3i6 CHARIOT TYPE B, AT KNOSSOS AND THISBE

version of the same arrangement. It serves to date the Knossian intao-r
within the limits of L. M. I b (c. 1500-1450 B.C.).

In connexion with the above it is specially interesting to observe thaf

Fig. 795. Chariot of Type B on Amygdaloid Bead-seal, from Knossos.

Example 0ne of the group of three gold examples from the Thisbd find that fit on
on Thisbc to this elongated amygdaloid form of bead-seal' illustrates a chariot of the
bead-seal. same c]ass ;n mucn m0re elaborate detail (Fig. 796). The intaglio itself is
the pendant to another of the same group illustrating some early form of
the Oedipus story.2 In the fellow piece the hero is at grips with the
Sphinx : on this we recognize him in the ' Cleft Way ',3 attacking his father,
known.as Laios in the Greek version. The personage in the chariot—
where superior rank is designated by the banded helmet with flowing crest
—wears a sleeveless corslet with shoulder-loops analogous to those of the
Knossian ' cuirasses'. The flounced and tasselled covering of the thighs
are a characteristic of the whole group.

The third bead-seal of the group shows a scene that naturally sug-
gests the murder of Aegisthos and Klytemnestra by Orestes. The occui-
rence in the group of two illustrations of the 'Oedipus' story4 finds a

1 See above, pp. 513, 514, and compare Sepulchral Treasure from Thisbf (/-"• ■'

p. 495, where this'elongated'evolution of the xliv, 1925, and Macmillans), p. 27 seqq. a

' amygdaloid' class is described, its antecedent PL hi.
stage being practically limited to L. M. la. Li Sx^t^ 6S0'?.

"- See above, pp. 513-15, and Fig. 457 a, l>, ' The absolute correspondence of the you

and A. K., ' The Ring of Nestor, &■■<:, and ful hero in all three scenes of this gr0 P