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'Five feet only were the Minoans, but very athletic figures they had,
and the - what you say? - narrow waists, like bee.'
'Wasp-waists - yes, so I've noticed, by the frescoes on the walls?
They wandered from one great apartment to another, and with
Kostagis as their guide it was possible to get the feel of the past
grandeur and intricacies of the great palace, this house of the Double
Axe.
'It's quite incredible, but the plumbing and drainage system appears to
have been as effective as any we have today,' Melanie remarked as
they stood in the Queen's apartment. 'They seem to have been very
concerned with hygiene.'
'Hygiene?' Androula picked that up immediately and Melanie
carefully explained.
'Yes, very clean people,' Kostagis put in. 'Not like later. The Greeks
later not so clean and - and hygienic.'
'And they were so clever at planning,' Melanie continued as they
moved about. 'The central courtyard here is the heart of the palace, I
take it?' She glanced at Kostagis and he nodded.
'This plan typifies the Minoan palace,' he went on to explain. 'Always
they have a central courtyard; this was used for ceremonies
conducted by the king, for religious - er - what you say?'
'Rites - rituals?'
'That is it - rituals.' He shrugged as he glanced around. 'And I think
they would have moonlight strolls with the lady-friend also.'
'There are ever so many altars,' Sandra remarked.
'Were they always offering sacrifices?'
'Many times they offer the sacrifice. This sort of palace was not only
the home of the king, but also it was the centre of the Sacred
Precincts, so you have many altars and shrines. And chapels too, and
soon we will see the baths for ritual - er - cleaning?'
'Purification is the word you want, I think,' offered Sandra, grinning
at her friend. 'How much commission do I get?'
'These people - they like much the dance.' Androula pointed to one of
the frescoes on the wall. 'They look to me as if they like to dance. I
think they had much of the joy.'
Certainly a volatile race, thought Melanie, examining the fresco
indicated by Androula.
'Yes, they were a carefree, happy people,' she agreed. 'And very fond,
I should imagine, of demonstrating their athletic prowess.'
'Bull-baiting - they very much like this sport.' The beautiful
bull-baiting frescoes were the most famous, and all these depicted the
graceful bodily strength of the Minoans. They had a certain facial
beauty too, with delicate bone structure and attractive almond-shaped
eyes.
'Just imagine the girls taking part in that dangerous sport. What
exactly went on, Kostagis?'
They were sitting on the remains of a wall, high on an upper floor and
a breathtaking panorama spread in an arc before them. It was a
landscape formed of concave and convex slopes with here and there a
deep ravine and the outlines of Jouctas engraved on the pure blue
Grecian sky.
Bull-baiting was a skilled and highly dangerous sport, Kostagis
began to explain, and both sexes loved to exhibit their prowess. From
the frescoes, many of which were in die museum, it was easy to form
an accurate picture of what had occurred. The youth or maiden would
wait for the charging bull, grasp its lowered horns and as the bull
charged he or she would be tossed into the air. The clever part was to
know the exact second when to release the hold on the beast's horns,
turn a somersault and land on the animal's back. Then before it could
charge again the boy or girl must leap nimbly from the bull's back and
land safely on the ground.
'So they didn't kill the bull, or even hurt it,' Melanie said with a sigh of
relief that brought a smile to the faces of the other three.
Kostagis shrugged apologetically.
'They later sacrificed the bull.'
'Sad ending,' laughed Sandra. 'Kostagis is sorry for your
disappointment. We don't need any language to tell us that.'
The two girls laughed, but the Greek couple just looked on, puzzled.
Melanie decided to explain and Kostagis considered it a huge joke
that his feelings were so plainly revealed by his expression.
'I think it's a good suggestion that we now go to one of those cafes we
passed and have some refreshments,' said Kostagis a little while later.
They were still wandering about the upper floors; the sun was
climbing and the air was stifling despite the breeze coming down
from the mountains. The aspect of so much variation of colour took
Melanie's breath &way. Corn poppies of brilliant scarlet, the gold of
crown daisies and the blue of borage. The silver-grey of olives
against the mountainside, the darker silhouette of the cypresses ... the
tantalizing, indescribable green of the polished vine leaves.
They all agreed about the refreshments and left the vast palace with
Melanie having the impression that one could come each day for a
month and not see everything. There were so many courts and
apartments, numerous shady walks and lightwells, colonnades and
stairways, storerooms where the massive earthenware jars instantly
brought to mind the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
'It's not difficult to see how the myth of the Labyrinth originated,' said
Melanie as they sat on a vine- shaded terrace outside the cafe,
drinking Turkish coffee from minute cups. 'The palace is so vast and
sprawling, with its array of rooms and courts, one on top of another,
and the corridors and endless apartments, that it would appear
labyrinthine to the gullible peasants and serfs of Crete, and so we get
the myth of the Labyrinth and the monstrous Minotaur.'
'He was born because of the desire of die queen to have a child by the
sacred white bull consecrated to the moon,' Kostagis informed them.
'Minos her husband was very angry when the bull-headed son
arrived '
'You can't exactly blame him for that,' interrupted Sandra with a
laugh. 'So he flung him in the cellars, so I've heard?'
'King Minos have the Labyrinth made specially. The Minotaur live in
there and every nine years seven beautiful maidens and seven youths
from Athens were thrown in for him to devour.'
'Then Theseus slew the monster and was led out of the Labyrinth by
the lovely Ariadne.' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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