[Footnote *: 'Researches in Sinai,' pp. 181-185.]
Such, then, was the Empire of the Minoan Sea-Kings as it has been
revealed to us by the excavations and researches of the last ten
years. Apart from the actual information gained of this great race,
which must henceforward be regarded as one of the originating sources
of Greek civilization and learning, and therefore, to a great extent,
of all European culture, perhaps the most striking and interesting
result that has been attained is the remarkable confirmation given to
the broad outlines of those traditions about Crete which have survived
in the legends and in the narratives of the Greek historians. The
fable of the Minotaur is now seen to be no mere wild and monstrous
imagining, but a reflection, vague and grotesque as seen through
the mist of centuries, of customs which did actually exist in the
palace life of Knossos, and were very probably parts of the religious
practice of the country. The slaying of the Minotaur by the Athenian
Theseus may well be an echo of the conquest of the Minoan Empire by
the mainland tribes. The story which makes Theseus bring up from
the Palace of Amphitrite the ring which Minos had thrown into the
sea, seems almost certainly to be a symbolic expression of the passing
over of the sea-power of the AEgean from the once-omnipotent Minoans
to the Achaeans and the other restless tribes who for generations
after the fall of Knossos held the dominion of the ocean, and were
the terror of all peaceful nations, and a menace to the existence
of even so great a power as Egypt.
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