The palaces of Crete and their builders . calledby Dr. Evans •The Snake Goddess ^(Fig. 134). The arms are ex-tended. The right hand holds thehead of a serpent whose bodypasses over her shoulder and downher back. The left hand holds theserpents tail, which is wound roundher arm. Another serpent rears itshead over the mitre which thegoddess wears, and its coils slipdown over her neck and uncoveredbreast, and mingle with her regularsnaky curls. The sleeves of herdress are short, the petticoat,striped horizontally, is edged withan embroidered trimming, and anapron in front, of rounded shapeand tri
The palaces of Crete and their builders . calledby Dr. Evans •The Snake Goddess ^(Fig. 134). The arms are ex-tended. The right hand holds thehead of a serpent whose bodypasses over her shoulder and downher back. The left hand holds theserpents tail, which is wound roundher arm. Another serpent rears itshead over the mitre which thegoddess wears, and its coils slipdown over her neck and uncoveredbreast, and mingle with her regularsnaky curls. The sleeves of herdress are short, the petticoat,striped horizontally, is edged withan embroidered trimming, and anapron in front, of rounded shapeand trimmed with a Greek keypattern, is matched by a similardrapery hanging down behind. Afine spiral ornament begins on theshoulders of the bodice and isrichly developed on the back. Theresemblance in dress and coiffurebetween this goddess and the priestess is so striking that I aminclined to call them both priestesses. Perhaps the dress of thepriestess is rather less richly ornamented than that of the Snake Knossos Excavations, p. 90, FIG. 134.—THE SEKPEXT GOD-DESS, so NAMED BY ARTHUREVAXS. JJOJ/AN IN IHE ANCIENT RELIGIONS 275 Goddess, but this detail does not justify a great distinction ininterpreting the figures. In both the matronly ideal is pre-dominant. In ancient art and ancient religion there is no suchidea as a girl Venus. She is exclusively goddess of fertility,the symbol of Mother Nature, teeming and fruitful. III. The discovery of a marble cross among other cultus objects isworthy of remark (Fig. 135). The cross as a Mycensan symbol,was known from the marked stones in the palaces of Knossos andPhsstos, and indeed the juxtaposition of two straight linesintersecting at right angles must have been one of the earliestof geometric designs. This example, however, is is a solid object in the form of the orthodox Greek cross,and must have a religious meaning, i The fact that onesurface is smooth and the other rough shows that the crosswas fastened to some
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