Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 2,1): Zeus god of the dark sky (thunder and lightning): Text and notes (Cambridge, 1925)

The deity of the double axe 543

it be1, tends to become vestigial (fig. 416), and sometimes disappears
altogether (fig. 417). That we are on the right track in explaining
these handles by a reference to 'Minoan' cult appears further from
sundry vessels of similar fabric but different shape (fig. 418)"2. Here
we have a handle adorned with three cones grouped together in a
manner suggestive of a lotus-bud. Before them stands a priestess
with ear-rings, necklace, etc., who seems to be presenting the con-
tents of this remarkable vase. Its body is painted with decorative
bands, including a frieze of birds and a row of ritual horns quite in
'Minoan' style. Further, the 'hour-glass' ornament, so characteristic
of these local Apulian vases3, may well be viewed as a simple
derivative of the double axe. It will be remembered that we have
already come across literary evidence also of a 'Minoan' cult per-
sisting into Hellenic times at Tarentum4.

(e) The deity of the double axe.

Thus far we have seen that the double axe, whether hanging in
mid air or hafted into a tree or affixed to a pillar or set up between
horns, is at least intelligible if viewed as the sky-god's weapon.

That this sky-god was conceived in human form is not only
a priori probable, but a posteriori certain. We have observed him
as an armed deity descending from above on the gold signets of
Mykenai (fig. 18)5 and Knossos (fig. 19)6 and on the painted
Idrnax of Miletos (fig. 20)7. It is true, he was not actually holding
his two-bladed weapon. But Sir A. J. Evans, a propos of the double
axe on the Mycenaean ring, very justly remarked : ' It stands in a
natural relation to the small figure of the warrior God to the left,
and probably represents one of the cult forms under which he was
worshipped8.' Moreover, thanks to the kindness of a friend, I am

1 M. Mayer in the Rom. Mitth. 1908 xxiii. 217 : ' Zwecklos ware es auch, an gewisse
kretische Symbole, das Hornerpaar mit der Doppelaxt, hier erinnern zu wollen.' Masner
Samml. ant. Vasen u. Terracotien Wien p. 4 no. 38 pi. 1 mistook the whole arrangement
for an idol with raised arms(!), and H. B. Walters loo. cit. p. 267 speaks of 'a vertical
projection ending in two discs, perhaps intended for a rude human head.' It is, of course,
quite conceivable that the double axe had become degraded (or exalted) into human
features.

2 Brit. Mus. Cat. Vases i. 2. 271 no. H 263 pi. 28, Transactions of the Third Inter-
national Congress for the History of Religions Oxford 1908 ii. 189 fig. 9. Cp. M. Mayer
in the Rom. Mitth. 1908 xxiii. 194 ff. no. 15 pi. 8, 4 and col. pi. 9, no. 16 suppl. pi. 1, 4,
no. 17 suppl. pis. 1, 5, 3, 1, Brit. Mus. Cat. Vases i. 2. 270 f- no. H 262 pi. 28.

3 E.g. Rom. Mitth. 1897 xii. 206 f. no. 5 fig. 2, 207 f. no. 6 fig. 3, 211 no. 14 fig. 7.

4 Supra p. 29 ff.

5 Supra pp. 47 ff. fig. 18, 514 ff. 6 Supra p. 49 fig. 19.

7 Supra p. 49 f. fig. 20.

8 Sir A. J. Evans in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1901 xxi. 108.