JovialJman - Labyrinths and Mazes (Utter Confusion)

Getting lost in a maze and meeting a mini minotaur.

Mazes can be rather difficult to complete but with persistence any maze that has a solution can be solved. There are many kinds of many shapes and sizes. Some can be traced as far back as the 19th century BC, Lets talk about that.

Mazes and Labyrinths are often confused, but the difference between them, in today's meaning of the words, is that a maze has many branches thus there is more than one path to follow, and some of those may lead to a dead end, however a labyrinth is a continuous path on which someone can follow to get in and out of. There are many different types of mazes, some that have one path with branches that lead to dead ends, branches that lead to the main path again, paths that overlap each other, (like bridges and tunnels), and some that are a combination of the different types, (for a full list and explanation of the type click here).

The term labyrinth as we know it today was not always as it is, is used to mean the same as a maze, a confusing passage way with many dead ends, as Theseus, (in Greek mythology) must not have been too bright if he was trapped in a labyrinth and without his thread would have not gotten out. This confusing place was home to the minotaur that Theseus was to kill. The word Labyrinth was used to describe the one path maze as far back as 430 B.C. and was a symbol of it has been found on medallions at the time.

Many movies and games have been made around mazes, a movie i recently watched had it in its name, The Maze Runners, without revealing too much about the fantastic movie, there are people at the center of a maze and they have to try and find a way out. Now since mazes are designed to be confusing, it is not as easy as it sounds. The Greek myth of the minotaur has been incorporated slightly as well, if you want to know more, I highly recommend watching the movie as it is really good. There is also a book series that is made into movies now, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, the fourth book takes place in a maze.

There are many games that are based around it as well, or incorporate it into the game somewhere along the line. Most games can be seen as a straight line from start to finish, so they could be a labyrinth in themselves. Drawing Mazes can be a lot of fun, and a good way to pass the time. But if you would like to draw the most epic mazes so far, you will need to learn a few key points, some of which is, keeping the distance of the walls equal throughout the maze, Filling all the space so there is no big hole that there is no path through it,  making hard to solve ones can be a bit more trick but if you link some of the passages together they might go around in circles, and if you make spirals and/vortexes you can confuses the maze-solver a fair amount.

Anyways, I thank you for reading today's post, if you enjoyed it, and would like to see more post's as they are published, please like us on Facebook/Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left. If you know of anyone who likes history or loves mazes, please share this with them as I am sure they will thank you for it. If you have any comments, or have a story about a maze that you would like to share, please do so in the comments below or on Facebook/Twitter, as we here at TCSA love to hear from you. I hope you have/had a really good day.

Happy travels friends