DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8755#0122
Knossos Excavations, 1903.
111
native dialectic epithet of 'the Exceeding Holy One'—Ariadne1—under
which she has become the heroine of separate romance.
We see then here a theatral building—a central point of interest,
as the converging lines of causeway show, of the whole Palace and its
surroundings,—containing what seems to have been an orchestra. On the
other hand we possess independent evidence of ceremonial dances in
honour of the great native Goddess of whom Aphrodite Ariadne is a later
transformation. In view of these facts it is difficult to refuse the
conclusion that this first of theatres, the Stepped Area with its dancing
ground, supplies a material foundation for the Homeric tradition of the
famous ' chores' :
olov ttot ein K.va>aa) evpeirj
Aa/SaA.o? -ijcrKTiaev KaWnrXo/cdfia) 'ApidSvr/.'2
It is symptomatic of the increased importance attached to male
divinities in the later religion of Greece that ' chores' and theatre should
pass from the Goddess to the God. In the more recent cult the 'chores'
of Ariadne is superseded by that of her Consort Dionysos.
Of the painted stucco,—perhaps the most striking feature of the
Daedalean art,—that would have decorated the background and canopy of
this Theatral Area, only small fragments were recovered, owing to the great
amount of surface denudation. The surface of the orchestra itself, once
probably coated with hard plaster displaying the brilliant red and white
decoration of the Knossian pavements, is now comparatively rough and
uneven. But, as has been shown above, the shell of the whole monument
remains ; the area itself, the stepped tiers for the spectators, the central
bastion, an indication of a gallery behind. The annual visit of Dr.
Dorpfeld and his party on the ' Inselreise' seemed moreover a fitting
occasion for once more trying the capabilities of the ancient orchestra
before an appreciative ' house.' A dance of our Cretan workmen and
their womanfolk was accordingly here organised —a dance, may be, as
ancient in its origin as the building in which it took place. This was
the 7T7;St«To? %opo?, so called from the saltations performed by its
leaders ; and, alternating with it, the quieter <riyavb<;,—both forms being
prevalent throughout Central and Eastern Crete.3 The sinuous, maeander-
1 The close connexion of the great Knossian Goddess with Ariadne, as to w hich I had been
independently impressed, has been rightly insisted on by F. Noack, Homcrische Paldste, p. 86 se</</.
- II. KviiL 591 seqq. 3 West of Ida the irexi-ofaA^s prevails and in Sphakia the aoiara.
111
native dialectic epithet of 'the Exceeding Holy One'—Ariadne1—under
which she has become the heroine of separate romance.
We see then here a theatral building—a central point of interest,
as the converging lines of causeway show, of the whole Palace and its
surroundings,—containing what seems to have been an orchestra. On the
other hand we possess independent evidence of ceremonial dances in
honour of the great native Goddess of whom Aphrodite Ariadne is a later
transformation. In view of these facts it is difficult to refuse the
conclusion that this first of theatres, the Stepped Area with its dancing
ground, supplies a material foundation for the Homeric tradition of the
famous ' chores' :
olov ttot ein K.va>aa) evpeirj
Aa/SaA.o? -ijcrKTiaev KaWnrXo/cdfia) 'ApidSvr/.'2
It is symptomatic of the increased importance attached to male
divinities in the later religion of Greece that ' chores' and theatre should
pass from the Goddess to the God. In the more recent cult the 'chores'
of Ariadne is superseded by that of her Consort Dionysos.
Of the painted stucco,—perhaps the most striking feature of the
Daedalean art,—that would have decorated the background and canopy of
this Theatral Area, only small fragments were recovered, owing to the great
amount of surface denudation. The surface of the orchestra itself, once
probably coated with hard plaster displaying the brilliant red and white
decoration of the Knossian pavements, is now comparatively rough and
uneven. But, as has been shown above, the shell of the whole monument
remains ; the area itself, the stepped tiers for the spectators, the central
bastion, an indication of a gallery behind. The annual visit of Dr.
Dorpfeld and his party on the ' Inselreise' seemed moreover a fitting
occasion for once more trying the capabilities of the ancient orchestra
before an appreciative ' house.' A dance of our Cretan workmen and
their womanfolk was accordingly here organised —a dance, may be, as
ancient in its origin as the building in which it took place. This was
the 7T7;St«To? %opo?, so called from the saltations performed by its
leaders ; and, alternating with it, the quieter <riyavb<;,—both forms being
prevalent throughout Central and Eastern Crete.3 The sinuous, maeander-
1 The close connexion of the great Knossian Goddess with Ariadne, as to w hich I had been
independently impressed, has been rightly insisted on by F. Noack, Homcrische Paldste, p. 86 se</</.
- II. KviiL 591 seqq. 3 West of Ida the irexi-ofaA^s prevails and in Sphakia the aoiara.