DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0256
204 VICINITY AND SITE OF CNOSSOS. [CHAP.
sepulchres excavated in the rocky sides of the neigh-
bouring hills.
We are here in the immediate vicinity of the site
of Cnossos, and I suppose this stream to be the ancient
Tethris2, or Theron3, in the neighbourhood of which,
according to the Cretan tradition, the marriage of Zeus
and Here was celebrated. The event was commemo-
rated by annual sacrifices and ceremonies, performed
in a temple erected on the spot, and in which a mimetic
representation of the marriage was exhibited to the
gaze of the assembled Cretans. Other traditions as-
signed a different locality to this supposed union of
Zeus and Here1, and the words of Theocritus make it
obvious that the question was one of recondite mythology
in his day5.
From Cave-bridge I proceeded to Makro-teikho,
undoubtedly the site of Cnossos. All the now existing
vestiges of the ancient " metropolis" of Crete, are
some rude masses of Roman brick-work", part of the
so-called long wall from which the modern name of the
site has been derived.
Savary and Sonnini both assert that the hamlet
where these ruins are situated, is called Gnossu. The
former's words are " Depuis ce moment, la superbe
Cnosse, couchee dans la poussiere, ne s'est point relevee
de ses ruines; mais des monceaux de pierres, d'anciens
2 Paitsanias, i. p. 66. and Siebelis, p. 98.
3 DlODORUS SlCULUS, V. 72. Ae'yovo-i oe kui tous ydpovs rail's tc
Aids kclI Trj<s "Hpa; ev Trj Y^vwalosv ~X.u>pa yevcadai Kcrra Tiva to-kov
tt\i]<7iov tov Bf((Oi)i'OS iroTapov, ko.6' ov vvv lepov 6<ttlv, ev w dvcriai kclt
iviavTov dyiovs vtto tuiv eyywp'iwv auvTeXeladai, ko.1 tovs yapows diropi-
peiarQai, Kaddirep ej£ dpxvs yevecrdai 7rapeS68i](rav.
1 Aelian, N. A. xii. 30. Stephan. Byzant. v. Ka'pua-Tos, and other
authors : see Hemsterhusitjs, in Valck. on Theocrit. Adoniaz. p. 366. c.
5 Theocritus, xv. 64.
YVdvra yvvaiKei IrravTi, Kal <os Zei/s dydyeff 'Hpav.
6 strabo, x. p. 477- NDv oe Kvioacrds ical 'PwpaLwv diroiKLav e'x6t-
A coin, representing on one side the head of Mark Antony, and on the other
that of Octavianus, has been supposed to have been struck here : see the
learned investigation of D. Celestino Cavedoni, Appendice al Saggio
di Osservazioni sulle Medaglie di Famiglie Romane, etc. pp. 104—106.
sepulchres excavated in the rocky sides of the neigh-
bouring hills.
We are here in the immediate vicinity of the site
of Cnossos, and I suppose this stream to be the ancient
Tethris2, or Theron3, in the neighbourhood of which,
according to the Cretan tradition, the marriage of Zeus
and Here was celebrated. The event was commemo-
rated by annual sacrifices and ceremonies, performed
in a temple erected on the spot, and in which a mimetic
representation of the marriage was exhibited to the
gaze of the assembled Cretans. Other traditions as-
signed a different locality to this supposed union of
Zeus and Here1, and the words of Theocritus make it
obvious that the question was one of recondite mythology
in his day5.
From Cave-bridge I proceeded to Makro-teikho,
undoubtedly the site of Cnossos. All the now existing
vestiges of the ancient " metropolis" of Crete, are
some rude masses of Roman brick-work", part of the
so-called long wall from which the modern name of the
site has been derived.
Savary and Sonnini both assert that the hamlet
where these ruins are situated, is called Gnossu. The
former's words are " Depuis ce moment, la superbe
Cnosse, couchee dans la poussiere, ne s'est point relevee
de ses ruines; mais des monceaux de pierres, d'anciens
2 Paitsanias, i. p. 66. and Siebelis, p. 98.
3 DlODORUS SlCULUS, V. 72. Ae'yovo-i oe kui tous ydpovs rail's tc
Aids kclI Trj<s "Hpa; ev Trj Y^vwalosv ~X.u>pa yevcadai Kcrra Tiva to-kov
tt\i]<7iov tov Bf((Oi)i'OS iroTapov, ko.6' ov vvv lepov 6<ttlv, ev w dvcriai kclt
iviavTov dyiovs vtto tuiv eyywp'iwv auvTeXeladai, ko.1 tovs yapows diropi-
peiarQai, Kaddirep ej£ dpxvs yevecrdai 7rapeS68i](rav.
1 Aelian, N. A. xii. 30. Stephan. Byzant. v. Ka'pua-Tos, and other
authors : see Hemsterhusitjs, in Valck. on Theocrit. Adoniaz. p. 366. c.
5 Theocritus, xv. 64.
YVdvra yvvaiKei IrravTi, Kal <os Zei/s dydyeff 'Hpav.
6 strabo, x. p. 477- NDv oe Kvioacrds ical 'PwpaLwv diroiKLav e'x6t-
A coin, representing on one side the head of Mark Antony, and on the other
that of Octavianus, has been supposed to have been struck here : see the
learned investigation of D. Celestino Cavedoni, Appendice al Saggio
di Osservazioni sulle Medaglie di Famiglie Romane, etc. pp. 104—106.