Bull-leaping
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Bull-leaping is thought to have been a key ritual in the religion of the Minoan civilization on Bronze Age Crete. As in the case of other Mediterranean civilizations, the bull was the subject of veneration and worship (see Bull (mythology) for more). The Minoans regarded the bull as a manifestation of the god Poteidan, the most powerful god in the Minoan pantheon. They were renowned for their reverance of the bull, as the legend of the Minotaur illustrates, and are often believed to have practised a dangerous and acrobatic ritual of vaulting over the horns of bulls. This practice is widely depicted in frescos and ceramics found at and around the palace of Knossos, the legendary home of King Minos, for whom archaeologists named the entire civilization.
Another interpretation of the bull-leaper iconography is that it may symbolically represent an astrological pattern, specifically that of the mythological hero Theseus in the act of leaping over the constellation of Taurus. However, the more popular assumption, widely debated by scholars, is that the iconography represents a ritual sport and/or performance in which human athletes literally vaulted over bulls as part of a ceremonial rite.
The specific techniques employed by the Bull Leapers are also the subject of considerable debate amongst those who favour the athletic ritual theory.
Minoan artworks appear to depict the ritual as involving a team of three bull-dancers. The first type, sometimes referred to as "bull dancers", are thought to have both distracted the bull and entertained the crowd by performing athletic feats in the court where the event was held. "Bull-grapplers" apparently induced the bull to lower its horns, perhaps by gripping and holding it by the horns in a manner similar to modern rodeo steer wrestlers, to prepare it for the bull-leapers.
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[edit] The Art of the Bull-Leaper
The techniques of the bull-leapers are perhaps the most controversial. They may have approached the bull from the front and dived between the horns to land on the bull's back hands first, or grasped the horns and used them as levers to catapult themselves into a standing position on the bull's back. They would then jump or flip lengthways over the body of the bull to land feet-first on the ground.
Another theory, known as the "diving leaper" theory, is that the bull leapers used an elevated platform as a springboard to perform their jumps and vaults. Yet another is that they actually approached the bull from the side while it was being restrained by the bull grappler, and then somersaulted, vaulted or cartwheeled over it.
The most famous depiction of this activity comes from the Great Palace at Knossos, in the form of a fresco of the 17th-15th centuries BC (shown above right). The red figure is probably male and the white figures female - assuming that the usual Minoan colour convention was followed in this instance. The fresco survived in only fragmentary condition, so much of what is shown is a reconstruction.
Although many details of bull-leaping are still unclear, it seems likely that it was a rite of passage undergone by young Minoans of both sexes to achieve higher status. The performers are often depicted as naked or nearly naked but with elaborate decoration and hairstyles indicative of noble status. The ritual is believed to have been a way of symbolising the interwoven destinies of humans and the bull-god.
There has been considerable debate over the practicalities of bull-leaping. Its depictions are probably idealized, and it has been pointed out that bulls tend to sweep their horns from side to side in order to impale anything within reach. Having said that, the ancient long-horned Cretan bull almost certainly had significant differences from modern bulls and may have been bred specifically for tractability in the bull-leaping ritual. It may also have been drugged to slow its reactions.
[edit] Contemporary Bull-Leaping
Bull-leaping is still practised in the south west of France, where it is traditionally known as the Course Landaise. The town of Mont de Marsan in Gascony is renowned for its fine sauteurs or "leapers" and l'écarteurs ("dodgers") dressed in brocaded waistcoasts. They compete in teams, attempting to use their wide repertoire of skillful evasions and acrobatic leaps to avoid the bull's charges. The bull is typically guided by the use of a long rope attached to its horns, so that it runs directly at the performers and is restrained from trampling or goring them should they miss a trick. Although there is little to no risk to the bull in this form of contest, it is a highly dangerous sport for the human participants; a prominent Montois, Jean-Pierre Rachou, was killed when a bull's horn pierced his femoral artery in 2003.
A similar but even more dangerous tradition of non-violent bull-leaping is practiced in some parts of Spain. Known as the Recortadores, athletes compete at dodging and leaping over bulls without the use of the cape or sword. Some Recortadores use a long pole to literally pole-vault over the charging animal, which is both larger than the type used in the French sport, and unrestrained by any guiding rope or similar safety device.
[edit] In fiction
- Lawhead, Stephen R. Taliesin ISBN 0-380-70613-X
- Renault, Mary The King Must Die" ISBN 0-394-75104-3, a non-mythological take on the Theseus myth; the central action of the plot involves the training and performance of the Bull Leapers in King Minos' court.
