The Swastika has been discovered in Greece and in the islands of the
Archipelago on objects of bronze and gold, but the principal vehicle was
pottery; and of these the greatest number were the painted vases. It is
remarkable that the vases on which the Swastika appears in the largest
proportion should be the oldest, those belonging to the Archaic period.
Those already shown as having been found at Naukratis, in Egypt, are
assigned by Mr. Flinders Petrie to the sixth and fifth centuries B. C.,
and their presence is accounted for by migrations from Greece.
[Illustration: Fig. 139. VARIATION OF THE GREEK FRET. Continuous lines
crossing each other at right angles forming figures resembling the
Swastikas.]
[Illustration: Fig. 140. GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE IN THE LEYDEN MUSEUM, WITH
FIGURES OF GEESE AND SWASTIKA IN PANEL.[170] Smyrna. Conze, "Anfänge,"
etc., Vienna, 1870, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 56, fig. 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 141. GREEK VASE WITH FIGURES OF HORSES, GEOMETRIC
ORNAMENTS AND SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. Athens. Dennis, "Etruria," 1, p.
cxiii.]
[Illustration: Fig. 142. GREEK VASE WITH SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. Conze,
"Anfänge," etc., and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 13.]
_The Greek fret and Egyptian meander not the same as the
Swastika._--Professor Goodyear says:[171] "There is no proposition in
archæology which can be so easily demonstrated as the assertion that the
Swastika is originally a fragment of the Egyptian meander, provided Greek
geometric vases are called in evidence."
Egyptian meander here means the Greek fret. Despite the ease with which he
says it can be demonstrated that the Swastika was originally a fragment of
the Egyptian meander, and with all respect for the opinion of so profound
a student of classic ornament, doubts must arise as to the existence of
the evidence necessary to prove his proposition.
[Illustration: Fig. 143. DETAIL OF ARCHAIC GREEK VASE WITH FIGURE OF SOLAR
GOOSE AND SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. British Museum. Waring, "Ceramic Art in
Remote Ages," pl. 41, fig. 15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 144. CYPRIAN POTTERY PLAQUE WITH SWASTIKA IN PANEL.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient
Cities, Tombs, and Temples," pl. 47, fig. 40.]
[Illustration: Fig. 145. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS IN
TRIANGLES. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 1, fig. 11.]
[Illustration: Fig. 146. DETAIL OF ATTIC VASE WITH FIGURE OF ANTELOPE (?)
AND SWASTIKA. British Museum. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1885, p. 50, and Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 37, fig. 9.]
[Illustration: Fig. 147. CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS. Cesnola, "Cyprus,
its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," appendix by Murray, p. 404, fig.
15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 148. TERRA COTTA FIGURINE WITH SWASTIKAS IN PANELS.
Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," p. 300, and
Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 691.]
[Illustration: Fig. 149. TERRA COTTA VASE WITH SWASTIKA AND FIGURE OF
HORSE.[172]]
[Illustration: Fig. 150. BRONZE FIBULA WITH SWASTIKA AND REPRESENTATIONS
OF A GOOSE AND A FISH. Boeotia, Greece. De Mortillet, "Musée
Préhistorique," fig. 1265.]
Professor Goodyear, and possibly others, ascribe the origin of the
Swastika to the Greek fret; but this is doubtful and surely has not been
proved. It is difficult, if not impossible, to procure direct evidence on
the proposition. Comparisons may be made between the two signs; but this
is secondary or indirect evidence, and depends largely on argument. No man
is so poor in expedients that he may not argue. Goldsmith's schoolmaster
"e'en tho' vanquished, he could argue still." The Greek fret, once
established, might easily be doubled or crossed in some of its members,
thus forming a figure similar to the Swastika (fig. 139), which would
serve as an ornament, but is without any of the characteristics of the
Swastika as a symbol. The crossed lines in the Greek fret seem to have
been altogether fortuitous. They gave it no symbolic character. It was
simply a variation of the fret, and at best was rarely used, and like it,
was employed only for ornament and not with any signification--not a sign
of benediction, blessing, or good luck, as was the Swastika. The
foundation principle of the Greek fret, so far as we can see its use, is
its adaptability to form an extended ornamental band, consisting of
doubled, bent, and sometimes crossed or interlaced lines, always
continuous and never ending, and running between two parallel border
lines. Two interlacing lines can be used, crossing each other at certain
places, both making continuous meanders and together forming the
ornamental band (fig. 139). In the Greek fret the two lines meandered
between the two borders back and forth, up and down, but always forming a
continuous line. This seems to be the foundation principle of the Greek
fret. In all this requirement or foundation principle the Swastika fails.
