Archaeology Magazine - March 1949 - 56

56
chieflycoins or carved gems. In many
cases there are several illustrations of
one portrait, and they are generally
quite satisfactory, though the notable
bust of Caligula (No. 36) loses much
of its modelling in the picture.
There is not a quarter-century between 50 b.c. and a.d. 350 from which
the Metropolitan does not have good
examples, and a typical head of Constantine closes the series. Naturally
the representation is not« always
equally good; it is meagre for the
important and productive reign of
Hadrian. Although the collection
does not include many pieces of the
very first rank, the general quality is
high. Perhaps the most notable piece
is a head of Caracalla, which has
appropriately been chosen to decorate
the cover of the book; a head of Lucius Verus, though from a relief, is a
worthy second; two bronze statues,
though not particularly fine portraits,
are rarities. The caption of No. 32
contains a phrase rarely found in
museum publications, "not certainly
ancient" ; perhaps this is an indication
of the author's mellowing years.
This book is the latest of a long
series in which Miss Richter has
dealt with many phases of classical
archaeology. The volumes vary
widely in size and some are addressed
to wider circles of readers than others,
but the scholarly quality is always
high and the writing is always sober
and clear.# The present book serves

ARCHAEOLOGY
the purpose of a catalogue for specialists, and general readers can pleasantly
gain from it a good idea of the general character and historical development of Roman portraiture.
F. P. Johnson
University of Chicago

Spring IQ49

who reached those remote islands by
way of Denmark, to which they gave
their name; that the Danaans, who
were also Pelasgians, were expelled
from Greece by an invasion of Syrians; that the same Danaans, though
Pelasgians, spoke Greek and had
simplified the Cretan syllabary into a
sacred alphabet which found its way
to the Phoenicians established in
The White Goddess, by Robert
who later brought it back to
Egypt
Graves,
412
Creative
xii,
pages.
Greece; that the Gorgon myth is in
Age Press, (New York) 1948 $5
reality a description of the "breaking
This book is an amazing accumula- of the Argive Triple Goddess' power
tion of fact and fancy drawn from by the first wave of the Achaeans";
Celtic, Greek, Judaic, Mesopotamian that the Etruscans were Cretans ; that
and Egyptian literature and mythol- every initiate in the "Eleusinian mysogy and thrown together in wild teries went through a love rite with
confusion meant to give "a historical her (the Goddess's) representative
grammar of poetic myth" and to after taking a cauldron bath."
These and many other wondrous
prove that "pure poetry" has only "a
single language and a single infinitely conclusions the reader will find in
variable theme." The White God- this labyrinthine treatise. And if he
dess, a name that includes all conceiv- were to ask, how these conclusions
able Goddesses old and new begin- were reached, he would find the exning with Ishtar, Isis, Hathor, the planation in the words of the author :
Snake Goddess of the Cretans, Rhea, that he had "known the answers beHera, Hecate, Demeter, Persephone, forehand by poetic intuition . Really,"
Aphrodite, and ending with Mediae- he adds, "all that I needed to do
val witches, Keas Belle Dame sans was to verify them textually." A
Merci and Coleridge's woman dicing simple process indeed, which, howwith Death, and her ritual, have pro- ever, will explain the maze that is
vided and are still providing this presented as a "historical grammar
theme.
of poetic myth." Perhaps the reader
The student of the ancient world has to read the statements printed
will be especially interested to read on the jacket to find out what the
that about 1472 Britain and Ireland author is trying to do.
were invaded by the Greek Danaans,
G. E. M.

Archaeology Magazine - March 1949

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - March 1949