Could there have been a giant, metal man..........who patrolled the coast near Knossos, Crete.......????

Talos, the bronze giant talos protects Crete

www.explorecrete.com/mythology/talos.html

Talos was a mythical bronze giant, the first robot in history, which protected ... him three sons: Minos, the legendary king of Knossos, Radamanthys and Sarpedon. ... Externally, Talos resembled an enormous man whose body was made of bronze. He had a single vein of molten metal which gave him life, running from his ...