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The Chieftain Cup and a Minoan rite of passage*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Robert B. Koehl
Robert B. Koehl*
Affiliation:
Florida State University
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Extract

The scene carved in relief on a Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan I serpentine footed conical cup or chalice from Ayia Triada has attracted the attention of numerous scholars since its discovery and initial publication. The cup is 11·5 cm in height with a maximum diameter of 9·9 cm. Two male figures are depicted facing each other (Plate VIIa). The figure on the right (hereafter, figure A), stands before a rendering perhaps of a pillar with even, horizontal, divisions to indicate stone blocks. His hair is arranged in tresses that hang to his waist, one of which is pulled in front of his ear. He wears three necklaces, several arm bands and bracelets, and around his waist, a short belted kilt into which is inserted a dagger. On his feet he wears boots which reach up to his mid-calf and are decorated with horizontal incisions. In his extended right hand he holds a straight staff; his left hand is empty and is thrust back, bent at the elbow. The facing figure (hereafter, figure B), is shorter and more simply attired. His hair appears short and gathered in a top-knot. In his right hand he holds a long sword and in his left, a long-handled object with a curved top, interpreted by some scholars to be a ritual sprinkler. Around his neck he wears a simple collar, a short kilt is wrapped around his waist, and on his feet he wears undecorated boots which reach to his mid-calf. On the back of the cup are three male figures carrying large flattened animal skins, usually identified as ox hides or shields. Only the heads of these males are visible above the ‘hides’. Their hair is worn short in the front and hangs freely behind their ears.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 106 , November 1986 , pp. 99 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1986

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References

1 Paribeni, L., Rendiconti dei Lincei xii (1903) 324 Google Scholar. For other discussions with detailed descriptions see, Forsdyke 13–14; Warren, P. M., Minoan Stone Vases (Cambridge 1969) 37 Google Scholar; Buchholz, H.-G. and Karageorghis, V., Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus (London 1973) 94.1166 Google Scholar. For detailed illustrations, see Zervos pls. 534–537; Marinatos and Hirmer pls. 100–2. The cup is in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum, inv. no. 341.

2 PM II 792–4.

3 Their identification as ox hides is the more generally accepted. See, e.g., Forsdyke 13. Paribeni (n. 1) 324, understood them to be shields.

4 Paribeni (n. 1) 324.

5 This interpretation was held by Müller, K., ‘Frühmykenische reliefs aus Kreta und vom griechischen Festland’, JDI xxx (1915) 246 Google Scholar and followed by Matz, F., The art of Crete and early Greece (New York 1962) 127 Google Scholar.

6 Marinatos and Hirmer 144.

7 PM II 792–4.

8 Forsdyke 14–15.

9 Forsdyke 15 f. Forsdyke pursued the idea that this king was in fact Minos himself, an idea apparently not accepted in subsequent treatments of the cup.

10 Forsdyke 16. The magical or religious associations of the figure-8 shields was suggested by Forsdyke. For the motif of the figure-8 shields on an LM IB ‘trick vase’ rhyton and its cultic associations, see Warren, P. M., ‘Minoan Crete and ecstatic religions, preliminary observations on the 1979 excavations at Knossos’, in Hägg, R. and Marinatos, N., Sanctuaries and cults in the Aegean Bronze Age (Stockholm 1981) 156 Google Scholar, fig. 6.

11 Bosanquet, R. C. and Dawkins, R. M., The unpublished objects from the Palaikastro excavations 1902–1906 (London 1923) 125–7Google Scholar, pl. 27. For convenient illustrations, see Zervos pls. 523 and 530. For their dating in LM IB, see Hood 120, n. 44.

12 Sealing from Knossos: PM I, fig. 201b; also illustrated in Marinatos and Hirmer, pl. 25, upper. Archanes ivory head: Ergon 1982 (1983) pl. 138, upper right.

