DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0106
462 GENIUS GUARDIAN OF LION-SLAYING HERO
she herself is set.1 It may be said that in this case the Genius stands
the representative of the Goddess or her youthful Consort tending h
guardian lion.
The Genius as Guardian Spirit of a Minoan lion-slaying Herakles
Thanks to the kindness of Mr. James Loeb it has been possible to
illustrate in Fig. 387 a novel and highly interesting aspect of the Minoan
Genius acting as the spiritual ally of a warrior who attacks a lion.
Cylinder The seal itself supplies an interesting example of a Minoan cylinder,
Kakova- executed in a variegated greyish yellow agate. It was found in the spring
™s:. of ion bv Mr. Ashton Sanborn, the Secretary and Librarian of the Boston
Genius ' u J
a guar- Museum of Fine Arts, in a little brook near the shore at Kakovatos, or
Hoi" ° ' Nestor's Pylos',2 already distinguished by the rich Minoan relics found in
slaying j|-s bee-hive tomb. These included a series of the finest L. M. I b ' amphoras',
the and the raid signet-ring referred to as the 'Ring of Nestor',3 that has
Herakles. afforded us our first glimpse of the pre-Hellenic Underworld.
It will be seen at once that the episode of the warrior huntsman
attacking a lion is a variant of that depicted on the gold bead-seal from the
Third Shaft Grave at Mycenae, here repeated in Fig. 388.' In the present
case the lion stands upright on his hind-legs, and his assailant thrusts the
point of his short sword into his mouth. The guardian Genius stands behind,
and gives a magic direction to the sword-stroke by bringing his fore-paws
together on its sheath. The assailant's attitude exactly corresponds with
that of the Mycenae bead-seal.
The hero of this episode may be regarded as a kind of Minoan Herakles,
who,however, relies on his sharp blade rather than on simple brute strength.
1 See above, p. 169, and Figs. 130, 181, separate publication, The Ring of Nestor: A
and 132. The cornices are clearly visible on Glimpse into the Minoan After-World, o
the examples from the Diktaean Cave and Macmillan, 1925 (and J. H. S., 1925)-
lalysos, in the latter case sloping upwards to ' From P. of M., iii, p. 125, Fig. 7S \r
give more space in which to engrave the a drawing by M. Gillieron, fils). See be
bodies of the Griffins. On other types, as mann, Mycenae, p. 174, Fig. 7" '>
those from Mycenae (p. 170, Fig. 133, a and Sdmchtgraber, PL XXIV, 33; Furtwang a.
&), the Goddess and attendant lions are to- Antike Gen/men, ii, 9. PI. II; 14- 'lbefyPe
gether placed on a double architectonic base, copied in his own fashion by a Greek en^ ' ^
2 This information is due to the courtesy of c. 300 B.C. on the ivory bezel of a °
of the late Mr. James Loeb, who sent me the from a tomb near Canca. (See P- °T _ '
excellent cast from which Monsieur E. Gil- bc.dt.,F\g. 79.) On one of the Thisbc
liefon, his, executed the drawing for Fig. 387. seals a warrior thrusts a spear into the
a See P. of M., iii, p. 145 seqq., and my of a lion.
she herself is set.1 It may be said that in this case the Genius stands
the representative of the Goddess or her youthful Consort tending h
guardian lion.
The Genius as Guardian Spirit of a Minoan lion-slaying Herakles
Thanks to the kindness of Mr. James Loeb it has been possible to
illustrate in Fig. 387 a novel and highly interesting aspect of the Minoan
Genius acting as the spiritual ally of a warrior who attacks a lion.
Cylinder The seal itself supplies an interesting example of a Minoan cylinder,
Kakova- executed in a variegated greyish yellow agate. It was found in the spring
™s:. of ion bv Mr. Ashton Sanborn, the Secretary and Librarian of the Boston
Genius ' u J
a guar- Museum of Fine Arts, in a little brook near the shore at Kakovatos, or
Hoi" ° ' Nestor's Pylos',2 already distinguished by the rich Minoan relics found in
slaying j|-s bee-hive tomb. These included a series of the finest L. M. I b ' amphoras',
the and the raid signet-ring referred to as the 'Ring of Nestor',3 that has
Herakles. afforded us our first glimpse of the pre-Hellenic Underworld.
It will be seen at once that the episode of the warrior huntsman
attacking a lion is a variant of that depicted on the gold bead-seal from the
Third Shaft Grave at Mycenae, here repeated in Fig. 388.' In the present
case the lion stands upright on his hind-legs, and his assailant thrusts the
point of his short sword into his mouth. The guardian Genius stands behind,
and gives a magic direction to the sword-stroke by bringing his fore-paws
together on its sheath. The assailant's attitude exactly corresponds with
that of the Mycenae bead-seal.
The hero of this episode may be regarded as a kind of Minoan Herakles,
who,however, relies on his sharp blade rather than on simple brute strength.
1 See above, p. 169, and Figs. 130, 181, separate publication, The Ring of Nestor: A
and 132. The cornices are clearly visible on Glimpse into the Minoan After-World, o
the examples from the Diktaean Cave and Macmillan, 1925 (and J. H. S., 1925)-
lalysos, in the latter case sloping upwards to ' From P. of M., iii, p. 125, Fig. 7S \r
give more space in which to engrave the a drawing by M. Gillieron, fils). See be
bodies of the Griffins. On other types, as mann, Mycenae, p. 174, Fig. 7" '>
those from Mycenae (p. 170, Fig. 133, a and Sdmchtgraber, PL XXIV, 33; Furtwang a.
&), the Goddess and attendant lions are to- Antike Gen/men, ii, 9. PI. II; 14- 'lbefyPe
gether placed on a double architectonic base, copied in his own fashion by a Greek en^ ' ^
2 This information is due to the courtesy of c. 300 B.C. on the ivory bezel of a °
of the late Mr. James Loeb, who sent me the from a tomb near Canca. (See P- °T _ '
excellent cast from which Monsieur E. Gil- bc.dt.,F\g. 79.) On one of the Thisbc
liefon, his, executed the drawing for Fig. 387. seals a warrior thrusts a spear into the
a See P. of M., iii, p. 145 seqq., and my of a lion.