A row or band of Swastikas can not be made by continuous lines; each one
is and must be separated from its fellows. The Swastika has four arms,
each made by a single line which comes to an end in each quarter. This is
more imperative with the meander Swastika than with the normal. If the
lines be doubled on each other to be carried along to form another
Swastika adjoining, in the attempt to make a band, it will be found
impossible. The four lines from each of the four arms can be projected,
but each will be in a different direction, and no band can be made. It is
somewhat difficult to describe this, and possibly not of great need. An
attempt to carry out the project of making a band of Swastikas, to be
connected with each other, or to make them travel in any given direction
with continuous lines, will be found impossible. Professor Goodyear
attempts to show how this is done by his figure on page 96, in connection
with pl. 10, fig. 9, also figs. 173 and 174 (pp. 353 and 354). These
figures are given in this paper and are, respectively, Nos. 21, 25, 26,
and 27. Exception is taken to the pretended line of evolution in these
figures: (1) There is nothing to show any actual relationship between
them. There is no evidence that they agreed either in locality or time, or
that there was any unity of thought or design in the minds of their
respective artists. (2) Single specimens are no evidence of custom. This
is a principle of the common law which has still a good foundation, and
was as applicable in those days as it is now. The transition from the
spiral to the Greek fret and from the Greek fret to the Swastika can be
shown only by the existence of the custom or habit of the artist to make
them both in the same or adjoining epochs of time, and this is not proved
by showing a single specimen. (3) If a greater number of specimens were
produced, the chain of evidence would still be incomplete, for the
meander of the Greek fret will, as has just been said, be found impossible
of transition into the meander Swastika. It (the Swastika) does not extend
itself into a band, but if spread at all, it spreads in each of the four
directions (figs. 21 and 25). The transition will be found much easier
from the Greek meander fret to the normal Swastika and from that to the
meander Swastika than to proceed in the opposite direction. Anyone who
doubts this has but to try to make the Swastika in a continuous or
extended band or line (fig. 26), similar to the Greek fret.
[Illustration: Fig. 151. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURES
OF BIRDS. Waring, "Ceramic Art In Remote Ages," pl. 33, fig. 24, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 46, fig. 5.]
[Illustration: Fig. 152. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE. Sunhawk, lotus, solar
disk, and Swastikas. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1886, pl. 8; Reinach, Revue
Archæologique, 1885, II, p. 360; Perrot and Chipiez, "History of Art in
Phenicia and Cyprus," II; Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 45, fig.
3.]
[Illustration: Fig. 153. DETAIL OF GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND
FIGURES OF HORSES. Thera. Leyden Museum. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus,"
pl. 61, fig. 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 154. BRONZE FIBULA WITH LARGE SWASTIKA ON SHIELD.
Greece. Musée St. Germain. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1264.
1/2 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 155. GREEK VASE, OINOCHOË, WITH TWO PAINTED SWASTIKAS.
De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1244. 1/4 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 156. CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURE OF
ANIMAL.[173] Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples,"
pl. 45, fig. 36.]
[Illustration: Fig. 157. ARCHAIC GREEK POTTERY FRAGMENT. Santorin, Ancient
Thera. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42 fig. 2.]
Figs. 133 and 134, from Naukratis, afford palpable evidence of the
different origin of the Swastika and the Greek fret. Evidently Grecian
vases, though found in Egypt, these specimens bear side by side examples
of the fret and the Swastika, used contemporaneously, and both of them
complete and perfect. If one had been parent of the other, they would have
belonged to different generations and would not have appeared
simultaneously on the same specimen. Another illustration of simultaneous
use is in fig. 194, which represents an Etruscan vase[174] ornamented with
bronze nail heads in the form of Swastikas, but associated with it is the
design of the Greek fret, showing them to be of contemporaneous use, and
therefore not, as Professor Goodyear believes, an evolution of one from
the other. The specimen is in the Museum at Este, Italy.
