Libation also formed part of the ceremonial, and on the same sarcophagus
there are two scenes in which it occurs. In the one instance (Plate
XXVIII.), the vessel into which the offering is being poured stands
between two sacred Double Axes with birds perched upon them; in
the other the libation-vessel stands upon an altar with a Double
Axe behind it. The three receptacles of the Dictaean Libation Table
suggest a threefold offering like that of mingled milk and honey,
sweet wine, and water, which, in the Homeric period, was made to
the Shades of the Dead and to the Nymphs.
As was perhaps natural in the cult of a goddess, the chief part
in the ritual seems to have been taken by priestesses. Men share
in the ceremonies also, but not so frequently, and apparently in
subordinate roles. Part of the ritual evidently consisted of dancing,
and music also had its place, as is evident from the figures of
the lyre and flute players on the sarcophagus of Hagia Triada.
The question of whether the Minoans had any worship of ancesters
or sacrifice to the dead is raised by several relics. Above the
Shaft-Graves at Mycenae stood a circular altar, where offerings
must have been made either to the Shades of the Dead or on behalf
of them, and the scenes on the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, resembling
so curiously those of the Egyptian ceremony of 'the Opening of
the Mouth,' suggest a belief in the continued existence of the
spirit, either as an object to be propitiated by sacrifice, or
as a being which needed to be sustained in its disembodied state
by offerings of meat and drink.
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