a coined variation of
tape, which figuratively means to
mark the way out of a
place, as one traveling into a maze might
mark his
route by placing pieces of
tape along his
path. This
term possibly alludes to Greek mythology where it is said Minos, a
king, built an
intricate maze of winding passageways called a
labyrinth from which no one could escape. In it he hid the Minotaur, a half-
man, half-
bull creature that was the offspring of his wife's affair with a
bull. Each year the
king sacrificed fourteen youths to the Minotaur until the hero Theseus entered the
labyrinth and killed the monster. Theseus retraced his
path out of the
labyrinth by
following a length of string he had unwound while traveling into the maze.