Telluride Inside…and Out: Crete & the Diktean Cave

Yesterday, along with our new best friends the Pavlides, we visited the Lasithi Tabletop (Plateau), a region that combines spectacular scenery with one of the most important mythological sites of the island, our primary destination, the Diktean Cave.

In a spectacular case of upstairs/downstairs, Zeus did not start out life on Mt. Olympus; quite the opposite: his first address was a deep, dark subterranean cave with visceral limestone shimmering eerily on its walls. The place looks like a huge natural womb – or early Julian Schnabel. 

The Diktean Cave is the Greeks' answer to Christ's manger. Why such an ignominious birthplace for the King of the Gods? Zeus' father was Cronus, which translates as "time." Get it: Father Time. His mother was Rhea, whose name means "flow." (Time + flow =l life.) As we know all too well, time consumes life. Cronus was chowing down on his own offspring.  To save baby Zeus from the fate of siblings, Rhea hides him in a cave, where Zeus is surrounded by guards whose major job was to bang on drums and cymbals so dad would not hear his bawling.

Digs starting in 1900 turned up numerous artifacts the fact that the Diktean was THE sacred site among all the caves on Crete and other islands which laid claim to Zeus.

A word to the wise: when visiting the Diktean Cave, wear hiking shoes. The 25 minute climb to the entrance is relatively steep. And the 100 meter descent into the mouth of the womb is slippery and tricky.