Maths aMazes: Session 1

Labyrinths

The drawing on the right shows the minotaur and a diagram of the labyrinth in Crete. Although we don't have direct evidence in the form of buried walls for the shape of the Cretan labyrinth, this is what it is traditionally supposed to have looked like - although the minotaur is a legend, labyrinths were quite common in ancient Greece.

You can draw this labyrinth on paper, or if you are on a beach it looks very good drawn into the sand with the help of a stick. To draw a traditional Cretan labyrinth, follow the stages shown below.

This first stage is known as the seed. Draw this square and the dots on squared paper. Now add each line in turn, as in the next stages (you don't have to use red - new lines are shown here in red so it is clear what you are doing at each stage). The curved sections are actually quarter and half circles, so if you use a pair of compasses for these you will get a neater effect than drawing free-hand.

Once you have reached this stage, each time you add a new line, draw a curved line from the next dot/straight line moving round from the top right to the next free dot/straight line on the left. Keep going until all the dots and lines are connected.

When you have completed your labyrinth, use a different colour to show the route through the labyrinth from the outside to the centre. You could draw a minotaur there!

We can use other seeds to draw labyrinths. You might like to try these ones later on, or see what happens if you use your own seed. How many entrances and centres do they have? Can you draw a labyrinth which has two centres and two entrances?