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When they arrived, Adonis said, “It’s hot.”
“Knossos is described as a maze,” Rose told the children as they entered the historical sight of massive columns and colorful frescoes.
Adonis’s young eyes lit up at the word maze.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the legend of the Minotaur,” Rose said.
“It’s in one of my books,” said Nefeli. “My book tells all about the Greek legends and stories.”
“The Minotaur had the body of a man but the head and tail of a bull,” Rose said, taking the children’s hands.
Adonis wrinkled his nose. “I wouldn’t like to be part bull.”
Rose laughed. “I don’t think he much liked it either. He was a very grumpy beast. So much so, that King Minos ordered Daedalus and his son Icarus to build an elaborate maze called the labyrinth to keep the Minotaur from terrorizing the kingdom. Every year the king would send in young men and young women as an offering. They would get lost in the maze and would be eaten by the Minotaur before they could find their way out.”
“That’s not very nice,” Nefeli said with a definitive shake of her head.
“No, it’s not. What do you think the king should’ve fed the Minotaur instead?”
Nefeli stuck the tip of her tongue out of her mouth as she thought. “What do bulls eat?”
“They eat grains and grass.”
“Eww. I don’t want to eat grass,” Adonis said.
“Yuck,” Nefeli agreed.
“What’s grains?” Adonis asked.
“Grains are corn, barley, and oats,” Rose explained. “Besides regular grass, they eat hay and silage.”
“I wouldn’t like to eat those either.” Nefeli twirled the end of her braid. “Maybe if they fed the Minotaursouvlaki, he wouldn’t eat the people. I likesouvlaki.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I likemoussaka,” Adonis said. “Yum.” He rubbed his tummy.
“There’s another story about the Minotaur,” Stavros interjected. “About the hero who defeated the labyrinth and the beast.”
“What’s that, Papa?” Nefeli asked.
“Theseus’s friend Ariadne gave him a ball of string. He tied it to the door of the maze when he entered. After killing the Minotaur, he followed the string through the maze back to the door.”
“If we get lost, we can use string to find our way back out?” Nefeli looked up.
“Yes.”
“But we don’t have any string,” Adonis wailed.
Rose squeezed his hand. “We don’t need string. We have each other. The maze is broken.” She gestured to the ruins around them. “And the Minotaur is long gone. Nothing to worry about.” She pushed dark hair off of his forehead. “Okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
They wandered through the piles of stones, taking lots of pictures. By the end of two hours, they were hot and sweaty. And Rose actually did feel lost once or twice, though she didn’t show it. She didn’t want to worry the children.
“I’m hungry.” Adonis kicked at a loose pebble.
“I think lunch is a good idea, and then we can check out the aquarium,” Rose said. Being indoors with air conditioning sounded heavenly, as did a cool shower or dip in the sea.