834 APOLLO KITHAROEDOS AND THE CRETAN LYRE
<$ w
a series of miniature bronze double axes of the votive type, perpetuating
the usage in vogue in the holy places of the Minoan Goddess.
The seven-stringed lyre or cithara, the special
instrument of Apollo, is also Minoan. It was played
in ritual invocations of the Lady of the Double Axes
long before the Cretan ministrants from Knossos
chanted to its strains the hymn of victory in honour
of the Delphic God.1
Attention has already been called in this work
to the use of this instrument in the sacrificial scene
tt,„ --a u on the painted sarcophagus from Hama Triada, where
riG. 350. Hieroglyphic * .
'Lyre' Signs, a, b, in- the objects of worship were the sacred Double Axes
cised on Seals; c, d, 0f t]le Goddess, whose indwelling presence was
Graffiti on Clay Docu- , , . . , , , ■ , ,r, ■ . ,
ments: Knossos. marked by the perched birds. 1 his is supplemented
-jT^ by another similar fragment, itself from the site of
cUhara'm the 'Little Palace' there, in which some details of the instrument are more
Crete and , i j /• i / v T^. T • •
Delphi. clearly denned (see below, t ig. 552, o). It may, indeed, be truly said (in a more
literal sense than might be suspected) that
the long-robed priests—like those of the
' Procession Fresco '—who here play the
Minoan cilhara, were the true forerunners
of Apollo kitharoedos.
The cithara already appears at
Knossos as a hieroglyphic sign on a seal-
impression and clay documents from the
Palace deposit, Fig. 550, a, d, and, again,
on a bead-seal from the Candia district,
Fig. 550, bp- The cursive versions of the
sign, as seen in Fig. 550, c, d, present only
three chords, but too much importance
Fig. 551. Clay Impression of 'Sig- must not be attached to these secondary
net' Seal; Hieroglyphic Deposit, forms 3 That the instrument originally
Knossos (enlarged). . ° '
had only four is made probable by the
appearance, at an epoch equivalent to E. M. Ill, of male figurines of marble
1 The cithara,—good for marking rhythm,— contest at Delphi because he had not learned
was specially adapted for dactylic chants like to accompany himself on the cithara.
the Hymn of Apollo (see A. and M. Croiset, 2 Cf. A. E., Scripta Mhwa, i, p. 192, No. 29.
Hist, de la litteraturegrecque (2nd ed.), p. 67). 3 A derivative type also appears in the
Pausanias (10. 7) relates that Hesiod was Linear Class A {P. of M., i, p. 642, Fig. 17(i,
forbidden to take part in the hymn-singing No. 78).
<$ w
a series of miniature bronze double axes of the votive type, perpetuating
the usage in vogue in the holy places of the Minoan Goddess.
The seven-stringed lyre or cithara, the special
instrument of Apollo, is also Minoan. It was played
in ritual invocations of the Lady of the Double Axes
long before the Cretan ministrants from Knossos
chanted to its strains the hymn of victory in honour
of the Delphic God.1
Attention has already been called in this work
to the use of this instrument in the sacrificial scene
tt,„ --a u on the painted sarcophagus from Hama Triada, where
riG. 350. Hieroglyphic * .
'Lyre' Signs, a, b, in- the objects of worship were the sacred Double Axes
cised on Seals; c, d, 0f t]le Goddess, whose indwelling presence was
Graffiti on Clay Docu- , , . . , , , ■ , ,r, ■ . ,
ments: Knossos. marked by the perched birds. 1 his is supplemented
-jT^ by another similar fragment, itself from the site of
cUhara'm the 'Little Palace' there, in which some details of the instrument are more
Crete and , i j /• i / v T^. T • •
Delphi. clearly denned (see below, t ig. 552, o). It may, indeed, be truly said (in a more
literal sense than might be suspected) that
the long-robed priests—like those of the
' Procession Fresco '—who here play the
Minoan cilhara, were the true forerunners
of Apollo kitharoedos.
The cithara already appears at
Knossos as a hieroglyphic sign on a seal-
impression and clay documents from the
Palace deposit, Fig. 550, a, d, and, again,
on a bead-seal from the Candia district,
Fig. 550, bp- The cursive versions of the
sign, as seen in Fig. 550, c, d, present only
three chords, but too much importance
Fig. 551. Clay Impression of 'Sig- must not be attached to these secondary
net' Seal; Hieroglyphic Deposit, forms 3 That the instrument originally
Knossos (enlarged). . ° '
had only four is made probable by the
appearance, at an epoch equivalent to E. M. Ill, of male figurines of marble
1 The cithara,—good for marking rhythm,— contest at Delphi because he had not learned
was specially adapted for dactylic chants like to accompany himself on the cithara.
the Hymn of Apollo (see A. and M. Croiset, 2 Cf. A. E., Scripta Mhwa, i, p. 192, No. 29.
Hist, de la litteraturegrecque (2nd ed.), p. 67). 3 A derivative type also appears in the
Pausanias (10. 7) relates that Hesiod was Linear Class A {P. of M., i, p. 642, Fig. 17(i,
forbidden to take part in the hymn-singing No. 78).