
PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS.
YEAH, THAT'S KINDA INTERESTING.
THIS CAVE IS MUCH LARGER
THAN IT ACTUALLY APPEARS
BECAUSE YOU CAN ONLY WALK
TO ABOUT HERE, ROUGHLY,
AND THEN THE REST OF THAT
IS OFF INTO THE DEPTHS, THE DARKNESS.
Narrator: THE TEAM'S WORK REVEALS
THAT THIS CAVE SYSTEM IS MUCH BIGGER
THAN ANYONE FIRST THOUGHT.
THE SKOTINO CAVE OPENS LIKE
A SUBTERRANEAN CATHEDRAL.
ALMOST 100 FEET WIDE.
IT DROPS OVER 200 FEET INTO THE EARTH.
♪♪
THERE'S ONLY ONE COMPLEX
ROUTE OUT OF THESE CHAMBERS.
♪♪
SO GETTING DISORIENTED AND TRAPPED
IS A DEFINITE POSSIBILITY.
BUT HOW WAS THIS CAVE USED BY THE MINOANS?
DID PEOPLE DIE HERE?
[ GROWLING ]
ARTIFACTS FOUND IN THE CHAMBERS REVEAL
THAT THESE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES
WERE THE LOCATION FOR SOME
KIND OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
Tyree: WE DON'T KNOW IF THEYWS
OR NUMEROUS SMALL ONES.
BUT THE AMOUNT OF POTTERY SUGGESTS
THAT IT WAS VERY WELL FREQUENTED.
Narrator: ARCHEOLOGISTS BELIEVE THE MINOANS
USED THESE ROCK FORMATIONS AS AN ALTAR.
IT SEEMS THAT THE MAIN FOCUS
WAS TOASTING, LIBATIONS,
DRINKING, AND ALSO EATING.
♪♪
Narrator: THE EXACT NATURE OF THESE RITUALS
REMAINS A MYSTERY.
BUT WHAT HISTORIANS DO KNOW IS THAT BULLS
FEATURED PROMINENTLY IN MINOAN RITUALS
AND RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY.
♪♪
WE ESTIMATED THAT MAYBE A HUNDRED PEOPLE
COULD HAVE GATHERED STANDING
AND MAYBE HEARING AND TRYING TO LOOK INTO
THE SACRED AREA.
ANYONE AT THIS AREA
WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT IT.
CAVES WERE NOT REMOTE
TO PEOPLE 3,000 YEARS AGO.
♪♪
Narrator: FOR LOETA, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY
IF A SPECIFIC CAVE DID INSPIRE THE MAZE.
[ ROARING ]
BUT IT'S THE CLOSEST SOME EXPERTS THINK
WE CAN GET TO UNCOVERING THE TRUTH.
SCIENTISTS AND
ARCHEOLOGISTS ARE DISCOVERING
MORE AND MORE ELEMENTS THAT SUGGEST
THE MINOTAUR MYTH COULD
HAVE BEEN LOOSELY BASED
ON A NUMBER OF REAL WORLD SOURCES.
HUMAN SACRIFICE, SUPERSIZED BULLS,
AND LABYRINTH-LIKE CAVES.
BUT WHY DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS DISTORT
THESE EVENTS SO MUCH
WHEN THEY CREATED THE MYTH?
USUALLY WITH MYTHS,
THEY'RE TRYING TO EXPRESS
SOMETHING THAT WAS MEMORABLE.
KEEP IN MIND, A LOT OF PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW
HOW TO WRITE IN HISTORY.
SO THEY WOULD'VE PASSED
ON WHAT THEY LEARNED
IN AN ENCODED WAY.
MANY OF THESE STORIES WERE USED AS A WAY
OF SHARING INFORMATION.
BEING ABLE TO MAKE THE STORY COMPELLING,
MAKE THE STORY MEMORABLE.
YOU OFTEN WOULD EXAGGERATE
JUST LIKE WE DO TODAY.
♪♪
Narrator: DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS
ENCODE A MESSAGE IN THE MINOTAUR MYTH?
IF WE CAN CRACK IT, WHAT WOULD IT REVEAL?
AND CAN INVESTIGATING
ANOTHER MYTHICAL MONSTER
GIVE US THE KEY TO THE CODE?
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: ARCHEOLOGISTS ON
THE GREEK ISLAND OF CRETE
ARE UNCOVERING THE
REAL EVENTS THAT INSPIRED
THE TERRIFYING TALE OF THE MINOTAUR.
♪♪
THIS GRUESOME STORY HAS CAPTIVATED PEOPLE
FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS.
[ ROARING ]
Narrator: BUT WHY DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS
MISREPRESENT WHAT THEY FOUND AT KNOSSOS?
♪♪
EXPERTS THINK IT COULD BE TO ENCODE
A MESSAGE THEY WANTED TO PASS ON.
EVEN THOUGH MYTHS ARE VERY FANTASTICAL,
THEY HAVE LITTLE SECRETS
THAT ARE ENCODED IN THEM,
THAT IF YOU PONDER THE
SYMBOLS IN THE RIGHT WAY,
YOU CAN START TO UNLOCK THEIR SECRET.
Narrator: CAN FINDING THE CODED MESSAGE
BEHIND ANOTHER LEGENDARY MONSTER
REVEAL WHY THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THE MINOTAUR MYTH?
♪♪
WHILE THIS MUTANT BULL
TERRORIZED PEOPLE ON LAND,
ANOTHER BLOOD-THIRSTY
BEAST HUNTED THE SEAS...
MERMAIDS.
AT FIRST GLANCE, THEY'RE
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN WITH FISHTAILS.
♪♪
BUT BEWARE, THEY ARE AMBUSH PREDATORS
OUT TO SLAUGHTER PASSING SAILORS.
USING THEIR SEDUCTIVE LOOKS
AND ANGELIC VOICES AS A TRAP,
THEY LURE MEN TOWARDS THE SHORE.
AND A DEADLY HUNT BEGINS.
BENEATH THEIR PRETTY FACES,
MERMAIDS ARE RAVENOUS MAN-EATING MONSTERS,
DRAGGING SAILORS TO THEIR DEATH
AND FEASTING ON THEIR FLESH.
THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS
ARE NOTHING LIKE "SPLASH"
OR LIKE THE DISNEY VERSION.
THEY TENDED TO BE A BIT
MORE SINISTER THAN THAT.
NOTHING LIKE THE SORT OF CUTESY VERSION
THAT MOST PEOPLE THINK OF.
Narrator: COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST,
DR. JOY REIDENBERG THINKS
MINOTAURS AND MERMAIDS
HAVE A LOT IN COMMON.
SHE BELIEVES BOTH WERE
INSPIRED BY REAL ANIMALS.
THE MERMAID'S ORIGINS MAY BE
A FAMILIAR MARINE CREATURE, THE SEAL.
WE'RE LOOKING AT A HARBOR SEAL.
BUT IT LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO
THE MEDITERRANEAN MONK SEALS
WHICH ARE COMMON AROUND ANCIENT GREECE.
Narrator: BUT WHY WOULD SEALS HAVE BEEN
MISTAKEN FOR HALF-HUMAN,
HALF-FISH CREATURES?
IT ACTUALLY HAS EYES
THAT ARE FACING FORWARD.
SO THIS ANIMAL'S EYES ARE LOOKING AT YOU
THE WAY A HUMAN WOULD,
BECAUSE HUMANS HAVE BINOCULAR VISION,
TWO EYES FACING FORWARD.
VERY FEW ANIMALS HAVE THAT.
THEN WE GO DOWN THIS FISH-LIKE BODY,
AND NOTICE THAT THESE
TWO FEET CAN SPREAD OUT
AND LOOK JUST LIKE A FISH'S TAIL
WITH THE WEBBING IN BETWEEN.
Narrator: IT'S NOT JUST
THE SEAL'S PHYSIOLOGY
THAT TIES IT TO THE MERMAID MYTH.
ITS BEHAVIOR FITS, TOO.
Reidenberg: THESE SEALS LIKE
TO LIVE ON ROCKY COASTLINES,
THEY LIKE TO CLIMB UP ON THE ROCKS,
GET A NICE LOOK AROUND,
AND THAT'S THE KIND OF COASTLINE
YOU HAVE OFF OF ANCIENT GREECE.
Narrator: LIKE BULLS, SEALS ARE NOT
NORMALLY A THREAT TO HUMANS.
SO WHY DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS CREATE
THE MINOTAUR AND MERMAIDS AS MAN-EATERS?
[ ROARING ]
COULD THIS BE THE KEY
TO THE ENCODED MESSAGE?
