DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9804#0139
RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE DOUBLE AXE 113
against his enemies,1 sometimes the sacred tree or grove
under which he rested in the heat,! or the pillar of wood
or stone that, as " the Pillar of the House," was the
symbol to him of his security from wild beasts. The
prominent position that the axe occupies in the dove-
goddess shrine at Knossos,' and the snake-goddess shrine
at Gournia ; 4 its connection with the ritual cope on the
Zakro gem/ with the horns of consecration on the
Knossos 1 and Cyprus 1 vases, with the pillar on the Palai-
kastro sarcophagus 8 and the shrine fresco of Knossos"
and with the bulls' heads on the gem 10 and clay seal11 of
Knossos ; its appearance finally among the cult objects
in the sacrificial procession on the sarcophagus from
Hagia Triada," is evidence enough and to spare.
Starting as a kind of fetish in early aniconic days, the
axe survived as an object of worship throughout the
transitional stages when the divine spirit first began
to be represented in human form. Even these transi-
tional stages, however, were Minoan, not Greek. All that
Dr. Rouse says about the Greeks never having worshipped
1 So D. G. Hogarth in a Lecture briefly reported C.A. 1906,
pp. 17, 18.
2 This is not suggested as the only element in the origin of
tree and pillar-worship, but merely as one among many. See
W. M. Ramsay, H.D.B. extra vol. pp. 111-3. For the ficus
ruminalis at Rome, sec J.H.S. xxi. p. 129.
3 B.S.A. viii. fig. 55, p. 97.
4 A.S.I. 1904, Plate II. fig. 1. See above, p. 27.
e J.H.S. xxii. fig. 5, p. 78. See above, p. 37.
" Ibid, xxiii. fig. 15, p. 204.
» Ibid. xxi. fig. 3, p. 107. » B.S.A. viii. Plate XVIII.
8 Ibid. x. fig. 14, p. 42. R. Dussaud, Q.M. pp. 18, 19, argues
that the similar fresco of J.H.S. xxi. Plate V. represents a
Mcgaron, not a shrine. Whether this be so or not, the horns
of consecration show that it is represented under a religious
aspect, as indeed Dussaud agrees.
10 B.S.A. ix. fig. 70, p. 114.
11 Ibid. viii. fig. 60, p. 102.
'2 Rend. xii. 1903, p. 343.
8
against his enemies,1 sometimes the sacred tree or grove
under which he rested in the heat,! or the pillar of wood
or stone that, as " the Pillar of the House," was the
symbol to him of his security from wild beasts. The
prominent position that the axe occupies in the dove-
goddess shrine at Knossos,' and the snake-goddess shrine
at Gournia ; 4 its connection with the ritual cope on the
Zakro gem/ with the horns of consecration on the
Knossos 1 and Cyprus 1 vases, with the pillar on the Palai-
kastro sarcophagus 8 and the shrine fresco of Knossos"
and with the bulls' heads on the gem 10 and clay seal11 of
Knossos ; its appearance finally among the cult objects
in the sacrificial procession on the sarcophagus from
Hagia Triada," is evidence enough and to spare.
Starting as a kind of fetish in early aniconic days, the
axe survived as an object of worship throughout the
transitional stages when the divine spirit first began
to be represented in human form. Even these transi-
tional stages, however, were Minoan, not Greek. All that
Dr. Rouse says about the Greeks never having worshipped
1 So D. G. Hogarth in a Lecture briefly reported C.A. 1906,
pp. 17, 18.
2 This is not suggested as the only element in the origin of
tree and pillar-worship, but merely as one among many. See
W. M. Ramsay, H.D.B. extra vol. pp. 111-3. For the ficus
ruminalis at Rome, sec J.H.S. xxi. p. 129.
3 B.S.A. viii. fig. 55, p. 97.
4 A.S.I. 1904, Plate II. fig. 1. See above, p. 27.
e J.H.S. xxii. fig. 5, p. 78. See above, p. 37.
" Ibid, xxiii. fig. 15, p. 204.
» Ibid. xxi. fig. 3, p. 107. » B.S.A. viii. Plate XVIII.
8 Ibid. x. fig. 14, p. 42. R. Dussaud, Q.M. pp. 18, 19, argues
that the similar fresco of J.H.S. xxi. Plate V. represents a
Mcgaron, not a shrine. Whether this be so or not, the horns
of consecration show that it is represented under a religious
aspect, as indeed Dussaud agrees.
10 B.S.A. ix. fig. 70, p. 114.
11 Ibid. viii. fig. 60, p. 102.
'2 Rend. xii. 1903, p. 343.
8