Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/161

 Rh series of scientific hypotheses. They begin with Zeus. It is proved that he was in Greek religion the god of the sky, of the air, of the earth, of what is under the earth, of the rain, of the sun, of the stars, of the oak-tree, and of any other tree that was present where oaks were scarce, say poplar, plane, palm, and so on. No doubt all these and many other provinces were claimed for Zeus in historic Greece, though in each department he had many divine under-studies. But we, if interested in the Minotaur, want to know what the religious professors in prehistoric Crete thought about Zeus, how they worshipped him, and with what rites. On this part of the subject our only light comes from works of Minoan art, with inferences from the rites of Greeks in Crete in historic times. A new theory, however, concerning the Minotaur goes on to argue that, in late Minoan Knossos, (not yet Greek), a highly-civilized, wealthy, peaceful, and monarchical city, with a royal palace of enormous extent and surprising magnificence, and with a population who lived in eligible villa residences with every modern sanitary requirement, religion took the following shape:—The king (or Minos) was a priestly king, and was believed to be the living embodiment of Zeus,—in especial of the god as Lord of the Sun. He was obliged every nine years to fight, run, or take part in some other athletic contest. If defeated, (and the veteran could hardly expect, if he won at eighteen, to retain the prize at thirty-six), he was done to death, and the victor obtained the crown. "It may be conjectured . . . that the ritual costume of Minos was a bull mask," says Mr. A. B. Cook, "and that this gave rise to the legend of the bull-headed Minotaur."

Now, according to the Athenian legend, (which educated Greeks of the fifth century B.C. proclaimed to be a mere