DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0593
to tree- or plant-forms 519
The other long side of the sarcophagus (pi. xxvii, b) depicts two
scenes, distinguished from each other, not so much bv the variable
background (white—blue—white), as by the fact that the human
figures at the point of junction are standing back to back. On the
left we see another episode from the ritual of the double axe1. A red-
skinned man, wearing his hair short with a fore-lock2, and clad in a
Xei/j-ibv earai Kareyvu Trpwros. Kopai; 8e av teal Kopicvrj Kal koXolos deiXrjs ot/a'as el (pdeyyoLvro,
Xet-n&vos 'iaeadai riva eiribriplav SiodaKovcri, Theophr. de sig>iis tempest. 16 /copaf iroWas
fierafiaXXeiv eiwdios cpoivds, tovtojv eav raxi' Sis (pdey^yrai Kal eirippoL^rjar) Kal riva^y rd
irrepd, vStop arifxaivei. Kal eav {/erwv ovtwv noXXas p.eTajidXXrj (pwvds Kai eav <pdetpi£riTai
67r' eXcu'as. Kai eav re evSias eav re vdaros ovros /j.ip.rjrai ry cpuivy olov araXayp.ovs, vdup
ay^aivei. eav re KopaKes eav re koXoloI avu> ireruvrai Kai lepaKL^wcriv, vSwp ayixaivovai. Kai
eav Kopai; evSias p-y ryv elwdvlav (pwvyv trj Kai eTrtppoifidfj, vbojp ayp.aiveL, 39 Kai Kopwvy Kai
Kopai; Kai koXolos b\pe adovres xei/xepioi, 40 Kopa^ <pwvds TroXXds p.era[3dXXwv xeip.u>!/os %et-
fxepLov, Arat. phaen. 963 ff. 677 irore Kai yeveal Kop&Kcov Kai cpvXa koXoiwv \ vdaros epxo/xeVoio
Aids wdpa cryp.' eyevovro, j cpaivbpevoL dyeXyda Kai IpyKeacnv bpoiov | cpdey^afxevoi. /cat ttov
KopaKes Siovs araXaypovs (blovs 5e araXaypovs cod. G. oiovs ye araXayp.ovs cod. L. biovs
o~raXayp.ovs is proposed in Stephanus Thes. Gr. Ling. vii. 652 b) | <pwvrj ("pupyaavro o~vv
voaros epxop-evoio, | ij irore Kai Kpoi^avre fiapeiy SiaaaKL <pwvy \ fxaKpbv eTrtppoi^even. riva^d-
/xevoi irrepd -rrvKvd with schol. ad loc, Nik. ther. 406 Kopai; r 6p.l3pypea Kpuifav with schol.
ad loc, Plout. de sanitate praecepta 14 drorrov ydp ecrrt KopaKwv p.ev Xapvyyio~p.dis...eTri-
peXws irpoaexeiv, aypeia iroiovpevovs xvevp.drwv Kai om/3pwv ■ k.t.X., Ail. de nat. an. 6. 19
(3ovXerai de tujv 6p(3pcov p.ip.eladai rds araybvas 6 Kopa^, Geopon. i. 3. 8 Kal KopaKes Kal
koXoloI ddpocos eTTLtpaivofxevoi Kal Kpib'^ovres (icpd^ovres codd. H.i/l.).. .6fifipov crypaivovcrL,
and the passages cited in the Thes. Ling. Lat. iv. 1079, 31 ^- See further D'Arcy W.
Thompson A Glossary of Greek Birds Oxford 1895 p- 94, O. Keller Die antike Tierwelt
Leipzig 1913 ii. 98 f., Gossen in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. i A. 21.
