'Sev'n youths from Athens yearly sent, to meet The fate appointed by revengeful Crete. And next to those the dreadful urn was plac'd, In which the destin'd names by lots were cast: The mournful parents stand around in tears, And rising Crete against their shore appears. There too, in living sculpture, might be seen The mad affection of the Cretan queen; Then how she cheats her bellowing lover's eye; The rushing leap, the doubtful progeny, The lower part a beast, a man above, The monument of their polluted love. Not far from thence he grav'd the wondrous maze, A thousand doors, a thousand winding ways: Here dwells the monster, hid from human view, Not to be found, but by the faithful clew; Till the kind artist, mov'd with pious grief, Lent to the loving maid this last relief, And all those erring paths describ'd so well That Theseus conquer'd and the monster fell. Here hapless Icarus had found his part, Had not the father's grief restrain'd his art. He twice assay'd to cast his son in gold; Twice from his hands he dropp'd the forming mold.'

From the Perseus Project

Thoughts on the Aeneid

On the topics of the labyrinth and Vergil. In the 'Aeneid', book VI, there is a carving that Aeneas sees on a temple door (Ian mentioned this earlier today) which was done by Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth--the one who escaped. It describes the story of the Minotaur, its conception, its imprisonment, and its use. (Again from the Dryden Translation.) (above)

This a unique passage in the 'Aeneid' since it has the quality of a "point of view within point of view." Aeneas is viewing Daedalus' carving on Crete and the proceedings in the labyrinth. Here, the labyrinth is a place of imprisonment and sacrifice. (The seven Athenian youths were sent to Crete per year.) Another interesting point, as Ian mentioned, is that these carvings were done by the one man who managed to escape the labyrinth without help.

-Priyanka

(Interesting and unrelated side note: the fact that Ariadne saves Theseus from the Minotaur might have some implications in relation to the matriarchal nature of Minoan society, perhaps even religious practices)

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