13 The Boxing Boys: Marinatos, S., Excavations at Thera IV (Athens 1971)Google Scholar fig. 3, colour pl. D, E, F. Also illustrated in Marinatos and Hirmer, pl. XXXVIII. The Fishing Boys: Marinatos, S., Excavations at Thera VI (Athens 1974)Google Scholar fig. 4, pl. 85, 88, 90. Also illustrated in Marinatos and Hirmer, pls. XXXIV. These figures are included with hesitation as they are not strictly Minoan. Nonetheless, the predominance of Minoan artistic conventions and conventions in fashions bore heavily on the corresponding conventions on Thera. On the question of Minoan influence on Thera, see most recently Doumas, C., Thera, Pompeii of the ancient Aegean (London 1983) 123–5Google Scholar, 129: Davis, E. N., ‘The iconography of the Ship Fresco from Thera’, in Moon, W. G., ed. Ancient Greek art and iconography (Wisconsin 1983) 314 Google Scholar. See also papers by Cameron, M. A. S. and Höckman, O. in Doumas, C., ed. Thera and the Aegean world i (London 1978)Google Scholar. The terracotta head from Mt Juktas: Praktika (1974) pl. 177a, b; also illustrated in Hiller, S., Das minoische Kreta nach den Ausgrabungen des letzten Jahrzehnts (Wien 1977)Google Scholar pl. 18d, e. I am indebted to Ellen Davis for this reference.

14 Lurker, M., The gods and symbols of ancient Egypt (London 1980) 56–7Google Scholar. C. Müller, s.v. ‘Jugendlocke’ in Lexicon der Ägyptologie III, 274; E. Feucht, s.v. ‘Kinder’, in Lexicon der Ägyptologie III, 427. I owe these references to Ellen Davis. See her discussion of the Egyptian custom in ‘Youth and Age in the Thera Frescoes’, AJA (forthcoming).

15 Idem.

16 For the cutting of the ‘Horus locks’ as part of an Egyptian rite of passage, see W. Helck, s.v. ‘Initiationsriten’, Lexicon der Ägyptologie III, 157; E. Feucht (n. 14) 427. The evidence for the custom of hair-cutting in classical Greece is discussed by Evans in PM IV 476–82.

17 Signet ring from Mycenae: Marinatos and Hirmer pl. 230.

18 ‘Grandstand Fresco’: PM III 46 f. colour pl. XVI (where the figures are restored); Cameron, M. and Hood, S., Knossos Fresco atlas (London 1967)Google Scholar pl. II, IIa (for the original fragments); intaglio from Knossos: Boardman, J., Greek gems and finger rings (London 1970)Google Scholar pl. 60. Ellen Davis kindly pointed out the representations on the signet ring and intaglio.

19 Boxer Vase: Halbherr, F., Stefani, E., Banti, L., ‘Haghia Triada nel periodo tardo palaziale’, Annuario lv (1977) 83 Google Scholar. For illustrations see Marinatos and Hirmer pls. 106, 107. Grandstand Fresco: PM III 46 f., colour pl. XVI.

20 I would like to thank Ellen Davis for pointing this feature out to me and for her helpful comments on the representations of hairstyles in Minoan art. On the subject of women's hairstyles from Thera as indications of the stages of maturation see her forthcoming note in AJA (n. 14). The backlock also appears on the ivory figurine of a youth published in PM IV, fig. 394. The figure is thought, however, to be a forgery; Hood 120, n. 40.

21 Cup Bearer: PM II colour plate XII; also illustrated in Marinatos and Hirmer pl. XV. Camp Stool Fresco: PM IV colour pl. XXXI. For comments on the date of these frescos see Hood 66, 68. For the fragment from the relief carved stone rhyton, see PM II fig. 486; Warren (n. 1) 85, P474.

22 Captain of the Blacks: PM II, colour pl. XIII; Palanquin Fresco: PM II figs. 502, 503; Harvester Vase: Marinatos and Hirmer pls. 103–5; Zervos pls. 552–5.

23 Harvester Vase ‘priest’: Marinatos and Hirmer pl. 103; Zervos pl. 552; ‘Priests’ on seal stones: PM IV fig.

24 Heads of bearded ‘priests’ on seal stones: Hood figs. 226, 227 (also Marinatos and Hirmer pl. 122, bottom left); Heads of beardless ‘priests’: PM I fig. 201a; Yule, P., Early Cretan seals: a study of chronology (Mainz 1980)Google Scholar pl. 1. 4.

