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Crete TOURnet: Home Guida di Creta Mythology of Crete Minos, King of Crete

Minos, King of Crete

Crete is probably a form of the Greek word "crateia", meaning "strong" or "ruling goddess". After Asterius’s death, Minos claimed the Cretan throne. and ruled as King for many years from his palace in Knossos. Crete was powerful and prosperous under his rule and its commercial fleet dominated the Mediterranean, bringing wealth to the island. Minos had the reputation of being a fair man. His brother, Radamanthis, who remained in Crete and lived in peace with him, also had the reputation of a just lawmaker who legislated for Cretans as well as for the islands of Asia Minor, which voluntarily adopted his judicial code. Every ninth year Radamanthis and Minos would visit the cave of Zeus and return with a new set of laws.
Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated Knossos, gave the early Cretan culture the name "Minoan Civilization". Minos may have been the royal title of a ruling dynasty, not a single person. The peaceful acceptance of the law of Crete by the other island dwellers of Asia Minor seems to suggest the expansion of the Cretan civilization all over the Aegean and into Asia Minor. The Cretans built the city of Milatos in Asia Minor. Legend says that another city called Milatos was built by Minoans in Ireland.