Minoan Bull - Connection to the Earth’s Primordial Energies - Symbol of hotsell Solar Power, Determination, Strength,Virility - Bronze

Condition: New, Made in Greece.
Material: Pure Bronze

Dimensions (approximately):
Height: 9 cm - 3,5 inches
Width: 12 cm - 4,7 inches
Length: 3 cm - 1,2 inches
Weight: 1050 g

Ancient cultures throughout recognized the physical power of the bull and venerated the bull as a creature of the cosmos. The Minoan people of Crete, 2000 – 1450 BCE, emphasized bull veneration in their spiritual practices. Minoans found logic in their natural world and felt humans and the environment were in harmony. Living in a turbulent geographical area, ritual practices incorporating the chaos of the universe and man's ability to overcome the natural environment were common place.They expressed their relationship and worship of nature and natural elements through craft and art. Through Greek myth and archaeology, art has reconstructed and help guided our understanding of the Minoan culture. The evidence of such studies describe that Minoans saw the bull as a physical representation of an earth deity. Through looking at the myth of the Minotaur, ritual surrounding the bull, art featuring the bull, and analyzing similar iconography of other cultures, the Minoan deification of the bull is undeniable.
The existence of King Minos and the myth of the Minotaur is debated but proves a long reaching connection to the bull in Minoan history. King Minos of Crete feared the dwindling power of his empire and hence asked Poseidon for a bull to sacrifice. When a white bull emerged for the sea it was so handsome that Minos decided to keep it. Poseidon did not approve and cursed Pasiphae, Minos wife, to fall in love with the bull. The Minotaur, half beast, half man became the product of their consummation. Minos locked the beastly Minotaur in the labyrinth, and it was later killed by the hero Theseus. This myth demonstrates the awe and attraction the Minoans had to the white bull, its ephemeral beauty and power. This bull, delivered by Poseidon was clearly other worldly. In the majority of Greek myths, other than humans, gods almost exclusively impregnate humans. Does this impregnation of Pasiphae by the bull suggest the bull is a god? This would explain the abundance of bull iconography in Minoan art and the importance of the Minotaur myth to the culture.
Historically, bull leaping is what the Minoans are known for. This ritual tradition has been found in other cultures but originated on Crete. Today bull leaping is alive in Spain, however, differs from Minoan depictions. The Greek word for bull leaping is "taurokatharpsia", it was an essential part of religious festival games involving skill and agility. It's possible that bull leaping was held in the central court of the palace, or nearby due to the proximity of a bull leaping fresco on a wall within the palace. Origins of the practice could be in symbolically representing early hunting actions and domestication of the wild bull as a show of man's control over nature. Woman were included in this sport where their image dominates in bull leaping iconography identifiable by pale skin against male terracotta coloring. Described as a contest between human and bull, leaping was a ritual practice of superiority over chaos to establish harmony with the earth deity, the bull.
It's unclear whether the particular style (grabbing the bull by the horns, being lifted by the force of his head toss, and somersaulting onto hotsell the bulls back) seen in iconography is even possible. A particularly beautiful early bronze demonstrates the leap in a less common, beginning stage. The Bronze Group of a Bull and Acrobat naturalistically captures the movement of a woman almost standing on the back of a charging bull. The acrobat has an arched back while her arms and lower legs are missing her body is suspended. The sculptor has artistically attached the acrobat to the bull by her hair that falls on the bull's forehead. Grace and athleticism are portrayed in this piece, as well as the essence of a spiritual connection between the bull and acrobat. This unity explains the value the Minoans put on the harmony between humanity and nature.
Libation offerings were common practice in Crete for worship of a deity or to express devotion. Stylized stone vases or the everyday ceramic vessels were used, but on important occasions a rhyton would be utilized. Many bull-headed rhytons have been found, as well as depictions, one which appears in a tomb wall painting with an emissary carrying the vessel. A well-known example is from the Little Palace at Knossos. Beautifully crafted in a variety of precious materials the Bull's Head Rhyton is a naturalistic study of the bull and is the finest in the Peloponnesian Peninsula of this period. Libations or wine, water, olive oil, or milk would be poured through the neck of the bull head and through its muzzle into the earth. The worshipper would drink the last remains from the rhyton's mouth. It seemsappropriate for a ritual libation offering to an earth deity to be poured through a depiction of their physical representation, a bull's head.

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