The Evolution of the Dragon Part 24

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 5--Pterocera Bryonia. the Red Sea Spider-sh.e.l.l.

_Col._--the columella 1-7--the "claws".]

The distinctive feature of the _Pterocera_ is that the mantle in the adult expands into a series of long finger-like processes each of which secretes a calcareous process or "claw". There are seven[306] of these claws as well as the long columella (Fig. 5). Hence, when the sh.e.l.l-cults were diffused from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean (where the _Pterocera_ is not found), it is quite likely that the people of the Levant may have confused with the octopus some sailor's account of the eight-rayed sh.e.l.l (or perhaps representations of it on some amulet or statue). Whether this is the explanation of the confusion or not, it is certain that the beliefs a.s.sociated with the cowry and the octopus in the aegean area are identical with those linked up with the cowry and the _Pterocera_ in the Red Sea.

I have already mentioned that the mandrake is believed to possess the same magical powers. Sir James Frazer has called attention to the fact that in Armenia the bryony (_Bryonia alba_) is a surrogate of the mandrake and is credited with the same attributes.[307] Lovell Reeve ("Conchologia Iconica," VI, 1851) refers to the Red Sea _Pterocera_ as the "Wild Vine Root" species, previously known as _Strombus radix bryoniae_; and Chemnitz ("Conch. Cab.," 1788, Vol. X, p. 227) says the French call it "Racine de brione femelle imparfaite," and refer to it as "the maiden". Here then is further evidence that this sh.e.l.l (a) was a.s.sociated in some way with a surrogate of the mandrake (Aphrodite), and (b) was regarded as a maiden. Thus clearly it has a place in the chequered history of Aphrodite. I have suggested the possibility of its confusion with the octopus, which may have led to the inclusion of the latter within the scope of the marine creatures in Aphrodite's cultural equipment. According to Matthioli (Lib. 2, p. 135), another of Aphrodite's creatures, the purple sh.e.l.l-fish, was also known as "the maiden". By Pliny it is called Pelogia, in Greek [Greek: porphyra]; and [Greek: porphyromata] was the term applied to the flesh of swine that had been sacrificed to Ceres and Proserpine (Hesych.). In fact, the purple-sh.e.l.l was "the maiden" and also "the sow": in other words it was Aphrodite. The use of the term "maiden" for the _Pterocera_ suggests a similar identification. To complete this web of proof it may be noted that an old writer has called the mandrake the plant of Circe, the sorceress who turned men into swine by a magic draught.[308] Thus we have a series of sh.e.l.ls, plants, and marine creatures accredited with identical magical properties, and each of them known in popular tradition as "the maiden". They are all culturally a.s.sociated with Aphrodite.

I shall have occasion (_infra_, p. 177) to refer to M. Siret's account of the discovery of the aegean octopus-motif upon aeneolithic objects in Spain, and of the widespread use in Western Europe of certain conventional designs derived from the octopus. M. Siret also (see the table, Fig. 6, on p. 34 of his book) makes the remarkable claim that the conventional form of the Egyptian Bes, which, according to Quibell,[309]

is the G.o.d whose function it is to preside over s.e.xual intercourse in its purely physical aspect, is derived from the octopus. If this is true--and I am bound to admit that it is far from being proved--it suggests that the Red Sea littoral may have been the place of origin of the cultural use of the octopus and an a.s.sociation with Hathor, for Bes and Hathor are said to have been introduced into Egypt from there.[310]

That the octopus was actually identified with the Great Mother and also with the dragon is revealed by the fact of the latter a.s.suming an octopus-form in Eastern Asia and Oceania, and by the occurrence of octopus-motifs in the representation of the G.o.ddess in America. One of the most remarkable series of pictures depicting the Great Mother is found sculptured in low relief upon a number of stone slabs from Manabi in Central America,[311] one of which I reproduce here (Fig. 21_b_).

The head of the G.o.ddess is a conventionalized octopus; to that was added a body consisting of a _Loligo_; and, to give greater definiteness to this remarkable process of building up the form of the G.o.ddess, conventional representations of her arms and legs (and in some of the sculptures also the _pudendum muliebre_) were added. Thus there can be no doubt of the identification of this American Aphrodite and the octopus.

In the Polynesian Rata-myth there is a very instructive series of manifestations of the dragon.[312] The first form a.s.sumed by the monster in this story was a gaping sh.e.l.l-fish of enormous size; then it appeared as a mighty octopus; and lastly, as a whale, into whose jaws the hero Nganaoa sprang, as his representatives are said to have done elsewhere throughout the world (Frobenius, _op. cit._, pp. 59-219).

Houssay (_op. cit. infra_) calls attention to the fact that at times Astarte was shown carrying an octopus as her emblem,[313] and has suggested that it was mistaken for a hand, just as in America the thunderbolt of Chac was given a hand-like form in the Dresden Codex (_vide supra_. Fig. 13), and elsewhere (_e.g._ Fig. 12).

