Bull-leaping is a peculiar, well-documented Minoan sport, well-studied by
scholars specialized in Minoan studies. J.C.Younger has studied a sample of
fifty-four bull-leaping scenes and classified them on the basis of three
different jumping techniques. In Technique I, the athlete seized from the
front the horns of the galloping bull, flipped over his head, landed onto
its back, and then flipped over the rear of the bull on the ground.
In Technique II, the athlete jumped preferably from an elevated position
over the head of the bull, landed on his hands on the back of the bull
and then flipped backwards and landed on his feet behind the bull.
In Technique III, the leaper is depicted in a single pose above the rear
of the bull, probably after having approached the bull from the side.
Perhaps the latter technique is a non-realistic
stance entailed by the needs of sealstone iconography. The famous
frescoe from Knossos (ca. mid. 15th century BC) seems to be a combination of the
first two techniques.
Performers of bull-leaping are often characterized as noblemen, on the
basis of their decoration and coiffure. Perhaps bull-leaping was taking place in the
large central courtyards of the Minoan palaces, or in specially fenced
enclosures nearby, as in Malia where there is a specially prepared ground
found to the northwest.
Back