Evans, Arthur J.: The Palace of Minos: a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustred by the discoveries at Knossos (Band 3): The great transitional age in the northern and eastern sections of the Palace (London, 1930)

i28 FLYING-FISH ON METAL INLAY AND FRESCO

shown in Fig. 82, a. These, in his opinion, belonged to a larger blade than
the ' swimmers'.

It will be seen at once that the flying-fish here depicted presents a close

fevJCt PULE surf

BtUL
PT~| Y It LOW

Fig. 82. a, Inlaid Design of Flying-fish on Vapheio Bronze Blade' (restored by

E. GlLLIERON, FILS) ; 0, FLYING-FISH FROM PHYLAKOPI FRESCO.

resemblance in style to those of the well-known Phylakopi fresco (Fig. 82, b),
and, again, to those of the faience panel found in the Temple Repository at
Knossos, and their approximate date may thus be placed within at least the
later borders of M. M. III.

It cannot be doubted that both designs are based on the common flying-
fish of the Mediterranean, Exocoetus volitans—the Swallow-fish (yzkiSovo'tya.pioi
the native Cretan). A live specimen of this in the hands of a fisher lad is repro-
duced in the photographic figure (Fig. 83). The horn-like appendage below
the gill in Fig. 82, a, is itself an adaptation of the ' barbel' seen dependent
from the lower extremity of the mouth in the case of young flying-fish.1
In the inlaid design, however, the artist has in other respects gone further

! Cf. A. C. L. H. Giinther, An Introduction to the Study of Fishes, p. 622.