♪♪
MARITIME ARCHEOLOGIST, DR. DEREK IRWIN,
BELIEVES THE ANSWER
COULD LIE IN THE DANGEROUS
COASTLINE OF CRETE.
♪♪
THE AEGEAN SEA IS ACTUALLY
LITTERED WITH SHIPWRECKS.
WE THINK THAT THERE ARE
THOUSANDS OF SHIPWRECKS
LAYING IN THE SEABEDS AROUND GREECE.
Narrator: DEREK BELIEVES
THE FLESH-EATING FAME
OF MERMAIDS IS A CODED MESSAGE ABOUT
THE MANY DEATHS THAT
OCCURRED IN THESE WATERS.
Irwin: WE'VE FOUND SEVERAL SHIPWRECKS HERE
AROUND THE ISLAND OF
DIAS, THE SOUTHERN EAST
AND THE WEST COAST OF THE ISLAND.
[ SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE ]
♪♪
Narrator: HIDDEN UNDERWATER
VOLCANOES HAVE CREATED
DEADLY SHIP SHREDDING
GEOLOGY, COVERING THE SEA BED
AND SHORELINE WITH SHARP ROCKS.
Irwin: SO ALONG HERE
MOSTLY WE HAVE DROP OFFS
FROM THE SURFACE WE GO TO DEEP WATER
TO 40 OR 50 METERS STRAIGHT DOWN.
THEN WE HAVE SOME ROCKS
PROTRUDING OUT HERE.
♪♪
THE COMBINATION OF THE
BAD WEATHER, ROUGH SEAS,
AND ALL SORTS OF ROCKS ON
THE SURFACE, UNDER THE SURFACE,
NEAR THE COAST, COULD'VE BEEN CATASTROPHIC
FOR ANY ANCIENT SAILING SHIP.
Narrator: DEREK THINKS THE MERMAID'S HUNGER
FOR HUMAN FLESH WAS
CREATED AS A STARK WARNING.
MERMAID TALES WERE ALL
ABOUT DANGER AND DECEPTION.
STORIES OF MERMAIDS WERE
DEFINITELY LIKE A CODED MESSAGE
TO ANCIENT SAILORS NOT TO
GO TOO CLOSE TO THE ROCKS.
Narrator: IT WAS THIS LIFE
SAVING WARNING THAT
MEANT THE TALES OF MERMAIDS
ENDURE FOR MILLENNIA.
OUR HUMAN BRAIN IS WIRED TO PAY ATTENTION
TO STORYTELLING, TO THINGS
THAT WE CAN RELATE TO.
IF WE MAKE THEM MEANINGFUL
WE ARE GOING TO STORE THEM
AND REMEMBER THEM BETTER.
Narrator: SO IF MERMAIDS
WERE CREATED FOR A PURPOSE,
WHAT MESSAGE LIES BEHIND THE MINOTAUR MYTH?
WHAT WERE THE ANCIENT GREEKS WARNING OF?
COULD THE SUDDEN DOWNFALL OF THEIR ENEMY,
THE FEARSOME MINOANS, BE THE KEY?
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR... [ ROARING ]
...A MUTANT BULL WITH A
HUNGER FOR HUMAN FLESH.
DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THIS TERRIFYING
MYTHICAL BEAST, FOR A PURPOSE?
COULD IT BE A STARK WARNING?
THE MYTH PROVIDES FURTHER CLUES.
IT RECOUNTS HOW A GREEK
PRINCE DECIDES TO FIGHT
BACK AGAINST CRETE.
AND DISGUISES HIMSELF AS ONE
OF THE MINOTAUR'S SACRIFICES.
♪♪
HE ENTERS THE LABYRINTH
ARMED WITH A RAZOR SHARP SWORD
AND A MAGICAL BALL OF
STRING TO TRACE HIS PATH.
THE PRINCE TRACKS DOWN
THE MINOTAUR IN HIS LAIR,
AND THE BATTLE BEGINS.
♪♪
THE GREEK HERO FINALLY SLAYS THE BEAST.
COULD THE MINOTAUR'S
DEATH BE A CODED MESSAGE
ABOUT THE END OF THE MINOANS?
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER COSTAS SYNOLAKIS,
INVESTIGATES HOW THE
MYSTERIOUS MINOAN CIVILIZATION
MET ITS DOWNFALL.
♪♪
Synolakis: THE END OF THE
MINOANS IS VERY PUZZLING
AND WE SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE EVERYWHERE.
AND THE BIG QUESTION IS, WHAT HAPPENED?
Narrator: COSTAS BELIEVES THE ROCKS FOUND
ON THE COASTS OF CRETE HOLD THE ANSWERS.
SEE THIS IS MINOAN PUMICE.
PUMICE COMES IN FROM VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
ABOUT 60 MILES NORTH OF HERE,
IN THAT DIRECTION THERE IS A BIG VOLCANO.
Narrator: THIS VOLCANO ERUPTED
AROUND 3,500 YEARS AGO
THE FACT THIS PUMICE IS FOUND
HERE IN CRETE TELLS COSTAS
IT STARTED A CHAIN OF EVENTS
THAT BROUGHT DOWN THE MINOANS.
[ RUMBLING ]
SO YOU PUT ALL THE CLUES TOGETHER
AND IT ALL POINTS OUT TO
A HUGE WAVE, WHICH IS
THE HALLMARK OF A TSUNAMI.
Narrator: THIS GIANT WAVE WOULD'VE CRUSHED
EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH.
WE KNOW THAT THE TSUNAMI REACHED THIS HIGH
AND IF WE LOOK AROUND, I MEAN,
THERE IS A HOTEL RIGHT THERE
AND WE ARE HIGHER
THAN THE TOP FLOOR OF THE HOTEL.
YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW
DEVASTATING IT MUST HAVE BEEN
IF IN THIS LOCATION THE TSUNAMI
WAS AS HIGH AS 50 METERS.
♪♪
Narrator: POWERLESS AGAINST THE TSUNAMI,
THE ONCE FEARSOME MINOANS COULD ONLY WATCH
AS THEIR HOME WAS DEVASTATED.
AFTER THE TSUNAMI, AFTER
ALL OF THIS DESTRUCTION,
THE SURVIVING CRETANS ARE
VERY, VERY HEAVILY WEAKENED
AND THIS MAKES THEM AN
OPEN PREY TO THE GREEKS.
♪♪
Narrator: IN THE LEGEND A GREEK PRINCE
SLAYS THE MONSTROUS MINOTAUR.
[ ROARING ]
♪♪
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE STORY REFLECTS HOW
THE GREEKS THEMSELVES KILLED
OFF THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION.
♪♪
THE MYTH OF THE MINOTAUR
COULD BE POLITICAL PROPAGANDA.
[ ROARING ]
Narrator: AN ANCIENT ENEMY WAS PRESENTED
IN A BARBARIC BLOODTHIRSTY LIGHT.
THE MYTH OF THE MINOTAURS
TOLD TO LITTLE GREEK CHILDREN
ON THE MAINLAND AD INFINITUM,
SAYING ONCE UPON A TIME
WE WERE RULED BY THIS
VICIOUS SUPER POWER JUST A LITTLE BIT
TO THE SOUTH OF US ON CRETE.
[ ROARING ]
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR IS
ONE OF THE MOST TERRIFYING
MONSTERS TO COME OUT OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
A MYTH SO FEROCIOUS AND
EXTREME IT HAS SURVIVED
FOR THOUSAND OF YEARS.
WRAP INSIDE THIS TALE ARE CLUES
TO HOW THE MINOANS REALLY LIVED,
HOW THEY WORSHIPED,
AND THE RIVALRIES THAT DEFINE
THE HISTORY OF THIS REGION
THOUSAND OF YEARS AGO.
WHAT WE HAVE IS THE DISTORTED VERSION
OF THE MINOANS CIVILIZATION.
WE HAVE A CULTURE WHO WORSHIPPED BULLS,
WERE ABLE TO BUILD GREAT STRUCTURES,
BUT ALSO ENGAGED IN HUMAN SACRIFICE.
ONE OF THE REASONS THAT
MYTHS ENDURE IS BECAUSE
THEY DEAL WITH THESE UNIVERSAL THEMES
THAT THE HUMAN SPECIES
IS ALWAYS STRUGGLING WITH.
SO THEMES OF SURVIVAL,
OF FERTILITY, OF POWER,
OF WAR, OF CONFLICT,
ALL OF THAT IS TACKLED
THROUGH STORIES THAT WILL
HELP US KIND OF DEAL WITH THESE CHALLENGES.
