142 ECSTATIC FRENZY FROM JUICE OF SACRED TREE

Ecstatic
effect of
fruit of
sacred
tree.

Funereal
signifi-
cance of
body-
shield.

Parallel
design on
Mycenae
ring.

similar relation on the ' Ring
a definite specific form. On
ard

to

rega

of Nestor',1 which

the Vapheio ring,

the chrysalis as an emblem of

Goddess a male attendant plucks a fruit from

butterflies—seen in a
there, however, have
too, we have every warrant
resurgence.

On the left of the
the sacred tree, rising
up from behind what
seems to be a baetylic
stone of subconical form.

This action, which
recalls that on the great
Mycenae signet and else-
where, and is again de-
picted in the companion
scene displayed on the
companion signet (Fig.
93), is of special ritual
moment. It is the juice
of the sacred fruit, like

the Soma of the Vedas, that supplies the religious frenzy, and at the same
time implies a communion with the divinity inherent in the tree.

Thus, according to the reading of the evidence, there are two
successive scenes in this representation. In the first the Goddess is thrown
into an ecstatic frenzy by the juice of the sacred fruit. In the second she
falls entranced on the shield of her male consort. Like the early grave-
stones at Falerii, for instance, in the form of the Italian oval shields, the
shield itself as thus set on one side with the mourning figure resting upon it,
surely indicates the death of its owner.2 We are brought, in fact, into
a religious domain, of which Crete and Syria alike formed part, where
a mortal but resurgent God forms a principal figure.

A close analogy to the representation on this Vapheio signet is afforded
by that from a tomb at Mycenae shown in Fig. 93,3 to which attention
has been already called on account of the artistic feeling that it displays.

Fig. 93. Religious Scene of Mourning by Grave and
Ecstatic Dance on Gold Signet from Mycenae (f).

1 See below, p. 148, Fig. 96.

2 We may recall the slain figure covered
with the body-shield on the Mycenae stela.

3 I first described these rings in Myc. Tree
and Pillar Cult, p. 78 [176] seqq., and, after
thirty years of fresh discoveries, still adhere to

the general lines of the interpretation there
given. It is possible, however, in going over
the ground again to modify some details and
to supply new comparisons. The idea of the
' duality' of the types also makes matters
clearer.