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LABYRINTH (Gr. Xa(3vpcvOos, Lat. laby...

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 34 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LABYRINTH (Gr. Xa(3vpcvOos, See also:Lat. labyrinthus)  , the name given by the Greeks and See also:Romans to buildings, entirely or partly subterranean, containing a number of See also:chambers and intricate passages, which rendered See also:egress puzzling and difficult . The word is considered by some to be of See also:Egyptian origin, while others connect it with the Gr . Xavpa, the passage of a mine . Another derivation suggested is from X6.0pvs, a Lydian or Carian word meaning a " See also:double-edged See also:axe " (See also:Journal of Hellenic Studies, xxi . 109, 268), according to which the Cretan See also:labyrinth or See also:palace of See also:Minos was the See also:house of the double axe, the See also:symbol of See also:Zeus . LABYRINTH See also:Pliny (Nat . Hist. See also:xxxvi . 19, 91) mentions the following as the four famous labyrinths of antiquity . 1 . The Egyptian: of which a description is given by See also:Herodotus (ii . 148) and See also:Strabo (xvii . 811) .

It was situated to the See also:

east of See also:Lake See also:Moeris, opposite the See also:ancient site of See also:Arsinoe or Crocodilopolis . According to Egyptologists, the word means " the See also:temple at the entrance of the lake." According to Herodotus, the entire See also:building, surrounded by a single See also:wall, contained twelve courts and 3000 chambers, 1500 above and 1500 below ground . The See also:roofs were wholly of See also:stone, and the walls covered with See also:sculpture . On one See also:side stood a See also:pyramid 40 orgyiae, or about 243 ft. high . Herodotus himself went through the upper chambers, but was not permitted to visit those underground, which he was told contained the tombs of the See also:kings who had built the labyrinth, and of the sacred crocodiles . Other ancient authorities considered that it was built as a See also:place of See also:meeting for the Egyptian nomes or See also:political divisions; but it is more likely that it was intended for sepulchral purposes . It was the See also:work of Amenemhe III., of the 12th See also:dynasty, who lived about 2300 B.C . It was first located by the Egyptologist See also:Lepsius to the See also:north of Hawara in the See also:Fayum, and (in 1888) See also:Flinders See also:Petrie discovered its See also:foundation, the extent of which is about s000 ft. See also:long by Boo ft. wide . Immediately to the north of it is the pyramid of Hawara, in which the mummies of the See also:king and his daughter have been found (see W . M . Flinders Petrie, Hawara, Biahmu, and Arsinoe, 1889) . 2 .

The Cretan: said to have been built by See also:

Daedalus on the See also:plan of the Egyptian, and famous for its connexion with the See also:legend of the See also:Minotaur . It is doubtful whether it ever had any real existence and Diodorus Siculus says that in his See also:time it had already disappeared . By the older writers it was placed near See also:Cnossus, and is represented on coins of that See also:city, but nothing corresponding to it has been found during the course of the See also:recent excavations, unless the royal palace was meant . The rocks of See also:Crete are full of winding caves, which gave the first See also:idea of the legendary labyrinth . Later writers (for instance, Claudian, De sexto Cons . Honorii, 634) place it near See also:Gortyna, and a set of winding passages and chambers See also:close to that place is still pointed out as the labyrinth; these are, however, in reality ancient quarries . 3 . The Lemnian: similar in construction to the Egyptian . Remains of it existed in the time of Pliny . Its See also:chief feature was its 150 columns . 4 . The See also:Italian: a See also:series of chambers in the See also:lower See also:part of the See also:tomb of See also:Porsena at See also:Clusium .

This tomb was 300 ft. square and 50 ft. high, and underneath it was a labyrinth, from which it was exceedingly difficult to find an exit without the assistance of a clew of See also:

thread . It has been maintained that this tomb is to be recognized in the See also:mound named See also:Poggio Gajella near See also:Chiusi . Lastly, Pliny (xxxvi . 19) applies the word to a See also:rude See also:drawing on the ground or See also:pavement, to some extent anticipating the See also:modern or See also:garden See also:maze . On the Egyptian labyrinth see A . See also:Wiedemann, .4gyptische Geschichte (1884), p . 258, and his edition of the second See also:book of Herodotus (1890); on the Cretan, C . Hock, Kreta (1823-1829), and A . J . See also:Evans in Journal of Hellenic Studies; on the subject generally, articles in See also:Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie and Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire See also:des antiquite's . In gardening, a labyrinth or maze means an intricate network of pathways enclosed by hedges or plantations, so that those who enter become bewildered in their efforts to find the centre or make their exit . It is a remnant of the old geometrical See also:style of gardening .