Narrator: EXPERTS HAVE FINALLY DISCOVERED
HOW THE STORY OF THE MINOTAUR IS MUCH MORE
THAN A SIMPLE FAIRYTALE.
IT REVEALS HOW A ONCE POWERFUL CIVILIZATION
WAS ERADICATED BY ITS GREATEST FOE.
[ ROARING ]
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR.
A TERRIFYING MONSTER.
HALF MAN, HALF BULL.
[ ROARING ]
THE MINOTAUR WAS BORN BECAUSE A WOMAN
FELL IN LOVE WITH A BULL.
Narrator: SO DANGEROUS, IT WAS IMPRISONED
IN A HUGE LABYRINTH AND FED ON HUMAN FLESH.
BEYOND THE SACRIFICE, THEY
WERE INTENTIONALLY BUTCHERED.
Narrator: THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THIS BLOODY MYTH
BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY SAW HERE.
THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS IN CRETE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS WERE CONVINCED THAT BURIED
BENEATH THE CITY OF KNOSSOS,
THEY WOULD FIND THE LABYRINTH.
Narrator: BUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
TO INSPIRE THIS MONSTROUS TALE?
IT REALLY WAS A VERY LARGE, VERY TERRIFYING
BULL-LIKE ANIMAL.
Narrator: COULD THERE BE FAR MORE
TO THIS ANCIENT MYTH THAN WE REALIZE?
FOUND A REALLY, REALLY
INTERESTING FEATURE HERE,
A SUBTERRANEAN FEATURE.
Narrator: AND WILL
DECODING IT FINALLY REVEAL
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO
AND WHAT THEY REALLY DID?
TO WORSHIP A MONSTER,
SACRIFICING OUR CHILDREN,
IT'S HARD TO RELATE TO TODAY.
Narrator: NOW EXPERTS USE THE
LATEST SCIENCE IN ARCHEOLOGY
TO INVESTIGATE CRETE'S MYSTERIOUS RUINS.
Woman: PRETTY LOOSE
HERE, SO JUST BE CAREFUL.
Narrator: AND VENTURE DEEP
INTO ITS HIDDEN UNDERWORLD
TO UNCOVER THE TERRIFYING REALITY
BEHIND THIS MYTHICAL
BEAST OF ANCIENT TIMES.
[ ROARING ]
♪♪
KNOSSOS IN CRETE,
SAID TO BE THE BIRTHPLACE
OF THE MYTHICAL MINOTAUR.
WAY BEFORE THE X-MEN, GREEK MYTHOLOGY
WAS ALREADY COMBINING HUMANS AND ANIMALS
TO CREATE MONSTERS AND HEROES.
THE AVENGERS, YOUR
"GAME OF THRONES" CAN RUN
FOR MULTIPLE SEASONS.
THE GREEK MYTHS, THOSE
STORIES HAVE BEEN GOING ON
FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS.
MINOTAUR IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MONSTERS
OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IT'S THE FIRST SUPER-VILLAIN.
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR MYTH TELLS
OF A TERRIFYING RITUAL.
EVERY NINE YEARS, 14 YOUTHS
FROM THE GREEK MAINLAND
ARE TORN FROM THEIR FAMILIES AND SHIPPED
TO A MAGNIFICENT PALACE
ON THE ISLAND OF CRETE.
♪♪
HERE THEY ARE FORCED
INTO A GIGANTIC LABYRINTH
SO COMPLEX, THERE'S NO ESCAPE.
♪♪
THEY ARE A SACRIFICE TO A
MUTANT MAN-EATING MONSTER.
♪♪
THE MINOTAUR.
[ GROWLING ]
BUT IS THIS JUST A TALE?
OR DID TERRIBLE THINGS
REALLY HAPPEN ON THIS ISLAND
THAT INSPIRED THE ANCIENT GREEKS
TO CREATE THIS MYTH?
MOST MYTHOLOGY IS BASED IN SOME FACT,
SOMETHING THAT WAS REALLY OBSERVED.
Narrator: ARCHEOLOGIST,
ALEXANDER MacGILLIVRAY
SEARCHES FOR ANSWERS AT KNOSSOS.
THIS ANCIENT PALACE CITY
WAS BUILT 4,000 YEARS AGO
BY A POWERFUL AND
MYSTERIOUS CIVILIZATION...
THE MINOANS.
THE PALACE HERE AT KNOSSOS WAS EXCAVATED
120 YEARS AGO, AND YET,
EVEN IN ALL THAT TIME,
WE'RE STILL KINDA SCRAMBLING TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT THIS PLACE IS.
Narrator: THESE RUINS HOLD MANY SECRETS.
BUT EVIDENCE FOUND HERE CONFIRMS
THAT ALEXANDER IS DEFINITELY
IN MINOTAUR TERRITORY.
MacGillivray: HUNDREDS OF THESE
COINS HAVE BEEN FOUND HERE
OVER THE CENTURIES.
WHAT WE HAVE ON THE
FRONT SIDE IS THE MINOTAUR,
WE CAN SEE HIM SORT OF
LEAPING THROUGH THE AIR.
AND WHEN YOU FLIP IT OVER,
WE HAVE THE LABYRINTH,
SO THEY'RE BOTH REFERENCES TO THE MYTH
OF THE MINOTAUR AND ON MANY COINS,
THERE'S THE INSCRIPTION THAT SAYS KNOSS.
AND SO WE KNOW THAT IT'S KNOSSOS.
Narrator: THE MINOANS WERE ONCE
THE MOST POWERFUL
CIVILIZATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
FIERCE ENEMIES OF THE MAINLAND GREEKS.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT ANCIENT GREECE,
A LOT OF TIMES WE THINK ABOUT IT
IN MODERN TERMS, LIKE IT'S A COUNTRY,
BUT AT THE TIME, IT WAS A
LOT OF LITTLE CITY STATES
THAT WERE NOT ALWAYS
GETTING ALONG VERY WELL.
THE ENTIRE MAINLAND OF GREECE
MUST HAVE BEEN TERRIFIED
OF THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION.
Narrator: BUT DID A CREATURE REALLY KILL
GREEK YOUTHS HERE AND IF SO, WHAT WAS IT?
ALEXANDER THINKS THE ANSWER COULD LIE
IN THE MINOAN RELIGION AND
THE MYSTERIOUS CEREMONIES
ONCE PERFORMED HERE.
THESE BUILDINGS ALL CONTAIN RITUAL ROOMS.
IT WAS UP IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD
THAT OUR EXCAVATIONS CAME UP
WITH THIS VERY, VERY
UNUSUAL COLLECTION OF BONES.
♪♪
Narrator: REMAINS OF ANIMAL SKELETONS
ARE COMMON ON ARCHEOLOGICAL DIGS,
BUT THESE SPECIMENS
REVEAL A VERY UNUSUAL STORY.
THIS IS WHAT WE'RE USED TO FINDING
ON EXCAVATION, FRAGMENTS OF ANIMAL BONES
THAT HAVE BEEN DE-FLESHED.
YOU'LL FIND CUT MARKS,
AND THAT WAS THE STANDARD
WAY OF PREPARING MEAT.
SOMETIMES, IF YOU'RE NEAR A FIREPLACE,
YOU'LL FIND THAT SOME OF
THESE BONES HAVE BEEN BURNT.
Narrator: BUT SOME SPECIMENS REVEAL
A PARTICULARLY DISTURBING
ASPECT OF LIFE HERE
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
WE FOUND BONES THAT
WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
VERY, VERY INTERESTING, INDEED.
THEY WERE HUMAN BONES.
Narrator: ALEXANDER BELIEVES THESE PEOPLE
MET A BRUTAL AND VIOLENT DEATH.
SOME OF THE BONES, LIKE THIS FEMUR HERE,
WERE SMASHED UP, INTENTIONALLY BROKEN.
THESE ARE THE FRAGMENTS
OF FOUR INDIVIDUALS,
AND THEY'RE ALL CHILDREN.
THEY'RE TOO YOUNG TO EVEN
KNOW WHAT GENDER THEY ARE.
Narrator: COULD THESE BE
THE YOUTHS REFERRED TO
IN THE MYTH?
WHO, OR WHAT, WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THESE GRIZZLY DEATHS?
HERE YOU CAN SEE EVEN
ON ONE OF THE VERTEBRAE
WHERE THERE'S BEEN CUTTING ON THE VERTEBRAE
AND THE BACKBONE ITSELF.
YOU CAN SEE THE SORT OF CUT MARKS
SLICING AWAY EXACTLY THE SAME WAY
THAT YOU REMOVE THE FLESH FROM ANIMALS
WHEN YOU'RE PREPARING A MEAL.
