Daedalus Labyrinth, the ultimate 3D Maze

Daedalus, a skilled craftsman in Greek mythology, built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete to imprison the Minotaur, a monstrous creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull. The Labyrinth was a complex maze, almost impossible to escape. Theseus, an Athenian hero, volunteered to kill the Minotaur and free Athens from sending tributes to Crete. With the help of Minos's daughter, Ariadne, who gave him a ball of thread to navigate the maze, Theseus defeated the Minotaur and escaped the Labyrinth, bringing an end to its terror.

Do We Know How the Labyrinth Looked?

The actual design of the Labyrinth remains a mystery, as it is a mythological construct. However, some archaeologists speculate that the Palace of Knossos on Crete, with its complex, maze-like structure of interconnected rooms, corridors, and courtyards, inspired the legend of the Labyrinth. Excavations at Knossos by Sir Arthur Evans revealed a sprawling site that may have been associated with the Minotaur myth, but there is no definitive proof linking it directly to the Labyrinth of Daedalus.

I found an Article in the magazine “Scientific American” from September 1988 that showed an interesting 3D Maze concept. It consists of a 6X6X6 matrix. Below you see each level.

So I modelled the maze according to this design.

There are several possible paths through the maze.

I “transformed” Theseus into a ball so you can skilfully move him around in the Labyrinth. You can use a steel ⅜" (9.6 mm) ball or you can print the two halves of the provided ball and glue them together. Also when you have a ball with different size you can scale the model.

I cannot give you a a ball of thread, to find your way, so I provided “portholes” that enables you to detect where Theseus is so you can help him. Presently I have not seen the Minotaur, but maybe he will show up in a later design.

The print is simple. I have inserted a color change at the top so the icon and text will stick out. To make the Theseus-ball just print both halves, put a small piece of filament (max 4 mm long) in the holes for alignment and glue together. Maybe you have to ream the holes a bit with a 1,8 mm drill.

PS: I have provided the .stl for the “path” so you can turn it here in the browser and study it.
Also I updated the model so that the text is a bit bigger (4 mm) and will print better. The pictures still show the 3 mm text.

PPSS: Made a correction to the path. One passage was blocked.

As always: 
When you like the design give me a few hearts (it is the only reward I get).
When you print the design share a picture of your results and rate the design.
When you have questions just ask.