Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University

probably derives from Sumerian models. 466 The bull remains a symbol of nobility, strength, and
power for modern man, but, as mentioned earlier, we are more greatly removed from nature, and
many of us reach maturity without ever seeing a bull first hand. This was not the case in
antiquity, when men would have likely seen an ox pulling a cart or plow or possibly attended a
bull sacrifice and afterwards participated in a communal feast.
The potency of the bull manifests itself in two main types of hybrid that blend the
features of bull and man. The first of these is the bull-man that possesses the body of a man and
the head of a bull. This type is perhaps the most familiar to students of myth due to the depiction
of Theseus’ adversary, the Minotaur, in this fashion. The myth of the Minotaur reached Italian
shores but met with different degrees of interest in Etruscan and Roman art. While the Romans
do not seem to have been particularly interested in the Minotaur, he was popular with the
Etruscans from early on. 467 As one would imagine, though, the use of this myth in an Etruscan
and Roman context demonstrates considerable variation from that of the Greeks. The most
notable difference can be found on an Etruscan mirror that represents the death of the Minotaur
at the hands of Hercle instead of These (Fig. V.1). 468 The identity of the Minotaur is confirmed
by the presence of an inscription labeling the bull-man as Thevrumines and the addition of
Ariatha and Mine, the Etruscan Ariadne and Minos. 469
It is not possible to dismiss this variant of the myth as Etruscan ignorance due to the
representation of Hercle in combat with the Minotaur on an earlier vessel (Fig. V.2). 470 The
substitution of Hercle for These on this piece not only calls the nature of Etruscan appropriation
of Greek myth into question but also suggests other problems such as, who made the decision to
make this replacement, artist or patron? Was there a specific reason that Hercle was substituted
466 Rice 1998, 264-5.
467 Woodford 1992, 580-1. The Romans appear to have adopted the image of the Minotaur for floor mosaics that
depicted him at the center of a labyrinth, while the Etruscans created images that reflect various stages of the mythic
narrative. Woodford goes on to suggest that the Minotaur may be a representation of death residing in an
otherworldly labyrinth. Brommer (1981, 1-12) collects images of objects from a wide chronological span and
different media to demonstrate the presence of Theseus and the Minotaur in Etruscan art.
468 From left to right, the figures present in this scene can be identified (according to inscriptions around the edge of
the mirror) as Mine (Minos), Menerva, Vile (Iolaos), Ariatha (Ariadne), and Hercle, who reclines over the corpse of
the Thevrumines (Minotaur). An unidentified youth reaching out towards a bird appears in the upper exergue of the
mirror, and a marine scene fills the lower exergue. A tendril scroll runs around the border of the mirror, and a wavy
line which may indicate the atmosphere appears within the border.
469 Here the Minotaur is labeled as such indicating his nature and heritage. He is not given his “proper” name,
Asterios or Asterion. Rice (1998, 210) notes that this name probably means “the Starry One” and may hint at a
celestial component of the Minotaur myth. Even so, the bull gods discussed in this chapter are more frequently
connected with the earth and the natural world as opposed to the heavens.
470 De Grummond 2006a, 12, 186.
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