- 🌀The Greek Talk
- Posts
- 🌀Crete's Labyrinth is Real + Greece Leads Europe In...Goats?
🌀Crete's Labyrinth is Real + Greece Leads Europe In...Goats?
In partnership with
Hi Greek Talkers!
Welcome back to the newsletter that proves Greek achievement spans from ancient labyrinths to accessible beaches, with a detour through space exploration and an unusually large goat population.
This week Crete wins a global archaeology prize for discovering the actual labyrinth (spoiler: still no Minotaur), and Greek kids ditch yiayia's cash for digital wallets. Meanwhile, a Greek student breaks space frontiers, and Greece discovers vast freshwater reserves unfortunately located beneath the seabed where they're spectacularly unhelpful for drought relief.
Quick shoutouts to Sofia K. who wrote that last week's WWII sites guide was “moving and eye opening”. Thank you and honored to help connect the dots.
Let’s dive in. ☕🤿🇬🇷
Looking for unbiased, fact-based news? Join 1440 today.
Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.
🇬🇷 WHAT’S NEW IN GREECE
🚀 Greek physics student Menelaos Raptis breaks new frontiers in space exploration. BRAVO!! 👏 👏 🇬🇷 🇬🇷
tovima.com
🏛️ Crete's Labyrinth discovery earns Greece top global archaeology prize. Ancient Minoans still winning competitions 3,500 years after they stopped entering.
The monumental architectural complex uncovered at Kastelli, Crete. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture
More news from Greece
🐉 Thessaloniki just dropped a new character arc as the Dragon of Thessaloniki is unearthed.
🤿 Just don’t call it “Delphi Water Park”. A Delphi underwater recreation site is approved.
♿ Naxos and Donousa to offer fully accessible beaches by 2026. Now the only real decision will be which tavernas to hit.
☀️ What pumpkin spice? Greece is still on ice cream mode as October becomes Greece's fifth month of summer.
☂️ Thessaloniki's Umbrellas sculpture temporarily removed and now no-one can stand under the umbrellas- ellas-ellas- eh- eh -eh.
💳 From drachmas to PayPal as Greek kids go digital with pocket money.
🐐 Greece is officially the GOAT at goats.
🍽️ “Ruins-to-table” as Greece opens 19 ancient sites for local gastronomy events.
💧 Hydration is now national infrastructure as Greece announces €2.5 billion plan for drought and water security.
💧 Plot twist as vast freshwater reserves discovered beneath Greece's seabed. Turns out Greece has water resources, just inconveniently located underwater.
🌳 Athens gets Ivy League shade as Harvard proposes green blueprint to cool Athens.
📰 Greece joins declaration backing media freedom. Supporting journalism principles while journalists navigate Greek bureaucracy's love of secrecy.
🌎️ WHAT’S NEW OUTSIDE OF GREECE
🎓 Professor Christina Economos, dean of the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. 👏 👏 🇬🇷 🇬🇷
greekreporter.com
More news from outside of Greece
🔬 Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and Professor Emeritus at Collège De France, was one of the 2025 Gairdner Awards, Canada's top medical prize, for Notch signaling research. 👏 👏 🇬🇷 🇬🇷
🎶 Eirini Tornesakis takes Cretan rizitiko songs to Grammy consideration. Traditional Cretan music meets American music industry validation.
🎉 Toronto's Danforth echoes with OXI parade. Canadian Greeks keeping resistance tradition alive 6,000km from where it started.
🎪 Oakleigh Glendi celebrates OXI Day with sunshine and spirit. Australian Greeks proving they party harder than homeland Greeks.
🇦🇺 Adelaide and Athens formalize sister city partnership. Two cities discovering they both love Mediterranean lifestyle and wine.
Got a burning question about Greek culture, diaspora life, or that family tradition nobody can explain?
💌 Send it to [email protected] - your question might become next week's featured Q&A.
💎 CULTURAL GEMS
🏛️ Crete's Labyrinth Discovery Wins Global Archaeology Prize (And It Was Never About Getting Lost)
The monumental architectural complex uncovered at Kastelli, Crete. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture
Crete just earned the top global archaeology prize for discovering what researchers believe is the actual labyrinth that inspired the Minotaur myth—a complex network of underground tunnels and chambers near Kastelli, distinct from Knossos's palace complex that tourists photograph. The discovery reveals sophisticated Minoan engineering: multi-level stone quarries converted into ceremonial spaces with carved pillars, ritual chambers, and passages that genuinely confuse modern visitors without requiring mythological bull-men. Archaeologists theorize these quarries-turned-sanctuaries inspired labyrinth stories that eventually morphed into Theseus-versus-monster narratives, proving ancient Greeks created labyrinthine architecture without supernatural explanations—though supernatural sold better to subsequent generations who preferred drama over mining details. The name "labyrinth" itself likely derives from labrys, the double-axe symbol carved throughout Minoan architecture, meaning visitors weren't meant to slay monsters but rather recognize the sacred branding.
