The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music [Hardcover]

Professor Craig Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 29, 2001

A tourist visiting the famous cathedral at Chartres might be surprised to discover an enormous labyrinth embedded in the thirteenth-century floor. Why is it there? In this fascinating book Craig Wright explores the complex symbolism of the labyrinth in architecture, religious thought, music, and dance from the Middle Ages to the present.

The mazes incorporated into church floors and illustrating religious books were symbolic of an epic journey through this sinful world to salvation. A savior figure typically led the way along this harrowing spiritual path. Wright looks at other meanings of the maze as well, from religious dancing on church labyrinths to pagan maze rituals outside the church. He demonstrates that the theme inherent in spiritual mazes is also present in medieval song, in the Armed Man Masses of the Renaissance, and in compositions of the Enlightenment, including the works of J. S. Bach. But the thread that binds the maze to the church, to music, and to dance also ties it to the therapeutic labyrinth that proliferates today. For as this richly interdisciplinary history reveals, the maze of the "new age" spiritualists also traces its lineage to the ancient myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. While the hero of the maze may change from one culture to the next, the symbol endures.

(20020201)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Wright (history of music, Yale Univ.; Listening to Music) traces the fascinating history of the maze and its associated symbol, the warrior, from the classical myth of Daedelus and Theseus through early Christianity, the Middle Ages, and the Enlightenment. He briefly acknowledges the recent growth in interest in the maze as a spiritual tool but dedicates the bulk of the book to the changing face of European Christianity as reflected in the use of the labyrinth, both as a symbol and as an actual part of Easter rituals in the great French and Italian cathedrals. He displays mastery of a broad array of facts in disparate fields and ties them together in an accessible and engaging story. The one area of the book that may require some specialized background from the reader is his treatment of the maze in music, but any educated reader wanting a deep background in the history and symbolism of the labyrinth will be well served by this book. Recommended for academic libraries and larger public libraries. Stephen Joseph, Butler Cty. Community Coll., PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This book is a fascinating look at a subject that, while simple in concept, is intricate in the tapestry of ideas it combines. Wright weaves a fascinating tale of scholarly inquiry by examining the maze or labyrinth from the Middle Ages to the present in Western art, architecture, music, dance, and religious thought. The journey of the maze is from sin to salvation; the savior figure that leads us is the warrior and spiritual seeker...His particular emphasis on music is refreshing and enlivens readers' understanding of the whole sensory experience of the Christian church. Most important, this work is a joy to read and reflect on. (L. L. Lam-Easton Choice )

"Wright's maze is the labyrinth. His warrior is Theseus, Christ, the Cristian soldier, l'homme armé, the pilgrim, or the lover, who enters the labyrinth to meet a challenge at its center and continues through the unicursal path to a victorious exit. In direct and engaging prose, this book traces the two symbols from their first appearance in literature and architecture, through their interpretations in theology, to the ceremonies, games , and performances they inspired … It is a work of major consequence … Wright's book invites no less than a new appraisal of the history and historiography of Western music, one more cognizant of myth, belief, and symbol as generative forces in human creativity." (Barbara Haggh Journal of the American Musicological Society )

The Maze and the Warrior is quite a book. The author wears his great learning with great lightness...He has fashioned this book for general readers rather than musicologists and musicians. (Joseph Kerman New York Review of Books )

The book is a fascinating exploration of a neglected aspect of medieval religious culture which opens up multiple aspects of that culture through the author's virtuoso power to unfold layer after layer of meaning from what might originally seem an innocuous symbol. (Peter W. Williams Religious Studies Review )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (June 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674005031
• ISBN-13: 978-0674005037
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,619,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars extremely helpful!!, March 19, 2002

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This review is from: The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music (Hardcover)

this book is excellent, not only because it deals with interesting subject matter, but also because it deals with the interesting subject matter as it comes up in many different creative media. the labyrinth in music, art, mythology, gardening, religion, and dance is a powerful symbol that still ilicits creativity and excitement today. the chapters concerning music are particularly inciteful, because they discuss the structure of the selected melodies in the text and point out the inherent metaphors that are twisted into them -- rather like the winding mazes they represent.