[Illustration: Fig. 158. CYPRIAN VASE WITH LOTUS AND SWASTIKAS AND FIGURE
OF BIRD. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of
the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 159. CYPRIAN VASE WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Cesnola
Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar
of the Lotus," fig. 151.]
The Greek fret has been in common use in all ages and all countries
adopting the Grecian civilization. Equally in all ages and countries has
appeared the crossed lines which have been employed by every architect and
decorator, most or many of whom had no knowledge of the Swastika, either
as an ornament or as a symbol.[175]
[Illustration: Fig. 160. FRAGMENT OF TERRA COTTA VASE WITH SWASTIKAS, FROM
RUINS OF TEMPLE AT PALEO-PAPHOS. Depth, 40 feet. Cesnola, "Cyprus, its
Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," p. 210.]
[Illustration: Fig. 161. WOODEN BUTTON, CLASP, OR FIBULA COVERED WITH
PLATES OF GOLD. Ogee Swastika, tetraskelion in center. Schliemann,
"Mycenæ," fig. 385.]
[Illustration: Fig. 162. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE WITH FIGURE OF GOOSE,
HONEYSUCKLE (ANTHEMION), AND SPIRAL SWASTIKA. Thera. "Monumenti Inedite,"
LXV, p. 2, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 46, fig. 7.]
_Swastika in panels._--Professor Goodyear, in another place,[176] argues
in a manner which tacitly admits the foregoing proposition, where, in his
endeavor to establish the true home of the Swastika to be in the Greek
geometric style, he says we should seek it where it appears in "the
largest dimension" and in "the most prominent way." In verification of
this declaration, he says that in this style the Swastika systematically
appears in panels exclusively assigned to it. But he gives only two
illustrations of the Swastika in panels. These have been copied, and are
shown in figs. 140 and 142. The author has added other specimens, figs.
141 to 148, from Dennis's "Etruria," from Waring's "Ceramic Art," and from
Cesnola and Ohnefalsch-Richter. It might be too much to say that these are
the only Swastikas in Greece appearing in panels, but it is certain that
the great majority of them do not thus appear. Therefore, Professor
Goodyear's theory is not sustained, for no one will pretend that four
specimens found in panels will form a rule for the great number which did
not thus appear. This argument of Professor Goodyear is destructive of his
other proposition that the Swastika sign originated by evolution from the
meander or Greek fret, for we have seen that the latter was always used in
a band and never in panels. Although the Swastika and the Greek fret have
a certain similarity of appearance in that they consist of straight lines
bent at right angles, and this continued many times, yet the similarity is
more apparent than real; for an analysis of the motifs of both show them
to have been essentially different in their use, and so in their
foundation and origin.
[Illustration: Fig. 163. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Sphinx with spiral scrolls,
and two meander Swastikas (right). Melos. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1887, XII, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 34, fig. 8.]
[Illustration: Fig. 164. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Ibex, scroll, and meander
Swastika (right). Melos. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1887, XII, p. 121, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 39, fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 165. DETAIL OF A GREEK VASE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Ram, meander Swastika (left), circles, dots, and crosses. Salzmann,
"Necropole de Camire," LI, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 28,
fig. 7.]
_Swastikas with four arms, crossing at right angles, with ends bent to the
right._--The author has called this the normal Swastika. He has been at
some trouble to gather such Swastikas from Greek vases as was possible,
and has divided them according to forms and peculiarities. The first group
(figs. 140, 143, 146, 147, 148, and 150) shows the normal Swastika with
four arms, all bent at right angles and to the right. In the aforesaid
division no distinction has been made between specimens from different
parts of Greece and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and these,
with such specimens as have been found in Smyrna, have for this purpose
all been treated as Greek.
[Illustration: Fig. 166. CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURES OF BIRDS.
Perrot and Chipiez, "History of Art in Phenicia and Cyprus," II, p. 300,
fig. 237; Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 48, figs. 6, 12; Cesnola,
"Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," Appendix by Murray, p.
412, pl. 44, fig. 34.]
[Illustration: Fig. 167. CYPRIAN VASE WITH LOTUS, BOSSES, BUDS, SEPALS,
AND DIFFERENT SWASTIKAS. Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 48, fig. 3.]
_Swastikas with four arms crossing at right angles, ends bent to the
left._--Figs. 141, 142, 144, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, and 157
represent the normal Swastika with four arms, all bending at right angles,
but to the left. The vases on which they have been found are not described
as to color or form. It would be difficult to do so correctly; besides,
these descriptions are not important in our study of the Swastika. Fig.