♪♪
WE SUSPECTED THAT THEY
WERE, PERHAPS, SACRIFICED,
BUT THEN BEYOND THE SACRIFICE,
THEY WERE INTENTIONALLY BUTCHERED.
♪♪
Narrator: THIS DISCOVERY IS NOT UNIQUE.
INVESTIGATORS HAVE UNCOVERED EVIDENCE
OF SACRIFICIAL RITUALS
RIGHT ACROSS THE ISLAND.
THREE MILES SOUTH OF KNOSSOS,
WHEN ARCHEOLOGISTS EXCAVATED
THE REMAINS OF A TEMPLE,
THEY MADE A GRIZZLY
FIND IN ONE OF THE ROOMS.
LYING ON A TABLE, A TEENAGE MALE,
HIS LEGS CURLED BACK LIKE HE'D BEEN BOUND
AND A BRONZE DAGGER BY HIS SIDE,
SIGNS THAT HE WAS A VICTIM OF SACRIFICE.
AND AT THE WESTERN END OF CRETE,
IN THE PALACE OF KYDONIA,
ARCHEOLOGISTS UNEARTHED
CAREFULLY ARRANGED PILES OF ROCKS.
THEY CONCEALED ANIMAL BONES AND THE SKULL
OF A YOUNG WOMAN WHO
COULD BE ANOTHER VICTIM
OF A DEADLY RITUAL.
THE EVIDENCE LEAVES NO DOUBT,
HUMAN SACRIFICE WAS
HAPPENING HERE ON CRETE.
BUT WHY WAS THE FLESH
BEING CUT OFF THEIR BONES?
WAS IT TO FEED A MONSTER?
[ ROARING ]
THE IDEA THAT A MONSTER
WOULD EAT HUMAN FLESH
IS SOMETHING THAT'S ALWAYS
FREAKED HUMAN BEINGS OUT
AND SO ANY MONSTER THAT DOES EAT PEOPLE,
THAT'S JUST ONE MORE
THING TO MAKE THAT MONSTER
SOMETHING TO BE FEARED.
Narrator: WAS THIS BEAST THE INSPIRATION
FOR THE MINOTAUR?
THAT IS A HUGE HEAD.
I MEAN, WE'RE STARTING TO
APPROACH DINOSAUR SIZE NOW.
Narrator: CAN FINDING THE
MYTHICAL MONSTER'S PRISON,
THE GIANT LABYRINTH,
FINALLY PROVIDE THE ANSWERS?
[ ROARING ]
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: AT THE ANCIENT
PALACE OF KNOSSOS IN CRETE,
EXPERTS INVESTIGATE WHY THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THE TERRIFYING MINOTAUR MYTH.
WAS A MUTANT MONSTER EATING THE FLESH
OF PEOPLE SACRIFICED AT
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES HERE?
INVESTIGATORS TURN TO THE
TALE TO HUNT FOR MORE CLUES.
♪♪
THE STORY GOES THAT THE
GOD, POSEIDON, GIVES KING MINOS
A WHITE BULL AS A GIFT.
HE THEN CURSES THE QUEEN
TO FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.
SHE GIVES BIRTH TO A MUTANT BABY,
HALF BOY, HALF BULL AND TRIES
TO NURSE THE CHILD HERSELF.
BUT SHE SOON DISCOVERS, HE'S CURSED.
A MONSTER THAT CAN ONLY EAT HUMAN FLESH,
THE MINOTAUR IS BORN.
THE KING IS SO ANGRY,
HE IMPRISONS THE BEAST
IN A HUGE LABYRINTH, A GIANT
MAZE SO LARGE AND COMPLEX
THAT NO ONE CAN EVER FIND THEIR WAY OUT.
[ ROARING ]
THERE'S A NUMBER OF STORIES
THROUGHOUT GREEK MYTHOLOGY OF HUMANS
HAVING SEX WITH ANIMALS.
THIS DOES NOT SUGGEST
THAT COPULATION WITH BULLS
WAS PART OF THE EVERY DAY LIFE OF MINOANS.
I THINK IT WAS A CURIOSITY
THAT IS EXPLORED IN MYTH
SO THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE
TO BE EXPLORED IN REAL LIFE.
Narrator: BUT WHAT REAL
EVENT COULD'VE INSPIRED
THE TALE OF A BOVINE
MONSTER HERE AT KNOSSOS?
WHAT DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS SEE?
ARCHEOLOGIST ALEXANDER MacGILLIVRAY
INVESTIGATES.
MacGillivray: THERE'S EVIDENCE
FOR BULL ICONOGRAPHY
ALL OVER THIS BUILDING.
THIS IS A PLAN OF THE PALACE.
THERE IS THIS BULL'S HEAD.
ACROSS THE CENTRAL COURT,
THERE WERE FRAGMENTS
OF THESE MINOAN HORNS OF CONSECRATION.
A GREAT CHARGING, BELLOWING BULL
THAT WE HAVE IN THE NORTH ENTRANCE PASSAGE
THAT GREETS YOU ON THE WAY IN.
THINK OF THE IMPRESSION THAT WOULD MAKE
ON PEOPLE COMING IN FROM ALL OVER CRETE
AND EVEN FROM OVERSEAS.
Narrator: BULLS CLEARLY
HAD INCREDIBLE STATUS HERE.
BUT DID THE MINOANS
INCLUDE THEM IN A RITUAL
THAT INVOLVED HUMAN SACRIFICE?
♪♪
AT THE HEART OF THE PALACE,
ALEXANDER UNCOVERS MORE CLUES.
MacGillivray: THE WHOLE
ARCHITECTURE OF THIS BUILDING
LOOKS INTO THIS COURT.
THIS IS REALLY WHAT DEFINES THE PALACE.
Narrator: THIS CENTRAL PLAZA
STANDS OUT AT KNOSSOS.
IT'S HUGE AND IS THE ONLY
AREA HERE LEFT EMPTY.
WAS THIS THE LOCATION OF
THE SPECTACULAR, BUT DEADLY,
BOVINE RITUAL?
MacGillivray: SO YOU'VE
GOT BUILDINGS AROUND
IT ON ALL SIDES.
YOU COULD HAVE PEOPLE
GAZING DOWN INTO THE COURT.
SO WHATEVER HAPPENED IN THIS COURT
WAS HUGELY IMPORTANT.
[ GROWLING ]
Narrator: THE REMAINS OF A PALACE MURAL
COLD PROVIDE THE ANSWER.
SOME EXPERTS BELIEVE THIS COULD BE EVIDENCE
THAT PEOPLE WERE,
INDEED, KILLED BY BULLS HERE
IN A DRAMATIC EVENT.
THIS IS PART OF A MUCH,
MUCH LARGER COMPOSITION
THAT WOULD HAVE COVERED SOMETHING LIKE
THAT WHOLE SPACE UP THERE.
Narrator: PIECING TOGETHER
THE REMAINING FRAGMENTS
GIVES AN INCREDIBLE INSIGHT INTO THE EVENT.
WHEN RESEARCHERS UNEARTHED
THIS ANCIENT MEGASTRUCTURE,
THEY FOUND HUNDREDS OF
FRAGMENTS OF PAINTED PLASTER
CREATING A HUGE PUZZLE
NEARLY 3,500 YEARS OLD.
TOGETHER, THEY REVEALED
THE FIGURE OF A MIGHTY
CHARGING BULL.
AROUND IT, THREE MINOAN FIGURES.
ONE GRABBING THE BULL'S HORNS,
ONE SOMERSAULTING OVER IT'S BACK,
AND ONE TO CATCH THE PERSON JUMPING.
FIVE OF THESE PAINTINGS WERE FOUND,
FORMING A GIANT BILLBOARD OF WHAT COULD BE
AN EXTREME ANCIENT RITUAL... BULL LEAPING.
ONE WRONG MOVE AND YOU CAN BE KILLED.
WHAT WE SEE FROM THE PAINTINGS
IS THAT BULL LEAPING WOULD'VE
TAKEN PLACE RIGHT HERE.
THEY PROBABLY LED THE
BULLS UP THE RAMP HERE
IN THE NORTH ENTRANCE PASSAGE
AND THEN LEAPED OVER THE BULLS RIGHT HERE
WITH EVERYBODY WATCHING.
Narrator: THIS RITUAL COULD'VE INSPIRED
THE IDEA OF BULLS AS KILLERS AT KNOSSOS.
LEAPING OVER THE BULL IS LIKE,
IF YOU MAKE IT, YOU'VE
SURVIVED THIS INCREDIBLE FEAT.
