Crete, the Palace of Knossos

One of the reasons I chose this particular cruise was that the itinerary included a stopover in Crete and a visit to the Palace of Knossos. During the summer I re-read two of my favorite historical novels, both of which take place during the glory days of the Minoan culture. Mary Renault's "The King Must Die" and its sequel "The Bull from the Sea" imaginatively recreate the story of Theseus, his voyage to the Palace of Knossos as a bull dancer, his defeat of the Minotaur, the journey through the Labyrinth and his abduction of the Princess Ariadne. (He eventually dumps her in Naxos, but that's another story). That is, I suppose, what put the idea into my mind to visit Crete for myself. Well, today, by the grace of Poseidon Earth Shaker, I did.
The site is not very big and the press of tourists was enormous. One asks oneself if it is really worth it to visit these popular sites since there is always such a mob scene. But I did have a moment of awe and wonder, a frisson at the realization that I was standing in the ruins of a great civilization, one that can be traced back 4,000 years. The Cretans are still something of a mystery. To this day their written script, known as Linear A, has not been deciphered. Their culture was highly advanced and sophisticated, their art sublimely beautiful, their power in the Mediterranean matched only by Egypt. Then they suddenly disappeared. The latest theory is that powerful earthquakes struck the region, then Santorini, a nearby volcanic island, blew up in the biggest explosion to have ever happened on the planet, causing a series of tidal waves to sweep over Crete. (Could not an enormous tsunami have been the great flood mentioned in the scriptures of several ancient cultures?)
We again docked quite early in the morning. Our bus took us through the non-descript city of Iraklion, the island's biggest, to the site of the Palace ruins. Excavation was begun here only in 1898 by Sir Arthur Evans. Some of his findings and methods have been controversial but we must acknowledge the invaluable work he did. He took it upon himself to reconstruct parts of the great palace, not always using traditional materials. Purists who have their archeological heads stuck up their butts may sniff, but the rest of us are grateful to see something that can assist our imaginations in envisioning the glories of the ancient site. Authentic or not, it is close enough. Fortunately, many frescoes survive to give us an idea of what life was like in Minoan Crete. The palace complex itself (and there are three other known such palaces in Crete) was enormous, with something like 1,500 rooms (and it is quite possible that this is where the myth of the labyrinth comes from). The first complex was destroyed by earthquake and a subsequent fire, this second palace was begun circa 1,700 BCE. The size of the rooms are surprisingly small, even the Throne Room of the king. Apparently the Cretans were miniaturists. Crete is the largest Greek island and is definitely worth an extended visit. For now I will have to content myself with a taste of the best it has to offer.
Cruise ships like this do their best to provided nightly entertainment for the passengers. Of course there is a casino where one can lose one's money, but thare are also shows of various kinds. Last night there was a concert of classical music. There are a number of musicians on board who entertain us in the cocktail lounge or at poolside. Nadia and Yuri, piano and violin, presented a program of popular classics. Nothing wrong with that -- I was hardly expecting a Prokofieff sonata. The two young artists had my sympathies. Granted, I am going to be the toughest audience to please, but I also know what it is like to be up there on the stage. The piano was shoved into a corner, turned the wrong way around, horribly out of tune and obnoxiously amplified. Both pianist and violinist are graduates of Russian music schools. I would put them on the level of our better graduate students. They played well enough but neither is about to win the Tchaikovsky Competition anytime soon. The violinist was probably the better of the two, but once he started playing I found the grotesquely amplified sound of his instrument most unpleasant. I left half-way through the program. Sorry, guys.