Sculptures - Minoan snake Goddess

M i n o a n S n a k e G o d d e s s

Minoan snake Goddess
Faience statuette of the snake Goddess from the Temple Repositories in the Palace of Cnossus, Crete.
The association of the Goddess Athena with the serpent remains for all to see. As stern guardian of the Acropolis, the Goddess is accompanied by the great snake which encircles her shield, thought to be Erichthonius himself - the very babe born in mysterious circumstances, and nurtured next to the Goddess's own breast, wrapped in her great goatskin.
About 1600 BCE
Crete, Heraclion Museum

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