| Delphi
Bronze Charioteer |
Part
of dedication for a victory in chariot race of 478 or 474 B.C.
Inscription from base (from J. Boardman, Greek Sculpture: The Classical
Period, 1985, fig. 34):
Polyzalos, victorious with his horses (chariot)
dedicated me
Son of Deinomenes, whom make prosper honored Apollo.
The first line once read:
Polyzalos, lord of Gela dedicated (this) memorial...
which was erased, presumably because of his claim to Gela (a Greek colony
in Sicily) and embarrassment over his tyranny.
|
| MYRON |
See
Perseus web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Early and High Classic
Periods: From Archaic to Classic: Myron |
| Diskobolos
(Discus Thrower) |
Bronze
statue, ca. 460 B.C.
Stewart, T43:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.58 (Natural History completed
by 77 A.D.)
He seems to have been the first to extend the representation of natural
truth, being more rhythmical in his art than Polykleitos and more careful
over proportion (symmetria); yet though he was very attentive to the bodies
of his figures he does not seem to have expressed the feelings of the mind,
and also did not treat the hair and the pubes any more correctly than did
the rude art of old.
Stewart, T44:
Lucian, Philopseudes (Lovers of Lies) 18 (a second century
A.D. work)
The discus-thrower... [is] the one bent over into the throwing-position,
with his head turned back to the hand that holds the discus, and the opposite
knee slightly flexed, like one who will spring up again after the throw?...
That's one of Myron's works.
Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria (Training of an Orator) 2.13.10
(a literary work which was completed before 96 A.D.):
What work is there which is as distorted and elaborate as that Diskobolos
of Myron? But if anyone should criticize this work because it was not sufficiently
upright, would he not reveal a lack of understanding of the art, in which
the most praiseworthy quality is this very novelty and difficulty?
|
| Athena,
flutes and satyr Marsyas |
Bronze group
on Athenian Acropolis, ca. 460-450 B.C.
Stewart, T43:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.57:
He (Myron)... made a satyr marveling at the flutes and a Minerva.
Pausanias 1.24.1:
In this place (the Athenian Acropolis) is a statue of Athena striking Marsyas
the Silenus for taking up the flutes that the goddess wished to be cast
away for good. |
|
Riace
Bronze Warriors
Possible
monuments that have been suggested as their origins:
|
Found in sea
off Riace, South Italy, Severe Style, ca. 460-450 B.C.
|
| I. Monument
at Olympia, associated with sculptor Onatas: |
Pausanias,
Description of Greece, 5.25.8 ff. (Pausanias' floruit was ca. 150
A.D.)
[8] There are also offerings dedicated by the whole Achaean race in common;
they represent those who, when Hector challenged any Greek to meet him in
single combat, dared to cast lots to choose the champion. They stand, armed
with spears and shields, near the great temple [of Zeus]. Right opposite,
on a second pedestal, is a figure of Nestor, who has thrown the lot of each
into the helmet. The number of those casting lots to meet Hector is now
only eight, for the ninth, the statue of Odysseus, they say that Nero carried
to Rome, [9] but Agamemnon's statue is the only one of the eight to have
his name inscribed upon it; the writing is from right to left. The figure
with the cock emblazoned on the shield is Idomeneus the descendant of Minos.
The story goes that Idomeneus was descended from the Sun, the father of
Pasiphae, and that the cock is sacred to the Sun and proclaims when he is
about to rise. An inscription too is written on the pedestal:
To Zeus these images were dedicated by the Achaeans,
Descendants of Pelops the godlike scion of Tantalus.
Such is the inscription on the pedestal, but the name of the artist is written
on the shield of Idomeneus:
This is one of the many works of clever Onatas,
The Aeginetan, whose sire was Micon. |
| II. Monument
at Delphi, Associated with Pheidias |
(on Pheidias'other
works, see below):
Pausanias,
Description of Greece, 10,10.1 ff.
