DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.808#0039
'THE RING OF NESTOR,' ETC. 37
of chariot. It illustrates, moreover, a fresh development in the arrangement
of the harness. Although many of the illustrations of chariots belonging to
Class A, such as those of the Mycenae tombstones, are too imperfect to supply
a knowledge of details, it is clear from the Vapheio gem (Fig. 36) and the Thisbe
jewel (Fig. 33) that according to the earlier system the girth was quite separate
from the collar. But in the later type, as seen in Fig. 37 and elsewhere, we
find both the girth and the collar brought together above the horses' necks
near the attachment to the pole. This development was probably due to
Oriental influence,100 as were certainly the plumes that rise from the horses'
heads on a series of Cypro-Minoan chariot types,101 recalling the tassel-like
arrangement of the manes seen on the Knossian tablets. On the other hand,
horses such as these appear, for instance, on a stela of Amenophis III and on
the painted relief of Barneses II at Abu Simbel.
It is also noteworthy that in the case of the earlier chariots, as seen in
the Mycenae tombstones, the Vapheio gem (Fig. 35) and the parallel variety
from Knossos in the British Museum, and on the Thisbe jewel, there is only
a single rider. In the Shaft Grave ring, Fig. 35, above, the appearance of two
personages is rather an exception to the rule. In the later ' dual' class, as
seen on the agate signet-ring (Fig. 37), the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, the
Tiryns fresco and a whole series of late vases, there are apparently invariably
two persons in the car,102 of whom one is the driver.
It is interesting to note that the date of the introduction of the ' dual'
chariot types of class B, as fixed by the Cretan evidence referred to above,103
seems to have exactly corresponded with that of the first appearance of the
Linear Class B of the Minoan script. Both innovations may have been due to
the same historic impulse, as to the character of which, however, we have at
present no information.
The Thisbe intaglio, appearing on one of a set of exceptionally elongated gold
beads, and presenting what may well be the same youthful warrior—though his
principal weapon is here the bow—might legitimately he regarded as a companion
piece to that showing the combat with the Sphinx and as part of the same story.
Have we not here too an actual Minoan or Kadmeian version of the preceding
episode in the Greek folk-tale of Oedipus ? The attack by the youthful hero
on foot upon what is evidently from his helmet a man in a position of higher
dignity 1M who rides in a chariot—may not this be a Kadmeian anticipation
of the murderous onslaught of Oedipus on his royal father Laios ? The over-
arching rocks indeed might be actually taken to represent the o-^jo-t^ oSo?
itself—the ' Hollow Way ' through which Laios was driving his team. This,
apparently, according to the older tradition—that of the Oidipodia 105—was
in Boeotia itself, near the sanctuary of Hera on Mount Kitbaeron.
In the Hellenic version Laios is being driven in a mule wagon or anr-qv-n,
100 The girth and collar converge on a third person appears in the rear of the
later Assyrian and Persian examples. car.
101 E.g. B.M. Excavations in Cyprus, p. 103 See p. 33.
39, Tomb XII. Nos. 832, 833, 836; Merck- 1M See above, p. 32.
lin, op. cit., PI. I. 19 (Enkomi). 105 See E. Bethe, Thebaniscke Heldensage,
102 On some of the later Cypriote vases p. 1 seqq.
of chariot. It illustrates, moreover, a fresh development in the arrangement
of the harness. Although many of the illustrations of chariots belonging to
Class A, such as those of the Mycenae tombstones, are too imperfect to supply
a knowledge of details, it is clear from the Vapheio gem (Fig. 36) and the Thisbe
jewel (Fig. 33) that according to the earlier system the girth was quite separate
from the collar. But in the later type, as seen in Fig. 37 and elsewhere, we
find both the girth and the collar brought together above the horses' necks
near the attachment to the pole. This development was probably due to
Oriental influence,100 as were certainly the plumes that rise from the horses'
heads on a series of Cypro-Minoan chariot types,101 recalling the tassel-like
arrangement of the manes seen on the Knossian tablets. On the other hand,
horses such as these appear, for instance, on a stela of Amenophis III and on
the painted relief of Barneses II at Abu Simbel.
It is also noteworthy that in the case of the earlier chariots, as seen in
the Mycenae tombstones, the Vapheio gem (Fig. 35) and the parallel variety
from Knossos in the British Museum, and on the Thisbe jewel, there is only
a single rider. In the Shaft Grave ring, Fig. 35, above, the appearance of two
personages is rather an exception to the rule. In the later ' dual' class, as
seen on the agate signet-ring (Fig. 37), the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, the
Tiryns fresco and a whole series of late vases, there are apparently invariably
two persons in the car,102 of whom one is the driver.
It is interesting to note that the date of the introduction of the ' dual'
chariot types of class B, as fixed by the Cretan evidence referred to above,103
seems to have exactly corresponded with that of the first appearance of the
Linear Class B of the Minoan script. Both innovations may have been due to
the same historic impulse, as to the character of which, however, we have at
present no information.
The Thisbe intaglio, appearing on one of a set of exceptionally elongated gold
beads, and presenting what may well be the same youthful warrior—though his
principal weapon is here the bow—might legitimately he regarded as a companion
piece to that showing the combat with the Sphinx and as part of the same story.
Have we not here too an actual Minoan or Kadmeian version of the preceding
episode in the Greek folk-tale of Oedipus ? The attack by the youthful hero
on foot upon what is evidently from his helmet a man in a position of higher
dignity 1M who rides in a chariot—may not this be a Kadmeian anticipation
of the murderous onslaught of Oedipus on his royal father Laios ? The over-
arching rocks indeed might be actually taken to represent the o-^jo-t^ oSo?
itself—the ' Hollow Way ' through which Laios was driving his team. This,
apparently, according to the older tradition—that of the Oidipodia 105—was
in Boeotia itself, near the sanctuary of Hera on Mount Kitbaeron.
In the Hellenic version Laios is being driven in a mule wagon or anr-qv-n,
100 The girth and collar converge on a third person appears in the rear of the
later Assyrian and Persian examples. car.
101 E.g. B.M. Excavations in Cyprus, p. 103 See p. 33.
39, Tomb XII. Nos. 832, 833, 836; Merck- 1M See above, p. 32.
lin, op. cit., PI. I. 19 (Enkomi). 105 See E. Bethe, Thebaniscke Heldensage,
102 On some of the later Cypriote vases p. 1 seqq.