Their dance was by some writers identified with the Pyrrhic dance,
first performed by Athene, in honour of her victory over the Giants,
and taught by her to the Kouretes. It had however, as we shall see, a
very distinct aim and purpose, and one in no way connected with
warlike ends.
In Miss J. E. Harrison's deeply interesting volume, Themis,[14] she
gives the translation of a fragmentary Hymn of the Kouretes, discovered
among the ruins of a temple in Crete, a text which places beyond all
doubt the fact that, however mythical in origin, the Kouretes,
certainly, had actual human representatives, and that while in the
case of the Maruts there may be a question as to whether their dance
actually took place, or not, so far as the Kouretes are concerned
there can be no such doubt.
The following is the text as preserved to us; the slabs on which it is
inscribed are broken, and there are consequent lacunae.
"Io, Kouros most great, I give thee hail, Kronian, lord of all that
is wet and gleaming, thou art come at the head of thy Daimones.
To Dikte for the year, Oh march, and rejoice in the dance and song,
"That we make to thee with harps and pipes mingled together, and sing
as we come to a stand at thy well-fenced altar.
"Io, &c.
"For here the shielded Nurturers took thee, a child immortal, from
Rhea, and with noise of beating feet hid thee away.
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