X. On the base below the wooden horse is an inscription which says that
the statues were dedicated from a tithe of the spoils taken in the engagement
at Marathon. They represent Athena, Apollo, and Miltiades, one of the
generals. Of those called heroes there are Erechtheus, Cecrops, Pandion,
Leos, Antiochus, son of Heracles by Meda, daughter of Phylas, as well
as Aegeus and Acamas, one of the sons of Theseus. These heroes gave names,
in obedience to a Delphic oracle, to tribes at Athens. Codrus, however,
the son of Melanthus, Theseus, and Neleus, these are not givers of names
to tribes. The statues enumerated were made by Pheidias, and really are
a tithe of the spoils of the battle. But the statues of Antigonus, of
his son Demetrius, and of Ptolemy the Egyptian, were sent to Delphi by
the Athenians afterwards. The statue of the Egyptian they sent out of
good-will; those of the Macedonians were sent because of the dread that
they inspired.
|
| POLYKLEITOS |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Early and High Classic Periods
II: Polykleitos
Stewart, T3:
Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria (Training of an Orator) 12.7-8
Polyclitus surpassed all others, but although most critics hand him the
victor's palm, to avoid making him faultless they hold that he lacks gravity.
For while he gave the human body a form so appropriate that it surpassed
reality, he is felt not to have done justice to the impressiveness of the
gods. |
|
Xenophon,
Memorabilia, 3.10.7(work of the fourth century B.C. that reports
conversations of Sokrates):
Sokrates to sculptor Kleiton:
"Then is it not by accurately representing the different parts of the
body as they are affected by the pose—the flesh wrinkled or tense,
the limbs compressed or outstretched, the muscles taut or loose—that
you make them look more like real members and more convincing?"
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) p. 92:
Philo Mechanicus, Syntaxis 4.1, p. 49, 20 (work of 2nd century B.C.)
The statement made by the sculptor Polykleitos may be suitably repeated
for the future. For "perfection," he says, "arises para mikron
(meaning "almost"?) through many numbers." Indeed it happens
in the same manner in that art [sculpture] that, in finishing off works
through many numbers [measurements], they make a slight deviation in each
part and in the end these add up to a large error. |
| DORYPHOROS
(Spear Bearer) or CANON |
Called Canon
after treatise whose principles the bronze statue embodied, ca. 450-440
B.C.
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.18
Formerly (in Athens) statues were dedicated wearing the toga. Nude statues
holding a spear were also in favour, modeled after young men in the gymnasia;
these were called Achillean.
Stewart, T62:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.55-56
Polyclitus of Sicyon, a pupil of Hageladas, made...a "Doryphorus",
a virile-looking boy. He also made a statue that artists call the "Canon",
and from which they derive the principles of their art, as if from a law
of some kind, and he alone of men is deemed to have rendered art itself
in a work of art.... It was strictly his invention to have his statues throw
their weight onto one leg, though Varro says that they are foursquare and
all virtually stereotyped.
Stewart, T69:
Galen, De Placitis Hippocratis et Platonis 5 (p. 3.16 Kuhn; a physician
of 2nd century A.D.)
Beauty, Chrysippos believes, inheres... in the commensurability of the parts,
such as that of finger to finger, and all these to the palm and wrist, and
of these to the forearm, and of the forearm to the upper arm, and of everything
to everything else, just as it is written in the "Canon" of Polykleitos.
For having taught us in that treatise all the commensurate proportions of
the body, Polykleitos made a work to support his account; he made a statue
according to the tenets of his writing, and called it, like the treatise,
the "Canon". |
| DIADOUMENOS
(Fillet Binder) |
Bronze statue
ca. 440-430 B.C.
Stewart, T62:
Pliny Elder, Natural History 34.55
Polyclitus of Sicyon, a pupil of Hageladas, made a Diadoumenus", a
supple youth, famous for having cost 100 talents. |
| Herakles |
Bronze statue
in Rome, ca. 430 B.C.
Stewart, T62:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.55
He also made...a Hercules now in Rome. |
| PHEIDIAS |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Early and High Classic Periods
II: Pheidias |
| Athena
Lemnia |
Bronze statue
on Athenian Acropolis, ca. 450-440 B.C.
Stewart, T57:
Pausanias 1.28.2
[On the Akropolis] there are also two other dedications, a statue of Perikles,
son of Xanthippos, and the most worth seeing of the works of Pheidias, the
statue of Athena called the Lemnian after those who dedicated it.
