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stefan
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discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth
#4513259 - 08/09/05 01:57 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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On the Europe gathering jeroen198 explained what the difference between a maze and a labyrinth is. in a thread the discussion opened again because of this:
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stefan said: maze = labyrinth (the dictionairy sais so...)
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Jeroen198 said: ooook.. you asked for it...
as much as i appreciate your effort to shed more light on the issue by checking a dictionary, i am sorry to have to disagree , even though i just checked one myself (the Van Dale). It does indeed list labyrinth as a synonym for maze, and YET, they are simply not the same.
The difference in form is obvious enough: a labyrinth is always flat and has no walls (in whatever form) like a maze does. A labyrinth has no dead ends and no loops and is not intended to confuse, unlike a maze.
another point: remember the ancient greek story about the labyrinth on Kreta and the Minotaur (some monster) in it? that one had walls and was definitely designed to get you hopelessly lost in to eventually get eaten by the minotaur. The only way Theseus (who killed the Minotaur) found his way out is because he carried a role of wire with him that he had tied to something in the beginning so he could follow that back.
So I want to shed more light on this subject by you pubbers, please discuss this delicate matter. (proof if it either the same, or different) Also this isn't about who is right or wrong, but about finding out what the truth is so we can all enrich the world with our new gathered information (suddenly this sounds like the X-files )
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Hanky
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: stefan]
#4513264 - 08/09/05 01:58 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Maise is corn. labyrinth was a movie with david bowie.
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Toddo
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: stefan]
#4513267 - 08/09/05 01:59 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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hmnmm...maybe its just a matter of opinion. I always thought of a labyrinth a place where you just explore...where a maze being a place to get you lost.
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felix
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Toddo]
#4513297 - 08/09/05 02:10 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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no walls..? how would that work?
i think that he thinks a labyrinth is like a loooong twisty hallway that looks like a maze at first glance.
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Jeroen198
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: felix]
#4513478 - 08/09/05 04:27 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
i think that he thinks a labyrinth is like a loooong twisty hallway that looks like a maze at first glance.
i dont know who you're talking about, but this is how a labyrinth works without walls. pretty simple:
maybe not the best example as it is hard to see the entrance, but you see that this is a 'real life' pattern on a floor. you can draw a maze in 2d, but a maze in a 3d environment has walls to prevent you from having an overview. In a labyrinth you always have an overview, the only exception being a labyrinth on a hill (of which very few exist).
as for the movie labyrinth: there is no labyrinth in the entire movie. But this is of course a way cooler title than 'Maze'.
As for the ancient greek myth: yes the maze was called a labyrinth. why? no idea, because it's a maze.
Here's another illustration of a labyrinth that might look very much like a maze at first glance. It once existed on the floor of a church in Reims, France:
Is this stuff fascinating or what?
Edited by Jeroen198 (08/09/05 04:56 AM)
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Jeroen198
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Jeroen198]
#4513486 - 08/09/05 04:33 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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yes i suppose it can be a matter of opinion.
what bothers me is that people think labyrinths and mazes are the same, when they are obviously not, judging from the FORM only.
If somebody wants to call a labyrinth (as in the attached pic) a maze, thats fine by me, but please don't ask why there are no walls, and why there is only one path.
These 2 things are intended for entirely different purposes.
again. maze: high walls, dead ends, loops. intended to confuse.
labyrinth: no walls, no dead ends or loops, only one path. intended for many things such as meditation.
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stefan
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Jeroen198]
#4513651 - 08/09/05 07:32 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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probably the thing with no dead ends etc etc is neither a maze or a labyrinth, there is probably another name for it and people mistakenly named it a labyrinth (or maze) because it looks like one. This sounds like the most logical explanation to me
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stefan
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: stefan]
#4513662 - 08/09/05 07:43 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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I also found this:
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In dealing with a subject as varied and complex as labyrinths and mazes, it is essential to make definitions that can be clearly explained. The first task is to clarify the difference between a labyrinth and a maze. While the terms are often used interchangeably, many historians and enthusiasts are passionate about which is which. Look up the words in a good dictionary and you will probably conclude that a maze is a labyrinth and a labyrinth is a maze.
