DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0270
DANGEROUS SPORTS
225
Fig. 158. Scene of Taurokathapsia with 'Sacral
Knots', on Signet-ring from Smyrna.
Danger-
ous
sport.
Over-
thrown
per-
formers.
If, then, we may suppose that in the case of these Minoan shows there
was an oval, fenced enclosure within a rectangular walled space, there
would have been ample facilities for the entry of assistant performers, of
the kind illustrated, by
means of narrow open-
ings at various points.
They might have been
posted for the purpose
and could thence rush
forward to catch the fly-
ing body of the acrobat
at the critical moment.
But the whole per-
formance was at the best aspect of
a dangerous sport. That,
whether as practised in
the open country or in the
closed arena, a consider-
able amount of risk attended these acrobatic feats, is clear from the records
that have been preserved to us. The thrown cow-boy on the Vapheio Cup in
a helpless plight with his arms stretched out behind him, and incapable
even of the endeavour to break his fall, finds his counterpart on more than
one intaglio design. What seems to be the immediately antecedent episode
occurs, indeed, on the conical steatite ' rhyton' from Hagia Triada where
a figure, with outstretched arms that have clearly missed their grasp, appears
between the horns of a charging bull (Fig. 157).1 This example of the
parlous plight of a performer in these sports has a special relevance, since
the two pillars of the ' superposed' type, which serve on the vase as a frame
for this sensational episode, must be taken, as we have seen, for an abbre-
viated rendering for the Grand Stand itself. It was part, therefore, of the
spectacle of the Minoan arena.
On the signet-ring (Fig. 158)2—the subject of which, from the rocks
above, belongs to the same class as the Vapheio example—the cow-boy,
thrown on to the ground behind the bull, holds up his hands in a similar
manner. On the gold engraved bead from the ' Thisbe Treasure ', Fig. 159,3
1 The right forearm of the performer is
here restored, together with the neck and part
of the middle of the bull.
2 Ci.JP.qfM., i, p. 432, Fig. 310, a. Bought at
III. Q
Smyrna and said to come from its ' hinterland'.
3 See my Ring of Nestor, cW., pp. 5, 6, and
Fig. 3. The ' Treasure' represents the con-
tents of several tombs.
225
Fig. 158. Scene of Taurokathapsia with 'Sacral
Knots', on Signet-ring from Smyrna.
Danger-
ous
sport.
Over-
thrown
per-
formers.
If, then, we may suppose that in the case of these Minoan shows there
was an oval, fenced enclosure within a rectangular walled space, there
would have been ample facilities for the entry of assistant performers, of
the kind illustrated, by
means of narrow open-
ings at various points.
They might have been
posted for the purpose
and could thence rush
forward to catch the fly-
ing body of the acrobat
at the critical moment.
But the whole per-
formance was at the best aspect of
a dangerous sport. That,
whether as practised in
the open country or in the
closed arena, a consider-
able amount of risk attended these acrobatic feats, is clear from the records
that have been preserved to us. The thrown cow-boy on the Vapheio Cup in
a helpless plight with his arms stretched out behind him, and incapable
even of the endeavour to break his fall, finds his counterpart on more than
one intaglio design. What seems to be the immediately antecedent episode
occurs, indeed, on the conical steatite ' rhyton' from Hagia Triada where
a figure, with outstretched arms that have clearly missed their grasp, appears
between the horns of a charging bull (Fig. 157).1 This example of the
parlous plight of a performer in these sports has a special relevance, since
the two pillars of the ' superposed' type, which serve on the vase as a frame
for this sensational episode, must be taken, as we have seen, for an abbre-
viated rendering for the Grand Stand itself. It was part, therefore, of the
spectacle of the Minoan arena.
On the signet-ring (Fig. 158)2—the subject of which, from the rocks
above, belongs to the same class as the Vapheio example—the cow-boy,
thrown on to the ground behind the bull, holds up his hands in a similar
manner. On the gold engraved bead from the ' Thisbe Treasure ', Fig. 159,3
1 The right forearm of the performer is
here restored, together with the neck and part
of the middle of the bull.
2 Ci.JP.qfM., i, p. 432, Fig. 310, a. Bought at
III. Q
Smyrna and said to come from its ' hinterland'.
3 See my Ring of Nestor, cW., pp. 5, 6, and
Fig. 3. The ' Treasure' represents the con-
tents of several tombs.