Snake Goddess
of Knossos
With serpents in her upraised hands, crowned with a panther, and her breasts proudly bared, she is the most famous example of Cretan art. Her powerful eyes foreshadow the ecstatic stare of later Kore figures.
Priestess or Goddess? in a ceremonial context where the priestess calls up the divinity, the distinction may not be meaningful.
She belongs to a global pattern of goddesses holding aloft snakes: Iran, Yoruba, Sweden, Yucatan, and many more examples.