If this suggestion should prove to be well founded it would provide a more convincing explanation of the girdle of hands worn by the Indian G.o.ddess Kali[314] than that usually given. If the "hands" really represent surrogates of the cowry, the wearing of such a girdle brings the Indian G.o.ddess into line, not only with Astarte and Aphrodite, but also with the East African maidens who still wear the girdle of cowries.

Kali's exploits were in many respects identical with those of the bloodthirsty Sekhet-manifestation of the Egyptian G.o.ddess Hathor. Just as Sekhet had to be restrained by Re for her excess of zeal in murdering his foes, so Siva had to intervene with Kali upon the battlefield flooded with gore (as also in the Egyptian story) to spare the remnant of his enemies.[315]

[294: Sir James Frazer, "Jacob and the Mandrakes," _Proc. Brit.

Academy_.]

[295: K. Tumpel, "Die 'Muschel der Aphrodite,'" _Philologus, Zeitschrift fur das Cla.s.sische Alterthum_, Bd. 51, 1892, p. 385: compare also, with reference to the "Muschel der Aphrodite," O. Jahn, _SB. d. k. Sachs. G.

d. W._, VII, 1853, p. 16 ff.; also IX, 1855, p. 80; and Stephani, _Compte rendu pour l'an 1870-71_, p. 17 ff.]

[296: See Jahn, _op. cit._, 1855, T. V, 6, and T. IV, 8: figures of the so-called [Greek: Choirinai] (from [Greek: Choiros] in the double sense as "pig" and "the female pudendum"): Aristophanes, Eq. 1147; Vesp. 332; Pollux, 8, 16; Hesch. s.v.]

[297: The fact that no graphic representation of this event has been found is surely a wholly inadequate reason for refusing to credit the story. Very few episodes in the sacred history of the G.o.ds received concrete expression in pictures or sculptures until relatively late. A h.e.l.lenistic representation of the G.o.ddess emerging from a bivalve was found in Southern Russia (Minns, "Scythians and Greeks," p. 345).

Tumpel cites the following statements: "te (Venus) ex concha natam esse autumant: cave tu harum conchas spernas!" Tibull. 3, 3, 24: "et faveas concha, Cypria, vecta tua"; Statius Silv. 1, 2, 117: Venus to Violentilla, "haec et caerules mec.u.m consurgere digna fluctibus et nostra potuit considere concha"; Fulgent. myth. 2, 4 "concha etiam marina pingitur (Venus) portari (I. HS:--am portare)"; Paulus Diacon. p.

52, "M. Cytherea Venus ab urbe Cythera, in quam primum devecta esse dicitur concha, c.u.m in mari esset concepta cet".]

[298: From [Greek: odino]--"to have the pains of childbirth".]

[299: See Schliemann, "Ilios," p. 455; and Siret, _op. cit_.]

[300: Siret, _op. cit. supra_, p. 59.]

[301: "Les Theories de la Genese a Mycenes et le sens zoologique de certains symboles du culte d'Aphrodite," _Revue Archeologique_, 3^ie serie, T. XXVI, 1895, p. 13.]

[302: It was adduced also by Tumpel and others before him.]

[303: or _Pteroceras_.]

[304: Jackson, _op. cit._, p. 38.]

[305: "Koptos," pp. 7-9, Pls. III. and IV.: for a discussion of the significance of these statues see Jean Capart, "Les Debuts de l'Art en egypte," Brussels, 1904, p. 216 _et seq._]

[306: This may help to explain the peculiar sanct.i.ty of the sh.e.l.l.]

[307: Frazer, _op. cit._, 4.]

[308: Just as Hathor (or her surrogate Horus) turned men into the creatures of Set, _i.e._ pigs, crocodiles, _et cetera_.]

[309: "Excavations at Saqqara," 1905-1906, p. 14.]

[310: Maspero, "The Dawn of Civilization," p. 34.]

[311: Saville, "Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador," 1907.]

[312: A detailed summary of the literature relating to the world-wide distribution of certain phases of the dragon-myth is given by Frobenius, "Das Zeitalter des Sonnesgottes," Berlin, 1904: on pp. 63-5 he gives the Rata-myth.]

[313: Which can also be compared with the conventional form of the thunderbolt.]

[314: Of course the hands had the additional significance as trophies of her murderous zeal. But I think this is a secondary rationalization of their meaning. An excellent photograph of a bronze statue (in the Calcutta Art Gallery), representing Kali with her girdle of hands, is given by Mr. Donald A. Mackenzie, "Indian Myth and Legend," p. xl.]

[315: F. T. Elworthy has summarized the extensive literature relating to hand-amulets ("The Evil Eye," 1895; and "Horns of Honour," 1900). Many of these hands have the definite reputation as fertility charms which one would expect if Houssay's hypothesis of their derivation from the octopus is well founded.]

The Swastika.