25 The term ‘rite of passage’ appears first in the seminal work by van Gennep, A., Les rites de passage (Paris 1901 Google Scholar; trans. The rites of passage Chicago 1960)Google Scholar. For a more recent study, see Eliade, M., Rites and symbols of initiation (New York 1958)Google Scholar. The following discussion is based largely on these sources. The suggestion that changes in hair styles correspond to stages of initiation in Minoan Crete has also been made by Verlinden, C., Les statuettes anthropomorphés crétoises en bronze et en plomb, du IIIe millénaire au VIIe siècle av. J.-C, Archaeologica Transatlantic IV (Louvain-la-Neuve 1984) 94–6Google Scholar. On the meaning behind haircutting and growing rituals and their relation to various social institutions, including initiation rites, see Leach, E., ‘Magical hair,’ The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute lxxxviii (1958) 147–164 Google Scholar. I am grateful to Professor Anthony Paredes for this reference.

26 Eliade (n. 25) 108–109. The most comprehensive study remains Jeanmaire, H., Couroi et Couretes (Lille 1939)Google Scholar. For a recent study which recognizes the survival of a Bronze Age initiation rite in an Athenian festival of the Classical period, see Burkert, W., ‘Kekropidensage und Arrhephoria’, Hermes xciv (1966) 1–25 Google Scholar.

27 Ant. Lib. Met. 17. This passage is cited and discussed by Willetts, R. F., Aristocratic society in ancient Crete (London 1955) 120–2Google Scholar; Willetts, R. F., Cretan cults and festivals (London 1962) 175–6Google Scholar. The following discussion of Cretan social institutions of the post-Bronze Age which related to age distinctions largely derives from the studies of Willetts. The main Classical source is Strabo x 480–2.

28 Willetts 1955 (n. 27) 120–2; Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 175–6.

29 Willetts 1955 (n. 27) 121.

30 Idem.

31 Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 63–7. See also Callaghan, P., ‘KRS 1976: excavations at a shrine of Glaukos, Knossos,’ BSA lxxiii (1978) 1–30 Google Scholar, especially 24–9, for the identification of a hero shrine to Glaukos at Knossos and a discussion of its cult and concommitant role in initiation rites.

32 Strabo (x 468). For additional references, see Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 216, n. 113.

33 The text was originally published by Bosanquet, R. C., ‘The Palaikastro Hymn of the Kouretes’, BSA xv (1908–1909) 339–56Google Scholar and Murray, G., ‘The Hymn of the Kouretes’, BSA xv (1908–1909) 357–65Google Scholar. For a recent study of the poem, see West, M. L., ‘The Dictaean Hymn to the Kouros’. JHS lxxxv (1965) 149–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar. I owe the latter referenceto Michael Jameson.

34 This interpretation was first proposed by Harrison, J., Themis (Cambridge 1927) 16–29 Google Scholar. See also, Nilsson, M. P. The Minoan and Mycenaean religion and its survival in Greek religion (Lund 1949) 546–51Google Scholar; Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 211–4.

35 Harrison (n. 34) 20.

36 Ephoros FGrH 70 F 149 (Strabo X 483–4). For this interpretation see Harrison (n. 34) 27 n. 4; Jeanmaire (n. 26) 450–5; Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 116–17, 205; W. Burkert Griechische Religion der archaischen und klassischen Epoche (Stuttgart 1977) 391–2; W. Burkert Structure and history in Greek mythology and ritual (Berkeley 1979) 29.

37 Jeanmaire (n. 26) 453–4.

38 Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 116–17; PM IV 397.

39 Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 117. On the evidence for Minoan bull (ox) sacrifice, see Sakellarakis, J. A., ‘Das Kuppelgrab A von Archanes und das kretisch-mykenische Tieropferritual’, Praehistorische Zeitschrift xlv (1970) 135–219 Google Scholar. For a study which derives a sacrificial ritual of the Classical period from a Bronze Age predecessor, see Simon, E., Festivals of Attica (Wisconsin 1983) 8–12 Google Scholar.

40 Willetts 1962 (n. 27) 117. This tradition is also discussed in Buffière, F. Eros adolescent: la pédérastie dans la Grèce antique (Paris 1980) 60–1Google Scholar.

