The double axe in mid air 515
beneath a vine (?)\ with three poppy-heads in her hand. Two other
females approach, with gestures of adoration, bringing her lilies and
lotuses. The goddess and her attendant nymphs, if such they are.
alike wear lilies in their hair, necklaces, and divided skirts : their
waists are tightly constricted, their breasts prominent and bare'-.
Immediately in front of the goddess and represented on a much
smaller scale a woman stands on a heap of stones or rude altar
to offer flowers. Behind the tree another woman, on the same small
scale, uplifts her hands in worship. The scene is closed on the left
by a row of six lion-heads:!. These suggest the cult of Rhea4, who
being an earth-mother might well hold poppy-heads5 and receive
gifts of flowers6 as she sat beneath a vine7. Her place at Argos,
Sparta, and Mykenai was later taken by the Greek Hera*. And it
can hardly be accidental that a statue of Hera at Argos had a wreath
of vine-shoots on its head and a lion-skin beneath its feet1'. More-
over, Hera is expressly stated to have loved lilies10. In short, it seems
highly probable that the gold ring found at Mykenai commemorates
the great goddess of the locality, the 'Minoan' Rhea. But if the
lower part of the design gives us the earth, the upper part gives us
the sky. The sun and moon are manifest, with a double wavy line
Gemmen i pi. 2, 20 gives a photograph of an impression, and ib. ii. 9 f. a bibliography
and description.
1 Opinions differ. H. Schliemann MycencE London 1878 p. 354 ff. fig. 530 consulted
two professors of botany at Athens : one of these experts, T. Orphanides, concluded that
the tree is 'a breadfruit-tree'(!); the other, whom Schliemann follows, pronounced it to
be ' simply a vine laden with bunches of grapes.' C. Schuchhardt Schliemann's Excava-
tions trans. E. Sellers London 1891 p. 2766°. fig. 281 says: 'a clumsy representation of
a vine.' Collignon Hist, de la Sculpt, gr. i. 45 ff. fig. 23: 11111 pin.' Perrot—Chipiez
Hist, de VAft vi. 840 ft". fig. 425: ' un pin 011 un olivier.' Stais loc. cit.\ 'olivier?'
Furtwangler loc. cit. : ' ein dicht belaubter Baum.'
2 This '.Minoan' usage ultimately gave rise to two Homeric epithets, §a.6v'^wvos, ' deep-
girt' {i.e. with girdle cutting deeply into the waist), and jSaduKoXnos, 'deep-bosomed'
(i.e. with deep hollow between the breasts): see F. Studniczka Beitrdge znr Gcschichtc
der altgriechischen Tracht YVien 1886 pp. 120 f., 104, W. Amelung in Pauly—Wissowa
Real-Enc. iii. 2314, E. B. Abrahams Greek Dress London 1908 p. 15 f.
:i So Furtwangler op. cit. ii. 10.
4 A. Milchhofer Die Anfange der Kunst in Griechenland Leipzig 1883 pp. 35, 102
fig. 39 rightly regards the figures in the foreground as a group of divinities, viz. Mother
Rhea receiving fruit and flowers from her nymphs (pace C. Schuchhardt op. cit. p. 277 f.
and M. Mayer in the Jahrb. d. kais. dentsch. arch. Inst. 1892 vii. 190).
0 Cornut. theol. 6 p. 6, 7 f. Lang Kwbiav 5' avarLdeaaiv avrrj Trapiardi'Tes, otl airia ttjs
{uoyovias avrr] eyevero. Cp. Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 1542 n. 1.
8 Orph. //. Erot. 58. 6 "Pea (so W. Wiel for dea) .. .x^ooKap-rroi.
7 Ap. Rhod. 1. 1117 ff-j Euphorionprag. 146 Meineke ap. schol. Ap. Rhod. 1. 1119.
8 //. 4. 50 ff.
!) Tert. de cor. mil. 7, cp. Essays and Studies presented to William Ridgeway on his
sixtieth birthday 6 August itpij Cambridge 1913 p. 220 n. 3.