However, in the English-speaking world it is often considered that to qualify as a maze, a design must have choices in the pathway. Clearly, this multicursal category will include many of the modern installations in entertainment parks and tourist attractions, which exist solely for the purpose of perplexing visitors, as well as the traditional hedges mazes in public parks and private gardens around the world.
so here it looks more like an opinion thing; dictionairy sais it's the same, but to disguise mazes/labyrinths with and without dead ends they just named one a maze and one a labyrinth
and
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What is the difference between a maze and a labyrinth today? Today people think of mazes as tricky and confusing puzzles, with false passages and dead ends. Examples include the Dole Pineapple Plantation maze, cornfield mazes, or the art from the Amazeing Art book. Labyrinths, on the other hand, are thought to have a single path that winds into center, and are often (but not always) circular. The best-known labyrinths are Church labyrinths, such as at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco or Chartres Cathedral in France.
Were mazes and labyrinths always thought of differently? No, they were not. If you look back to the ancient world, there was really no distinction between mazes and labyrinths. The ancient idea of the labyrinth was identical to what we call a maze today. The ancient labyrinth was a place of "inextricable error" where you could wander in confusion for some time, or worse, be eaten by the Minotaur who resided within. The ancient written descriptions of labyrinths and their pictorial depictions, however, were at odds. Greek coins, Roman mosaics, and Medieval manuscripts all used similar symbols for the labyrinth: a unicursal (single-path) design that wound into the center. Eventually this difference between idea and image led to the modern distinction between mazes, which have dead ends, and labyrinths, which do not.
in this case it looks like people renamed one a maze and the other a labyrinth to disguise them from one another
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scribble
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: stefan]
#4513667 - 08/09/05 07:48 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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I agree that there could very well be a difference between the two but I don't know if that's it. I'm OK with the one has traps (dead ends, pit falls, monsters, etc.) and one doesn't, but I really don't know about the no walls part if anything that's a path.
side note I use to love that wooden game with the metal ball that you had to move through the maze... I think it was called labyrinth.
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boO
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: scribble]
#4513685 - 08/09/05 08:03 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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yeah the brio labyrinth! awesome toy
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PuZuZu
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: boO]
#4513744 - 08/09/05 08:47 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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I always though of a maze as a point a to point type of maze on the coloring books in a restuarant and a labyrinth as a trap of magical sorts.
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Annom
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: PuZuZu]
#4513756 - 08/09/05 08:53 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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WeAreAllOne
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Annom]
#4513769 - 08/09/05 09:00 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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You fools! A labyrinth clearly always has a minotaur in it!
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Annom
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Jeroen198]
#4514099 - 08/09/05 11:20 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jeroen198 said: Is this stuff fascinating or what?
Yes man! It sure is fascinating. I did a very quick bryce on that picture:
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Ravus
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: stefan]
#4514113 - 08/09/05 11:24 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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According to wikipedia:
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. This is different from a labyrinth, which has an unambiguous through-route and is not designed to be difficult to navigate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze
Though if you had asked me only a few minutes ago I would've said they're the same thing.
-------------------- So long as you are praised think only that you are not yet on your own path but on that of another.
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Jeroen198
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Annom]
#4515004 - 08/09/05 04:02 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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dude, that is fucking cool!
that seriously makes me wonder how you would experience walking that path. if you concentrated on where you are, judging from where you started, would you have ANY idea how close to the center you are after a while?
This is what fascinates me about labyrinths; you cannot judge how long you will be walking for, even though you can see where you're going.
Now, a labyrinth with walls.. wow. that's brilliant. I need to think of an easy way to construct one.
Thanks annom
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mantis
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: Jeroen198]
#4516462 - 08/09/05 10:37 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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I always thought that...
labyrinth = underground maze = above ground... generally on a pice of paper
then again, i'm not a maze geek like some of you goofy bastards.
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dr0mni
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Re: discuss: is there a difference between a maze and a labyrinth [Re: mantis]
#4516574 - 08/09/05 10:57 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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to quote Spock... FASCINATING!!
This thread makes me want to build a courtyard with both a maze AND a labrynth. I could meditate in the garden while walking along the labrynth, and then once my brain is charged up, eat some shrooms and get lost in the maze!
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