The Bull Games

    As far back as we can go into history, people have been participating in bull games.  This means that in one way or another man has always felt the need to show his courage to the mighty bull.  In this article I am going to focus on the presence of bull games in Crete.  What was their meaning? How did they “play” with the bulls?  Why are people interested? 

Minoan Bull Leaping Fresco from Palace of Knossos

      It is clear to us now that many civilizations included the bull in their everyday myths because they played a large role in their culture.  The Hittites practiced bull leaping, the Syrians were participants in some form of bull games, the Sumerians practiced bull fighting and Eastern religions consider the bull to be symbolic of creation.  (Conrad pp 113-119) Minoan art represents the bull in both sport and sacrificial ceremonies.  There is much speculation as to whether the bull leaping frescos we have seen represent sport or something deeper and more spiritual.  (Rice pp 153-156) More than likely there are remnants of homage to early worship of the bull in the sport of bull leaping, however that is probably something left buried with the Minoans. 

     In order to discuss this topic further I wish to take a look at some paintings found in Avaris, Egypt.  On the eastern bank of former Pelusiac branch of the Nile excavators discovered a citadel that appears to be from the late Hyksos period and reoccupied in the early 18^th dynasty.  To the east of the remnants of this citadel they found old wall plaster with Minoan wall paintings.  On these pieces of plaster there are scenes of bull-leaping, which until this discovery had only been seen in the palace of Knossos.  There are also scenes of four bulls.  The beauty of these frescos is that they seem to be older than the frescos Evans found in Crete.  One of these scenes shows a bull in front of a maze pattern that is reminiscent of the myth of the labyrinth.  There are remnants of a frieze at the bottom of the tableau depicting the palace at Knossos.  This shows that the paintings were probably made in Minoa and travelled to Egpyt through trade routes, connecting these two dynasties together. (Bietak pp.33-42)

     The Egyptians appreciated these Minoan paintings, and for good reason.  The Egyptians seem to be the ones who introduced the inhabitant of Crete to the myths of the bull.  According to Conrad, in his book titled The horn & the sword the island of Crete was heavily influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia.  These civilizations brought knowledge of art and architecture, religion and monarch-centered government to what, by 2000 B.C. was home to about one hundred cities.  Crete us a somewhat small island when compared to Sicily, lying below Greece, and it is full of mountainous terrain, which restricted farming communities to the coastline.  Because of this, most of the people living in Crete found other ways of thriving through arts and trade.  This is why the artwork we have seen from places like the Palace at Knossos is such fine displays of excellent craftsmanship.  They were masters of their time, which explains why we would find their artwork in places like Egyptian citadels.  

   
The artwork they were making seemed to be the only record of the events that took place in their daily lives, due to a lack of understanding any form of 6language they may or may not have used.  If we look at the imagery on the frescos from Avaris, for example we see scenes of bulls placed in context with what we would assume to be bull fighting toreadors.  In one particular wall fragment we see a highly detailed toreador descending from what appears to be an amazing vault over a bull.  Bietak assumes this fragment would have to be a piece of a larger fresco depicting a large Minoan sporting event.  This type of activity is exactly what we would call bull leaping, and the Minoans would have considered to be sport, both entertaining and death defying.  There are large similarities between the frescos from the palace of Knossos and the Avaris paintings.  The toreadors are reflections of each other moving in opposite directions, yet in the same exact pose.  They are both dark in complexion which may lead us to believe they are young men.  And the larger fresco from Knossos shows us that there were spotters there either “reffing” or tending to the toreador.  Alone, these two frescos show striking similarities, and together they paint an even bigger picture. (Bietak pp 33-42) 

     The larger fresco almost fills in the blanks for the fragments from Avaris, giving us an idea of the type of atmosphere this toreador would be in.  However the fragment shows high detail and mastery of materials in a way that the larger fresco does not appear to try to do.  There are clear differences between the three fragments as well.  This may shows artistic expression while also showing a universal theme in art (the depiction of real events; bull games) yet leaving room for the artists’ individual exploration.  Clearly the Minoans were excited about the bull games, and shared it with their neighboring countries, yet the artist seems to be free to express themselves individually.

Reconstruction of Minoan fresco using the pieces from Avaris, Egypt

 Whether or not the Minoans considered this to be spiritual or purely for show, I believe that is not the question.  The bull was a sacred animal to them, and at one point they considered any activity with the bull to be sacred and spiritual.  The sport develops from the myth, and the public enjoys a spectacle.