What makes this prize-worthy isn't just underground passages—Greece has those everywhere—but demonstrating how Bronze Age Cretans repurposed industrial sites into religious spaces, inventing adaptive reuse architecture 3,500 years early. The discovery explains why ancient sources described the labyrinth as both engineering marvel and sacred site, confusing scholars who couldn't reconcile practical mining with mythological reverence.
Modern visitors expecting Minotaur drama will face carved stone chambers and ancient quarry marks instead, but that's peak archaeology: answering questions nobody asked while creating new confusion about what ancient people believed versus what made good stories. Knossos remains the tourist draw, but this labyrinth represents actual sophisticated Minoan engineering beyond Arthur Evans's concrete reconstructions.
📆 BEST OF GREEK CALENDAR
📖 November 13 & 26, 2025 opening dates for the permanent exhibition "George Seferis: The Man, the Poet, the Diplomat", Embassy of Greece, London
📷️ October 2025 - March 2026, Through McCabe’s Lens: Greece Before Time Caught Up, Greek Embassy, Berlin
🐙 29 October, 2025 - 26 January, 2026, Minoan Octopodes, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
🧳 TRAVEL NEWS
🏖️ Naxos: Where the Cyclades Still Remember How to Be an Island.
Naxos is the Cycladic all-rounder that refuses to choose between bronzed nonchalance and soulful substance: long champagne-colored beaches, alleys in Chora climb past bougainvillea to a castle that is perched above harbor cafes, and the Aegean keeping the lighting department on “golden hour” for a bit too long. You think you are visiting yet another Cycladic island—glass-like sea, blue taverna tables next to the tide—and quickly realize the island’s personality runs deeper than your SPF.
Start with the essentials: wander the marble lanes of Naxos Town (Chora), then frame your first sunset through the ancient doorway of the Portara like you meant to all along - just don’t pick up any ancient stones. Spend gelato-fueled days at the beaches of Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna, and Plaka, where the sand is fine and the water unbelievably transparent; by 2026, many of these stretches aim to be fully accessible, turning “everyone welcome” into actual infrastructure. When you’ve had your fill of turquoise, head inland—citron tastings in Halki, marble workshops near Melanes, while interior mountain villages like Apiranthos feature marble-paved streets and distinct local dialect.
Scratch a little deeper and Naxos starts telling stories: this is the island that fed neighboring Cyclades and carved marble for empires. Look for oversized kouroi (ancient statues) abandoned mid-creation and ask about emery, the gritty mineral that once lined the island’s arteries with mule paths. The food culture is highwayman-level persuasive—potato fields to platter, cheeses that argue passionately for second helpings, and seaside grills serving “just-caught” with the kind of confidence that needs no garnish beyond lemon and attitude.
🗿 Kouros statues at Apollonas and Flerio - Abandoned 7th century BC marble sculptures in ancient quarries, surreal art history in situ.
🥾 Mount Zas summit trail - Cyclades' highest peak (1,003m), cave where Zeus supposedly born, multi-island views on clear days
🍋 Vallindras Kitron Distillery - Historic distillery producing citron liqueur unique to Naxos, family-run since 1896, free tastings.
🧀 Cheese-with-a-View: Ask for arseniko and xynomyzithra at a village taverna in Melanes; congratulate yourself for ordering like a local.
🌾 Ancient Footpaths, Modern Flex: Hike the waymarked trail Moni → Halki → Filoti through olive groves and stone terraces—civilization, but pleasantly out of office.
 Chora |  Temple of Demeter |
 Mount Zas trail |  Halki |
🆕 OBSESSIONS
eKathimerini.com
🧊 How to make the perfect freddo cappuccino at home
🧑🍳 RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Naxian Rosto (Garlic–Wine Braised Pork with Graviera)
chefspencil.com
Naxian Rosto is Naxos on a plate: tender pork braised low and slow with scandalous amounts of garlic, red wine, and a tad of cinnamon—finished with Naxian graviera that melts into a glossy, peppery sauce. It’s Sunday lunch energ.
Most coverage tells you what happened. Fintech Takes is the free newsletter that tells you why it matters. Each week, I break down the trends, deals, and regulatory shifts shaping the industry — minus the spin. Clear analysis, smart context, and a little humor so you actually enjoy reading it.
💡 INSPIRATION
Wonder is the beginning of wisdom
😎 GREEK FYI
🇬🇷 The Kouros of Apollonas, also called the Colossus of Dionysus, is a 10.7 meter tall, unfinished statue of light grey Naxian marble with a weight of around 80 tonnes.
😂 MYTHIC MEMES
@greek_problems
That’s it for now. Winning archaeology prizes for ancient engineering, pioneering accessible tourism, and maintaining Europe's largest goat population.
Crete proved the labyrinth was real infrastructure, not just good mythology. Naxos proved islands can evolve without losing character. And somewhere, a Greek student is designing space technology while yiayia asks when they're getting a real job.
Catch you next week for more news, drama and deep dives. 🧿 Stay Greek. [email protected]
What did you think of today's newsletter? |