Myths of Ida

It took fifteen years to complete the film “Myths of Ida”, a 72 minutes documentary which follows professor Yannis Sakellarakis’ archaeological searches on the Psiloritis, the sacred mountain of Crete. The archaeological digs, which lasted twelve years, took place at the Cave of Ida (altitude 1.600 m.), the birthplace of Zeus and cult centre for thirty five centuries, and at Zominthos (altitude 1.200 m.), an important settlement of 1600 B.C. which lies midway between Anoghia and the Cave of Ida. The film follows the digs throughout these years (the organization, the problems, the execution, the finds, the restorations etc.) and examines the role of the Cave of Ida as a cult centre and of Zominthos as the administrative centre for the Psiloritis’ resources and wealth. At the same time it examines the relation of Ida’s Cave with the Minoan civilization and the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean. The film is nonetheless and above all an essay on man’s relation with time. It approaches in a way the archaeologist’s Yannis Sakellarakis relation with time, in his desperate effort to reveal and understand Crete’s and the Psiloritis’ past.