[378] Fishermen offered to Poseidon the first tunny they caught (Athen. p. 346), but this was simply an offering of first fruits and not because the tunny was sacred.
[379] Zeitschrift f. Numismatik, X. 144 seqq.
[380] The tunny is a very large fish, usually four feet long, and is hardly likely to have been sold by the basketful.
[381] Apud Stephanum Byzant. s.v. Τένεδος.
[382] X. 14. 1.
[383] Iliad, XXIII. 850-1,
Αὐτὰρ ὁ τοχευτῇσι τίθει ἰόεντα σίδηρον,
κὰδ δ’ ἐτίθει δέκα μὲν πελέκεας, δέκα δ’ ἡμιπέλεκκα.
[384] No doubt the axe was often used as a religious emblem; double-headed axes borne in procession are seen on Hittite sculptures (Perrot et Chipiez, Histoire de l’Art dans l’antiquité, IV. p. 637). It was also the symbol of Dionysus at Pagasae. So amongst the Polynesians we find processional axes as well as real ones like our sword of state as contrasted with real swords.
[385] Ib. 882-3,