Minoan (idea)

Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist who first discovered the Minoan civilization (though some would say he just invented it) began excavations at Knossos in 1900. He named the civilization Minoan, deriving the name from the name Minos and the mythological labyrinth of King Minos’ palace in Crete because of the elaborate floor plan of the palace at Knossos, which in its complexity and numerous rooms and corridors, resembles an intricate maze.

The term 'Minoan' is not an ethnic designation; the name is used by historians and archaeologists to refer to the Bronze Age people(s) who lived on Crete and to refer to the language(s) they spoke. In other words, it is a cultural designation. There are many traces of Minoan civilization which remain in Greece and in the later Greek (and other European) languages.

For example, place names:
On the Greek mainland:
Corinthos, Mt. Parnassos, Tiryntha, Mykallessos, Skia(n)thos, Mara(n)thon.
On Crete:
Knossos, Tylissos, Amnissos, Karnassos, Pyranthos
In the Cyclades:
Zakynthos, Prepesinthos, Koressos
Anatolia:
Halicarnassos, Labraunda, Assos, Perinshos

The later Greek word for "sea" was taken from the earlier Minoan thalassa. Many other words in the Greek language are also of Minoan origin, some of which also remain in modern European languages, especially names of plants and flowers:
Hyakinthos (Hyacinth), Kuparessos (Cypress) Absinthos (Absinth, a plant).

So names and words ending in -ssos and -nthos (or -ndos) are Minoan in origin.

There were four writing systems in use during the Palatial period in Crete: Hieroglyphic A, Hieroglyphic B, Linear A syllabary, and Linear B syllabary.

Greek legend held that Crete was settled at the beginning of time by a people descended from Zeus, who mated with a near eastern princess named Europa. Zeus disguised himself as a beautiful white bull, which attracted Europa on her father's estates. Europa climbed on the bull's back and it flew over the sea to Crete, to a shorline site now called Matala in the south central part of the island. They mated there and produced triplet sons -- Minos, Rhadamanths, and Sarpedon. Minos became the king of Crete, Rhadamanthys, the ruler of the underworld, and Sarpedon probably became the overseer of each human's fate.

Later Greek myth also gives an account of a monstrous creature called the Minotaur, a half-human, half-bull creature – the offspring of King Minos’ wife Pasiphae. King Minos was disgusted by such a horror of a son but did not know what he should do. Minos sought advice from the oracle at Delphi, which answered that he ought to have Daedalus, a well-known inventor and architect, design a suitable cage. Minos thereupon enlisted Daedalus build the Labyrinth, an enormous maze, and placed the Minotaur at the center of it. Minos also arranged to sacrifice young men and women to the Minotaur by shutting them into the Labyrinth, where they would wander, hopelessly lost, until the Minotaur caught and devoured them.

sources:
UCLA Professor Donald Preziosi, Art History M102A/Classics M153A: Aegean Art and Architecture
Preziosi, Donald and L. Hitchcock. Aegean Art and Architecture. Oxford UP. 1999.