Greg Nagy
Last updated at
July 9, 2020, 3:46 p.m.
{"blocks":[{"key":"4vml4","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"fe2qq","text":" ","type":"atomic","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":1,"key":0}],"data":{}},{"key":"aict1","text":"Theseus re-emerging from his dive into the sea, carrying the ring of Minos and the starred garland of Amphitrite. Drawing after a cast of a neoclassical gem, once in the Poniatowski Collection. Currently in the collection of Prof. Klaus Mueller, Bonn, cataloged and photographed by the Classical Art Research Centre.","type":"header-two","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[{"offset":286,"length":29,"key":1}],"data":{}},{"key":"3ai9i","text":"In Nagy 2017.06.10 1§§50–51, supplemented by 1§§18–23, I have analyzed the details of the monumental wall painting as described by Pausanias at 1.17.3. I give here an epitome:","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"acn4t","text":"{1§50.} As a symbol, the Ring of Minos links the Minoan Empire to the imperial ideology of Athens as represented by Theseus. The mentality of finders keepers applies: Theseus finds the Ring of Minos at the bottom of the sea, where Amphitrite, pictured here as the goddess of the Aegean, freely gives it to him. Here I must add that the Ring of Minos can be seen as a signet ring that seals documents of state written in parchment.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[{"offset":142,"length":15,"style":"ITALIC"}],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"5a1u6","text":"{1§§18–23.} Documents written on parchment and then sealed with a signet ring are a distinctive feature of administrative practices perfected in the era of the Minoan Empire. Accordingly, the signet ring is a visible sign or symbol of empire.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"70qqr","text":"{1§51.} And a visible sign or symbol of the idea that Theseus actually marries the sea is the golden garland that the sea-goddess gives to him when he dives into the depths of the Aegean to retrieve the Ring of Minos.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"e6ug5","text":"What follows is an epitome from Nagy 2017.06.10 2§1:","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"b6sla","text":"{2§1.} There is another version of the myth about the deep-dive of Theseus to the bottom of the sea: this version is narrated in Song 17 of Bacchylides, where we read further details that are in some ways the same and in some ways different: after Theseus dives into the depths of the sea, the sea-goddess Amphitrite welcomes him, enveloping the hero in a purple robe, line 112, and crowning his head of hair with a garland made of roses, line 116 (ῥόδοις)—a garland that she herself as a bride of Poseidon the sea-god had received as a wedding present from Aphrodite, lines 113–116. When Theseus finally comes back up for air, emerging from the depths of the sea, he is wearing the purple robe and the garland of roses, ready to confront Minos. From here on, it will be Theseus and not Minos who will have dominion over the Aegean Sea, and this dominion is expressed by the symbolism of both the purple robe and the garland of roses.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"6rh8s","text":"I should add that Song 17 of Bacchylides is not explicit about the recovery of the signet ring, though there is a clear reference to it at lines 60–62, when the ring is about to be thrown overboard. And, here at line 60, we see a new detail: the ring is golden, just as the garland is golden in the version described by Pausanias at 1.17.3.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"asg42","text":"On the other hand, Song 17 of Bacchylides is quite explicit in its picturing of dolphins carrying Theseus in the course of his transition to the bottom of the sea, lines 97–101, just as the hero in the modern miniature carving is pictured as being carried on the back of a dolphin.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"3bddj","text":"Another detail in the modern miniature is worth noticing: the garland that is held by the hero is studded with stars. ","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"2l8tf","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"57eut","text":" ","type":"atomic","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[{"offset":0,"length":1,"key":2}],"data":{}},{"key":"oo1l","text":"","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}},{"key":"17sf6","text":"This garland corresponds to the constellation known as the Garland of Ariadne, and the mythology of this constellation may well date back to the era of Minoan civilization: I offer comments on the background in Nagy 2017.06.10 5§§1–3.","type":"unstyled","depth":0,"inlineStyleRanges":[],"entityRanges":[],"data":{}}],"entityMap":{"0":{"type":"IMAGE","mutability":"IMMUTABLE","data":{"src":"https://new-alexandria.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/fOd6wS498-Theseus_drawing.png"}},"1":{"type":"LINK","mutability":"MUTABLE","data":{"href":"http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetailsLarge.asp?recordCount=1&id=%7B22DB12E9-78FF-4BA2-80CD-95B1494A6B79%7D&imageSize=4&fileName=PONIATOWSKI%2FT606%2EM%2F&returnPage=","target":"_blank","url":"http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetailsLarge.asp?recordCount=1&id=%7B22DB12E9-78FF-4BA2-80CD-95B1494A6B79%7D&imageSize=4&fileName=PONIATOWSKI%2FT606%2EM%2F&returnPage="}},"2":{"type":"IMAGE","mutability":"IMMUTABLE","data":{"src":"https://new-alexandria.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/40tB9ThOQ-Theseus_garland_2.png"}}}}