Bull-Baiting, Bull-Racing, Bull-Fights

IN a beehive tomb of the Mycenaean age, at Vaphio, near Sparta, which was excavated in 1889, the most remarkable discovery was that of two gold cups, probably made in Crete, perhaps the finest achievement of Minoan art.On one of these cups we see a bull caught in a net, which is fastened at each end to a tree.The beast is thrown on his forequarters on the ground, and is lifting up his head and bellowing in distress.To the right is seen another bull, which has apparently just cleared the toils at a bound and is galloping away.To the left a third bull is charging in the opposite direction.Two men, apparently unarmed, the huntsmen no doubt who had laid the toils, have attempted to bar his way; but the bull has knocked one of them down, and is in the act of tossing the other on his left horn. 1 On two gems from Crete, now in the British Museum, we find possibly another part of the same incident.In the first we see a bull walking to the right, guarded by a man who stands on the further side of the animal, and holds a cord in both hands which is fastened to the bull's horns. 8 On the second gem we see a bull led by two men, one at its side, the other apparently on its back, but probably meant to be on the further side of the animal. 8

Biology · Zoology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology