DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0228
53o MINOAN GREYHOUNDS AND SACRAL CONNEXION
Lady the lily-crown class who are seen driving chariots of the late Knossi
chirtas™ kind at the ends of the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus ! into connexion with the
on Tiryns dappled deer seen on a fragment of a painted frieze - near the neighbourin
Palace. The Tiryns frescoes, belonging to a still later date, repeat the
same form of chariot, drawn by horses, similarly caparisoned, in which
ladies—in this case dressed according to Minoan sporting fashion, in male
costume—follow the stag-hunt.3
The Minoan Greyhounds and their Sacral Connexion.
The dogs who accompany the Tirynthian huntresses, collared and held
on leash by grooms in Mainland dress, are clearly greyhounds.4
Hunting- As will be seen from the restored fragment, Fig. 565—notably the
dogs on bead, with the ears exceptionally rendered, as if half fallen,5 and its Ions
fresco and ' . , .
seals: muzzle—the animal at once suggests a close resemblance to the English
hound greyhound. The build, as in that case, is at once slender and strong. The
,yPe- body, so far as the fragmentary evidence enables us to complete it, is short-
haired and smooth, but on the other hand, the tail has a well-marked fringe
of hair like that of the more hairy Persian breed.0
The nearest glyptic parallel to the hound of the fresco is supplied by
a clay seal impression, unfortunately incomplete below. On this, the
young male God, as we may interpret the figure, stands between two dogs
antithetically seated, holding a short cord attached to the collar of each
(Fig. 56(5).' In this case the resemblance is enhanced by the ears thrown
back against the side of the neck. A constantly recurring design on seal
impressions in the later palatial deposits of Knossos is a collared bitch o
somewhat solid build with the ears, again, thrown back (Fig. 567). Other
wise, the dogs are mostly prick-eared, the body and legs resembling those
of the ordinary greyhound.
On the green jasper lentoid from Central Crete (Fig. 569),
1 R..Earibeni,/2Sara/ago di$■intodiHaghia ' In this case, however, the ears be^'B
Triada, PI. Ill (Mont. Ant, xix, 190S). In bending down and then become more or ^
one case a pair of Griffins is substituted for horizontal, while the true greyhoun ^
the horses. shoots up before falling. I' looks *S.n in
1 Ik, p. 71, Fig. 22. Tiryns artist had shown some con u
' Rodenwaldt, Tiryns, ii, PI. XII, p. 97 seqq. dealing with an unusual form of ear. ^ ^
and Pig. 40. Dr. Rodenwaldt (p. 108) noted 8 The modern Greek greyhounds
the male character of their costume. shaggier. £. and
' Ii.,p. no, Pig. 47, and PI, XIV, 6. The 7 See P. of M., », pt- lI' P' 7 '
boarhounds are of a different breed. Fig. 495.
Lady the lily-crown class who are seen driving chariots of the late Knossi
chirtas™ kind at the ends of the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus ! into connexion with the
on Tiryns dappled deer seen on a fragment of a painted frieze - near the neighbourin
Palace. The Tiryns frescoes, belonging to a still later date, repeat the
same form of chariot, drawn by horses, similarly caparisoned, in which
ladies—in this case dressed according to Minoan sporting fashion, in male
costume—follow the stag-hunt.3
The Minoan Greyhounds and their Sacral Connexion.
The dogs who accompany the Tirynthian huntresses, collared and held
on leash by grooms in Mainland dress, are clearly greyhounds.4
Hunting- As will be seen from the restored fragment, Fig. 565—notably the
dogs on bead, with the ears exceptionally rendered, as if half fallen,5 and its Ions
fresco and ' . , .
seals: muzzle—the animal at once suggests a close resemblance to the English
hound greyhound. The build, as in that case, is at once slender and strong. The
,yPe- body, so far as the fragmentary evidence enables us to complete it, is short-
haired and smooth, but on the other hand, the tail has a well-marked fringe
of hair like that of the more hairy Persian breed.0
The nearest glyptic parallel to the hound of the fresco is supplied by
a clay seal impression, unfortunately incomplete below. On this, the
young male God, as we may interpret the figure, stands between two dogs
antithetically seated, holding a short cord attached to the collar of each
(Fig. 56(5).' In this case the resemblance is enhanced by the ears thrown
back against the side of the neck. A constantly recurring design on seal
impressions in the later palatial deposits of Knossos is a collared bitch o
somewhat solid build with the ears, again, thrown back (Fig. 567). Other
wise, the dogs are mostly prick-eared, the body and legs resembling those
of the ordinary greyhound.
On the green jasper lentoid from Central Crete (Fig. 569),
1 R..Earibeni,/2Sara/ago di$■intodiHaghia ' In this case, however, the ears be^'B
Triada, PI. Ill (Mont. Ant, xix, 190S). In bending down and then become more or ^
one case a pair of Griffins is substituted for horizontal, while the true greyhoun ^
the horses. shoots up before falling. I' looks *S.n in
1 Ik, p. 71, Fig. 22. Tiryns artist had shown some con u
' Rodenwaldt, Tiryns, ii, PI. XII, p. 97 seqq. dealing with an unusual form of ear. ^ ^
and Pig. 40. Dr. Rodenwaldt (p. 108) noted 8 The modern Greek greyhounds
the male character of their costume. shaggier. £. and
' Ii.,p. no, Pig. 47, and PI, XIV, 6. The 7 See P. of M., », pt- lI' P' 7 '
boarhounds are of a different breed. Fig. 495.