DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0406
352 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
Without going beyond the archaeological evidence, we
have found the Mycenaeans already in possession of the
Other ani- goat> sheep, swine, and dog, all in a domesticated
inals state, but we get no trace of poultry. All the
Mycenaean birds are still wild, unless we except Aphrodite's
Absence of doves, which belong to sacred rather than to secu-
poultrj jai, economv> This is only what we should expect
in view of the fact that even Homer knows but one domesti-
cated fowl, the goose; and that appears only in the Odyssey,
and then rather as a pet than otherwise, if we may judge
from Penelope's fondness for her little flock.1
Of game there must have been great plenty. We see
hunters chasing, for example, the deer, the wild bull, the
lion, — the first, doubtless, for sport, the second
for capture and domestication, the third in self-
defense.2 That the lion was among the foes to be reckoned
with by the early Greeks in their struggle to subdue the
The lion in *and *° *ue uses °^ civilization would seem to be
reece clear enough from their own monuments. There
is no animal that their art represents more masterfully, and
to say their lions are the creations of Oriental art or copied
from it is absurd. The great Lion-Relief of Mycenae on
native limestone was no more imported than were the palace-
frescoes ; the same can now be said of the sword-blade with
its lion hunt, whose home-made character is attested by
dress, armor, technique, and all. Consistently with this
archaeological evidence, the palaeontologist tells us that
the lion was once distributed over nearly all Europe,3 and
, six. 536 ff.
2 It is easy, Schrader thinks, to assign too great importance to hunting in
primitive life after men have once begun to till the soil. "The spoils of the
chase were not offered to the gods and were only eaten in extremity. Primi-
tive man fights wild beasts because he must. Sport is known only in higher
stages of culture." (Prehistoric Antiquities, p. 251.)
3 Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, 294.
Without going beyond the archaeological evidence, we
have found the Mycenaeans already in possession of the
Other ani- goat> sheep, swine, and dog, all in a domesticated
inals state, but we get no trace of poultry. All the
Mycenaean birds are still wild, unless we except Aphrodite's
Absence of doves, which belong to sacred rather than to secu-
poultrj jai, economv> This is only what we should expect
in view of the fact that even Homer knows but one domesti-
cated fowl, the goose; and that appears only in the Odyssey,
and then rather as a pet than otherwise, if we may judge
from Penelope's fondness for her little flock.1
Of game there must have been great plenty. We see
hunters chasing, for example, the deer, the wild bull, the
lion, — the first, doubtless, for sport, the second
for capture and domestication, the third in self-
defense.2 That the lion was among the foes to be reckoned
with by the early Greeks in their struggle to subdue the
The lion in *and *° *ue uses °^ civilization would seem to be
reece clear enough from their own monuments. There
is no animal that their art represents more masterfully, and
to say their lions are the creations of Oriental art or copied
from it is absurd. The great Lion-Relief of Mycenae on
native limestone was no more imported than were the palace-
frescoes ; the same can now be said of the sword-blade with
its lion hunt, whose home-made character is attested by
dress, armor, technique, and all. Consistently with this
archaeological evidence, the palaeontologist tells us that
the lion was once distributed over nearly all Europe,3 and
, six. 536 ff.
2 It is easy, Schrader thinks, to assign too great importance to hunting in
primitive life after men have once begun to till the soil. "The spoils of the
chase were not offered to the gods and were only eaten in extremity. Primi-
tive man fights wild beasts because he must. Sport is known only in higher
stages of culture." (Prehistoric Antiquities, p. 251.)
3 Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, 294.