DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0177
160 DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE EGYPTIANS.
terpart of the Typhonian monster of Egypt (woodcut 12S,
fig. 2) ; and was probably connected with the introduction of
the horse from Libya into Greece; for Neptune was Lybian.
14°. The Minotaur was from the bull-headed human figure of
Apis; which guardian of the Cretan labyrinth (also borrowed
from Egypt) has been strangely enough mistaken, on the
Chiusi vase, for " Anubis."
15°. The Hermes statues were from the mummy-form figures
of Osiris and other Egyptian gods.
16°. The Caryatides, from the Osiride pillars of Egypt.
17°. The Pyramidal, or sloping line, adopted particularly in
the jambs of Greek doors and windows.
18°. The bevelled edges of hewn stone, which were used in
Egypt even in the granite casing of the third pyramid; and
which were afterwards adopted also in Syria.
Nor were these the only instances of imitation from Egypt.
Many religious rites and mythological fables were borrowed by
the Greeks from the same source. The thyrsus, and spotted skin
of the fawn, as well as the leopards of Bacchus, may be traced
to the ceremonies of Osiris ; and Plutarch, in speaking of the
Egyptian priests at the funeral of Apis, " dressed in the spotted
skins of fawns, bearing the thyrsus in their hands, uttering the
same cries, and making the same gesticulations as the votaries
of Bacchus, during the ceremonies in honour of that god,"
plainly had in view the Egyptian priests clad in leopard skins,
as well as the rites of Osiris. The story of the Styx, with all
the dramatis persona of Elysium ; the battle of the giants and
the gods; and the fable of the Serpent Python and Apollo,
taken from the giant Aphophis—"that great serpent" pierced
by the spear of Horus, the Apollo of Egypt; and many other
Greek myths, some of which are noticed by Herodotus,
Diodorus, and other writers, are also unmistakeably Egyptian.
terpart of the Typhonian monster of Egypt (woodcut 12S,
fig. 2) ; and was probably connected with the introduction of
the horse from Libya into Greece; for Neptune was Lybian.
14°. The Minotaur was from the bull-headed human figure of
Apis; which guardian of the Cretan labyrinth (also borrowed
from Egypt) has been strangely enough mistaken, on the
Chiusi vase, for " Anubis."
15°. The Hermes statues were from the mummy-form figures
of Osiris and other Egyptian gods.
16°. The Caryatides, from the Osiride pillars of Egypt.
17°. The Pyramidal, or sloping line, adopted particularly in
the jambs of Greek doors and windows.
18°. The bevelled edges of hewn stone, which were used in
Egypt even in the granite casing of the third pyramid; and
which were afterwards adopted also in Syria.
Nor were these the only instances of imitation from Egypt.
Many religious rites and mythological fables were borrowed by
the Greeks from the same source. The thyrsus, and spotted skin
of the fawn, as well as the leopards of Bacchus, may be traced
to the ceremonies of Osiris ; and Plutarch, in speaking of the
Egyptian priests at the funeral of Apis, " dressed in the spotted
skins of fawns, bearing the thyrsus in their hands, uttering the
same cries, and making the same gesticulations as the votaries
of Bacchus, during the ceremonies in honour of that god,"
plainly had in view the Egyptian priests clad in leopard skins,
as well as the rites of Osiris. The story of the Styx, with all
the dramatis persona of Elysium ; the battle of the giants and
the gods; and the fable of the Serpent Python and Apollo,
taken from the giant Aphophis—"that great serpent" pierced
by the spear of Horus, the Apollo of Egypt; and many other
Greek myths, some of which are noticed by Herodotus,
Diodorus, and other writers, are also unmistakeably Egyptian.