Ravens were prophets of fine weather also (Theophr. de signis tempest. 52 Kal Kopai; be
p.bvos jxev yavxatov Kpdfav, Kal eav rpls Kpd^y fxerd tovto iroWaKLS Kpdtjrj, evdteivos, Arat.
phaen. 1003 ff. Kal icdpcuces p.ovvoi p.ev eprjpLaioi jdoouvres \ oiaaaKLS, avrdp iireira p.ey' dOpoa
KeKXriyovres (KeKXyyuires cod. L.)- | k.t.X. with schol. ad loc., Geopon. 1. 2. 6 Kal KbpaKes
wXeioves dyeXr/obv dienrep xaipoires Kal Kpuj^ovres (Kpd^ovres codd. H. M.) dvo/xftplav dyXovaiv,
Plin. nat. hist. 18. 362 corvique singultu quodam latrantes seque concutientes, sicontinua-
bunt, serenum <diem (ins. Oehmichen)>; si vero carptim vocem resorbebunt, ventosum
imbrem. On Verg. georg. r. 410 ff. see W. Warde Fowler A Year with the Birds- Oxford
1886 p. 150 ff., T. F. Royds The Beasts, Birds, and Bees of Virgil'1 Oxford 1918 p. 40 ff.).
We need not, therefore, hold with U. A. Mackenzie Myths of Ci-ele C9° Pre-Hellenic
Europe London s.a. p. 290 f. that ravens are necessarily 'birds of ill omen, who foretell
death and disaster' or that the birds on the sarcophagus are ' the raven spirits of Hades...
receiving a propitiatory offering of blood or wine.' F. von Duhn in the Archiv f. A'el.
1909 xii. 167 f. takes a wider and a wiser view. I should, however, be inclined to add
that the bird was perhaps originally regarded, not ' als himmlischer Pote' etc., but as
a telephany of the sky-god himself (supra p. 187). See further O. Keller ' Rabe und
Krahe im Altertum ' in the Jahresbericht des Vereins fur Volkskunde und Linguistik in
Frag 1893.
1 F. M. J. Lagrange in the Revue Billique internationale Nouvelle Serie 1907 iv. 344
holds that the first long side of the sarcophagus together with the first portion of the
second long side forms a continuous frieze, the subject of which is the cult of three sets of
axes on handles. Obvious objections to this view are (1) the very different treatment of
the axe-handles on the two sides of the sarcophagus ; (2) the interposition of one of the
short sides between the two long sides ; (3) a serious lack of symmetry.
3 Supra i. 23 n. 6 sub fin.
The other long side of the sarcophagus (pi. xxvii, b) depicts two
scenes, distinguished from each other, not so much bv the variable
background (white—blue—white), as by the fact that the human
figures at the point of junction are standing back to back. On the
left we see another episode from the ritual of the double axe1. A red-
skinned man, wearing his hair short with a fore-lock2, and clad in a
Xei/j-ibv earai Kareyvu Trpwros. Kopai; 8e av teal Kopicvrj Kal koXolos deiXrjs ot/a'as el (pdeyyoLvro,
Xet-n&vos 'iaeadai riva eiribriplav SiodaKovcri, Theophr. de sig>iis tempest. 16 /copaf iroWas
fierafiaXXeiv eiwdios cpoivds, tovtojv eav raxi' Sis (pdey^yrai Kal eirippoL^rjar) Kal riva^y rd
irrepd, vStop arifxaivei. Kal eav {/erwv ovtwv noXXas p.eTajidXXrj (pwvds Kai eav <pdetpi£riTai
67r' eXcu'as. Kai eav re evSias eav re vdaros ovros /j.ip.rjrai ry cpuivy olov araXayp.ovs, vdup
ay^aivei. eav re KopaKes eav re koXoloI avu> ireruvrai Kai lepaKL^wcriv, vSwp ayixaivovai. Kai
eav Kopai; evSias p-y ryv elwdvlav (pwvyv trj Kai eTrtppoifidfj, vbojp ayp.aiveL, 39 Kai Kopwvy Kai
Kopai; Kai koXolos b\pe adovres xei/xepioi, 40 Kopa^ <pwvds TroXXds p.era[3dXXwv xeip.u>!/os %et-
fxepLov, Arat. phaen. 963 ff. 677 irore Kai yeveal Kop&Kcov Kai cpvXa koXoiwv \ vdaros epxo/xeVoio
Aids wdpa cryp.' eyevovro, j cpaivbpevoL dyeXyda Kai IpyKeacnv bpoiov | cpdey^afxevoi. /cat ttov
KopaKes Siovs araXaypovs (blovs 5e araXaypovs cod. G. oiovs ye araXayp.ovs cod. L. biovs
o~raXayp.ovs is proposed in Stephanus Thes. Gr. Ling. vii. 652 b) | <pwvrj ("pupyaavro o~vv
voaros epxop-evoio, | ij irore Kai Kpoi^avre fiapeiy SiaaaKL <pwvy \ fxaKpbv eTrtppoi^even. riva^d-
/xevoi irrepd -rrvKvd with schol. ad loc, Nik. ther. 406 Kopai; r 6p.l3pypea Kpuifav with schol.