155 represents a vase or pitcher (oinochoë, Greek--[Greek: oinos], wine,
and [Greek: cheô], to pour) with painted Swastika, ends turned to the
left. It is in the Museum of St. Germain, and is figured by M. De
Mortillet in "Musée Préhistorique." Fig. 156 represents a Cyprian vase
from Ormidia, in the New York Museum. It is described by Cesnola[177] and
by Perrot and Chipiez.[178] Fig. 157 is taken from a fragment of archaic
Greek pottery found in Santorin (Ancient Thera), an island in the Greek
Archipelago. This island was first inhabited by the Phenicians, afterwards
by the Greeks, a colony of whom founded Cyrene in Africa. This specimen is
cited by Rochette and figured by Waring.[179]
[Illustration: Fig. 168. CYPRIAN VASE WITH BOSSES, LOTUS BUDS, AND
DIFFERENT SWASTIKAS. Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 48, fig. 15.]
_Swastikas with four arms crossing at other than right angles, the ends
ogee and to the left._--Figs. 158, 159, and 160 show Swastikas with four
arms crossing at other than right angles, many of them ogee, but turned to
the left. Fig. 161 is a representation of a wooden button or clasp, much
resembling the later gold brooch of Sweden, classified by Montelius (p.
867), covered with plates of gold, from Sepulcher IV, Mycenæ (Schliemann,
Mycenæ, fig. 385, p. 259). The ornament in its center is one of the ogee
Swastikas with four arms (tetraskelion) curved to the left. It shows a dot
in each of the four angles of the cross similar to the Suavastika of Max
Müller and the _Croix swasticale_ of Zmigrodzki, which Burnouf attributed
to the four nails which fastened the cross _Arani_ (the female principle),
while the _Pramantha_ (the male), produced, by rotation, the holy fire
from the sacred cross. An almost exact reproduction of this Swastika will
be found on the shield of the Pima Indians of New Mexico (fig. 258).
Dr. Schliemann reports that the Swastika in its spiral form is represented
innumerable times in the sculptured ceiling of the Thalamos in the
treasury at Orchomenos. (See figs. 21 and 25.)
[Illustration: Fig. 169. DETAIL OF EARLY BOEOTIAN VASE. Figure of horse,
solar diagram, Artemis with geese, and Swastikas (normal and meander,
right and left). Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 61, fig. 12.]
He also reports[180] that Swastikas (turned both ways) may be seen in the
Royal Museum at Berlin incised on a balustrade relief of the hall which
surrounded the temple of Athene at Pergamos. Fig. 162 represents a spiral
Swastika with four arms crossing at right angles, the ends all turned to
the left and each one forming a spiral.
Waring[181] figures and describes a Grecian oinochoë from Camirus, Rhodes,
dating, as he says, from 700 to 500 B. C., on which is a band of
decoration similar to fig. 130. It is about 10 inches high, of cream
color, with ornamentation of dark brown. Two ibexes follow each other with
an ogee spiral Swastika between the forelegs of one.
_Meander pattern, with ends bent to right and left._--Figs. 163, 164, and
165 show the Swastika in meander pattern. Fig. 163 shows two Swastikas,
the arms of both bent to the right, one six, the other nine times. The
Swastika shown in fig. 164 is bent to the right eight times. That shown in
fig. 165 bends to the left eight times.
_Swastikas of different kinds on the same object._--The next group (figs.
167 to 176) is of importance in that it represents objects which, bearing
the normal Swastika, also show on the same object other styles of
Swastika, those turned to the left at right angles, those at other than
right angles, and those which are spiral or meander. The presence on a
single object of different forms of Swastika is considered as evidence of
their chronologic identity and their consequent relation to each other,
showing them to be all the same sign--that is, they were all Swastikas,
whether the arms were bent to the right or to the left, ogee or in curves,
at right angles or at other than right angles, in spirals or meanders.
[Illustration: Fig. 170. DETAIL OF RHODIAN VASE. Figures of geese, circles
and dots, and Swastikas (right and left). British Museum. Waring, "Ceramic
Art in Remote Ages," pl. 27, fig. 9.]
