Labyrinthine Symbols in Western Culture: An Exploration of their History, Philosophy and Iconography

Labyrinthine symbols are one of the most enduring symbols through history. There is a sense of ?universality? about these symbols that crosses religious and cultural boundaries. One labyrinthine symbol commonly called the Cretan labyrinth has endured for over 3300 years. It has a unicursal pattern - one path to the centre and no dead ends. Through time the Cretan labyrinth became part of other cultural symbols. The purpose of this book is two-fold: first, to develop a paradigm for the classification of unicursal patterns. With this classification, the variations and the transformation from one structure to another can be examined. The second and major purpose is to use this classification system to track the unicursal pattern from the Bronze Age to the early Renaissance in order to examine its developments. Through this method it will be possible to understand the origins, cultural connections and transference of designs and ideas through the structure of this symbol. In turn, this book will cast significant light upon the effectiveness of this form of visual communication as an extension of language and as a conveyer of the history of ideas.