ad loc, Plout. de sanitate praecepta 14 drorrov ydp ecrrt KopaKwv p.ev Xapvyyio~p.dis...eTri-
peXws irpoaexeiv, aypeia iroiovpevovs xvevp.drwv Kai om/3pwv ■ k.t.X., Ail. de nat. an. 6. 19
(3ovXerai de tujv 6p(3pcov p.ip.eladai rds araybvas 6 Kopa^, Geopon. i. 3. 8 Kal KopaKes Kal
koXoloI ddpocos eTTLtpaivofxevoi Kal Kpib'^ovres (icpd^ovres codd. H.i/l.).. .6fifipov crypaivovcrL,
and the passages cited in the Thes. Ling. Lat. iv. 1079, 31 ^- See further D'Arcy W.
Thompson A Glossary of Greek Birds Oxford 1895 p- 94, O. Keller Die antike Tierwelt
Leipzig 1913 ii. 98 f., Gossen in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. i A. 21.
Ravens were prophets of fine weather also (Theophr. de signis tempest. 52 Kal Kopai; be
p.bvos jxev yavxatov Kpdfav, Kal eav rpls Kpd^y fxerd tovto iroWaKLS Kpdtjrj, evdteivos, Arat.
phaen. 1003 ff. Kal icdpcuces p.ovvoi p.ev eprjpLaioi jdoouvres \ oiaaaKLS, avrdp iireira p.ey' dOpoa
KeKXriyovres (KeKXyyuires cod. L.)- | k.t.X. with schol. ad loc., Geopon. 1. 2. 6 Kal KbpaKes
wXeioves dyeXr/obv dienrep xaipoires Kal Kpuj^ovres (Kpd^ovres codd. H. M.) dvo/xftplav dyXovaiv,
Plin. nat. hist. 18. 362 corvique singultu quodam latrantes seque concutientes, sicontinua-
bunt, serenum <diem (ins. Oehmichen)>; si vero carptim vocem resorbebunt, ventosum
imbrem. On Verg. georg. r. 410 ff. see W. Warde Fowler A Year with the Birds- Oxford
1886 p. 150 ff., T. F. Royds The Beasts, Birds, and Bees of Virgil'1 Oxford 1918 p. 40 ff.).
We need not, therefore, hold with U. A. Mackenzie Myths of Ci-ele C9° Pre-Hellenic
Europe London s.a. p. 290 f. that ravens are necessarily 'birds of ill omen, who foretell
death and disaster' or that the birds on the sarcophagus are ' the raven spirits of Hades...
receiving a propitiatory offering of blood or wine.' F. von Duhn in the Archiv f. A'el.
1909 xii. 167 f. takes a wider and a wiser view. I should, however, be inclined to add
that the bird was perhaps originally regarded, not ' als himmlischer Pote' etc., but as
a telephany of the sky-god himself (supra p. 187). See further O. Keller ' Rabe und
Krahe im Altertum ' in the Jahresbericht des Vereins fur Volkskunde und Linguistik in
Frag 1893.
1 F. M. J. Lagrange in the Revue Billique internationale Nouvelle Serie 1907 iv. 344
holds that the first long side of the sarcophagus together with the first portion of the
second long side forms a continuous frieze, the subject of which is the cult of three sets of
axes on handles. Obvious objections to this view are (1) the very different treatment of
the axe-handles on the two sides of the sarcophagus ; (2) the interposition of one of the
short sides between the two long sides ; (3) a serious lack of symmetry.
3 Supra i. 23 n. 6 sub fin.