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Leading article: Feeling bullish

Friday 16 October 2009 00:00 BST
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Visitors to Crete can now take their pick from two ancient labyrinths. There's the Minoan palace complex in Knossos, unearthed by the wealthy British explorer Arthur Evans a century ago. And now there's also the quarry at Gortyn, 20 miles away, which a team of Anglo-Greek archaeologists has presented as another possible inspiration for the setting to the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.

There's clearly something about the labyrinth that continues to grip our imagination. Some 600,000 people a year visit Knossos. And now Gortyn might expect to get a piece of that lucrative tourist action.

But one wonders whether the public appetite for this particular tale might be waning. After all, Theseus was chased up and down darkened tunnels by a gruesome bull-like creature. To the typical investor in stock markets over the past couple of years, that probably sounds a little too close to home.

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