The Minoan Genius is a

legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

that was common in the Minoan art of the Bronze Age

Minoan civilization The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan palaces at K ...

ancient Crete The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe. During the Iron Age, Crete developed an Ancient Greece-i ...

. It is portrayed sometimes with the head of a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

, or of a

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

, or of other animals. It is mostly seen on Minoan seals, often in pairs as supporters of deities. It is also sometimes called a "demon", though it seems generally to be a benign figure in

Minoan religion Minoan religion was the religion of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization of Crete. In the absence of readable texts from most of the period, modern scholars have reconstructed it almost totally on the basis of archaeological evidence such as Minoa ...

; the meaning is that of a

daemon A demon is a malevolent supernatural being, evil spirit or fiend in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. Demon, daemon or dæmon may also refer to: Entertainment Fictional entities * Daemon (G.I. Joe), a character ...

in later classical religions. It is often portrayed with water vessels, such as ewers, so it seems to play a role as a

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...

bearer to deities.

Mythological connections

The connections of this mythological beast seem to be with the Egyptian hippopotamus and crocodile goddess Taweret, from which it is believed to have derived. The earliest forms of the Minoan Genius derived from the Egyptian prototypes between approximately 1800 and 1700 BC. In Egypt, Taweret was the goddess of fertility,

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

and the protection of young children, and some scholars have thought the Genius had similar functions, although the Minoan evidence for this is limited. The other common composite mythological beast seen in Minoan art is the

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

—a widespread figure around the

Ancient Near East The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...

. These may pull deities in chariots, as on the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus. Later on, the Genius also became a deity in the Mycenaean world; its representations are found widely in continental Greece.P. Rehak
''The ‘Genius’ in Late Bronze Age Glyptic: the Later Evolution of an Aegean Cult Figure'' (PDF file)
in W. Müller (ed.), Sceaux Minoens et Mycéniens MS Beiheft 5(Berlin 1995) 215-231

Sacrificial aspect

Weingarten writes: "The Minoan Genius is also known for carrying large beasts of all kinds to sacrifice... rarely depicted in an act of violence; though closely linked to sacrifice, the demon is only once seen to do the deed: on a seal impression from Zakro (''Genius'' No.27 = Z 104), it slaughters a huge upright bull with sword or spear. The Genius moves indirectly on a cylinder from Kakovatos (''CMS'' XI 208): a hero stabs an upright lion while the demon urges him on from behind."

Notes

Bibliography

* C. Baurain, “Pour une autre interprétation des génies minoens,” in P. Darcque and J-C. Poursat (eds.), L’iconographie minoenne CH Supplement 11(Paris 1985) 95-118. * M. Benzi, “Minoan Genius on a LH III Pictorial Sherd from Phylakopi, Melos? Some Remarks on Religious and Ceremonial Scenes on Mycenaean Pictorial Pottery,” Pasiphae 3(2009) 9-26. * Gill. M. A. V. 1961. The Minoan Genius: An Iconographical Study. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Birmingham. * Gill. M. A. V. 1964. The Minoan Genius. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung 79, 1-21. * P. Rehak
''The ‘Genius’ in Late Bronze Age Glyptic: the Later Evolution of an Aegean Cult Figure'' (PDF file)
in W. Müller (ed.), Sceaux Minoens et Mycéniens MS Beiheft 5(Berlin 1995) 215-231 * C. Sambin, “Génie minoen et génie egyptien, un emprunt raisonné,” BCH 113(1989) 77-96. * Weingarten, J. 1991.
The Transformation of Egyptian Taweret into the Minoan Genius: A Study in Cultural Transmission in the Middle Bronze Age.
' Partille, Paul Åström Förlag. * Weingarten J. and Hallager, E. 1993. The Five Roundels from Malia, and a Note on Two New Minoan Genii. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 117, 1-18. * J. Weingarten, 2013
''The Arrival of Egyptian Taweret and Beset on Minoan Crete: Contact and Choice''
in L. Bombardieri, A. D’Agostino, G. Guarducci, V. Orsi, S. Valentini (eds), SOMA 2012, Identity and Connectivity, Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology, Florence, Italy, 1–3 March 2012, Vol..I, Bar International Series 2581 (I) 2013, 371-378.

Mythological connections

Sacrificial aspect

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading