Yulia Ustinova

6 SNAKE-LIMBED AND TENDRIL-LIMBED

GODDESSES IN THE ART AND MYTHOLOGY OF

THE MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEA

Introduction

The image of the snake- or tendril-limbed selni-human female Illonster isattested in various parts ofEurasia, in both archaeology and mythology. However,researchers usually either concentrate on the iconography of Rankenfrau, I ordiscuss the Scythian anguipede goddess with brief mention of analogueselsewhere. This chapter attempts a synthesis, using Mediterranean archaeologyand comparative data frOlll other cultures.

The Anguipede Goddess and the Scythian Genealogical Myth'

There are five main versions of this myth: two are recorded by Herodotus (4.5and 8-10); the others are found in Valerius Flaccus (6. 48-59), Diodorus Siculus(2.43) and the Tabula Albana (leXIV 1293 A 93-96).

1. Herodotus refers to his first version only briefly, saying that the parentsof the first man, Targitaos, were Zeus and a daughter of the liverBorysthenes.

2. The second legend is nanated in detail. Heracles with Geryon's cattlereached a Scythian wasteland. His mares disappeared while he wasasleep; looking for them he anived at a land named Hylaea (Wood­land). There, in a cave, he found a creature which was half-female,half-snake. She told him that she was the mistress of the country. Thismonster kept the horses, until Heracles gave her three sons; the

64

BED

IGYOF

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Gaddesses

youngest, named Scythes, became the forefather and first king of theScythians.

3. According to Valetius Flaccus, Scythians were descendants ofColaxes,the son ofJupiter and Hora, a nymph with a half-animal body, livingnear the springs of Tibisis.

4. In Diodorus' account, the first Scythian named Scythes, who was alsothe first king, was the son of an earth-born snake-limbed maiden,impregnated by Zeus.

5. In the epigraphic version, Heracles would unite with a daughter ofanother liver-god, Araxes, whose name was Echidna. The offspring ofthis union were Agathyrsus and Scythes, the progenitors of Scythians.

65

EA

Illonster isv·However,lerifrau, I oranalogues-chaeology

th'

dotus (4.5rus Siculus

ents'iver

lulewaslOd­ale,rhisthe

The lllonstrous Scythian ancestress has the same principal characteristics in allthese versions. As the daughter either ofa river-god or of the earth, dwelling ina cave, she is manifestly chthonic. In all versions (save possibly the first) she ishalf-female, half-snake. Further, she is almost unanimously identified with Api'on two main grounds: firstly, in some versions Zeus is the partner of the snake­limbed monster, and Herodotus (4.59) called Api his wife; and secondly, thename of Api-Ce, the goddess of earth,4 is taken to indicate a connection withwater: the Scythian ancestress was a daughter of a river-god.

But the identification will not do. First, the daughter of a local river-god canhardly be a cosmic primordial deity, equal in Herodotus' opinion to the GreekGe (Hdt. 4.59). Secondly, especially given that Scythian kings had several wives(Hdt. 4.78), the Scythian Zeus could easily have had offspring from severalpartners other than Api, as did his Greek counterpart. Accordingly, Herodotusdoes not name the snake-female as Api. Small wonder that the other sourcesdescribe her as a "nymph with a semi-bestial body", Araxes' daughter, or ananguipede earth-born maiden.

In cult, the Scythian ancestress is closely related to Argimapasa, ScythianAphrodite Ourania.' Further the Scythian anguipede goddess also resemblesanother monstrous goddess, linked with Aphrodite ofAscalon, namely Derceto­Atargatis. For they both have monstrous bodies, fertility-vegetation symbolism,myths ofsexuality and an association with Aphrodite. The name of the ScythianAphrodite Ourania is usually rendered as 'Argimpasa' (Hdt. 4.59). It seemsthat Scythians believed that some of their fellows plundered the sanctuary ofAphrodite at Ascalon during their occupation ofAsia (Hdt. 1.105). Aphroditepunished them and their descendants \vith a "female disease", which causedimpotence. With the affliction the goddess gave also the gift ofprophecy (Hdt.4.67).6 While Scythian Argimpasa was certainly not identical \vith Aphrodite ofAscalon, the ScythiaJ1S of Herodotus' day were aware of their similarity. Thesanctuary ofAphrodite in Ascalon was thought her most ancient sanctuary (Hdt.1.105): no doubt she is the Semitic Astarte.' Ishtar, it should be mentioned, wasbelieved to change men into women and WOIllen into men,s which is also acharacteristic feature of the goddess ofAscalon.

Diodorus (2.4.2-6) relates the myth ofDercet09: she offended Aphrodite and

Iconography of the Anguipede Goddess in Scythia

An entire series of artefacts from Scythia (mainly from the fourth century Beand made by Greeks for the Scythian market) clearly represents the anguipedegoddess of the Scythian genealogical myth. 12 Ahnost all CQlne from burials.l.~

Yct some caution is needed: in Russian-language scholarship the term"anguipede goddess" is applied to several iconographic types, whereas only oneof them depicts the snake-limbed monster proper. 14

A gold pendant from the Kul'-Oba tumulus (Fig. 6.1.4) portrays a goddesswith snake-like legs, griffins' heads grmving below her waist, and lions' headsrising from her shoulders; she has small wings, wears a calathusJ and holds asevered bearded head in her hane!. The snakes and griffins characterize thisgoddess as Potnia theron, and link her with Medusa and Echidna.

The snake-limbed goddess is shown winged on pendant" frorn two indigenoussites in the Asiatic Bosporus: the Bol'shaya Bliznitsa tmuulus (Fig. 6.1.2-3) andthe Ust'-Labinskaya group of settlements. E, A similar pendant was discovered illa vault in Hellenistic Chersonesus, together with pendants featuring a severedhead. 16 A group of horse-head plates from the Tsymbalova Mogila tumulus (Fig.6.1.5) contains a forehead-piece representing a goddess with snake-like legs,griffins' heads and vegetal tendrils beneath her legs and above the calathus.

suffered great shame and grief; finally, she threw herself into a deep lake ncarAscalon, where she metamorphosed into a fish. The Semitic name ofDerceto isAtargatis. HJ And inscriptions mentioning Atargatis often identify her as HagneAphrodite. Further, Atargatis, the supreme goddess of Syria, had sacred poolsin her sanctuaries; she was portrayed with fish, as well as with leaves or vinesaround her forehead. Fish (and the representation of the goddess in the formof a fish) perhaps symbolize the fertile power of water. Meanwhile, repre­sentations ofAtargatis with lions recall Cybele and the idea ofanimal fecundity.Lucian actually states that the Syrian goddess is very like Cybele (De Dea Syria15) and tbat the myths and cults ofboth goddesses included self-castration andtransvestite rites (De Dea Syria 15-27, 50-2).

At Ascalon, however Derceto seems to have been subordinate to Aphrodite·Astarte. The pairing ofa great and a minor goddess, the latter only semi-human,is known elsewhere. In Ephesus, Aphrodisias and other cui tic centres, whereessentially very silnilar great goddesses 'were worshipped, a female creature withtendril-shaped legs also appeared: we shall return to them later. This splittingof the fertility-vegetation deity into two figures, one of them august and entirelyanthropomorphic, and the second one half-animal, existed also in Scytho­Maeotian religion. II

Accordingly, the literary evidence does not exclude a link between the Scythianchthonic/aquatic goddess and Api-Ge, short of identification. On the contrary,the snake-limbed ancestress of the Scythians is very much akin to Derceto­Atargatis, both of them connected with Aphrodite.

66 Scythians and Greeks

FI2

3.

4.5.

p lake nearfDerceto isr as Hague,cred poolsres or vines

n the fonnlile, repre­I fecundity.)e Dea Syriatration and

Aphrodite­mi-huInan,:res, where::ature with,is splittingnd entirelyin Scytho-

Ie Scythiane contrary,J Dcrceto-

entury Bemguipede1 burials.].'\the tcnn

18 only one

a goddess)l1S' headsld holds a:terize this

ndigenousl.2-3) andcovered in; a severedmlus (Fig.,-like legs,: calathus.

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses

2.

1.

3.

4.

Fig 6.1.1. Pendant from the Butory tumulus (from Melyukova 1989, pI. 42: 23)2. Gold pendant from the Bol'shaya Bliznitsa tumnlns (from Petro\, and

Makarevich 1963, fig. 1: 4)3. Ivory pendant from the Bol'shaya Bliznitsa tumnins (from Petrov and

Makarevich 1963, fig. 1: 5)4. Gold pendant from the Kul'-Oba tumulus (from Shelov 1950, fig. 18: 1)5. Forehead-piece of the horse-harness [rom the Tsymbalova Mogila tumnlus

(from Rayevskiy 1985, 172).

67

Stylistically ,'cry close to the Tsymbalka plate is a silver plaque. originatingapparently from the Crimea. li

The combination of chthonic and vegetal symbolism in the TSYlnbalkaforehead-piece links this iconographic group 'with another: the group ofgoddesses with tendril-shaped legs. which includes a series of representationsof a winged female figure wearing a calathus, with tendril-shaped legs and oftensurrounded with rich vegetal orIlamentation.l~

Sometimes the standard type of the tendril-lilnbecl goddess c\'okcd into anew pattern, of a still less human monster, as for instance on earrings from theButnr)' tumulus (Fig. 6.1.1), on the plate [rom the GaYl1lallO\'a ..\Iogila tumulus(Fig. 6.2.3), on the sil\'er cup [rom ~Iariynskaya,]~1 or on the sil\'er \Tssel from agrmT in the area of~Ielitopor.'!1I

Depictions of the goddess with tendril-shaped legs, akin to the snake-limbedgoddess, became predominant in the first centuries AD. This motifpenetratedthe art of the Bosporan Greek cities and turned into recurrent designs onsarcophagi (Fig. 6.2.2); it also appeared in architectural decoration.'!] Repre­sentations ofthe anguipede goddess were disco\'ered also in Chersonesus, Illostlyin gra\'es (Fig. 6.2.1).

The general shape of these representations is reminiscent of1he Tree of Life,which lillks the lower ancl1he upper spheres of the l'ni\"erse, hut also symbolizesthe supreme life-gi\'ing pO\\'er. and thus merges with the image of the fertilitygoddess.'!'! In the art of Scythia and Luristan,~:; the goddess usually clutches withboth her hands \'egetal tendrils and animal heads that grow from her hody,often from beneath its lower part. ~4 The typical posture of the anguipede goddesswith her hands and legs spread wide (the so-called ;'birth-gi\'ing" posture) appearson some Luristan pinheads. \"hich clearly show a human head emerging frombetween the parted legs of a woman, who is surrounded by rosettes and twogazelles.'!'" Accordingly, the Scythian anguipede goddess is associated not onlywith \'egetation, but with a general life-giving principle.'!I; Feline predatorsappearing near the goddess in Scythian and Luristan an'!7 make her also Patnirl

theron. This cOlnplcx image reflects the amalgamation of three major fertilityprinciples: human motherhood, \'egeLation, and animal life.

She is the ancestress of the Scythians, so that her cult was connected withancestor cult, \\-hi<:h (together with her apparently chthonic nature) may accountfor her regular occurrence ill burials. Con trolling the continuity of the life cycle,she IlIay also gi\'e eternal life. As to the se\"ered head held hy the goddess on theKul'-Oba and Chersonesus pendants, it may signify the sacrificial offering ofaman, hanging on the Tree of Ljfe.'!:-:

Snakes are complex symbols, in \'iew of, for example. their ability to disappearbelow ground, their \'el 10 1l1. skin-sloughing, fertility and sinuous mo\'eillcllt.They e\'oke the nether world, death, renewal, fertility and more, across a rangeof peoples. ~~I The union of snake and woman is to be understood as an enhance­ment of those cyocations.

68 c)'cythians and Greeks

Fig. 6.2.1. Tcrracotta plaque from the Chersonesus necropolis (from Bessonova 1983,

fig. 3: 3)2. Gable of a sarcophagus from the Bospoms (from Minns 1913, fig. 234)3. Plate from the Gaymanova Mogila tumulus (from Bessonova 1983. fig. 21).

69Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses

1.

3.

2.

.e-limbed~netrated

~slgns on.2 1 Repre­us, mostly

ected withayaccounte life cycle,less on thefering ofa

,e of Life,ymbolizesLe fertilitytches withher body,Ie goddess,) appearsging froms and two:l not onlypredatorsa.lso Potniaor fertility

vmbalka;roup of'ntationsnd often

) disappearnOVCluent.

ass a rangen enhance-

ginating

:d into afrom thetUlnulus

el from a

Rankenfrau in the Mediterranean

While the R£mkenfrau was important on the north coast of the Black Sea, herimage was not confined to that area.:)0 Nor was Scythia and its environs the onlyarea where it had religious significance, beyond simple decoration, though suchhas been argued..'!] For representations of the tendril-linlbed goddess have beendiscovered so often in funerary contexts throughout the Mediterranean worldthat it seems hard to deny its connection with the afterlife ..32

Mainland Greece

In the late fifth century female protomes, emerging from a scroll ornament,,vere painted on Attic vases. 42 In particular, two lekythoi show a female helmetedhead between branches, with a pomegranate in front of it.'13 rv16bius sees this asAthena, conceived as a fertility goddess, which seems unusual. "Vas she not rathera warlike Aphrodite or one of her counterparts?+! A Hellenistic relief fragmentfrom the Athenian Acropolis shows a foliate-skirted goddess, with a sinalllionhiding beneath the foliage, hinting that the goddess was conceived as related toCybele, or simply as Potnia theron.'"

A tendril-hlnbed winged goddess is portrayed on a gold diadeln frOin Eretria. 41'>

A silnilar ilnage appears on two fourth- or third-century gold diadenls ofunknown provenance, one showing a winged tendril-limbed female figureflanked by griffins,47 while the other one features the same design repeated sixthues. 4H

Curious is a fourth-century Attic tOlnbstone of Philippus son of Phoryscus,frOlll Pallene (IG IP 713S) .4<1 It features a standard farewell scene, but its unique

Northern Balkans

Mter Scythia, the ilnage occurs Illost often in fourth-century contexts in northernGreece. It recurs at OIYIlthus.3~~ A tOlnb-ste1e from Aetolia shows two humanfigures changing at the waist into acanthus stalks.:l4 In Macedonia, female half­figures wearing calathi and foliatc skirts appear on a mosaic in the palace atAegae (modern Vergina, Fig. 6.3.1).''' Also at Aegae, a winged tendril-limbedgoddess wearing a calathus appears on the gables of fourth-century tOlnbstoncs. 36

As in Scythia, she belonged to the underworld.37 Pilaster capitals from Perinthusfeature three-quarter female figures rising from acanthus leaves.:\8 On a mosaicfloor from Epidamnus (Illyria), a fcmalc hcad is shown emcrging from florals. 39

In Thrace, caryatids inside the burial chatnber of the early third-century tOlnbat Sveshtari have nonnal human bodies, but they 'wear chitons with apoptygmashaped as floral volutes and an acanthus leaf between them. The caryatids' handseither hold these volutes, or are raised, as if supporting the entablature. Theseseeln to be local interpretations of the tendril-limbed gocldess.'10 A wall paintingin the lunette above the caryatids portrays a goddess standing on a pedestal, acrown in her hand, reaching out towards an approaching horseman. The sceneevidently represents the posthumous heroization of a noble Thracian. 41

Scythians and Greeks70

71

..\~:v..';;-).;o·

i\~ !;

,"----

3.

1.

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses

2.

Fig. 6.3.I. Mosaic floor from Vergina: a fragment (drawing by Helena Sokolovskaya

after Andronicos 1984, figs 19, 20)2. Gold bracelet from Reinheim: a fragment (drawing by Helena Sokolovs­

kaya after Duval 1977, figs 19, 48):\. Capital from Salamis, Cyprus: a fragment (drawing by Helena Sokolovs­

kaya after Cnrtius 1958, fig. 28).

fom Eretria.46

1 diadems of"male figure1 repeated six

<ts in northernvs two hlilliana, female half-the palace at

:endril-limbed, tombstones.so

:-Olll Perinthus18 On a lllosaicfrOlll florais. 3!l

-century tOlnbth apoptygma.ryatids' handsllature. Thesel wall painting1 a pedestal, aan. The scenelcian. 41

Black Sea, hervirons the only1, though such:less have beenrranean world

of Phoryscus,Jut its unique

Jll ornament,

,ale helmetedlUS sees this asshe not rather:lief fragmenth a small lion:I as related to

South and Central Italy

In late Republican and Imperial times the motif of a tendril-limbed goddessappeared in Italy in paintings. stucco, terracotta and sculpture, includingsarcophagi. It was very popular at Pompeii and Herculaneum,"" with a long

acroterium shows an anguipede goddess almost identical to the Macedonianexamples. From which Pallene did the deceased originate: was this the Atticdeme or the westernmost peninsula of Chalcidice? Hundreds of siInilar Atticstelae lack any depictions of deities, while the anguipede goddess was certainlypopular in Cha1cidice, as the Olynthus evidence demonstrates. A northernbackground seems possible for Philippus.

The Near East

In the Near East, winged female figures rising from foliage decorate one of thepediments at Baalbek." In Khirbet et-Tannur (Transjordan) in the temple ofAtargatis, the goddess appears from a floral scroll, with leaves sprouting fromher face and neck. 63 A Hellenistic cast of a helmet, featuring a tendril-limbedwinged goddess, was found in Memphis, Egypt". It is perhaps to be related withthe Macedonian tradition.65

Scythians and Greeks72

Ionia and Cyprus

A late fourth-century snake-limbed goddess appears on a capital from Salamison Cyprus (Fig. 6.3.3) ,'" a centre of the Aphrodite-Astarte cult. In Lycian "lyra,a tomb frieze with tendril-limbed female figures dates to c.350-300." A goddesswith legs of vegetal shoots recurs in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor in thecentres of the great goddesses of Anatolia. An acroterium of the temple ofArtemis Leucophryene at Magnesia (third-second centuries) is a winged femaletorso wearing a calathusJ elnerging above acanthus leaves.52 The SaIne designdecorated the frieze in the cella of the Artemision," and the capitals of thetemple of Zeus Sosipolis," closely associated with Artemis Leucophryene."" InDidyma the same image appeared on the frieze inside the temple of Apollo.56The image appeared even in the decoration ofsecond-eentury "Megarian" bowls,produced at Pergamum. 57 Later, at Aphrodisias the foliate-skirted goddcssclutching stems ofacanthus occurs on pilaster capitals of the Inain entrance tothe Hadrianic baths. 58 The snake goddess appears too in the theatre atTermessus,59 while female figures emerging from the acanthus leaves decoratedthe propylaea ofAphrodite's temenos.""

Evidently the image had a cuitic significance. Nude tendril-limbed figuresalternate with bees on the dress of the Ephesian goddess herself.6l A foliate­skirted female figure clutching floral stems crowns the entrance to Hadrian'stemple, and winged creatures with snake-like or tendril-shaped legs appear ontwo depictions of tripods.

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses 73

facedonian,is the Atticimilar Attic'as certainlyI\. northern

om Salamis,ycian Myra,;1 A goddesslinor in the, temple ofIgedfemalearne design)itals of thehryene.55 Inof Apollo.56lrian" bowls,ed goddessentrance totheatre at

~s decorated

,bed figures.61 A foliate­o Hadrian's;s appear on

2.

:e one of theLe temple ofouting frDIn,dril-limbedrelated with

[)ed goddesse, includingwith a long

Fig. 6.4.1. Thymiatedon from the area of Croton: a fragment (drawing by Helena

Sokolovskaya after Stoop 1960, pI. 12)2. Volute-crater, Berlin-Branca group: a fragment (drawing by Helena

Sokolovskaya after Trendalll989, fig. 191)3. Gold plaque from Cerveteri (drawing by Helena Sokolovskaya after

Marshall 1911, pI. 16, No. 1265).

local tradition, besides any influence from further afield." A "proto-image" ofatendril-limbed goddess first appeared as early as the seventh or sixth centuries,on twin gold plaques from Cerveteri (Fig. 6.4.3),&3 apparently the earliest exampleof the motif in the Mediterranean. They show a female creature, with twobranches springing directly from below her chest and terminating in palmette-

like ornaments, with lions' heads on either side; below the branches is an il1n~rted

pahnette. A silver cista from Palestrina features a similar female head abm'e apalmette, with volutes instead of branches. li!! Although attributable to anOrientalizing trend in Etruscan art, this sYlnbolisll1 probably also made sense inEtruscan mythology: snake-lilnbcd winged [cIliale creatures appear Oll a seriesof Etruscan urns. 70

Plants and snakes have lunch in cmUlllon. Sprouting from the earth \\,11ercthe dead are buried and blossoming anew each year, plants suggest feculldity.opulence, renewal and afterlife. 71 That was further amalgammed with hllll1an

and vegetal elelnents in the tcndril-Ihnbed goddess or the head emcrg'ing fromvegetation. This pattern of sYInbols recurs, especially in funerary contexts inSouth Italy, the Balkans and elsewhere in the Mediterranean and beyond.~~ InMagna Graecia too, other therianthropic iInages recall the pattern: for example,a pisciform tritol1,73 tritonness,74 Scylla. 75 Although not quite snake creatures, ~ti

various therianthropic lllonsters seem to have shared association with tlll' netherworld. This association is especially evident in the gilded terracotta decorationof a fourth-century coffin frmn Tarentum,7i 'which looks like a duplicate ofornamented coffins from the Bosporus,7s save for one detail: Scylla takes theplace of the anguipede or tendril-limbed goddess.

Mythological Background and Symbolism of Half-Snake Creatures

,The role of the anguipede goddess as the ancestress of the Scythialls suggeststhat she existed in Scythian mythology before intensive contacts with the :\lcdi­terranean world. It has been argued79 that Herodotus' second \Trsion of theScythian genealogical Inyth resembles the story of ROSt.:'1Ill and Tahmina in theInediaeval Iranian Shah-nama by Firdawsi: a hero arrives in a ne\\' COLlnlry: isdeprived of his horses when asleep; the mistress of the country tells hilll herwish that he father her child; the hero accept.... ; leaving the cOLilltry and hispartner, he gives her a token which is to be passed to his offspring, ',"c kllO\\'110(

whether the two authors tapped a related Iranian traditioll or Firdawsi had readhis Herodotus.

SiInilar tales abound. An Ossetian legend on the birth of the greatest hero.Batraz, makes hirn a son ofanother hero, Khamytz, by a daughter of a riyer-godDon-bettyr, who wore a turtle's shell during daytime:'lO Again, there is the Cc Iticfairy MeIusine: breaking his oath, her nlortal husband saw her semi-reptile bochand thus forced her to leave him forcver.sl German mediaeval folklore also hasa creature who is half-woman/half-snake, in a cave with a treasure.'';:.'

In the Mediterranean, we find dryads elnerging from trees and the like.':; IIILycian Myra coins feature a wmnan cInerging frmn a tree, flanked by nn) snakesand attacked by two Inen with double axes.84 This image is close to the tcndril­HInbcd goddess,s5 It has been suggestedSti that the coins illustrate the hirth ofAdonis to Myrrha, who angered Aphrodite and was punished by her. She fell ill

74 Scythians and Greeks

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses 75

invertedabove ae to ansense ina series

1 where:undity,human19from:exts inld. 72 Inample,Lures,76

neLher)ration:ate of~es the

.resggestsMedi­of thein thetry; isn herld hisw not. read

bero,r-god:elticbody) has

,83 In

akesdril­.h of,II in

love with her own father and had sex with him. Myrrha was turned into a myrrh­tree and later gave birth to Adonis, to be Aphrodite's lover (Apollod. 3.14.4;Ovid. Met. 10.490). The myth recalls that of Derceto, Aphrodite's wrath­ultimate shame of the girl who had provoked it-her pregnancy and the birthof the child-her metamorphosis.

Snake-like and pisciform felnale monsters are known in Inainland Greece. InPhigalia (Arcadia) a goddess who was a fish below the hips was worshipped asEurynome, taken to be a form ofArtemis by the locals (Paus. 8.41.6).87 Betterknown is Echidna, with whom the Scythian anguipede goddess is compared byDiodorus. Hesiod in the 7lleogony (295ff.) gives her the torso ofa woman and aserpent's tail instead ofhuman legs. Like the Scythian ancestress, Greek Echidnadwelt in a cave (Theog. 302), and descended either from a river, the dreadfulStyx (Paus. 8.18.1), or from Gaia, either directly (Apollod. 2.1.2), or via Chrysaor(Hesiod Iheog. 296). Echidna was born from Ge.

There was also anguipede Cecrops, the first king ofAthens, who introducedhis people to religious rituals and marriage (FGH328 F. 94-89)." He was theparadigmatic autochthon: he had no parents, but emerged directly from theEarth (Hygin. Fab. 48). His half-animal form (human above the waist andophidian below) indicates his dual charactec f19 Like the Scythian ancestress, hewas a lilninal figure: founder of a dynasty, born into a primaeval world, onlyhalf-human and still resembling the snake, which passes freely between the twoworlds of the living and of the dead.!lo

The Origins of the Snake Goddess Motif

Many hold that tlle snake goddess was essentially an oriental vegetation/fertilitygoddess, whose image spread over the Mediterranean."] However, she hardlyappears in the rich repertory of Near Eastern and Anatolian Inonsters.92 In theMediterranean world and it.Ii environs, the earliest exalnples of the tendril- orsnake-lilnbed creature appear in Italy, South Russia and the northern Balkans.Only later, in the fourth century, are they attested in Lycia and on Cyprus.

Moreover, in Northern Europe female creatures with snake-like legs recurthrough the Bronze and Iron Ages,!l3 earlier than in the Mediterranean. Theyare attested in early La Tene art, for example,94 on a magnificent gold braceletfrom a princely burial at Reinheim (Fig. 6.3.2, dated c.400)-" Anguipedecreatures appear too in Late Bronze Age Scandinavia and Germany.96 Indeed,the snake-lilnbed Medusa on the Vix crater, from the burial ofa Celtic princess,lIlay reflect an interpretatio Celtica of the Greek image,97 much as the predilectionof Scythians for Gorgons resulted from their own anguipede goddess."'

Meanwhile, an early first-millennium goblet froln Luristan shows a two-headedmonster with a wOlnan's breasts, hands and hips, and reptile legs, clutchinggazelles with both hands. 99 But if tllis Iranian motifinfluenced Greek iconographydirectly, why did it take Greeks half a millennium to use it? Moreover, the earliest

female anguipedes in Greek art are snake-Iinlbed gorgons, not the snake WOlncn

ofNorthern Greece and Scythia. Perhaps the Luristan monster and the Scythiananguipede both belong to a CDInmon Iranian tradition.

Artefacts deposited in Scythian burials were produced by Greek artisans toScythian taste. The Scythian style ofrepresenting the snake goddess was certainlyperfected by Greek artisans, but it lnay well have existed earlier and beenaffiliated with ancient Iranian traditions, as is often the case with Scythian art.Even Greek images from Scythian contexts (e.g. Medusa) appear to connotealso local mythological characters. Rather as Herodotus identified Scythiandeities with Greek gods, so Scythians might see their ancestral gods in Greekimages. 100

In detail the iconographic history of the snake goddess remains obscure, butthere SeeIng no reason to seek a Mesopotamian or Anatolian origin for themotif in the Mediterranean world. Several hundred years divide the Luristanmonsters froill the art of Ionia. The early occurrence of anguipedes all overEurasia may imply a shared repertory, but it may also have emerged independ­ently in several places from Northern Europe to India. 101 Its diffusion into theGraeco-ROInan Mediterranean may well have started from Scythia and thenorthern Balkans. 102

Tendril-Limbed Creatures and Androgyny

Winged tendril-limbed creatures, with griffins or panthers, 'were sOIuetimes givenbeards: on fourth-century marble thrones from Athens (Fig. 6.5.3),103 a wingeddeity with a calathus and women's clothes holds the ends of vegetal tendrils,flanked by winged griffins. On a contemporaryAthenian column base the deityappears in a similar context (Fig. 6.5.2). Especially interesting is a fourth-centuryacroterium (Fig. 6.5.4), showing a tendril-limbed, bearded deity, who has a highheaddress and holds unicorn panthers (or maybe lions) by their horns. Theacroterium belongs to the Hermitage: it was perhaps found to the north of theBlack Sea

W4For a gold diadem from the Kul'-Oba tumuhlS (Fig. 6.5.5) 105 (where

pendants with the anguipede goddess were found (Fig. 6.1.4)) features beardedand winged figures wearing calathi and tendril~shaped legs ending in sea­Illonsters and sprouting pomegranates being eaten by birds. This finnprovenance for a bearded version of the deity in turn supports the suggestedprovenance for the Hermitage acroteriuIl1.

But what is the gender of the deity? The calathus is normally worn by a goddess,not a god;W6 symmetrically arranged felines are depicted on either side ofPotniatheron, the garments of the deity in all instances are undoubtedly female, andon the nude torso of the deity shown on the Hermitage acroteriuIll one canperhaps detect breasts, Yet scholars take this to be a male, whether Dionysus, j07

Sabazius, W8 a "Iuale fertility deity", W9 or the "Lord of the animals",l W I-fowever,Sabazius and Dionysus are never portrayed with wings. The solution is probablysupplied by fourth-century bronze reliefs from Olynthus (Fig. 6.5.1),111 which

76Scythians and Greeks

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses 77

2.

4.

5.

1.

3.

Fig. 6.5.I. Bronze relieffrom Olynthus (from Bessonova 1983, fig. 10)2. Relief on a column base from Athens (from Bessonova 1983, fig. 10)3. Relief on a marble throne from Athens (from Bessonova 1983, fig. 10)4. Acrotclium of unknown origin (from Bessonova 1983, fig. 10)5. Gold diadem from the Kul'-Oba tumulus: a fragment (drawing by Helena

Sokolovskaya after Williams and Ogden 1994, fig. 85).

cure, but1 for theLuristan; all overldepend­into theand the

les givenI wingedtendrils,:he deity-centuryIS a high·ns. The.h of the; (where

learded. in sca­lis firmggested

rtisans to;certainlymd beenthian art.connoteScythianin Greek

~oddess,

fPotnialIe, and)ne canlySUS, Hl7

owever,

robablyI which

,eWOlnen, Scythian

Conclusions

In areas where a goddess such as Aphrodite, Artemis or Cybele, had a majorcult-whether in Asia Minor, the north Black Sea steppe, or at Ascalon, forexanlple-she seems to have been associated with a rather different deity, ahalf-animal monster which was often distinct from her, but also sOInetimes soclose to her that the two almost merged.

Anlbiguous by t11eir nature, therianthropic images are a "category ofrepresent-

show a bearded, winged deity, with emphasized breasts, a plant above the headand two panthers emerging from beneath the waist (i.e. almost the same designas on the Tsymbalka harness-plate (Fig. 6.5», as well as a bird between thepanthers. If this bird is a dove, which is most likely,ll2 the Olynthus reliefspresumably represent the androgynous Astarte-Aphrodite.'13 An early fourth­century mosaic from Olynthus

l14shows a deity clutching its tendril-shaped legs,

and flanked by two double-bodied sphinxes, but its schematic design does notallow one to discern the sex of the character. 115

The bearded Aphroditus is shown emerging from a scrotal sac on a seventh­century terracotta plaque from Perachora."6 Photius (s.v. Aphroditos) explainedthat Aphroditus was Hermaphroditus, and cited fragments from Attic comediesmentioning the divinity. A bearded Aphrodite was worshipped on Cyprus (Paeon,FGH757 F I) and celebrated in Athens in a transvestite rite (Macrob, Saturn.3.8, FGH328 F 184)."7

Meanwhile, the Scythian Enareis, punished by Aphrodite with the "femaledisease," are manifestly transvestite. I IS Meuli I 19 stressed their shaIuanic nature:transvestisIll and trans-gender behaviour are elements of shamanic culture. 120Moreover, recent archaeology attests Scythian transvestitism. At the sanle time,the transvestite androgyny of Enareis suits the cult of Levan tine Aphrodite, forcastration and male impotence was deeply rooted in the rituals of Aphroditeand Astarte. 121

The deity on the thrones and base from Athens, on the acroterium [rOIIl theHermitage, and on the Olynthus plaque is probably the androgynous Aphrodite.The Kul'-Oba diadem is an additional indication of the bisexual nature of thegoddess to the north of the Black Sea. Most important, perhaps, the beardedandrogynous Aphrodite-Astarte is shown here in a posture typical of the BlackSea anguipede goddess. This is a striking expression of the relationship betweenAphrodite and the anguipede goddess, as otherwise shown in myth, ritual andiconography. 122

The snake-limbed goddess was in the eyes of the Scythians a primordial being,the progenitor of the human race. Ambiguity of gendel; probably expressingthe deity's all-inclusiveness, was conunon to several divinities, who usually had aconventional gender, but deviated from it in cult, mythology and iconography."3We may compare the German priInaeval god Tuisto, also bisexual, a scion ofthe earth and the parent of the first man, named Mannus (Tac. Germ. 2.3) ."4

78Scythians and G,.eks

I

ation betwixt and between other categories ... [they] are frequently associatedwith rituals of transition and liminality, or with the intermediate stages ofcreation, when the world is in neither its primal nor its finished state". 125 At thistransitional stage, when the conntry of Scythia already existed but was notinhabited by men, the angnipede goddess gave birth to the Scythian people.Similarly in Greek belief, in the primordial world before people learnt the lawsof civilized life, angnipede creatures flourished.

Snakes are creatures ofambignous character, gliding between the worlds aboveand below the earth, capable ofbringing death and opulence. Plants grow fromthe depth of the earth, where the dead depart; they evoke fertility and renewal.Accordingly, both snakes and plants embody the ideas of death and revival. Thecombination of human and vegetal or serpentine elements in a divine imageimplies the deity's power oflife and death.

Further, the duality inherent in the combination of human and animal orvegetal elements is enhanced by the androgyny of the snake- and tendril-limbedcreature. The androgyny shared by the Scythian "pair" ofgoddesses (Argimpasa­Aphrodite and the angnipede nymph) is evident in iconography, mythologyand cult, as it is also in the examples from Attica and Olynthus. The ambiguityof gender seems congenital to therianthropic monsters.

love the head~ same designbetween the

rnthus reliefsearly fourth­

I-shaped legs,sign does not

on a seventh­os) explainedttie comediesrpms (Paeon,crob, Saturn.

the "femalelanie nature:lie cuIture. 12(1

le same time,phrodite, for)f Aphrodite

urn [roIll thelSAphrodite.lature of thethe beardedof the Black

;hip betweenh, ritual and

ordial being,y expressingusually had amography.l23tI, a scion ofmn.2.3).I24

had a majorAscalon, forrent deity, a)metimes so

::>f represcnt-

Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses 79

194 Scythians and Greeks

Savostina (1999, 200-1), pointing out the variety of details in the execution, assumesthat they may have been made by different craftsmen but in one workshop, designatedas the Pectoral Workshop. Schwarmaier also suggests a considerable chronologicaldifference: she dates the pectoral from Tolstaya Mogila to c.3205, while the piece fromBol'shaya Bliznitsa to the early third century.

106. Cat. SchleffiJig1991, No. 106; Cat. Vienna 1993, No. 30. Kiev, Mus. of Hist. Treas., inv.AZS-3484.

107. Petrenko 1978, pI. 31, I; Galanina and Grach 1986, figs. 236-7; Cat. Hamhmg 1993,No. 65. Hermitage, inv. Kp 1891. 1/26.

108. Deppert-Lippitz 1985, 158, fig. 11; Pfrommer 1990a, 101, 105, pI. 17, 3; Williams andOgden 1994, No. 96; Cat. Bonn 1997, No. 53. Hermitage, inv. P. 1854.28-9.

109. See, e.g., Williams and Ogden 1994, No. 93: from Pantikapaion, c.400; Cat. Bonn 1997,No. 51. Hermitage, iov. P. 1854.24.

110. Cherednichenko and Murzin 1996, 73, 76, fig. 10; Cat. San Antonio 1999, No. 100.Kiev, Mus. of Hist. Treas., inv. AZS-3079.

Ill. Ognenova 1961, 528-32, figs. 15-16, 18; Cat. Vienna 1975, No. 282; Archibald 1985,165 ff.; 1998,255-7; Bessios and Pappa n.d., 92a-b; Faklaris 1991, 1-16, pIs. 1-9, 11­12; Musti et aI., 1992, 188, fig. 147.11; 273; Cat. Florence 1997, No. 144; Fornasier 1997,137-40, fig. 47; Knll 1997b, 362, fig. 78, 3; 365. A fragmented piece was recentlyacquired by the Metropolitan Museum (Purchase. Sarah Campbell Blaffer FoundationGift, 1996. 1996. 248). Its vertical neck-guard is ornamented with rectangular panelsenclosing pairs of confronted seated lions, a cow's head between them, interspersedwith eight-petalled rosettes, with concentric decorative bands below. See: Christie'sAntiquities. 14June 1996 (New York). No. 45.

112. Fornasier 1997, 119-46, esp. 145-6.113. Archibald 1985, 181. The Bosporan origin of the pectorals from l1uace and Macedonia,

suggested by Hoddinott (1981, 106--7), seems very improbable.114. Hoddinott 1975, 72-3, pI. 43; 1981, 106-7, fig. 100; Archibald 1985, 166-7, figs. 1-2;

Faklaris 1991,8-9, pI. 9, Cat. Florence 1997, No. 144. Sofia, Arch. Museum, inv. 6401(Mal-Tepe) .

115. See, for example, Themelis and Touratsoglou 1997, pIs. 14-16,74,75. Thessaloniki,Arch. Mus., inv B 1.

116. See Treister in press b.117. Artamonov 1970, fig. 186; Rolle 1979,106; 1980, 141; Marazov 1980, 75, fig. 57;

Bessonova 1983,94-5, fig. 18; Galanina and Grach 1986, fig. 144; Pfrommer 1990a,73, note 26, No.5; Cat. Schleswig1991, 152, fig. 1; Cat. Hamburg1993, No. 52; Boardman1994,209, fig. 6, 32;Jacobson 1995, 272-3, fig. 142; Michel 1995, 171-3, K 10, fig. onp. 224; Kull 1997b, 386-7, fig. 90, 2; Ustinova 1999,94-5, pI. 6, 1,6. Hermitage, inv.Dn 1868. 1/8.

118. Mozolevskiy 1979, 39, fig. 23; Rolle 1979, 106;Jacobson 1995,272. Kiev, Mus. of Hist.Treas.

119. See Treister forthcoming c. Moscow, private collection.120. See above note 24. Hermitage, inv. Dn 1911. 1/11.121. See above note 25. Kiev, Mus. of Hist. Treas., inv. AZS-2358.122. See above note 26. Hermitage.123. See above note 27. Hermitage, inv. 2495/31.124. Detailed analysis, see Treister in press c.

6 Snake-Limbed and Tendril-Limbed Goddesses in the Art andMythology of the Mediterranean and Black Sea

1. This term, as well as Rankengiittin and Rankenwesen, denotes a snake- or tendril-limbedsemi-human female monster.

Notes: pages 62-70 195

lSsumesignatedCllogicalce from

~as., inv.,

'g 1993,

lfiS and

m 1997,

10. 100.

d 1985,-9,11-

" 1997,'ecently11dation- panelsspersed~hrislie's

edonia,

gs. 1-2;

IIV. 6401

aloniki,

t'fig. 57;. 1990a,ardman,fig. on1ge, inv.

of Hist.

t and

-limbed

2. For a detailed discussion ofthe evidence on mythology and cult ofthe Scythian anguipedegoddess, see Ustinova 1999, 87-99.

3. Artamonov 1961, 66; Rayevskiy 1977, 46-8; Bessonova 1983, 37.4. For Api-Ge, see Ustinova 1999, 74-5.5. For Argimpasa, see Ustinova 1999, 75-87.6. For Enareis and their androgyny, see also below.7. Boedeker 1974, 4; Schurer 1979, 31.8. Flemberg 1991, 14.9. For this cult, see Ustinova 1999, 80-3.

10. Straba 16.4.27; Plin. Nat. Hist. 5.19.81; Lucian, De Den Syria 14. For Atargatis, see Harig1984; Bilde 1990.

II. Ustinova 1999, 128.12. Rostovtzeff 1922, 107; Ivanova 1951; Pyatysheva 1947; Rayevskiy ] 977,52-3; Bessonova

1983,93-8.13. Bessonova 1983, 94.14. Ivanova 1951; Petrov and Makarevich 1963; Bessonova 1983, 93.15. Bessonova 1983, 93.16. Pyatysheva 1971, 102.17. Treister forthcoming. Michael Treister discussed this plaque in his paper 'Die Ranken­

gottin - Ein neues Silberreliefvon der Krim,' delivered at the colloquium Griechen undNichtgJiechen am N(Jrdmnd des Schwarzen Meeres, in Munster Ganuary 2001). I am verygrateful to Michael Treister for having kindly given me the manuscript of the relevantchapter from his forthcoming book.

18. Bessonova 1983, 94.19. Stoop 1960, 53.20. Curtius 1934, fig. 2.21. Ustinova 1999, 155-7.22. For the Tree of Life and fertility goddesses, see Przyluski 1950, 94, 148. For the Tree of

All Remedies in Iranian beliefs, see Rashn Yasht 17; Yarshater 1983, 346, 352. For theassociation of snakes with the World-Tree in the Edda, see Welsford 1960, 420.

23. For the connections between artistic traditions of Scythia and Luristan see Ghirshman1964,301-29; Bessonova 1983, 82.

24. Godard 1931, pI. 52; 1962, pI. 34.25. Godard 1962, fig. 78; Ghirshman 1954, pI. 8a; 1964, ill. 58.26. Rayevskiy 1977, 55; Bessonova 1983, 96.27. Godard 1931, pI. 36; Ghirshman 1964,46.28. For severed human heads in the art and cults of Scythians, Sarmatians and Thracians,

see Ustinova 1999, 98-9, ]69.29. MacCulloch 1960; Crooke 1960; Welsford 1960.30. For a survey of the iconographic evidence on Rankenwesen from the Mediterranean,

with an emphasis on Asia Minor, see Pfrommer 1990b; Veit (1990) adopts a broaderapproach, both in terms of geography and chronology, treating materials from thewhole of Eurasia, dating from the antiquity to the modern epoch.

31. Mobius 1968, 717.32. Cf. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950, 5; Curtius 1934, 231; 1958, 200; Schauenburg

1957,210,220.33. To be discussed below, p. 34.34. Stoop 1960, 61.35. Andronicos 1984, figs 19,20.36. Andronicos 1984, pI. 61.37. A winged and foliate-skirted figure on the arch of Galerius at Saloniki, and a pair of

pilaster capitals from Perinthus featuring female figures rising from acanthus leaves,may belong to the late Imperial, rather than local, tradition (Toynbee and Ward Perkins1950,31).

38. Ibid., 31.39. Robertson 1975, pI. 152c.40. Fa! et al. 1986, 116, figs. 29, 30; Chichikova 1989; figs. 2-6.41. Fa! et al. 1986, 117; Chichikova 1989, 208.42. Mobius (1968,717) interprets the female figure emerging from a scroll ornament,

painted on a fifth-century Be lekythos, as a 'fancy creation ofthe author,' since it has noattributes of a divinity. Is not the fantastic shape sufficient to prove that the image onthe vase was conceived as a supernatural being, and not just as a mortal?

43. Ibid., 716.44. For this aspect of Aphrodite's divine personality, see Flemberg 1991; Pirenne-Delforge

1994, 33, 208-9, 450-4.45. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950, 7. The lion was not intended just to 'enliven the

scene,' as Toynbee and Ward Perkins claim.46. Stoop 1960, 52.47. Curtius 1958, fig. 34.48. Marshall 1911, No. 1610.49. Curtius 1958, 197-8.50. Curtius 1958, 195, fig. 28; Schmidt-Colinet 1977, 229, No. W 35.51. Schmidt-Colinet 1977, 219, No. W 9; Bean 1978, 125, fig. 14.52. Humann et a1. 1904,67,69, figs. 57, 60; cr. Laumonier 1958, 532.53. Humann et al. 1904,75,77, figs. 65, 69.54. Ibid., 147, fig. 158.55. Laumonier 1958, 535.56. Wiegand 1941, pIs 107-9; Schmidt-Colinet 1977, 219, No. W II.57. De Luca 1990, 161.58. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950, 31, 34, pI. 24. 2.59. Curtius 1934, 231.60. Laumonier 1958, 482; pI. 10. Related designs are also rather common. A three-quarter­

length female figure wearing calathus is portrayed emerging from a calyx and clutchingleafY boughs on a stone table from Athena's sanctuary in Priene. A similar nude femalefigure appears on the main gable of the scenae frons at Aspendus. A winged goddessemerging from acanthus leaves was represented in the Pergamon Trajaneum. A seriesof terracotta incense-burners from South Italy feature female heads and busts, oftennude, crowned by a flower and sometimes emerging from a floral calyx. They werediscovered mainly in Heraion on the Sele, near Paestum, and are dated to the fourthand third centuries Be. Judging by the goddess' nudity and the representation of oneor two Erotes above her shoulders, these thymiateria portray Aphrodite. An incense­burner from the sanctuary of Hera near Croton (Fig. 6.4a) is exceptional, as it shows awinged tendril-limbed goddess, clutching volutes spreading from below her waist, witha calathus, consisting of leaves or petals. A calyx that emerges from the calathus and thetendril-limbed goddess was apparent in Italy. Apulian vases often feature not only headsin floral scrolls on their necks and shoulders, but also sepulchral or undenvorld sceneson the bodies. Several hundred small clay altars from South and Central Italy and Sicily,dating from Archaic to Hellenistic times, show the same tendency: the majority aredecorated with frontal representations of female heads surrounded by vegetal volutes,whereas some specimens feature complete tendril-limbed female figures. Thus, onterracotta thymiateria and arulae, as in vase painting, representations ofheads and bustsemerging from florals dominate, but the Rankenfrau-type also occurs. Chthonicsymbolism of the head emerging from vegetal scroll details featuring female headssurrounded by scrolls usually belong to tombs. Most terracotta arulae feature funeralsubjects, such as sphinxes, griffins, Nereids or Bacchic scenes, and were found in tombs,or in sanctuaries of goddesses, connected with chthonic cults. Gold diadems were placedin graves, as well. In Etruria, a third-century BC sarcophagus from Cerveteri exemplifies

196 Scythians and Greeks

the occurrence of the motif in sepulchral art.61. Fleischer 1973, 100-2, figs. 7, 8, 19, 21, 33, 34.62. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950, 31.63. Glueck 1937, pis. 14, 15.64. Toyubee and Ward Perkins 1950, 4-5, fig. on p. 4.65. Stoop 1960, 61.66. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950,7,9,18; Curtius 1934, 228-30, figs. 1,5; 1958, 195,

198-201,205, figs 29, 36, 43.67. The Greek epithet of the deceased wife in a Latin epitaph from Rome (IG XIV

2036",IGUR 974), is perhaps to be related to this tradition, rather than to be interpretedasa 'female initiate into an esoteric religious association' ,asAronen 0996,132) suggests.

68. Marshall 1911, Nos. 1265-6; d. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950, 5.69. Langlotz 1995, pI. 5. 1; Str0m 1971, figs. 104, 105; 1990,94, pI. 5.70. Veit 1990, fig. 12. Several urns featuring similar motifs are preserved in the Archaeological

Museum in Florence (inv. 5471, 5551, 5554). Male snake- and fish-limbed figures occurin Etruscan sepulchral art: a snake-limbed giant is painted in the first-eentury BC Tombof the Typhon in Tarquinia (Pallottino 1952, 127), and a fish- or snake-limbed oarsmanappears in the fourth-century BC Tomb ofStucco Reliefs in Cerveteri (Pallottino 1955,fig. 9; Mansuelli 1966, pI. 27). This oarsman, depicted next to Cerberos, is Charon, whois not only chthonic, but also an emphatically liminal figure, an embodiment of thetransition between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

71. Cf. Burkert (1987) on the symbolism of Eleusinian and Dionysiac mysteries, bothcelebrated in honour ofvegetation/fertility deities. For plants and flowers in sepulchralart, see Schauenberg 1957,202-4.

72. The occurrence of nude female figures rising from the acanthus in Roman Gaul andGermany may derive from the artistic tradition ofImperial Rome. However, in the contextof local culture they were perhaps conceived as associated with some indigenouspersonages. Twin reliefs from Noricum may illustrate this point. There are no indigenousfeatures in the artistic style of these reliefs, featuring winged creatures with pisciformlegs finishing in ivy tendrils, surrounded by dolphins, shells and cornucopia. Yet theserehefs, which are attributed to a syncretistic cult ofNoreia Isis, have no parallels elsewhere,and the nature of the cult implies that the monstrous image was meaningful both to theRoman colonists and to the local population. Figures of double nature, human/vegetalor human/ophidian, prevail in the Eastern Mediterranean, but form only a minority inItaly, whereas the situation regarding busts and heads, rising from or surrounded byfloral elements is exactly the opposite, as Stoop rightly observes. They are relatively rarein the East, and predominate in the West. However, iconographic proximity of the twotypes, their occurrence in the same areas and their semantic interchangeability on artobjects prevent clear distinction between them. Figures with legs in the form of coilingsnakes are found only in Scythia and in the Eastern Mediterranean, besides the snake­limbed Medusa on bronze craters. The Pontic repertory, which includes not only semi­bestial and semi-vegetal, but also transitional forms, combining both tendrils and snakes,implies that the two types are contiguous

73. E.g. Langlotz 1995, figs. 122, 123. For the iconography of tritons, see Icard-Gianolio1997,68-85. Tritons are very common in Etruscan art, and seem to have penetrated itunder the Greek influence (Camporeale 1997, 85-90).

74. Trendall and Cambitoglou 1978-82, 2, pI. 397, 2-6.75. E.g. Trendall and Cambitoglou 1978-82, vol. 2: 1025-1026, pis. 396: 6, 397; Trendall

1989, figs. 63, 270; Pugliese Caratelli 1996, cat. No. 345. Scylla, a man-eating monster,makes her first appearance in literature in the Odyssey (12. 73 f£.). The scholiast on theOdyssey mentions also dogs at her sides, and the coiled form of her feet. For a survey ofGreek and Roman sources on Scylla, and arguments for the monster's connection toLamashtu, see D.R. West 1995, 303-7.

I ornament,lce it has noIe image on

ne-Delforge

enliven the

ee-quarter­j clutchingLldefemale;:.d goddessm. A serieslUSts, oftenThey werethe fourthion of onen incense­; it shows awaist, withus and theonly heads)rld scenesand Sicily,ajority are:al volutes,Thus, on

; and bustsChthoniclale headsre funerallin tombs,ere placed{emplifies

Notes: pages 70-74 197

76. Scylla is represented with one tail and in profile in early Greek art; when portrayed infrontal position, she acquired the second tail, the earliest example being an Attic red­figure fragment. These two tails sometimes end in dragons' heads rather than fins (Stoop1960,59). For the development of Scylla's iconography, see Andreale 1999, 303-19.

77. Pugliese Cararelli 1996, cat. No. 298.78. E.g. Minns 1913, fig. 277.79. Tolstoy 1966, 245--6; Rayevskiy 1985, 38-45.80. V.F. Miller 1882, 200; Tolstoy 1966, 245.81. MacCulloch 1960,410; Boehlau 1989, 518.82. Tolstoy 1966, 240--1, with refs.83. Cf. Veit 1990,12.84. Laumonier 1958, 496, pI. 12, 19; Cook 1914-40, vol. 2, fIg. 620. See above on the

decorated tomb there.85. Laumonier 1958, 496-7.86. Cook 1914-40, 2, 680.87. Jost 1985, 412-14.88. Parker 1990, 197-8.89. Eur. Ion 1163; Aristoph. Vesp. 438; Apollod. 3.14.1); Parker 1990, 193, 195.90. Titans, the offspring of Ge, who also lived in the Golden Age and are called by Hesiod

'the former gods', struggled against Zeus and his siblings (Hesiod. Theog. 134ff., 621ff.). Some myths regard them as progenitors of humans: mankind emerged from theirashes (Graf 1993, 97). In the late fifth-fourth century BC, Titans become synonymouswith Giants (Bavant 1997,31-2). In early Greek art Giants are entirely anthropomorphic,but starting in the late fifth-early fourth century BC they were depicted as anguipedc(Vian 1988, 192,253). This transformation resulted from the assimilation of all theTitans to their awesome half-brother, the Earth-born Typhoeus (Theog. 820 ff.), who wasrepresented as anguipede already in Archaic art (Touchefeu-Meynier and Krauskopf1997,147-52). For the Near Eastern origin of the Greek conception of Titanomachiasee Burkert 1992, 94-5; Penglase 1994, 192; M.L. West 1997, 296-300; for Typhoeus

see M.L. West 1997, 300-4.Emphatic cosmic symbolism and representation of the nether-world are also suggested

for two quite different later groups of anguipede creatures, snake~limbed giants onjupiter-Giants columns and cock-headed creatures with reptile legs portrayed on so­called gnostic amulets. Late second-third century AD juppitersaiile, found in theRhineland, are crowned by triumphant horsemen supported by bending snake-limbedgiants. Nilsson (1960) convincingly argues that these columns express cosmic symbolism,showing the highest god of Heaven, who holds sway over the upper and nether worlds,the latter denoted by the giant. The image engraved on the magical amulets conveysthe same idea: the cock's head symbolizes the creature's power over the universe as thegod of Sun and Heaven, whereas his ophidian legs indicate that he is also the Lord ofthe undenvorld. In Hesiod (11reog. 120), Eros is a cosmic ubiquitous force, and thegod's pervasiveness (as well as the Italic tradition of showing him surrounded byflorals)may be the reason behind the trend to depict Erotes as Rankenwesen in Imperial art,for instance, on a relief from the Trajan's forum. Regrettably, no local myths ofRankenwesen survived to account for the popularity of these creatures in the art ofEtruscans and Greeks. Indian Nagas' dual power over life and death, wealth and famine,as well as their role as progenitors of ruling families, and bestowers of king's authority,

are characteristic of other anguipede therianthropic figures.91. Curtius 1958, 196; Stoop 1960, 45-50, 57; Veit 1990, 21-4; d. von Lorentz 1937, 177.92. Stoop (1960,45-6) cites Perrot (1937) for 'the motive of the human figure with vegetable

elements developing from the head or the limbs or substituting a greater or smallerpart of the body' as common in the art of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. However, theseare figures havingfeetand shown either holding branches in their hands, or with branches

198 Scythians and Greeks

attached to their cloths (Perrot 1937, 55-9, figs 30-33). So far, I have failed to finddesigns similar to Rankenfrau in the art of the Levant. Moreover, Stoop (1960, 57)cites von Lorentz (1937, 165) as suggesting that the motif in question was diffusedfrom Ionia to Greek colonies east and west by means of the export of embroideredtextiles. Yet von Lorentz refers to a single hypothetic Oriental predecessor of variousRankenwesen, a representation ofAhura Mazda inside a winged solar circle on a Persiancylinder, supposing that the tail of the eagle could later develop into tendrils (1937,177), which is rather dubious. Thus, the hypothetic Oriental prototype of theiconographic scheme of Rankenwesen still remains to be found.

