ABSTRACT
According to the Greek accounts, Minos, who became king at Asterius' death, was a powerful and just ruler. He established laws which he received from Zeus, rid the Mediterranean Sea of pirates, and gained control over the Aegean Islands. Modern excavations in Crete and elsewhere have recovered a great deal of historical information about the ancient Minoan civilization, and have corroborated some aspects of the Greek legends about Minos. Crete, as is evidenced by the palace at Knossos, was a well-ordered society administered by kings and nobles. Overseas trade, which was the basis of Cretan prosperity, linked the Greek mainland and Crete closely together and extended to Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, and the Aegean Islands. Although King Minos is clearly a legendary figure, many scholars now consider that the name Minos was a royal or dynastic title for the priestly rulers of Minoan Knossos.