41 The identification of the object held in the left hand of figure B, the so-called ‘sprinkler’ remains uncertain (supra n. 7). While it would not at all be inappropriate for the youth to be given an object with a religious significance in the context of an initiation rite, an explanation for the object, closer in date or culture to the Minoans, would be more satisfactory. I would like simply to draw attention to an object well-known in Hittite texts and representations, the Kalmush. For a brief discussion and illustrations of these, see Akurgal, E., The art of the Hittites (London 1962) 112, 114, 119, 127 Google Scholar; figs. 84, 85, 92. These all show an object held with the curved end at the bottom. For an object held with the curved end at the top, see fig. 101 and Bittel, K., Die Hethiter. Die Kunst Anatoliens vom Ende des III bis zum Anfang des I Jahrtausend vor Christus (Munich 1976 Google Scholar) fig. 247.

42 The representations of Ganymede acting as serving boy to Zeus and representations of youths standing beside dining couches as serving boys are collected in J. M. Dentzer, Le motif du banquet couche dans le procheorient et le monde grec du VIIe au IVe siècle avant J.C. (Rome 1982). See e.g. pl. 21, figs. 113, 114, 115; pl. 26, fig. 154; pl. 63, fig. 325; pl. 64, fig. 356; pl. 65, figs. 360, 362, 363; pl. 70, figs. 410, 411, 415, 416.

43 To my knowledge there is no attestation for the use of the verb παρίστημι nor of the noun παρασταθείς in the same sense that I have suggested here. However, its use metaphorically in οἶνος παρίσταται, wine improves or becomes fit for drinking (Thphr. CP6. 14.10) carries the connotation of maturation and drinking. Another possibly related use, ἴπποισι παρετεῶτες (Hp. Ep. 17) suggests passionate devotion. Michael Jameson suggests as possible analogies the Attic παράσιτοι, one who dines with a superior officer (Arist. Fr 55) and the Tirynthian plati-woinoi, ‘those who take wine beside’ (N. Verdelis, M. Jameson, I. Papachristodoulou, ‘Archaikai Epigraphai ek Tirynthos’, ArchEph [1975] 150–205). Professor Jameson has also pointed out that the noun παραστάτης from παρίστημι is used in the Athenian Ephebic Oath, of hoplites standing beside their comrades. For a discussion see Sophocles Antigone 671, with comments by R. C. Jebb (Cambridge 1902) and Siewert, P., ‘The ephebic oath in fifth-century Athens’, JHS xviii (1977) 102–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

44 On the Late Minoan II kylix with rounded body, see Popham, M. R., The Minoan unexplored mansion at Knossos, B.S.A. Suppl. xvii (Oxford 1984) 165–8Google Scholar, pls. 54–8. For the ‘Nestor Cup’, see Karo, G., Schachtgräber von Mykenai (Munich 1930)Google Scholar pl. 109. For a convenient illustration, see Marinatos and Hirmer pl. 210.

45 This type was distinguished from the tallstemmed variety by Warren (n. 1) 36, who, in addition to the Chieftain Cup, includes another stone example from Pseira. For an illustration, see Zervos pl. 489. While there is a difference in date between the ‘Camp Stool’ Fresco, which is probably Late Minoan II (Hood n. 21 68), and the Chieftain Cup, which is dated to Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan I, the form of the Chieftain Cup is shown below to have continued in use, albeit restricted, into the eighth-century. The more recently discovered clay chalices from Kato Syme Viannou are discussed below.

46 For preliminary reports on the excavations, see A. Lembesis in Praktika (1972) 193–203; (1973) 188–99; (1974) 222–7; (1975) 322–9; (1976) 400–7; AAA vi (1973) 104–14Google Scholar. For a recent summary in English, see Lembesis, A., ‘A sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite in Crete’, Expedition xviii (1976) 2–13 Google Scholar.

