Labyrinth: Symbol of Fear, Rebirth, and Liberation

A labyrinth is an ancient circular diagram found in cultures around the world. Since antiquity, stories of the Labyrinth - closely associated with the sagas of the Minotaur, Theseus and Ariadne, and Daedalus and Incarus - have caught the Western imagination. In its classical form, this sacred diagram consists of a singular circular path with no possibility of going astray. In contrast, the modern labyrinth, or maze, is a system of misleading paths with a multitude of choices, some of which turn out to be dead ends - a metaphor for a difficult, confusing situation that may end in either good or evil fortune. Taking an approach both reflective and playful, Jaskolski traces our fascination with this ambiguous ancient motif and shows, through stories ranging from myths and medieval tales to the labyrinthine fiction of Umberto Eco, that the labyrinth is a living symbol for our time.