IT'S LIKE OVERCOMING YOUR FEAR OF DEATH.
WHAT I CONTINUE TO FIND SO FASCINATING
ABOUT THE MYTH OF THE MINOTAUR
IS THAT WE STILL HAVE THE SAME FEATURES
IN RITUALS TODAY.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE RUNNING
OF THE BULLS AT PAMPLONA,
WE SEE THE SAME MOTIFS.
HUMANS PUTTING THEMSELVES
IN THE WAY OF DANGER,
USING BULLS TO SHOW STRENGTH.
[ GROWLING ]
THE MINOTAUR'S STILL AROUND
IN DIFFERENT FORMS TODAY
Narrator: BUT NOT ALL BULLS HERE
WERE LIKE THE BEASTS OF TODAY.
ALEXANDER BELIEVES SOME
WERE SUPERSIZED MONSTERS.
A PALACE ROOM DESTROYED 3,500 YEARS AGO
PROVIDES THE EVIDENCE.
THESE BLOCKS HAVE BEEN
HURLED BY A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE
RIGHT OFF THE SOUTH FACADE OF THE PALACE.
AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, THE MINOANS WENT BACK
INTO THE ROOM AND PLACED
THESE TWO MASSIVE BULL SKULLS
AS A PART OF AN OFFERING.
Narrator: EXAMINING X-RAY
IMAGES OF THE SKULLS
REVEALS THESE WERE, INDEED,
NO ORDINARY CREATURES.
YOU CAN SEE THE BULL'S
HEAD, GREAT LONG HEAD.
AND THEY WERE PLACED, THEY
WERE SEVERED FROM THE BODY
AND THEY WERE PLACED
INTENTIONALLY IN THE CORNER
OF THE ROOM.
IF YOU LOOK AT THIS DETAIL OF THE HORNS,
YOU'LL SEE THAT, IN FACT, THEY'RE HUGE.
THESE ARE FROM VERY, VERY LARGE ANIMALS,
MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT
FROM REGULAR DOMESTIC CATTLE.
Narrator: BUT JUST HOW LARGE AND
POWERFUL WERE THESE BEASTS?
[ GROWLING ]
COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST, DR. JOY REIDENBERG
DISSECTS AND STUDIES THE BIGGEST CREATURES
IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
TODAY, SHE INVESTIGATES
THE REAL WORLD ORIGINS
OF MYTHICAL MONSTERS.
JOY BELIEVES THESE SKULLS ARE FROM
A GIANT ANCIENT SPECIES CALLED AN AUROCH.
THIS IS A PHOTO OF AN AUROCH SKULL.
THESE ARE THE TYPES OF
SKULLS THAT WERE IN THE PALACE
AND THIS IS ACTUALLY REDUCED PICTURE.
IF I WERE TO MEASURE THIS
SKULL, END TO END LIKE THIS,
IT WOULD, IN REALITY, BE ABOUT THIS BIG.
ALMOST AS WIDE AS I COULD REACH.
YOU COULD IMAGINE, THAT IS A HUGE HEAD.
I MEAN, WE'RE STARTING TO
APPROACH DINOSAUR SIZE NOW.
Narrator: THESE EXTINCT SUPER-BULLS
WERE ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCALE
THAN THE CATTLE OF TODAY.
BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE SKULLS
THAT WERE FOUND AT THE SITE,
ESTIMATES ARE THAT THEY
WERE PROBABLY BETWEEN
1,500 AND 3,000 POUNDS
AND PROBABLY MORE
THAN SEVEN FEET IN HEIGHT.
THAT WOULD BE A TERRIFYING SIGHT TO SEE.
Narrator: AUROCHS DIED
OUT NEARLY 400 YEARS AGO,
BUT THESE BEASTS WERE COMMON
IN ANCIENT GREECE AND CRETE.
THERE MAY ACTUALLY BE SOME
TRUTH BEHIND THIS LEGEND.
MOST LEGENDS REALLY
START WITH A LITTLE FACT
THAT IS TRUE.
Narrator: GIANT BULLS CLEARLY
HAD EXTRAORDINARY STATUS
AT KNOSSOS, BUT WAS AN EVEN BIGGER ONE
IMPRISONED SOMEWHERE IN THIS PALACE?
TO FIND OUT, EXPERTS NOW HUNT FOR EVIDENCE
OF THE GIANT LABYRINTH, SAID
TO BE THE MINOTAUR'S HOME.
MacGillivray: IT'S LIKE A COMPLICATED
UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY.
Narrator: WAS A HUGE MAZE
EVER BUILT AT KNOSSOS?
AND WHAT COULD IT REVEAL ABOUT
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE?
[ ROARING ]
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: EXPERTS UNCOVER THE TRUTH
BEHIND THE BLOODY LEGEND
OF THE MUTANT MINOTAUR.
[ ROARING ]
NOW, THE HUNT IS ON TO FIND THE MAZE,
THE PRISON SAID TO HOLD THE BEAST CAPTIVE.
♪♪
THE CLUE TO ITS LOCATION IS IN THE MYTH.
[ BIRDS CALL ]
ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THE LABYRINTH IS SAID
TO LIE DEEP BENEATH THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS.
IT'S A HUGE WEB OF WINDING
TUNNELS SO COMPLEX
AND SO VAST THAT ONCE YOU ENTER,
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND YOUR WAY OUT AGAIN.
THE CERTAIN FATE OF ANYONE BROUGHT HERE
IS DEATH IN THE MINOTAUR'S JAWS.
WHEN THE PALACE WAS FIRST DISCOVERED,
I THINK A LOT OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
DID GENUINELY THINK, NOW
WE'LL FIND THE LABYRINTH.
YOU KNOW, IT'S GOTTA BE HERE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS WERE
CONVINCED THAT BURIED BENEATH
IN THE CITY OF KNOSSOS THEY
WOULD FIND THE LABYRINTH.
♪♪
Narrator: BRITISH ARCHEOLOGIST,
SIR ARTHUR EVANS
WAS ONE OF THESE.
HE DEDICATED MOST OF HIS WORKING LIFE
TO HUNTING DOWN THE MINOTAUR'S LABYRINTH.
IN 1900, HE BEGAN HIS FIRST EXCAVATIONS
OF THE PALACE.
TODAY, ARCHEOLOGIST ALEXANDER MacGILLIVRAY
CONTINUES THE INVESTIGATION.
WITHIN FIVE YEARS,
ARTHUR EVANS HAD GIVEN A PRETTY CLEAR
PICTURE OF THIS ENORMOUS BUILDING.
Narrator: WHAT EVANS DISCOVERED
WAS A TRULY BEHEMOTH STRUCTURE.
IN ANCIENT TIMES, IT WOULD
HAVE DWARFED ANYTHING
IN EUROPE.
THIS PALACE WRAPPED
AROUND A LAVISHLY DECORATED
THRONE ROOM AND TOWERED
UP TO FOUR STORIES HIGH.
THERE WERE OVER 1,000 ROOMS
SPREADING OUT ACROSS 200,000 SQUARE FEET.
BUT DID THE MINOANS CONSTRUCT
A CONCEALED LABYRINTH HERE, AS WELL?
♪♪
MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS CARVED ACROSS THE PALACE
SUGGESTS THE MAZE COULD INDEED
BE MORE THAN JUST A STORY.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A MASON'S MARK
IN THE SHAPE OF A DOUBLE BITTED AX.
YOU CAN SEE THE TWO TRIANGLES
AND THE STAFF IN THE MIDDLE.
Narrator: THE ANCIENT GREEK WORD
FOR THIS TYPE OF AX IS LABRYS.
IT CONVINCED EVANS HE
WAS CLOSE TO HIS GOAL.
THIS GAVE HIM EVIDENCE FOR THE LABYRINTH,
THE PHYSICAL LABYRINTH.
♪♪
Narrator: EVANS DISCOVERED
MORE CRUCIAL CLUES.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PALACE PROVED
THE MINOANS HAD THE ENGINEERING EXPERTISE
TO BUILD A GIANT MAZE.
THE SCALE OF THE BUILDING WAS ENORMOUS.
♪♪
ALL OF A SUDDEN, HE WAS
EXCAVATING THIS BUILDING
OF 1,000 ROOMS.
Narrator: AT THE TIME MOST STRUCTURES
ON MAINLAND GREECE WERE SMALL AND SIMPLE,
KNOSSOS WAS ON A
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCALE.
MacGillivray: SO IMAGINE
SOMEBODY COMING TO CRETE
AND THEN WALKING INTO THIS BUILDING
WHERE YOU'VE GOT WINDING
BASEMENT CORRIDORS,
DIFFERENT FLOOR LEVELS
GOING UP AND DOWN STAIRS.