47 For illustrations of these see Lembesis Expedition 1976 (n. 46) 8 fig. 5, right; 9 fig. 8–10.

48 AR 1978–79, 38, fig. 50.

49 Lembesis Praktika 1972 (n. 46) pl. 188d (also illustrated in Lembesis Expedition 1976 [n. 46] 4, fig. 4).

50 Lembesis Praktika 1972 (n. 46) pls. 191, 192, 193; Lembesis Expedition 1976 (n. 46) 6 (also illustrated in Lembesis Expedition 1976 [n. 46] 6, fig. 1; 7, fig. 7).

51 These plaques are illustrated in Hoffmann, H., Early Cretan armorers (Mainz 1972)Google Scholar pls. 48–9 and discussed, pp. 32–3. For additional discussion of these plaques, see Boardman, J., The Cretan collection in Oxford (Oxford 1961) 46–9Google Scholar.

52 The stylistic affinity of these figures to Minoan representations was noted by Boardman but denied; see Boardman (n. 51) 47. A connection to Minoan Crete is, however, noticed in Hampe, R. and Simon, E., The birth of Greek art (New York 1981) 114 Google Scholar, where ‘the heritage of the Minoan style is still felt’.

53 This interpretation is also suggested by Hampe and Simon (n. 52) 113–14, 292.

54 Lembesis Expedition 1976 (n. 46) 13.

55 I was able to discuss my ideas on the function of the sanctuary at Kato Syme with one of its excavators, Dr Polymnia M. Muhly, at a lecture given by her at the Institute of Fine Arts in New York on March 24, 1985. She informed me that several of the workmen from the site commuted daily on foot to their homes over the mountains in the Lasithi Plain.

56 Jeanmaire (n. 26) 421–7; Willetts 1955 (n. 27) 1826.

57 Strabo X 482; Willetts 1955 (n. 27) 22–4.

58 Jeanmaire (n. 26) 425–6.

59 Although this is not actually stated, the passage by Ephoros stresses that the philetor can only obtain a parastatheis if he is socially his equal or superior. The gifts that he is required to give certainly presuppose great wealth.

60 On this question, see Willetts 1955 (n. 27) 19–22, 158.

61 Band, L., ‘I culti minoici e greci di Haghia Triada’, ASAtene III–V (1941–1943) 10–74 Google Scholar.

62 Watrous, L. V., ‘Ayia Triada: a new perspective on the Minoan villa,” AJA lxxxviii (1984) 125 Google Scholar.

63 Watrous (n. 62) 125 n. 14.

64 Watrous (n. 62) 125.

65 On the functions of rhyta, see Koehl, R. B., ‘The functions of aegean bronze age rhyta’, in Hägg, R. and Marinatos, N., Sanctuaries and cults in the Aegean Bronze Age (Stockholm 1981) 179–88Google Scholar.

66 For detailed illustrations see Marinatos and Hirmer pls. 106–7.

In the light of the foregoing interpretation of the Chieftain Cup it may be worth considering the possibility that the Boxer rhyton also depicts events associated with initiation rites. On the Boxer Vase, see F. Halbherr, E. Stephani, L. Band (n. 19). For illustrations, see Marinatos and Hirmer pls. 106, 107; see too, Coulomb, J., ‘Les Boxeurs Linoens,’ BCH cv (1981) 27–40 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The vessel is divided into four registers depicting athletic events (from top to bottom): a type of boxing/ wrestling; bull leaping; boxing with helmets and gloves; boxing without helmets and gloves. The bear-headed figures have been identified above as kleinoi based on their distinctive hair style of long lock and vestigial top knot. Two scholars have recently demonstrated that the origin of the Arcadian festival of the Lykaion and the Olympic games can be traced to initiation rites for adult males. These are respectively, Burkert, W., Homo necans: the anthropology of ancient Greek sacrificial ritual and myth, trans. Bing, P. (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1983) 84–93 Google Scholar and Nagy, G., TAPA cxvi (1986)Google Scholar (forthcoming). I am grateful to Professor Nagy for sending me a copy of his article and discussing the topic with me.

I should like to suggest that the athletic competitions depicted on the Boxer rhyton form part of the rituals associated with the initiation of a particular class of Minoan young men into adulthood. Here again a Minoan social institution of male initiation rites, now into adulthood, would form the background to the post-Bronze Age institution of athletic events as initiation rites. I hope to take up these ideas in a further study of the Boxer rhyton.