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Votive riders seated side-saddle at early Greek sanctuaries1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

Mary Voyatzis
Mary Voyatzis
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
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Abstract

A relatively rare type of bronze votive dedicated at Greek sanctuary sites in the second half of the 8th cent, BC depicts a female seated side-saddle on a horse. Examples have been found at only four sites, primarily in the Peloponnese: three come from sanctuaries in Arcadia, one from Olympia, and one from Samos. At 7th- and 6th-cent. sanctuaries in the Peloponnese, the type in terracotta is more frequent, but it never becomes particularly common as a votive. In the Aegean, the depiction of female riders seated side-saddle can be traced back to the Late Bronze Age; the type was probably originally inspired by models from the Near East. A similar pattern is found on Cyprus. Male versions of riders seated side-saddle are known from LBA sites, and the type reappeared in the late 8th cent. BC. The evidence suggests that the similarity between the Geometric bronze type and LBA examples was a result of memories of the significance of the female rider that survived in Arcadia through the Dark Age.

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Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 87 , November 1992 , pp. 259 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1992

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References

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30 Gill (n. 5), 6. no. 1; Poursat (n. 5), 463, no. 2.

31 Ibid. no. 1; Gill (n. 5), 7, no. 5.

32 Ibid. 8, no. 12; Poursat (n. 5), 464. no. 4; Crouwel 51.

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34 Ibid., no. 6.

35 Levi (n. 4), 108–25, pl. 4 a–b; Crouwel 52, pl. 46. Crouwel (52 n. 46) mentions that the authenticity of this statuette has been questioned by one author (E. French).

36 Ibid. 52, pl. 47.

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38 Gill (n. 5), 1–4; Levi (n. 3), 270–80.

39 Gill (n. 5), 2–3.

40 Poursat (n. 5), 466–8: 471–4.

41 Crouwel 51: Levi (n. 3), 269–73.

42 Gill (n. 5), 4.

43 Poursat (n. 5), 467–8, fig. 2. Poursat believes there are many similarities between this fragment and the Aegean scenes; but tuo of the Aegean seals to which he compares the fragment have dubious authenticity at best (the Hagia Pelagia seal and Nestor's ring). See Poursat (n. 5), 467; 472–3: Gill (n. 5), 9, no. 16.

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65 Voyatzis, , ESAA 240Google Scholar; 252; 269–71.

66 For recent finds from the early sanctuary at Lousoi, , see AR 34 (1987–1988), 24.Google Scholar For the Pylos tablet see Chadwick (n. 47), 193–4. Cf. also Gérard-Rousseau. Les Mentions (n. 46). 203–4.

67 See the bronzes in Coldstrcam (n. 20), 256–7; see also Gehrig, U., Die geometrischen Bronzen aus dem Heraion von Samos (Hamburg, 1964).Google Scholar

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74 It is possible, however, that a memory of the significance of the female rider seated side-saddle survived at Samos. The site was one of the first architecturally developed sanctuaries in the Greek world, and there is some suggestion of continuity there during the Dark Age. See Nicholls, R. V., ‘Greek votive statuettes and religious continuity, c. 1200–700 BC’, in Harris, B. F. (ed.), Auckland Classical Essays Presented to E. M. Blaiklock (Auckland, 1972), 14–15.Google Scholar

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85 Weber (n. 12). 9: Schweitzer 156–9: Goldstream (n. 20), 157. Zimmermann (n. 6). 323. also believes it likely that the Arcadian bronze riders are deities.

86 Dawkins 150–1: Thompson (n. 80). 124.

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92 Schweitzer 156—9. Zimmermann (n. 6), 110. supports Schweitzer's general conclusions regarding the significance of the rider in Arcadia and the connections between females and horses in Arcadian cult.

93 Jost (n. 89), 301–17; 333–5.

94 Langdon (n. 30), 199–200.

95 Jost (n. 89), 332–3.

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98 See n. 89; cf. also a bronze figurine from Tegea with hands to her breasts, Voyatzis, , ESAA 123–4Google Scholar, pl. 60.

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100 Dawkins pl. 172. 1: fig. 123 e; Yalouris (n. 91). 93; 99. Note the similarities between the image from Sparta (Fig. 14) and the Tegean bronze; see Voyatzis, , ESAA pl. 121, B 162.Google Scholar