DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0929
Retrospect
847
Further examples of the double axe in the east1 and in the
west2 did not detain us long; and we passed on to discuss the axes
carried by priests and priestesses in Greece and Italy3. Traces of
the 'Minoan' labrys were detected in the double axe of Athena4,
the double axe of Theseus5, the double axes taken in procession
from Athens to Delphoi6, etc. Attention was also drawn to Italian
pontifical axes7. And it was held that the lictor's axe in particular
had been a sacred weapon borne before the king as representative
of the sky-god: the rods bound round it and so charged with its
virtue would be potent to expel evil from a malefactor8.
Sacred axes,from neolithic times onward,have been distinguished
by their colour, or size, or decorative design9. The decoration often
consists in diagonals and zig-zags probably derived from lashings10,
sometimes in dendritic patterns resembling the 'thunder-besom11,' or
in stylised moths with circular 'eyes12.' Such embellishment indicated
the presence of a soul in the axe, and simultaneously protected it
from possible harm. Further progress towards anthropomorphism
was discernible in the Early Iron Age, when small axes of bronze
became axe-shaped pendants and took on sundry animal or human
features13. Finally the pendant was modified into a gong and thus
endowed with divine utterance14.
A marked trait in the 'Minoan' axe was its tendency towards
duplication. Without denying that a pair of axes might be used to
symbolise a pair of deities, we concluded that in general double or
multiple blades were intended to augment the striking-power of
the god that wielded them13.
We next handled at some length the difficult but interesting
case of Tenedos16, and saw that to treat the double axe on its coins
merely as a barter-unit17 involved a very partial and inadequate
hypothesis, contradicted alike by the coin-types themselves18 and
by the express testimony of the ancients, who record a definite
cult of two axes in the island19. Rather there was reason to suppose
that here the 'Minoan' weapon had passed into the hands of a
Dionysiac Zeus or a Zeus-like Dionysos, paired as usual with the
earth-goddess20. Their local names were Tennes and Hemithea,
and their effigies were combined in the male-///Y.y-female head,
which appeared on the obverse of the Tenedian coins21.
1 Supra p. 614 ff. 2 Supra p. 617 ff. 3 Supra p. 620 ff.
4 Supra p. 625 f. 5 Supra p. 626 ff. 8 Supra p. 628.
7 Supra p. 630 ff. 8 Supra p. 633 ff. 9 Supra p. 635 ff.
10 Supra p. 639 ff. 11 Supra p. 642 f. 12 Supra p. 643 ff.
13 Supra p. 647 ff. 14 Supra p. 649 ff. 15 Supra p. 652 ff.
10 Supra p. 654 ff. 17 Supra p. 655 n. 1. 18 Supra p. 655 ff
19 Supra p. 668. 20 Supra pp. 662 f., 673. 21 Supra p. 668 ff.
847
Further examples of the double axe in the east1 and in the
west2 did not detain us long; and we passed on to discuss the axes
carried by priests and priestesses in Greece and Italy3. Traces of
the 'Minoan' labrys were detected in the double axe of Athena4,
the double axe of Theseus5, the double axes taken in procession
from Athens to Delphoi6, etc. Attention was also drawn to Italian
pontifical axes7. And it was held that the lictor's axe in particular
had been a sacred weapon borne before the king as representative
of the sky-god: the rods bound round it and so charged with its
virtue would be potent to expel evil from a malefactor8.
Sacred axes,from neolithic times onward,have been distinguished
by their colour, or size, or decorative design9. The decoration often
consists in diagonals and zig-zags probably derived from lashings10,
sometimes in dendritic patterns resembling the 'thunder-besom11,' or
in stylised moths with circular 'eyes12.' Such embellishment indicated
the presence of a soul in the axe, and simultaneously protected it
from possible harm. Further progress towards anthropomorphism
was discernible in the Early Iron Age, when small axes of bronze
became axe-shaped pendants and took on sundry animal or human
features13. Finally the pendant was modified into a gong and thus
endowed with divine utterance14.
A marked trait in the 'Minoan' axe was its tendency towards
duplication. Without denying that a pair of axes might be used to
symbolise a pair of deities, we concluded that in general double or
multiple blades were intended to augment the striking-power of
the god that wielded them13.
We next handled at some length the difficult but interesting
case of Tenedos16, and saw that to treat the double axe on its coins
merely as a barter-unit17 involved a very partial and inadequate
hypothesis, contradicted alike by the coin-types themselves18 and
by the express testimony of the ancients, who record a definite
cult of two axes in the island19. Rather there was reason to suppose
that here the 'Minoan' weapon had passed into the hands of a
Dionysiac Zeus or a Zeus-like Dionysos, paired as usual with the
earth-goddess20. Their local names were Tennes and Hemithea,
and their effigies were combined in the male-///Y.y-female head,
which appeared on the obverse of the Tenedian coins21.
1 Supra p. 614 ff. 2 Supra p. 617 ff. 3 Supra p. 620 ff.
4 Supra p. 625 f. 5 Supra p. 626 ff. 8 Supra p. 628.
7 Supra p. 630 ff. 8 Supra p. 633 ff. 9 Supra p. 635 ff.
10 Supra p. 639 ff. 11 Supra p. 642 f. 12 Supra p. 643 ff.
13 Supra p. 647 ff. 14 Supra p. 649 ff. 15 Supra p. 652 ff.
10 Supra p. 654 ff. 17 Supra p. 655 n. 1. 18 Supra p. 655 ff
19 Supra p. 668. 20 Supra pp. 662 f., 673. 21 Supra p. 668 ff.