93. Gimbulas 1991, 132.

94. A male Celtic god Cernunnos is portrayed with ram-horned snakes forming his legson a relief from Cirencester (Gloucestershire; Green 1992,227, fig. 7.18). On a stelefrom Vendoeuvres (Indre) Cernunnuos is flanked by two human-headed snakes (Ibid.,227-8) .

95. Scholars discussing this bracelet (Duval 1977, 61, figs. 19,48; Gimbutas 1991, 132, fig.214; Green 1998, 189, fig. 95) fail to notice that the hands of the monster rest on hervulva, depicted in a realistic manner. Helena Sokolovskaya drew my attention to thisdetail.

96. cr. Gimbutas 1989, 132, fig. 214. 2 (Pictish).

97. The buried princess must have been a priestess, and the religious character ofthe Vixburial seems apparent to many scholars (Hatt 1970, 90), although it is questioned byothers (Megaw 1966, 41). Hatt even suggests that the decoration of the crater, theprocession ofwarriors round Artemis, represented 'in the eyes ofthe Gauls... a cavalcadeof warriors in honour of a native goddess' (1970,91).

98. USlinova 1999, 110-11.99. Godard 1962, pI. 34.

100. For indigenous and Greek elements in Scythian art, sec Ustinova 1999, 18-23, withrefs.

101. Schauenburg (1957, 218) suggests spontaneous development of Rankenmotive invarious parts of the HeIIenic world.

102. Stoop, although insisting on the Near Eastern provenance of the motif, arrives atsimilar conclusions concerning its diffusion in the Mediterranean (1960, 63)

103. Mobius 1926, 121; Kraus 1954. Although Richter (1954) maintains that these thronesare Roman copies of a common fourth-century BC Greek original, this does not affectthe discussion of the iconographic type (d. Schauenburg 1957, 217).

104. Mobius 1926, 121.105. Williams and Ogden 1994, 142-3.

106. There are some rare exceptions, limited to Zeus, Hades, Sabazios, Dionysos andAsclepios (Laumonier 1958, 337).

107. Langlotz 1932a, 182.

108. Toynbee and Ward Perkins 1950,5; Kraus 1954, 43; Picard 1961, 135; Mobius 1968,717; Segall 1955, 212.

109. Ivanova 1954, 197.110. Robinson 1941, 31; Bessonova 1983, 86.Ill. Robinson 1941,31, pI. 5,16.

112. It does not resemble an eagle, as Picard (1961, 135) argues. For pigeons depicted enface, their wings spread, see Ustinova 1999, 105-6.

113. For doves as birds sacred to Aphrodite and Astarte, see HeIck 1971, 274; Pirenne­Delforge 1994, 415-17.

114. von Lorentz 1937, pI. 44; Robinson 1941, pI. 6A.

115. There is no doubt that some male deities and other mythological figures were oftenportrayed as snake-limbed: Greek characters such as Cecrops and Giants, some Etruscandemons, putti in Imperial Roman art, and figures onJuppitersaule in Roman Germany

199Notes: pages 74-78

'stedson1 so­the

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veysthe

d oftheals)art,; oft of

n the

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yed inic red­Stoop-19.

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200 Scythians and Greeks

(all of them already discussed above). Some of these are winged: figures on Attic three­sided bases published by Mobius (1926, table 18), various anguipede giants (Vian1988, 250-1) and Erotes. However, none of these wears female dress or headgear, andwhen the composition allows, their male genitalia are shown. Their general attitudediffers from the fixed Rankengottin-type.

116. Payne 1940, pI. 102; Pirenne-Delforge 1994, 123.117. Comastic cross-dressing is depicted on a series ofAttic vases (M.e. Miller 1999), gender

ambiguity attested in other cuitic aspects of Dionysos (ibid., 242). However, comastsand Dionysus himself, even when transvestite, do not have wings. Transvestite festivalswere also celebrated for Artemis (ibid., 242), but not in Athens. Thus, although Artemiswas indeed portrayed as winged, Aphrodite remains the most plausible identificationfor the deities depicted on the objects under discussion. For Artemis and Aphroditerepresented as winged, see Ustinova 1999, 109. Ephrat Habas-Rubin drew my attentionto M.e. Miller's paper.

ll8. Halliday 1910/ll; Khazanov 1973, 43; Taylor 1996, 2ll-14.ll9. Meuli 1935, 127-30.120. For a detailed discussion of Scythian Enareis see Ustinova 1999, 76-9.121. Delcourt 1958; Herter 1960, 71-5; Ustinova 1999, 37-8.122. The androgyny of the Scythian goddess perhaps finds its clearest expression in a very

curious terracotta figurine, probably produced on the Bosporus, which was discoveredin a late Scythian (first century AD) grave near the village of Krasny Mayak, in theLower Dnieper area (Symonovich 1981). The figurine is a herm "With male genitals;the head is, however, female, with a typical female headdress and a radiate nimbus.

123. Herter 1960, 75; Cook 1914-40, vol. 2, 674-5; Laumonier 1958, 77-81; Flemberg1991, 13--14; M.e. Miller 1999, 242-3. For a discussion of androgyny in Indo-Europeanand non-Indo-European cultures, see O'Flaherty 1982, 283-334.

124. Much 1967,51-2; Polomo 1987, 522; cf. Anderson 1938, 39.125. Walens 1987, 481.

, 7 Pericles, Cleon and the Pontus: The Black Sea inAthens c.440-421

* It is a pleasure to acknowledge the benefit I have gained from discussions of thesematters with Daniel Ogden, Keith Sidwell andJohn Wilkins (on history and comedy),as well as David Blackman, Stephen Lambert and Anna Rusyayeva (on matters ofepigraphy). Of course, I am responsible for the views expressed.

1. Modern scholarship on the expedition is surveyed well by Karamoutsou 1979, thoughher early date for the expedition is untenable: see Mattingly 1996b, with furtherhypotheses, on which more below.

2. Stadter 1989, 217 seems to agree, but he also allows that much of the account mightbe 'a rhetorical elaboration of the Sinope affair'. Yet it is not so elaborate or rhetoricaland, crucially, the Sinope affair (under Lamachus almost as much as Pericles) looksmore like an appendage to Pericles' expedition than vice versa.

3. Mattingly 1996a, 150 hears echoes at TIme. 2.41.4 and 62.2. See below on Hennippustoo.

4. Strabo 12.3.11, p. 545 gives a first-hand account of the city and its defences, makingclear why it was seldom taken by force.

5. See e.g. Mattingly 1996a, 148-9, noting that Lamachus' relative youth in the 430s tellsagainst any attempt to locate the expedition much earlier; also Meiggs 1972, 197-9.However, the deposit of a coin hoard in the vicinity c.420 (Mattingly 1996a, 497-9)seems irrelevant to these matters of historical chronology.

6. On the close chronology and uncertain context/causes of Byzantium's revolt, seeFornara 1979, 7-8.