Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth & Reality exhibition introduction

Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth & Reality  is the first major exhibition in the UK about Knossos. This archaeological site was famous in myth as the place where the Minotaur was imprisoned in a Labyrinth and in history as the centre of the Bronze Age Minoan civilisation, the home of the earliest farmers in Europe and a thriving Greek and Roman city. 

The curator Dr Andrew Shapland will introduce the exhibition by tracing the history of exploration of Knossos, from the early travellers searching for the mythical Labyrinth to more recent discoveries which include evidence for human sacrifice. The introduction will pay particular attention to the excavations of Sir Arthur Evans, whose archive at the Ashmolean is the single most important resource for understanding the site of Knossos.

About the Exhibition Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth & Reality  

According to legend, an elaborate labyrinth was built at Knossos on the island of Crete to hold a ferocious Minotaur. Discover the palace of Knossos, and the search for the labyrinth, in this major exhibition in Oxford at the Ashmolean Museum. On until 30 July. 

Dr Andrew Shapland is Sir Arthur Evans Curator of Bronze Age and Classical Greece at the Ashmolean Museum and a Supernumerary Fellow in Archaeology at Jesus College, University of Oxford. He is the author of  Human-Animal Relations in Bronze Age Crete: A History through Objects and was co-curator of the 2019 British Museum exhibition  Troy: Myth and Reality.