Κρήτη τις γαιí έστι, µέσω ενί οίνοπι πόντω, καλή και πίειρα, περίρρυτος· Set like a jewel in the wine dark sea there lies a land called Crete, a rich and lovely land, washed by waves on every side…. Homer, Odyssey, XIX

Bull leaping" fresco (painted plaster) from a wall of the Palace at Knossos. The red figure is probably male (its hands probably not on the back of the bull as it should, maybe so to reduce the height of the image), the white figures female (a color convention in Minoan painting). 17th-15th centuries BC. Origin: Palace of Knossos. Height of restored fresco 78.2 cm. MM III-LM IB period.
Heraklion Museum Inv.no. T 15. Cf. A. Evans, The Palace of Minos at Knossos, vol. III, pp. 209-214.

A reconstruction of the dangerous bull leaping game. (Images modified, original from a lecture)

Another Image

Minoan Golden Seal-Ring

Other atletic games in Crete: gymnastics, boxing , Image from STIGMES, the magazine of Crete http://stigmes.gr/

Bull-jumping in relief

Knossos. Bull Leaper Figurine. Ivory

Minoan map

A fragment of a Fresco from Mycenae, evidence that the bull leaping game was also a sport of the Mycenaeans

Mycenaean Fresco in Tiryns

Bull, Archaeological Museum Irakleion

Reconstructed Minoan Fresco from Avaris, Egypt