[Illustration: Fig. 171. DETAIL OF RHODIAN VASE. Geese, lotus circles, and
two Swastikas (right and left). Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," p. 271,
fig. 145.]
Many examples of vases similar to fig. 172 are shown in the London, Paris,
and New York museums, and in other collections. (See figs. 149, 159.) Fig.
174 shows an Attic painted vase (_Lebes_) of the Archaic period, from
Athens. It is a pale yellowish ground, probably the natural color, with
figures in maroon. It belongs to the British Museum. It bears on the front
side five Swastikas, all of different styles; three turn to the right, two
to the left. The main arms cross at right angles, but the ends of four are
bent at right angles, while one is curved (ogee). Three have the ends bent
(at right angles) four times, making a meander form, while two make only
one bend. They seem not to be placed with any reference to each other, or
to any other object, and are scattered over the field as chance or luck
might determine. A specimen of Swastika interesting to prehistoric
archæologists is that on a vase from Cyprus (Musée St. Germain, No.
21537), on which is represented an arrowhead, stemmed, barbed, and
suspended by its points between the Swastika.[182]
[Illustration: Fig. 172. GREEK VASE OF TYPICAL RHODIAN STYLE. Ibex, lotus,
geese, and six Swastikas (normal, meander, and ogee, all left). Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," p. 251, pl. 39.[183]]
[Illustration: Fig. 173. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Deer, solar diagrams, and
three Swastikas (single, double, and meander, right). Melos. Conze,
"Meliosche Thongefässe," and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60,
fig. 8.]
Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter presented a paper before the Société
d'Anthropologie in Paris, December 6, 1888, reported in the Bulletin of
that year (pp. 668-681). It was entitled "La Croix gammée et la Croix
cantonnée en Chypre." (The _Croix gammée_ is the Swastika, while the
_Croix cantonnée_ is the cross with dots, the _Croix swasticale_ of
Zmigrodzki.) In this paper the author describes his finding the Swastika
during his excavations into prehistoric Cyprus. On the first page of his
paper the following statement appears:
The Swastika comes from India as an ornament in form of a cone
(_conique_) of metal, gold, silver, or bronze gilt, worn on the ears
(see G. Perrot: "Histoire de l'Art," III, p. 562 et fig. 384), and
nose-rings (see S. Reinach: "Chronique d'Orient," 3{e} série, t. IV,
1886). I was the first to make known the nose-ring worn by the goddess
Aphrodite-Astarte, even at Cyprus. In the Indies the women still wear
these ornaments in their nostrils and ears. The fellahin of Egypt also
wear similar jewelry; but as Egyptian art gives us no example of the
usage of these ornaments in antiquity, it is only from the Indies that
the Phenicians could have borrowed them. The nose-ring is unknown in
the antiquity of all countries which surrounded the island of Cyprus.
[Illustration: Fig. 174. ARCHAIC GREEK VASE WITH FIVE SWASTIKAS OF FOUR
DIFFERENT FORMS. Athens. Birch, "History of Ancient Pottery," quoted by
Waring in "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41, fig. 15; Dennis, "The
Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria," I, p. 91.]
[Illustration: Fig. 175. DETAIL OF ARCHAIC BOEOTIAN VASE. Serpents,
crosses, and Swastikas (normal, right, left, and meander). Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 9.]
The first pages of his memoir are employed in demonstrating that the
specimens of the Swastika found in Cyprus, the most of which are set forth
in this paper (figs. 177-182), show a Phenician influence; and according
to his theory demonstrate their migration or importation. He does not
specify the evidence on which he bases his assertion of Phenician
influence in Cyprus, except in one or two particulars. Speaking of the
specimen shown in fig. 177 of the present paper, he says:
It represents the sacred palm under which Apollo, the god of light,
was born. * * * At Cyprus the palm did not appear only with the
Phenicians; it was not known prior to that time (p. 674).
[Illustration: Fig. 176. ATTIC VASE FOR PERFUME, WITH CROIX SWASTICALE AND
TWO FORMS OF SWASTIKAS. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris,
1888, p. 673, fig. 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 177. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE. Swastikas with palm tree,
sacred to Apollo. Citium, Cyprus. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc.
d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 673, fig. 3.]
