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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD ...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Labrinte_Chartres.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] (referring to the [[maze]] constructed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus Daedalus] to house the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur Minotaur]): from French ''labyrinthe'' or [[Latin]] ''labyrinthus'', from [[Greek]] ''laburinthos''
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: a [[complicated]] irregular network of passages or [[paths]] in which it is [[difficult]] to find one's way; a [[maze]
:b. an intricate and [[confusing]] arrangement: a labyrinth of [[conflicting]] [[laws]] and regulations.
*2:a. ''Anatomy'' a [[complex]] structure in the inner ear that contains the organs of hearing and [[balance]]. It consists of bony cavities (the bony labyrinth) filled with [[fluid]] and lined with [[sensitive]] membranes (the membranous labyrinth).
:b. ''Zoology'' an organ of intricate [[structure]], in particular the accessory [[respiratory]] organs of certain fishes.
==Description==
In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology Greek mythology], the '''Labyrinth''' (Greek λαβύρινθος labyrinthos, possibly the building [[complex]] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knossos Knossos]) was an elaborate structure designed and built by the [[legendary]] artificer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus Daedalus] for King [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minos Minos] of Crete at Knossos. Its [[function]] was to hold the Minotaur, a mythical [[creature]] that was half man and half bull and was [[eventually]] killed by the Athenian hero [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theseus Theseus]. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely [[escape]] it after he built it. Theseus was aided by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne Ariadne], who provided him with a skein of thread, literally the "clew", or "clue", so he could find his way out again.
In [[colloquial]] [[English]], ''labyrinth'' is generally synonymous with [[maze]], but many contemporary scholars observe a [[distinction]] between the two: maze refers to a [[complex]] branching (multicursal) [[puzzle]] with choices of [[path]] and [[direction]]; while a single-path (unicursal) ''labyrinth'' has only a single, non-branching path, which leads to the [[center]]. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not designed to be [[difficult]] to navigate.
Although early Cretan coins occasionally exhibit multicursal [[patterns]], the unicursal seven-course "Classical" design became associated with the ''Labyrinth'' on coins as early as 430 BC, and became widely used to represent the Labyrinth – even though both [[logic]] and literary descriptions make it clear that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur Minotaur] was trapped in a complex branching [[maze]]. Even as the designs became more elaborate, visual depictions of the Labyrinth from [[Roman]] times until the [[Renaissance]] are almost invariably unicursal. Branching mazes were reintroduced only when [[garden]] mazes became popular during the Renaissance.
''Labyrinths'' appeared as [[designs]] on pottery or basketry, as body art, and in etchings on walls of [[caves]] or churches. The Romans created many primarily decorative labyrinth designs on walls and floors in tile or [[mosaic]]. Many labyrinths set in floors or on the ground are large enough that the [[path]] can be walked. They have been used historically both in group [[ritual]] and for private [[meditation]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth]
[[Category: Mythology]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] (referring to the [[maze]] constructed by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus Daedalus] to house the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur Minotaur]): from French ''labyrinthe'' or [[Latin]] ''labyrinthus'', from [[Greek]] ''laburinthos''
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: a [[complicated]] irregular network of passages or [[paths]] in which it is [[difficult]] to find one's way; a [[maze]
:b. an intricate and [[confusing]] arrangement: a labyrinth of [[conflicting]] [[laws]] and regulations.
*2:a. ''Anatomy'' a [[complex]] structure in the inner ear that contains the organs of hearing and [[balance]]. It consists of bony cavities (the bony labyrinth) filled with [[fluid]] and lined with [[sensitive]] membranes (the membranous labyrinth).
:b. ''Zoology'' an organ of intricate [[structure]], in particular the accessory [[respiratory]] organs of certain fishes.
==Description==
In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology Greek mythology], the '''Labyrinth''' (Greek λαβύρινθος labyrinthos, possibly the building [[complex]] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knossos Knossos]) was an elaborate structure designed and built by the [[legendary]] artificer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus Daedalus] for King [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minos Minos] of Crete at Knossos. Its [[function]] was to hold the Minotaur, a mythical [[creature]] that was half man and half bull and was [[eventually]] killed by the Athenian hero [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theseus Theseus]. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely [[escape]] it after he built it. Theseus was aided by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne Ariadne], who provided him with a skein of thread, literally the "clew", or "clue", so he could find his way out again.
In [[colloquial]] [[English]], ''labyrinth'' is generally synonymous with [[maze]], but many contemporary scholars observe a [[distinction]] between the two: maze refers to a [[complex]] branching (multicursal) [[puzzle]] with choices of [[path]] and [[direction]]; while a single-path (unicursal) ''labyrinth'' has only a single, non-branching path, which leads to the [[center]]. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not designed to be [[difficult]] to navigate.
Although early Cretan coins occasionally exhibit multicursal [[patterns]], the unicursal seven-course "Classical" design became associated with the ''Labyrinth'' on coins as early as 430 BC, and became widely used to represent the Labyrinth – even though both [[logic]] and literary descriptions make it clear that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur Minotaur] was trapped in a complex branching [[maze]]. Even as the designs became more elaborate, visual depictions of the Labyrinth from [[Roman]] times until the [[Renaissance]] are almost invariably unicursal. Branching mazes were reintroduced only when [[garden]] mazes became popular during the Renaissance.
''Labyrinths'' appeared as [[designs]] on pottery or basketry, as body art, and in etchings on walls of [[caves]] or churches. The Romans created many primarily decorative labyrinth designs on walls and floors in tile or [[mosaic]]. Many labyrinths set in floors or on the ground are large enough that the [[path]] can be walked. They have been used historically both in group [[ritual]] and for private [[meditation]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth]
[[Category: Mythology]]