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY.
Narrator: BUT IS THERE
EVIDENCE OF BUILDING WORK
BENEATH THE PALACE, WHERE
THE MYTH PLACES THE LABYRINTH?
MacGillivray: I FOUND A REALLY,
REALLY INTERESTING FEATURE HERE.
A SUBTERRANEAN FEATURE.
Narrator: AT THE WESTERN END OF THE PALACE,
ALEXANDER EVENTUALLY FINDS A WAY IN
TO THIS MYSTERIOUS NETWORK.
MacGillivray: IT GOES IN
UNDERNEATH THE BUILDING.
IT'S LIKE A COMPLICATED
UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY.
Narrator: WHERE DO THESE CHANNELS LEAD?
COULD THIS BE THE ENTRANCE TO A MAZE?
IT LOOKS LIKE IT GOES IN A LONG WAY.
IT'S REALLY KINDA DARK AND
CLAUSTROPHOBIC IN THERE
SO TO GET A BETTER IDEA,
I'M GONNA PUT THIS CAMERA IN ON A POLE
AND MONITOR IT ON THIS PHONE.
♪♪
OKAY AND AS WE GO IN DEEPER AND DEEPER,
WE FIND, IN FACT, THAT
THE CHANNEL IS BLOCKED.
♪♪
IT'S OBVIOUSLY INCREDIBLY WELL-BUILT.
IT'S PART OF A WELL ENGINEERED SYSTEM,
BUT WE CAN'T GET ANY FURTHER HERE.
Narrator: DIGGING UP THESE RUINS TO HUNT
FOR THE MINOTAUR'S MAZE IS NOT POSSIBLE.
THE PALACE IS SIMPLY TOO DELICATE.
BUT NEW TECHNOLOGY MAY
FINALLY HAVE FOUND THE ANSWER.
GROUND PENETRATING RADAR WORKS
BY SENDING A RADIO SIGNAL INTO THE SOIL.
THIS DETECTS ANYTHING HIDDEN UNDERGROUND.
EXPERTS HAVE NOW COMPLETED A NUMBER
OF DIFFERENT PAINSTAKING SURVEYS.
COMBINING THE RESULTS
GIVES A DEFINITIVE ANSWER.
♪♪
THERE IS NO MAZE BENEATH THE PALACE.
THESE CHANNELS ARE
BELIEVED TO BE THE REMAINS
OF A WATER NETWORK.
IT IS SUBTERRANEAN, IT IS
BURIED BELOW THE PALACE,
BUT IT'S CLEARLY NOT THE LABYRINTH.
SO WITH OUR COIN, WE'VE GOT OUR EVIDENCE
FOR THE MINOTAUR.
WHAT ABOUT THE FLIP SIDE?
WHERE'S OUR EVIDENCE FOR THE LABYRINTH?
AND IF THERE'S A LABYRINTH DOWN HERE,
GROUND PENETRATING RADAR WOULD'VE FOUND IT.
MAYBE IT'S NOT HERE.
MAYBE WE HAVE TO LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE,
BEYOND THE PALACE.
Narrator: THE SEARCH IS FAR FROM OVER.
SOME EXPERTS NOW BELIEVE ARCHEOLOGISTS
HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR
THE WRONG KIND OF MAZE.
THEY SUSPECT THE ANCIENT GREEKS
WERE DESCRIBING A NATURAL
UNDERGROUND STRUCTURE
ELSEWHERE ON THE ISLAND.
ONCE THAT WAS USED FOR
BLOODY RELIGIOUS RITUALS.
♪♪
THE LABYRINTH, ITSELF, MIGHT NOT BE
WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.
A LABYRINTH IS STRUCTURE
COMBINED WITH CONFUSION.
SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT MIGHT LURE YOU IN,
SOMETHING THAT CATCHES
YOU AND KEEPS YOU IN THERE.
Narrator: COULD THE MINOTAUR'S MAZE
HAVE BEEN A HUGE CAVE SYSTEM?
[ GROWLING ]
AND WHAT COULD THESE DARK CAVERNS REVEAL
ABOUT THE BEAST AND WHAT IT DID HERE?
[ ROARING ]
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS
SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
BEHIND THE MONSTROUS MINOTAUR MYTH.
THEY WANNA LOCATE THE LABYRINTH DEPICTED
IN THE LEGEND.
THEY HOPE FINDING IT WILL REVEAL
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE
AND WHY THIS MYTH BEGAN.
♪♪
THE LEGEND CLAIMS THAT
THE MINOTAUR WAS IMPRISONED
INSIDE A VAST LABYRINTH
UNDER THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS.
EVERY NINE YEARS, 14 ATHENIAN YOUTHS
WERE FORCED INTO THIS GIANT MAZE.
HERE, THE MINOTAUR WOULD HUNT THEM DOWN
AND EAT THEM.
♪♪
ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE NEVER FOUND
ANY EVIDENCE OF A GIANT MAZE AT KNOSSOS.
BUT ARE THEY LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE?
ACCORDING TO SOME HISTORIANS,
THE LABYRINTH MIGHT NOT HAVE
BEEN A MAN-MADE STRUCTURE,
BUT A NATURAL FEATURE.
♪♪
ARCHEOLOGISTS LOETA
TYREE AND ANTONIA STAMOS
INVESTIGATE A SIGHT JUST
OVER EIGHT MILES EAST
OF THE PALACE, DEEP IN
THE CRETAN COUNTRYSIDE.
THEIR WORK ON HOW THE
MINOANS USED CAVES LIKE THIS
COULD ALSO THROW LIGHT
ON THE REAL INSPIRATION
FOR THE LABYRINTH.
Tyree: I THINK IT'S QUITE
PLAUSIBLE THAT A CAVE
COULD HAVE BROUGHT UPON
THE IDEA OF A LABYRINTH.
YOU ARE MOVING THROUGH A SPACE
THAT IS VERY COMPLICATED
AND YOU'RE HOPING TO BE ABLE TO RETURN.
♪♪
Narrator: THE SKOTINO CAVE IS A COMPLETELY
NATURAL FEATURE OF
CRETE'S LIMESTONE BEDROCK.
IT'S A COMPLEX WEB OF CHAMBERS.
BUT HOW LIKE A LABYRINTH
COULD IT REALLY BE?
[ SNARLING ]
THE TEAMS RESEARCH INVOLVES MAPPING
THIS PARTICULAR SYSTEM.
♪♪
Tyree: IT'S A WHOLE LOT MORE
CAVE THAN WE WERE EXPECTING.
SOME PLACES ARE ACTUALLY
COMPLETELY INACCESSIBLE.
Narrator: THIS CAVE IS SO DARK AND COMPLEX,
IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
TO TELL WHAT'S DOWN HERE.
Tyree: YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THESE CAVES
IN A SIMPLE IMAGE.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND
THE SHEER SENSE OF THE SIZE,
THE SENSE OF THE DEPTH OR HOW THEY DROP OFF
SUDDENLY INTO THE DARKNESS.
IT'S PRETTY LOOSE HERE, SO JUST BE CAREFUL.
WOW.
Narrator: IF A CAVE SYSTEM DID
HELP INSPIRE THE LABYRINTH,
IT WOULD NEED TO BE SO BIG
AND COMPLEX THAT PEOPLE
COULD EASILY LOSE THEIR WAY.
ANTONIA AND LOETA USE
A THEODOLITE TO BUILD UP
A VERY DETAILED PICTURE
OF THIS SUBTERRANEAN LAIR.
♪♪
Stamos: IT'S A ELECTRONIC DISTANCE MEASURE
AND IT MEASURES ELEVATION
AS WELL AS DISTANCE.
OKAY, I FOUND YOU.
START LEVELING.
LEVEL.
GOT IT.
GIVING US EXACT MEASUREMENTS,
DOWN TO THE MILLIMETER.
Narrator: THE TEAM MUST
COLLECT THOUSANDS OF READINGS
TO MAP OUT ALL THE PASSAGEWAYS.
♪♪
OH, THERE WE GO.
Narrator: THEY COMBINE THE DATA FROM MANY
PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS.
YEAH, THAT'S KINDA INTERESTING.
THIS CAVE IS MUCH LARGER
THAN IT ACTUALLY APPEARS
BECAUSE YOU CAN ONLY WALK
TO ABOUT HERE, ROUGHLY,
AND THEN THE REST OF THAT
IS OFF INTO THE DEPTHS, THE DARKNESS.
