Mythical Caves of Crete

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We set out in search of several mythical caves today. Our first stop was the Eileithyian Cave which is visited so seldom that we had to call the guard to come and open it for us. It had no lights so we had to explore by flashlight and candlelight. It had a fig tree, symbol of fertility, growing at the entrance that we had to duck under to enter. All 28 of us plus our guide, Lina, and the guard, Yanni, fit into the cave but the tall people had to watch their heads. The cave was fairly wide but not very tall, like a womb, very appropriate for the Goddess of Childbirth. Yanni said that even today some pregnant women come and make offerings, we saw some feathers and flowers, to ask for safe carriage and delivery of their baby. The ancients worshipped stalactites and stalagmites and we, literally, stumbled over a wall built 'around' a pair of stalagmites. We continued into the bowels of the cave where it narrowed more and there was dampness and pools. We ended with a group photo on a rock that was apparently considered to be the placenta of a baby to the users of the cave.

Afterward we went to the Palace of Malia. That was super as we were almost the only ones there. It is slightly smaller, 1100 rooms, than Knossos but around the same vintage. We went in via the South entrance which was quite wide and probably very impressive for the villagers it faced. We then went into the central courtyard, which appeared smaller to me but which Lina said was around the same dimensions as Knossos and of the same North/South orientation with the same basic plan
portico theatre throne room
courtyard
indicating possibly the same architect or architectural plan was used to build it, except that there was an altar of some kind in the center of the Malian courtyard. We left the courtyard via the pillared portico and saw a round offering table with numerous little depressions around the edge and a slightly bigger one in the middle. Behind this area were the magazines for storage of what was probably left of the offering as the people were probably 'taxed' to provide more of their produce than would fit into the little depressions. Beside the extensive West magazines were what were probably the private chambers of the King and Queen as there were signs they had numerous openings for doors/windows and faced the sea. This was possibly to catch the breeze but regardless the rooms would have had good cross ventilation through the many openings. Between the private apartments, magazines, and central courtyard was a small antechamber where the nobility could gather prior to stepping out onto the pillared 'balcony' to address the masses gathered in the courtyard. One big difference between the courtyard at Malia and that at Knossos is that the 'walls' at Malia consisted of a pillar, a stone, then another pillar quite close together. There are some 'holes' in the stone that may have been for 'fence posts' and it is speculated that there may have been a wooden rail fence of some kind around the courtyard which would have protected the audience during the bull games. On the other side of the courtyard were the East magazines which had troughs to let the liquid pool which indicates they were probably for liquid storage, probably olive oil.

After the palace we went to the village area and saw the ruins of the magazines, a potential waiting room and a possible meeting room with built-in benches along the edges. I really like our guide, Lina, because she presents the facts and then tries to add the images to bring the site to life. Lina was also great during this trip as she provided a lot of info about modern Greek life for us to compare to home which was all very interesting.

For light relief, we went to the Homo Sapiens Museum. What a hoot! The owner obviously has a great sense of humour and has done some research as well. The displays started with the cave men and slowly progressed through man's development into homes. There was a temple with all the Greek Gods and then beside it a church with the caption 'And then Jesus came'. He also showed the evolution of the wheel from rock to rubber behind the church. Then the display moved to 'homo cosmicus' with a tribute to Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong at the end. A quick, light-hearted look at the evolution of man.

We also went to the Dhiktean Cave where Zeus was supposed to have been hidden from Cronos so he wouldn't eat him. It was a huge cave that I didn't find as interesting as that of Eileithyia because it was busier and more commercial. The drive up was interesting though as we saw some goats in trees eating the leaves from the branches they were standing on. Lina wasn't sure why we were laughing and pointing until we explained and the bus driver, George, absolutely couldn't understand our fascination with something as ordinary as a goat, even if it was in a tree. Another great day.

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