Houssay (_op. cit. supra_) has made the interesting suggestion that the swastika may have been derived from such conventionalized representations of the octopus as are shown in Fig. 23. This series of sketches is taken from Tumpel's memoir, which provided the foundation for Houssay's hypothesis.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 23.--A series of Mycenaean conventionalizations of the Argonaut and the Octopus (after Tumpel), which provided the basis for Houssay's theory of the origin of the triskele (_a_, _c_, and _d_) and swastika (b and e), and Siret's theory to explain the design of Bes's face (f and g)]

A vast amount of attention has been devoted to this lucky symbol,[316]

which still enjoys a widespread vogue at the present day, after a history of several thousand years. Although so much has been written in attempted explanation of the swastika since Houssay made his suggestion, so far as I am aware no one has paid the slightest attention to his hypothesis or made even a pa.s.sing reference to his memoir.[317]

Fantastic and far-fetched though it may seem at first sight (though surely not more so than the strictly orthodox solar theory advocated by Mr. Cook or Mrs. Nuttall's astral speculations) Houssay's suggestion offers an explanation of some of the salient attributes of the swastika on which the alternative hypotheses shed little or no light.

Among the earliest known examples of the symbol are those engraved upon the so-called "owl-shaped" (but, as Houssay has conclusively demonstrated, really octopus-shaped) vases and a metal figurine found by Schliemann in his excavations of the hill at Hissarlik.[318] The swastika is represented upon the _mons Veneris_ of these figures, which represent the Great Mother in her form as a woman or as a pot, which is an anthropomorphized octopus, one of the avatars of the Great Mother.

The symbol seems to have been intended as a fertility amulet like the cowry, either suspended from a girdle or depicted upon a pubic s.h.i.+eld or conventionalized fig-leaf.

Wherever it is found the swastika is supposed to be an amulet to confer "good luck" and long life. Both this reputation and the a.s.sociation with the female organs of reproduction link up the symbol with the cowry, the _Pterocera_, and the octopus. It is clear then that the swastika has the same reputation for magic and the same attributes and a.s.sociations as the octopus; and it may be a conventionalized representation of it, as Houssay has suggested.

It must not be a.s.sumed that the identification of the swastika with the Great Mother and her powers of giving life and resurrection _necessarily_ invalidates the solar and astral theories recently championed by Mr. Cook and Mrs. Nuttall respectively. I have already called attention to the fact that the Sun-G.o.d derived his existence and all his attributes from his mother. The whole symbolism of the Winged Disk and the Wheel of the Sun and their reputation for life-giving and destruction were adopted from the Great Mother. These well-established facts should prepare us to recognize that the admission of the truth of Houssay's suggestion would not necessarily invalidate the more widely accepted solar significance of the swastika.

Tumpel called attention to the fact that, when they set about conventionalizing the octopus, the Mycenaean artists often resorted to the practice of representing pairs of "arms" as units and so making four-limbed and three-limbed forms (Fig. 23), which Houssay regards as the prototypes of the swastika and the triskele respectively. That such a process may have played a part in the development of the symbol is further suggested by the form of a Transcaucasian swastika found by Rossler,[319] who a.s.signs it to the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age. Each of the four limbs is bifurcated at its extremity. Moreover they exhibit the series of spots, so often found upon or alongside the limbs of the symbol, which suggest the conventional way of representing the suckers of the octopus in the Mycenaean designs (Fig. 23).

Another remarkable picture of a swastika-like emblem has been found in America.[320] The elephant-headed G.o.d sits in the centre and four pairs of arms radiate from him, each of them equipped with definite suckers.

Another possible way in which the design of a four-limbed swastika may have been derived from an octopus is suggested by the gypsum weight found in 1901 by Sir Arthur Evans[321] in the West Magazine of the palace at Knossos (_circa_ 1500 B.C.). Upon the surface of this weight the form of an octopus has been depicted, four of the arms of which stand out in much stronger relief than the others.

The number four has a peculiar mystical significance (_vide infra_, p.

206) and is especially a.s.sociated with the Sun-G.o.d Horus. This fact may have played some part in the process of reduction of the number of limbs of the octopus to four; or alternatively it may have helped to emphasize the solar a.s.sociations of the symbol, which other considerations were responsible for suggesting. The designs upon the pots from Hissarlik show that at a relatively early epoch the swastika was confused with the sun's disc represented as a wheel with four spokes.[322] But the solar attributes of the swastika are secondary to those of life-giving and luck-bringing, with which it was originally endowed as a form of the Great Mother.

The only serious fact which arouses some doubt as to the validity of Houssay's theory is the discovery of an early painted vase at Susa decorated with an unmistakable swastika. Edmond Pottier, who has described the ceramic ware from Susa,[323] regards this pot as Proto-Elamite of the earliest period. If Pottier's claim is justified we have in this isolated specimen from Susa the earliest example of the swastika. Moreover, it comes from a region in which the symbol was supposed to be wholly absent.

This raises a difficult problem for solution. Is the Proto-Elamite swastika the prototype of the symbol whose world-wide migrations have been studied by Wilson (_op. cit. supra_)? Or is it an instance of independent evolution? If it falls within the first category and is really the parent of the early Anatolian swastikas, how is it to be explained? Was the conventionalization of the octopus design much more ancient than the earliest Trojan examples of the symbol? Or was the Susian design adopted in the West and given a symbolic meaning which it did not have before then?