HUNTING OF WILD-GOATS AND DEER

577

of Central Crete1—the ' elongated ' amygdaloid form of which is parallel with

some Vapheio types—the assailant has
overcome a similar great beast, gripping
him by a horn while he thrusts his blade
into its cervical vertebrae (Fig. 559).

Fig. 558. Huntsman stabbing

iGEIMt. Agate Lentoid : Mira-

iiello, Crete. (So, too, Fig. 428,

i'. 492).

Fig. 559. Huntsman stabbing overthrown

Agrimj. Elongated Amygdaloid of Agate:

H. Pelagia, Crete, (f).

Stag Hunts.

Of the use of the bow to bring down the wild-goat pursued by a hound, Minoah
we have an early record in the ivory half-cylinder of M. M. I a date.2 The as Dik-
huntress. of matronly proportions, who appears on a Late Minoan cornelian pU'™„ing
intaglio from Crete (Fig. 560),•' is surely the Goddess herself in the form stag with

Fig. 560. Cretan God-
dess as Artemis (Dik-
tynna) drawing Bow.

Fig. 561. Goddess as Diktynna shooting
Stag with Bow of Asiatic Type. Gold Bead-
seal : Thisbe.

Fig. 562. Hunted
Stag with Sacral Knots
above. SealImpression
from ' Archives De-
posit ', Knossos.

perpetuated by the later Diktynna, whether her quarry be in this case wild-
goat or deer. Her divine character is, in fact, implied by the 'sacral

1 For Hagia Pelagia, cf. P. of M., ii,

PP-251, 252.

See above, p. 523, Fig. 469.
See P. qfM., i, pp. 432~4-