Phoenix-squares

There are two methods of forming it . That which is perhaps the more See also:

common consists of walks, or alleys as they were formerly called, laid out and kept to an equal width or nearly so by parallel hedges,. which should be so close and thick that the See also:eye cannot readily penetrate them . The task is to get This is of octagonal See also:form, with very numerous parallel hedges and paths, and " six different entrances, whereof there is but one that leads to the centre, and that is attended with some difficulties and a See also:great many stops." Some of the older designs for labyrinths, however, avoid this close See also:parallelism of the alleys, which, though equally involved and intricate in their windings, are carried through blocks of thick planting, as shown in fig . 2, from a See also:design published in 1728 by Batty See also:Langley . These blocks of shrubbery have been called wildernesses . To this latter class belongs the celebrated labyrinth at See also:Versailles (fig . 3), of which Switzer observes, that it " is allowed by all to be the noblest of its See also:kind in the See also:world." Whatever style be adopted, it is essential that there should be a thick healthy growth of the hedges or shrubberies that confine the wanderer . The trees used should be impenetrable to the eye, and so tall that no one can look over them; and the paths should be of See also:gravel and well kept . The trees chiefly used for the hedges, and the best for the purpose, are the See also:hornbeam among See also:deciduous trees, or the See also:yew among evergreens . The See also:beech might be used instead of the hornbeam on suitable See also:soil . The See also:green See also:holly might be planted as an See also:evergreen with very See also:good results, and so might the See also:American arbor vitae if the natural soil presented no obstacle . The ground must be well prepared, so as to give the trees a good start, and a mulching of manure during the See also:early years of their growth would be of much See also:advantage .

They must be kept trimmed in or clipped, especially in their earlier stages; trimming with the See also:

knife is much to be preferred to clipping with See also:shears . Any See also:plants getting much in advance of the See also:rest should be topped, and the whole kept to some 4 ft. or 5 ft. in height until the lower parts are well thickened, when it may be allowed to acquire the allotted height by moderate See also:annual increments . In cutting, the hedge (as indeed all hedges) should be II kept broadest at the See also:base and narrowed upwards, which prevents it from getting thin and See also:bare below by the stronger growth being See also:drawn to the tops . The maze in the gardens at See also:Hampton See also:Court Palace (fig . 4) is considered one of the finest examples in See also:England . It was planted in the early part of the reign of See also:William III., though it has been sup-posed that a maze had existed there since the time of See also:Henry VIII . It is constructed on the hedge and See also:alley See also:system, and was, it is believed, originally planted with hornbeam, but many of the plants have been replaced by hollies, yews, &c., so that the vegetation is mixed . The walks are about See also:half a mile in length, and the ground occupied is a little over a See also:quarter of an See also:acre . The centre contains two large trees, with a seat beneath each . The See also:key to reach this resting place is to keep the right See also:hand continuously in contact with the hedge from first to last, going See also:round all the stops . The maze in the gardens at Somerleyton See also:Hall, near See also:Lowestoft (fig . 5), was designed by Mr See also:John See also:Thomas .

The hedges are of See also:

English yew, are about 62 ft. high, and have been planted about sixty years . In the centre is a grass mound, raised to the height of the hedges, and on this mound is a See also:pagoda, approached by a curved grass path . At the two corners on the western side are See also:banks of laurels 15 or 16 ft. high . On each side of the hedges throughout the labyrinth is a small See also:strip of grass . There was also a labyrinth at See also:Theobald's See also:Park, near See also:Cheshunt, when this place passed from the See also:earl of See also:Salisbury into the See also:possession of See also:James I . Another is said to have existed at See also:Wimbledon House, the seat of Earl See also:Spencer, which was probably laid out by See also:Brown in the 18th See also:century . There is an interesting labyrinth, somewhat after the plan of fig 2, at Mistley Place, Manningtree . When the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at See also:South See also:Kensington were being planned, See also:Albert, See also:Prince See also:Consort, the See also:president of the society, especially desired that there should be a maze formed in the ante-garden, which was made in the form shown in fig . 6 . This labyrinth, designed by Lieut . W . A .

See also:

Nesfield, was for many years the chief point of attraction to the younger visitors to the gardens; but it was allowed to go to ruin, and had to be destroyed . The gardens themselves are now built over . (T .

End of Article: LABYRINTH (Gr. Xa(3vpcvOos, Lat. labyrinthus)
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