Mazes and Labyriths: Chapter XVIII. The Dance or Game of Troy

This is a chapter from W.H. Matthews's 1922 scholarly survey of maze and labyrinth history, written in the tradition of early twentieth-century antiquarianism and comparative folklore. The chapter traces the persistent association between labyrinths and the name "Troy" across European cultures — from Welsh "Caerdroia" and Scandinavian "Trojeborg" to an Etruscan wine jar labeled "TRUIA" — arguing this link predates medieval usage by millennia. Matthews's central claim is that labyrinth figures were not decorative curiosities but components of ceremonial dances: specifically, he connects Virgil's *Lusus Trojae* (Game of Troy), Homer's dance of Daedalus, and the Cretan "Crane Dance" of Theseus as expressions of the same ancient rite. Drawing on Frazer's *Golden Bough*, he speculatively links these labyrinth-dances to prehistoric spring-awakening ceremonies involving sympathetic magic — the idea that ritual movement mimicked and assisted the sun's course — with sword dances and morris dances as surviving remnants. A distinctive claim is that the word "Troy" itself may derive not from the city but from an ancient root meaning "to wind or turn," possibly connected to a pan-Indo-European mythological figure representing winter's demon. The chapter will appeal most to readers interested in the deep history of folk ritual, comparative mythology, and the overlap between classical archaeology and Victorian-era anthropological speculation.

Mazes and Labyriths: Chapter XVIII. The Dance or Game of Troy

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