I was a priest in the city-state era

After three days and three nights of sailing, Roy's fleet finally entered the Cretan Sea north of Crete on the morning of the fourth day.

Fortunately, during these three days and nights, Roy's fleet encountered neither natural disasters such as storms nor man-made disasters such as pirates.

When the land of Crete entered Roy's sight, a fleet of twelve warships also sailed towards Roy's fleet from the direction of Crete.

"Did we meet pirates?"

Seeing the fleet approaching in the distance, Roy's companions all stood up nervously, wanting to prepare in advance to fight the pirates.

Although Roy felt that there could be no pirate activities near Crete, out of caution, Roy still shouted orders to his companions.

"Everyone is ready to fight! If the opponent is really a pirate, we must fight to the death with him."

After hearing Roy's order, all the sailors from the ten cargo ships entered the cabin and took out wooden spears, and fifty teenagers even wore paper armor on their bodies.

"Master Priest!"

The heavily armed Aries came to Roy with the paper armor and bronze war spear made by Procne and said.

"I brought your paper armor and war spear."

"Thanks!"

After thanking Aries, Roy put on the paper armor and then looked at the approaching fleet with a bronze war spear in his hand.

A fleet of twelve warships came near Roy's fleet. Roy saw that these warships could accommodate thirty sailors, which meant that this fleet had at least three hundred sailors.

Loy's fleet consisted of only one hundred and two men.

Moreover, not only was there a huge numerical gap between the two sides, but the opponent's warship was so huge that it could even knock over all of Roy's fleet.

Under the nervous gazes of Roy and others, the flagship of the warship fleet sailed next to Roy's flagship, and then a young man wearing a white cotton robe, a red cloak on his back, and a gold belt around his waist stood. Roy said from the bow deck of the warship, looking down at Roy's cargo ship.

"Are you merchants who come to Knossos City to trade? Don't be nervous. We are the naval fleet of Knossos City, not pirates attacking you."

After hearing the young man's words, Roy put down his bronze war spear and said.

"Noble Knossos! If I am right, you must be a prince of noble birth and favored by the goddess Knossos. We are indeed merchants who come to trade with goods, and the sea of ​​Crete With the powerful Knossos navy guarding us, we no longer have to worry about being attacked by pirates.”

Hearing Roy's words, the young man couldn't help but laugh.

"Where do you come from as a foreigner? You are so eloquent. But you guessed it right, I am indeed the son of Minos. My name is Deucalion, and I am the next generation of Minos from the city of Knossos. "

Minos - this is not a name that belongs to any one person.

Just like Pythia is the name shared by successive priestesses of the Temple of Delphi.

Minos was also the name shared by all the kings of Knossos.

Minos probably means a minotaur or a person wearing bull horns.

The minotaur with horns on his head is a common image of all the kings of Knossos, so Minos became the name or title of all kings.

"Deucalion..."

After learning the name of Prince Deucalion of Knossos, Roy felt a sense of déjà vu once again.

"The name seems... to be the name of a Cretan king."

After coming back to his senses, Roy forced a smile and said to Deucalion.

"Great Prince Deucalion! Although we outsiders are lucky enough to come to the Cretan Sea, we don't know the specific location of the city of Knossos. I hope you can help us and tell us about Knossos. The specific location of Sicheng.”

"You don't even know the location of the city of Knossos?"

Deucalion said with his eyes widened in surprise.

"It seems that this is your first time to trade in the city of Knossos. No wonder you will be wary of the Knossos navy as a pirate. I can tell you the specific location of the city of Knossos, but I will not provide it to you. Other help.”

After speaking, Deucalion pointed out the specific location of the city of Knossos to Roy.

After Deucalion left with the Knossos navy, Roy immediately ordered the sailors to return to their respective positions.

"Dear companions! We only brought food for seven days. If you don't want to go hungry, we will exchange all the olive oil for food in the city of Knossos today, and then return to Athens with the food."

Crete is located at the junction of Europa, Asia and Africa.

The special geographical location not only allowed Crete to become a transportation hub for maritime trade on the continent of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but also allowed Crete to absorb advanced civilizations from the Near East and Egypt, entering the Bronze Age and forming the Cretan civilization. .

Although Crete has the worship of various gods brought by immigrants from the Near East and Egypt, the most powerful god in Crete is still worshiped by Knossos, the most powerful city-state in Crete. The great patron goddess.

The goddess Knossos is the original goddess of nature. She later absorbed the attributes of many goddesses in the Near East and Egypt, giving the goddess Knossos a very complex godhead.

The current goddess Knossos is not only the goddess of nature in charge of mountain and forest plants, but also the goddess of harvest in charge of animal husbandry and agriculture, and also the goddess of nurturing who protects children.

In the eyes of the Knossos people, cattle, especially white cattle, are sacred animals that can approach the goddess of Knossos.

So when offering sacrifices to the goddess, the priests of the goddess will wear bull horns and approach the statue of the goddess in the image of a bull-headed man.

Because the goddess of Knossos has the ancient authority to protect the people of Knossos for thousands of years, the spokesperson of the goddess of Knossos, the priest, also has great authority.

Since the establishment of Knossos, the priest of the goddess has ruled the city of Knossos as the king.

Or, the king who ruled the city of Knossos has always served as the priest of the goddess in person to prevent the authority of the priest from being controlled by others.

When the port of Knossos appeared in front of his sight, Roy suddenly thought.

The name of the guardian goddess of Knossos may be Europa.

Or Europa is one of the names of the guardian goddess of Knossos.

In ancient legends, Minos, the king who ruled Crete, was the son of Europa.

It is hinting at the relationship between Minos and Europa.

Minos, the king of Knossos, became the favorite of the goddess Europa as a priest, that is, the son of God.

In this era, rulers who served gods as priests usually deified themselves and made themselves the sons of God.

For example, in Egypt, the pharaohs would add the name of the patron god to their own names to show their identity as the sons of God.

In the Mesopotamian region, the Phoenician region, and the Anatolian Peninsula, the rulers would also deify themselves as the sons of God, or even directly deify themselves as new gods.