10 Clem. Al. paed. 2. 8. 72. 4 p. 201. 24 Stahlin (quoted supra i. 624 n. 2).
•7 ?_o
beneath a vine (?)\ with three poppy-heads in her hand. Two other
females approach, with gestures of adoration, bringing her lilies and
lotuses. The goddess and her attendant nymphs, if such they are.
alike wear lilies in their hair, necklaces, and divided skirts : their
waists are tightly constricted, their breasts prominent and bare'-.
Immediately in front of the goddess and represented on a much
smaller scale a woman stands on a heap of stones or rude altar
to offer flowers. Behind the tree another woman, on the same small
scale, uplifts her hands in worship. The scene is closed on the left
by a row of six lion-heads:!. These suggest the cult of Rhea4, who
being an earth-mother might well hold poppy-heads5 and receive
gifts of flowers6 as she sat beneath a vine7. Her place at Argos,
Sparta, and Mykenai was later taken by the Greek Hera*. And it
can hardly be accidental that a statue of Hera at Argos had a wreath
of vine-shoots on its head and a lion-skin beneath its feet1'. More-
over, Hera is expressly stated to have loved lilies10. In short, it seems
highly probable that the gold ring found at Mykenai commemorates
the great goddess of the locality, the 'Minoan' Rhea. But if the
lower part of the design gives us the earth, the upper part gives us
the sky. The sun and moon are manifest, with a double wavy line
Gemmen i pi. 2, 20 gives a photograph of an impression, and ib. ii. 9 f. a bibliography
and description.
1 Opinions differ. H. Schliemann MycencE London 1878 p. 354 ff. fig. 530 consulted
two professors of botany at Athens : one of these experts, T. Orphanides, concluded that
the tree is 'a breadfruit-tree'(!); the other, whom Schliemann follows, pronounced it to
be ' simply a vine laden with bunches of grapes.' C. Schuchhardt Schliemann's Excava-
tions trans. E. Sellers London 1891 p. 2766°. fig. 281 says: 'a clumsy representation of
a vine.' Collignon Hist, de la Sculpt, gr. i. 45 ff. fig. 23: 11111 pin.' Perrot—Chipiez
Hist, de VAft vi. 840 ft". fig. 425: ' un pin 011 un olivier.' Stais loc. cit.\ 'olivier?'
Furtwangler loc. cit. : ' ein dicht belaubter Baum.'
2 This '.Minoan' usage ultimately gave rise to two Homeric epithets, §a.6v'^wvos, ' deep-
girt' {i.e. with girdle cutting deeply into the waist), and jSaduKoXnos, 'deep-bosomed'
(i.e. with deep hollow between the breasts): see F. Studniczka Beitrdge znr Gcschichtc
der altgriechischen Tracht YVien 1886 pp. 120 f., 104, W. Amelung in Pauly—Wissowa
Real-Enc. iii. 2314, E. B. Abrahams Greek Dress London 1908 p. 15 f.
:i So Furtwangler op. cit. ii. 10.
4 A. Milchhofer Die Anfange der Kunst in Griechenland Leipzig 1883 pp. 35, 102
fig. 39 rightly regards the figures in the foreground as a group of divinities, viz. Mother
Rhea receiving fruit and flowers from her nymphs (pace C. Schuchhardt op. cit. p. 277 f.
and M. Mayer in the Jahrb. d. kais. dentsch. arch. Inst. 1892 vii. 190).
0 Cornut. theol. 6 p. 6, 7 f. Lang Kwbiav 5' avarLdeaaiv avrrj Trapiardi'Tes, otl airia ttjs
{uoyovias avrr] eyevero. Cp. Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 1542 n. 1.
8 Orph. //. Erot. 58. 6 "Pea (so W. Wiel for dea) .. .x^ooKap-rroi.
7 Ap. Rhod. 1. 1117 ff-j Euphorionprag. 146 Meineke ap. schol. Ap. Rhod. 1. 1119.
8 //. 4. 50 ff.
!) Tert. de cor. mil. 7, cp. Essays and Studies presented to William Ridgeway on his
sixtieth birthday 6 August itpij Cambridge 1913 p. 220 n. 3.
10 Clem. Al. paed. 2. 8. 72. 4 p. 201. 24 Stahlin (quoted supra i. 624 n. 2).
•7 ?_o