Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

to tree- or plant-forms 525
{d) exhibits a griffin with wings Hke those of the bird on the opposite
side. In the field is a Hly-flower before it, a star above it, and, higher
up, two pairs of ritual horns' resting on a horizontal line. The
ornamentation of the lid includes a couple of stars; that of the ends,
a pair of horns with a bud springing from between them.
We are not in a position to clear up the meaning of all this
symbolism. But we can at least explain some parts of it with more
or less probability. The double axe set upright on a stepped base
between a pair of pillars is again comparable with the Tenedian
Fig- 393-
coin-type- and suggestive of the 'Minoan' sky-god '. Its intimate
connexion with the lily recalls the Mycenaean ring, on which a
double axe descends from heaven towards a goddess decked with
lilies^, presumably Rheal The axe combined with the lily thus
betokens the life-giving union of the sky-god with the earth-goddess,
and is analogous to the scene of the leafy axes on the sarcophagus
from Hagia Triada. \\4iether the griffin can be regarded as an
allusion to the griffin-drawn goddess is more doubtful.
' Cp. the stucco horns found in house B at Palaikastro (R. C. Bosanquet in the A>iit.
Brit. Sch. Ath. 1901 — 1902 viii. 314 fig. 27).
2 Infra § 3 (c) i (o). ^ Supra p. 522.
* Supra p. 47 fig. 18. ^ Supra p. 515.