Narrator: THE TEAM'S WORK REVEALS
THAT THIS CAVE SYSTEM IS MUCH BIGGER
THAN ANYONE FIRST THOUGHT.
THE SKOTINO CAVE OPENS LIKE
A SUBTERRANEAN CATHEDRAL.
ALMOST 100 FEET WIDE.
IT DROPS OVER 200 FEET INTO THE EARTH.
♪♪
THERE'S ONLY ONE COMPLEX
ROUTE OUT OF THESE CHAMBERS.
♪♪
SO GETTING DISORIENTED AND TRAPPED
IS A DEFINITE POSSIBILITY.
BUT HOW WAS THIS CAVE USED BY THE MINOANS?
DID PEOPLE DIE HERE?
[ GROWLING ]
ARTIFACTS FOUND IN THE CHAMBERS REVEAL
THAT THESE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES
WERE THE LOCATION FOR SOME
KIND OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
Tyree: WE DON'T KNOW IF THEYWS
OR NUMEROUS SMALL ONES.
BUT THE AMOUNT OF POTTERY SUGGESTS
THAT IT WAS VERY WELL FREQUENTED.
Narrator: ARCHEOLOGISTS BELIEVE THE MINOANS
USED THESE ROCK FORMATIONS AS AN ALTAR.
IT SEEMS THAT THE MAIN FOCUS
WAS TOASTING, LIBATIONS,
DRINKING, AND ALSO EATING.
♪♪
Narrator: THE EXACT NATURE OF THESE RITUALS
REMAINS A MYSTERY.
BUT WHAT HISTORIANS DO KNOW IS THAT BULLS
FEATURED PROMINENTLY IN MINOAN RITUALS
AND RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY.
♪♪
WE ESTIMATED THAT MAYBE A HUNDRED PEOPLE
COULD HAVE GATHERED STANDING
AND MAYBE HEARING AND TRYING TO LOOK INTO
THE SACRED AREA.
ANYONE AT THIS AREA
WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT IT.
CAVES WERE NOT REMOTE
TO PEOPLE 3,000 YEARS AGO.
♪♪
Narrator: FOR LOETA, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY
IF A SPECIFIC CAVE DID INSPIRE THE MAZE.
[ ROARING ]
BUT IT'S THE CLOSEST SOME EXPERTS THINK
WE CAN GET TO UNCOVERING THE TRUTH.
SCIENTISTS AND
ARCHEOLOGISTS ARE DISCOVERING
MORE AND MORE ELEMENTS THAT SUGGEST
THE MINOTAUR MYTH COULD
HAVE BEEN LOOSELY BASED
ON A NUMBER OF REAL WORLD SOURCES.
HUMAN SACRIFICE, SUPERSIZED BULLS,
AND LABYRINTH-LIKE CAVES.
BUT WHY DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS DISTORT
THESE EVENTS SO MUCH
WHEN THEY CREATED THE MYTH?
USUALLY WITH MYTHS,
THEY'RE TRYING TO EXPRESS
SOMETHING THAT WAS MEMORABLE.
KEEP IN MIND, A LOT OF PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW
HOW TO WRITE IN HISTORY.
SO THEY WOULD'VE PASSED
ON WHAT THEY LEARNED
IN AN ENCODED WAY.
MANY OF THESE STORIES WERE USED AS A WAY
OF SHARING INFORMATION.
BEING ABLE TO MAKE THE STORY COMPELLING,
MAKE THE STORY MEMORABLE.
YOU OFTEN WOULD EXAGGERATE
JUST LIKE WE DO TODAY.
♪♪
Narrator: DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS
ENCODE A MESSAGE IN THE MINOTAUR MYTH?
IF WE CAN CRACK IT, WHAT WOULD IT REVEAL?
AND CAN INVESTIGATING
ANOTHER MYTHICAL MONSTER
GIVE US THE KEY TO THE CODE?
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: ARCHEOLOGISTS ON
THE GREEK ISLAND OF CRETE
ARE UNCOVERING THE
REAL EVENTS THAT INSPIRED
THE TERRIFYING TALE OF THE MINOTAUR.
♪♪
THIS GRUESOME STORY HAS CAPTIVATED PEOPLE
FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS.
[ ROARING ]
Narrator: BUT WHY DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS
MISREPRESENT WHAT THEY FOUND AT KNOSSOS?
♪♪
EXPERTS THINK IT COULD BE TO ENCODE
A MESSAGE THEY WANTED TO PASS ON.
EVEN THOUGH MYTHS ARE VERY FANTASTICAL,
THEY HAVE LITTLE SECRETS
THAT ARE ENCODED IN THEM,
THAT IF YOU PONDER THE
SYMBOLS IN THE RIGHT WAY,
YOU CAN START TO UNLOCK THEIR SECRET.
Narrator: CAN FINDING THE CODED MESSAGE
BEHIND ANOTHER LEGENDARY MONSTER
REVEAL WHY THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THE MINOTAUR MYTH?
♪♪
WHILE THIS MUTANT BULL
TERRORIZED PEOPLE ON LAND,
ANOTHER BLOOD-THIRSTY
BEAST HUNTED THE SEAS...
MERMAIDS.
AT FIRST GLANCE, THEY'RE
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN WITH FISHTAILS.
♪♪
BUT BEWARE, THEY ARE AMBUSH PREDATORS
OUT TO SLAUGHTER PASSING SAILORS.
USING THEIR SEDUCTIVE LOOKS
AND ANGELIC VOICES AS A TRAP,
THEY LURE MEN TOWARDS THE SHORE.
AND A DEADLY HUNT BEGINS.
BENEATH THEIR PRETTY FACES,
MERMAIDS ARE RAVENOUS MAN-EATING MONSTERS,
DRAGGING SAILORS TO THEIR DEATH
AND FEASTING ON THEIR FLESH.
THE ORIGINAL VERSIONS
ARE NOTHING LIKE "SPLASH"
OR LIKE THE DISNEY VERSION.
THEY TENDED TO BE A BIT
MORE SINISTER THAN THAT.
NOTHING LIKE THE SORT OF CUTESY VERSION
THAT MOST PEOPLE THINK OF.
Narrator: COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST,
DR. JOY REIDENBERG THINKS
MINOTAURS AND MERMAIDS
HAVE A LOT IN COMMON.
SHE BELIEVES BOTH WERE
INSPIRED BY REAL ANIMALS.
THE MERMAID'S ORIGINS MAY BE
A FAMILIAR MARINE CREATURE, THE SEAL.
WE'RE LOOKING AT A HARBOR SEAL.
BUT IT LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO
THE MEDITERRANEAN MONK SEALS
WHICH ARE COMMON AROUND ANCIENT GREECE.
Narrator: BUT WHY WOULD SEALS HAVE BEEN
MISTAKEN FOR HALF-HUMAN,
HALF-FISH CREATURES?
IT ACTUALLY HAS EYES
THAT ARE FACING FORWARD.
SO THIS ANIMAL'S EYES ARE LOOKING AT YOU
THE WAY A HUMAN WOULD,
BECAUSE HUMANS HAVE BINOCULAR VISION,
TWO EYES FACING FORWARD.
VERY FEW ANIMALS HAVE THAT.
THEN WE GO DOWN THIS FISH-LIKE BODY,
AND NOTICE THAT THESE
TWO FEET CAN SPREAD OUT
AND LOOK JUST LIKE A FISH'S TAIL
WITH THE WEBBING IN BETWEEN.
Narrator: IT'S NOT JUST
THE SEAL'S PHYSIOLOGY
THAT TIES IT TO THE MERMAID MYTH.
ITS BEHAVIOR FITS, TOO.
Reidenberg: THESE SEALS LIKE
TO LIVE ON ROCKY COASTLINES,
THEY LIKE TO CLIMB UP ON THE ROCKS,
GET A NICE LOOK AROUND,
AND THAT'S THE KIND OF COASTLINE
YOU HAVE OFF OF ANCIENT GREECE.
Narrator: LIKE BULLS, SEALS ARE NOT
NORMALLY A THREAT TO HUMANS.
SO WHY DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS CREATE
THE MINOTAUR AND MERMAIDS AS MAN-EATERS?
[ ROARING ]
COULD THIS BE THE KEY
TO THE ENCODED MESSAGE?
♪♪
MARITIME ARCHEOLOGIST, DR. DEREK IRWIN,
BELIEVES THE ANSWER
COULD LIE IN THE DANGEROUS
COASTLINE OF CRETE.
♪♪
THE AEGEAN SEA IS ACTUALLY
LITTERED WITH SHIPWRECKS.
WE THINK THAT THERE ARE
THOUSANDS OF SHIPWRECKS
LAYING IN THE SEABEDS AROUND GREECE.
