The Colossal Cretan Cave Conundrum

The Idiot was recently told by the usually trustworthy goddess Athena that her father Zeus was definitely born in the remote and uncommercialized Idaian cave above the Nida plateau on Mount Ida in Crete (http://bit.ly/j9DYOo).

But there’s academic, archeological and popular contention that the “king of all gods, men and the world” actually spent time in a crib in the Diktean cave above the Lassithi plateau on Mt. Dikti (http://bit.ly/iGN11O) in Crete.

Could Athena be wrong? Where was Zeus born?

Diktean cave: Is this what Zeus saw at birth?

Although there are few visitors and no facilities at the entry-free Idaian cave, the more accessible Diktean cave attracts tour buses and offers donkey rides up (€15) and down (€20) a one-kilometer smooth stone walk from the crowded parking lot (€2 per car) to the cave (€4 per visit). Nearby are Zeus handicrafts shops, Zeus ceramic shops, Zeus souvenir shops, Zeus hotels and restaurants and numerous tavernas.

The Diktean cave is much deeper than the Idaian, has a few fewer bats, contains a clear pool of water and features stalagmites and stalactites that visitors can reach by navigating down a slippery stone staircase with a solid banister.

A Diktean donkey and taverna.

Tourists above the Lassithi Plateau at the Diktean cave.

“The only people who don’t believe that Zeus was born here are those who want to make money off the cave at Mt. Ida,” said Petros Zervakis, the guardian at the Diktean cave for thirty years and owner of the Petros taverna where The Idiot had a little lamb (€8.50).

“Academics, archeologists and historians have documented finds, including votive offerings and artifacts, that indicate Zeus was definitely born here,” added Zervakis, who at 70 still leads guided overnight tours (€200) up Mount Dikti every summer weekend, as he pointed out a photograph of his grandfather in the cave in 1899.

He told The Idiot to read “The Dictaean Cave” (€6.50) by Georgios I. Panagiotakis to get the facts.

"Read this!" suggested Zervakis.

There’s also a probability, acknowledge Zervakis and many others, that Zeus inhabited both caves.

“You won’t get much argument from anyone educated in Greece if you contend that Zeus was born at the Diktean cave and raised at the Idean cave,” agreed Zervakis.

“Or vice versa,” added Hermes, the Greek god of trade and travel who now runs a tourist agency in Agios Nikolaos. “The fact that there’s a perfect triangle between Mt. Ida, Mt. Dikti and Knossos indicates that both sites were considered important by my father Zeus. But from a business and political perspective I play it both ways.”

Did Zeus sleep here?

Text and Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."