by Europa whom he carried off by taking the form of a bull. Minos had brothers and
tosettle the question as to who was to be ruler of Crete, he prayed to Poseidon, god
of the sea, to send him a victim for sacrifice, whereupon Poseidon sent a bull from
the sea. But Minos failed to sacrifice the magnificent animal and so Poseidon caused
Minos’s wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull. The creature that resulted from
their union with the head of a bull and the body of a man was the Minotaur. The
labyrinth was constructed by the craftsman Daedalus in order to hide the monster.
The motif of the bull is prominent on the fresco decorating the wall above the
north entrance of the main palace, as reconstructed by Evans. The historical
importance of the bull in Cretan life is further evidenced in one of the dynamic
frescoes, which depicts the sport of ‘bull-jumping’ (fig. 2). The idea seems to have
been that as the bull charged, jumpers, perhaps in succession, grabbed the horns of
the bull and somersaulted over the head landing on the bull’s back. This is certainly
what is depicted on the elegantly designed representation that manages to capture
both the power and speed of the bull and the acrobatic agility of the jumper. The two
standing figures are women, who are evidently not excluded from the society of men
in what might seem the most masculine of endeavours. In their restored condition,
these palace frescoes are quite stunningly beautiful. One of these (fig.3), known as
the Minoan Lady, was given the title La Parisienne by Sir Arthur Evans because it
seemed to represent a stylish feminine beauty and elegance. Some of her colouring
survives, notably the red on the lips, black for the eyes and blue for the dress. In its
EARLY GREECE: HOMER AND HESIOD 3FIGURE 2 Fresco at Cnossus: bull-jumping
Source:The Bridgeman art Library, courtesy of Getty Images