Knossos Greek mythology, King Minos dwelt in a palace at Knossos. He had Daedalus construct a labyrinth, a very large maze (by some connected with the double-bladed axe, or "labrys") in which to retain his son, the Minotaur. Daedalus also built a dancing floor for Queen Ariadne. The name "Knossos" was subsequently adopted by Arthur Evans. As far as is currently known, it was William Stillman, the American consul who published Kalokairinos' discoveries, who, seeing the sign of the double axe on the massive walls partly uncovered by Kalokairinos, first associated the complex with the labyrinth of legend, calling the ruins
Labyrinth four examples of labyrinths are all complex underground structures, and this appears to have been the standard Classical understanding of the word. It is also possible that the word labyrinth is derived from the Egyptian "loperohunt", meaning palace or temple by the lake. The Egyptian labyrinth near Lake Morris is described by Herodotus and Strabo. By the 4th century BC, Greek vase painters also represented the Labyrinth by the familiar "Greek key" patterns of endlessly running meanders. When the Bronze Age site at Knossos was excavated by explorer Arthur Evans, the complexity of the architecture prompted him to suggest that