The design shown in fig. 178 he describes as representing two birds in the
attitude of adoration before a Swastika, all being figured on a Greek cup
of the style Dipylon.[184]
Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter adds:
On the vases of Dipylon the Swastikas are generally transformed into
other ornaments, mostly meanders. But this is not the rule in Cyprus.
The Swastika disappeared from there as it came, in its sacred form,
with the Phenician influence, with the Phenician inscriptions on the
vases, with the concentric circles without central points or tangents.
He says[185] that the Swastika as well as the "Croix cantonnée" (with
points or dots), while possibly not always the equivalent of the solar
disk, zigzag lightning, or the double hatchet, yet are employed together
and are given the same signification, and frequently replace each other.
It is his opinion[186] that the Swastika in Cyprus had nearly always a
signification more or less religious, although it may have been used as an
ornament to fill empty spaces. His interpretation of the Swastika in
Cyprus is that it will signify _tour à tour_ the storm, the lightning, the
sun, the light, the seasons--sometimes one, sometimes another of these
significations--and that its form lends itself easily (_facilement_) to
the solar disk, to the fire wheel, and to the sun chariot. In support of
this, he cites a figure (fig. 179) taken from Cesnola,[187] in which the
wheels of the chariot are decorated with four Swastikas displayed in each
of the four quarters. The chief personage on the car he identifies as the
god of Apollo-Resef, and the decoration on his shield represents the solar
disk. He is at once the god of war and also the god of light, which
identifies him with Helios. The other personage is Herakles-Mecquars, the
right hand of Apollo, both of them heroes of the sun.
[Illustration: Fig. 178. CYPRIAN VASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND SWASTIKA
IN PANEL. Musée St. Germain. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.,
Paris, 1888, p. 674, fig. 6.]
[Illustration: Fig. 179. CHARIOT OF APOLLO-RESEF. Sun symbol(?) on shield
and four Swastikas (two right and two left) on quadrants of chariot
wheels. Cesnola, "Salaminia," p. 240, fig. 226, and Ohnefalsch-Richter,
Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 675, fig. 7.]
The supreme goddess of the Isle of Cyprus was Aphrodite-Astarte,[188]
whose presence with a preponderating Phenician influence can be traced
back to the period of the age of iron, her images bearing signs of the
Swastika, being, according to Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter, found in Cyprus. In
fig. 180 the statue of this goddess is shown, which he says was found by
himself in 1884 at Curium. It bears four Swastikas, two on the shoulders
and two on the forearms. Fig. 181 represents a centaur found by him at the
same time, on the right arm of which is a Swastika painted in black, as in
the foregoing statue.
[Illustration: Fig. 180. TERRA-COTTA STATUE OF THE GODDESS
APHRODITE-ASTARTE WITH FOUR SWASTIKAS.[189] Curium, Cyprus.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 8.]
[Illustration: Fig. 181. CYPRIAN CENTAUR WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Cesnola,
"Salaminia," p. 243, fig. 230; Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.,
Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 9.]
We have found, in the course of this paper, many statues of human figures
bearing the mark of the Swastika on some portion of their garments. M.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, on page 677, gives the following explanation thereof:
It appears to me that the priests and priestesses, also the boys who
performed the services in the sacred places, were in the habit of
burning or tattooing Swastikas upon their arms. * * * In 1885, among
the votive offerings found in one of the sacred places dedicated to
Aphrodite-Astoret, near Idalium, was a stone statuette, representing
the young Adonis Kinyras in a squatting posture, with the Swastika
tattooed or painted in red color upon his naked arm.
[Illustration: Fig. 182. GREEK STATUE OF APHRODITE-ARIADNE. Six Swastikas
(four right and two left). Polistis Chrysokon. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull.
Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 677, fig. 10.]
And, says Richter, when, later on, the custom of tattooing had
disappeared, they placed the Swastika on the sacerdotal garments. He has
found in a Greek tomb in 1885, near Polistis Chrysokon, two statuettes
representing female dancers in the service of Aphrodite-Ariadne, one of
which (fig. 182) bore six or more Swastikas. In other cases, says he (p.
678), the _Croix cantonnée_ (the _Croix swasticale_ of Zmigrodzki)
replaced the Swastika on the garments, and he cites the statue of Hercules
strangling the lion in the presence of Athena, whose robe is ornamented
with the _Croix cantonnée_. He repeats that the two signs of the cross
represent the idea of light, sun, sacrifice, rain, storm, and the seasons.