Narrator: DEREK BELIEVES
THE FLESH-EATING FAME
OF MERMAIDS IS A CODED MESSAGE ABOUT
THE MANY DEATHS THAT
OCCURRED IN THESE WATERS.
Irwin: WE'VE FOUND SEVERAL SHIPWRECKS HERE
AROUND THE ISLAND OF
DIAS, THE SOUTHERN EAST
AND THE WEST COAST OF THE ISLAND.
[ SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE ]
♪♪
Narrator: HIDDEN UNDERWATER
VOLCANOES HAVE CREATED
DEADLY SHIP SHREDDING
GEOLOGY, COVERING THE SEA BED
AND SHORELINE WITH SHARP ROCKS.
Irwin: SO ALONG HERE
MOSTLY WE HAVE DROP OFFS
FROM THE SURFACE WE GO TO DEEP WATER
TO 40 OR 50 METERS STRAIGHT DOWN.
THEN WE HAVE SOME ROCKS
PROTRUDING OUT HERE.
♪♪
THE COMBINATION OF THE
BAD WEATHER, ROUGH SEAS,
AND ALL SORTS OF ROCKS ON
THE SURFACE, UNDER THE SURFACE,
NEAR THE COAST, COULD'VE BEEN CATASTROPHIC
FOR ANY ANCIENT SAILING SHIP.
Narrator: DEREK THINKS THE MERMAID'S HUNGER
FOR HUMAN FLESH WAS
CREATED AS A STARK WARNING.
MERMAID TALES WERE ALL
ABOUT DANGER AND DECEPTION.
STORIES OF MERMAIDS WERE
DEFINITELY LIKE A CODED MESSAGE
TO ANCIENT SAILORS NOT TO
GO TOO CLOSE TO THE ROCKS.
Narrator: IT WAS THIS LIFE
SAVING WARNING THAT
MEANT THE TALES OF MERMAIDS
ENDURE FOR MILLENNIA.
OUR HUMAN BRAIN IS WIRED TO PAY ATTENTION
TO STORYTELLING, TO THINGS
THAT WE CAN RELATE TO.
IF WE MAKE THEM MEANINGFUL
WE ARE GOING TO STORE THEM
AND REMEMBER THEM BETTER.
Narrator: SO IF MERMAIDS
WERE CREATED FOR A PURPOSE,
WHAT MESSAGE LIES BEHIND THE MINOTAUR MYTH?
WHAT WERE THE ANCIENT GREEKS WARNING OF?
COULD THE SUDDEN DOWNFALL OF THEIR ENEMY,
THE FEARSOME MINOANS, BE THE KEY?
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
♪♪
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR... [ ROARING ]
...A MUTANT BULL WITH A
HUNGER FOR HUMAN FLESH.
DID THE ANCIENT GREEKS
CREATED THIS TERRIFYING
MYTHICAL BEAST, FOR A PURPOSE?
COULD IT BE A STARK WARNING?
THE MYTH PROVIDES FURTHER CLUES.
IT RECOUNTS HOW A GREEK
PRINCE DECIDES TO FIGHT
BACK AGAINST CRETE.
AND DISGUISES HIMSELF AS ONE
OF THE MINOTAUR'S SACRIFICES.
♪♪
HE ENTERS THE LABYRINTH
ARMED WITH A RAZOR SHARP SWORD
AND A MAGICAL BALL OF
STRING TO TRACE HIS PATH.
THE PRINCE TRACKS DOWN
THE MINOTAUR IN HIS LAIR,
AND THE BATTLE BEGINS.
♪♪
THE GREEK HERO FINALLY SLAYS THE BEAST.
COULD THE MINOTAUR'S
DEATH BE A CODED MESSAGE
ABOUT THE END OF THE MINOANS?
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER COSTAS SYNOLAKIS,
INVESTIGATES HOW THE
MYSTERIOUS MINOAN CIVILIZATION
MET ITS DOWNFALL.
♪♪
Synolakis: THE END OF THE
MINOANS IS VERY PUZZLING
AND WE SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE EVERYWHERE.
AND THE BIG QUESTION IS, WHAT HAPPENED?
Narrator: COSTAS BELIEVES THE ROCKS FOUND
ON THE COASTS OF CRETE HOLD THE ANSWERS.
SEE THIS IS MINOAN PUMICE.
PUMICE COMES IN FROM VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
ABOUT 60 MILES NORTH OF HERE,
IN THAT DIRECTION THERE IS A BIG VOLCANO.
Narrator: THIS VOLCANO ERUPTED
AROUND 3,500 YEARS AGO
THE FACT THIS PUMICE IS FOUND
HERE IN CRETE TELLS COSTAS
IT STARTED A CHAIN OF EVENTS
THAT BROUGHT DOWN THE MINOANS.
[ RUMBLING ]
SO YOU PUT ALL THE CLUES TOGETHER
AND IT ALL POINTS OUT TO
A HUGE WAVE, WHICH IS
THE HALLMARK OF A TSUNAMI.
Narrator: THIS GIANT WAVE WOULD'VE CRUSHED
EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH.
WE KNOW THAT THE TSUNAMI REACHED THIS HIGH
AND IF WE LOOK AROUND, I MEAN,
THERE IS A HOTEL RIGHT THERE
AND WE ARE HIGHER
THAN THE TOP FLOOR OF THE HOTEL.
YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW
DEVASTATING IT MUST HAVE BEEN
IF IN THIS LOCATION THE TSUNAMI
WAS AS HIGH AS 50 METERS.
♪♪
Narrator: POWERLESS AGAINST THE TSUNAMI,
THE ONCE FEARSOME MINOANS COULD ONLY WATCH
AS THEIR HOME WAS DEVASTATED.
AFTER THE TSUNAMI, AFTER
ALL OF THIS DESTRUCTION,
THE SURVIVING CRETANS ARE
VERY, VERY HEAVILY WEAKENED
AND THIS MAKES THEM AN
OPEN PREY TO THE GREEKS.
♪♪
Narrator: IN THE LEGEND A GREEK PRINCE
SLAYS THE MONSTROUS MINOTAUR.
[ ROARING ]
♪♪
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE STORY REFLECTS HOW
THE GREEKS THEMSELVES KILLED
OFF THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION.
♪♪
THE MYTH OF THE MINOTAUR
COULD BE POLITICAL PROPAGANDA.
[ ROARING ]
Narrator: AN ANCIENT ENEMY WAS PRESENTED
IN A BARBARIC BLOODTHIRSTY LIGHT.
THE MYTH OF THE MINOTAURS
TOLD TO LITTLE GREEK CHILDREN
ON THE MAINLAND AD INFINITUM,
SAYING ONCE UPON A TIME
WE WERE RULED BY THIS
VICIOUS SUPER POWER JUST A LITTLE BIT
TO THE SOUTH OF US ON CRETE.
[ ROARING ]
Narrator: THE MINOTAUR IS
ONE OF THE MOST TERRIFYING
MONSTERS TO COME OUT OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
A MYTH SO FEROCIOUS AND
EXTREME IT HAS SURVIVED
FOR THOUSAND OF YEARS.
WRAP INSIDE THIS TALE ARE CLUES
TO HOW THE MINOANS REALLY LIVED,
HOW THEY WORSHIPED,
AND THE RIVALRIES THAT DEFINE
THE HISTORY OF THIS REGION
THOUSAND OF YEARS AGO.
WHAT WE HAVE IS THE DISTORTED VERSION
OF THE MINOANS CIVILIZATION.
WE HAVE A CULTURE WHO WORSHIPPED BULLS,
WERE ABLE TO BUILD GREAT STRUCTURES,
BUT ALSO ENGAGED IN HUMAN SACRIFICE.
ONE OF THE REASONS THAT
MYTHS ENDURE IS BECAUSE
THEY DEAL WITH THESE UNIVERSAL THEMES
THAT THE HUMAN SPECIES
IS ALWAYS STRUGGLING WITH.
SO THEMES OF SURVIVAL,
OF FERTILITY, OF POWER,
OF WAR, OF CONFLICT,
ALL OF THAT IS TACKLED
THROUGH STORIES THAT WILL
HELP US KIND OF DEAL WITH THESE CHALLENGES.
Narrator: EXPERTS HAVE FINALLY DISCOVERED
HOW THE STORY OF THE MINOTAUR IS MUCH MORE
THAN A SIMPLE FAIRYTALE.
IT REVEALS HOW A ONCE POWERFUL CIVILIZATION
WAS ERADICATED BY ITS GREATEST FOE.
[ ROARING ]
♪♪
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