Stewart, T58:
Lucian, Imagines 6 (2nd century A.D. work)
(Lykios, describing the features of Panthea, the ideal woman): But the facial
contour, its softness, and her well-proportioned nose will be supplied by
the Lemnian Athena of Pheidias.
Stewart, T59:
Himerios, Oratio 68.4 (4th century A.D. work)
Pheidias did not always make images of Zeus, nor did he always cast Athena
armed into bronze, but turned his art to the other gods and adorned the
Maiden's cheeks with a rosy blush, so that in place of her helmet this should
cover the goddess's beauty. |
| Athena
Parthenos |
Colossal
gold and ivory cult statue in Parthenon, Athenian Acropolis, completed
438 B.C.
Stewart, T55:
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.24.5-7
The statue of Athena stands upright, dressed in a full-length chiton,
and on her breast a head of Medusa is represented in ivory. She carries
a statue of Nike about 4 cubits [6 feet] high, and a spear in the other
hand; a shield is placed by her feet, and near the shield is a serpent.
This serpent would be Erichthonios. On the base of the image is represented
the Birth of Pandora in relief. Hesiod and others have told how this Pandora
was the first woman.
Stewart, T56:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36.18
That Phidias is the most famous sculptor among all peoples who appreciate
the reputation of his Olympian Jupiter, nobody doubts, but in order that
even those who have not seen his works may know that he is justly praised,
I will offer some small pieces of evidence as to his ability. To do this
I will not appeal to the beauty of his Olympian Jupiter, nor to the size
of his Minerva at Athens, even though she is 26 cubits [39 feet] high
and made of ivory and gold. Rather, I shall use the battle of the Amazons
which he embossed on the convex side of her shield, the fights between
the gods and the giants on its concave side, and those between the Lapiths
and Centaurs on her sandals. So truly did every detail lend itself to
his art. On the base is carved in relief what they call the Birth of Pandora,
with twenty gods in attendance. Although the figure of Victory is marvelous,
connoisseurs admire the serpent and the bronze sphinx just below the tip
of her spear.
Stewart, T47:
Plutarch, Life of Perikles 31.4 (Plutarch born before 50 A.D. and
died after 120 A.D.)
But the fame of his works still aroused jealousy against Pheidias, especially
since when he made the Amazonomachy on the shield he included both his
own portrait among the reliefs, as a bald old man lifting a stone high
with both hands, and a very handsome one of Perikles fighting an Amazon.
And the position of Perikles' arm, which is holding a spear before his
eyes, is cunningly contrived for the purpose of concealing the likeness—which
is, however, perfectly plain from either side. So Pheidias was led away
to prison and there fell sick and died.
|
| Mythological
Battles with possible historical reference |
Aeschylus'
Persians
Produced 472 B.C. Setting was Persian city of Susa, at location of the palace
of Xerxes, with tomb of Xerxes' father Darius I in the foreground.
These passages support the belief that the battles that decorate the Athena
Parthenos and the Parthenon's entablatures were veiled references to the
Persian Wars.
Lines 344 f. (Messenger, speaking to Queen, Xerxes' mother):
No, it was some divine power that tipped the scale of fortune with unequal
weight and thus destroyed our host. The gods preserve the city of the goddess
Pallas (= Athena).
Lines 401 ff. (Messenger, speaking to Queen, Xerxes' mother, re naval battle
of Salamis, 480 B.C.):
A loud shout met our ears:
"On, you men of Hellas! Free your native land. Free your
children, your wives, the temples of your fathers' gods, [405] and the tombs
of your ancestors. Now you are fighting for all you have"…"You
can be sure that so great a multitude of men never perished in a single
day."
Xerxes groaned aloud when he beheld the extent of the disaster, for he occupied
a seat commanding a clear view of the entire army—a lofty headland
by the open sea. Tearing his robes and uttering a loud cry, he straightaway
gave orders to his force on land [470] and dismissed them in disorderly
flight.
[480] The commanders of the ships which still remained fled with a rush
in disorder wherever the wind bore them.
Lines 808 ff. (Ghost of Darius I, speaking to the chorus of elderly Persian
counselors):
On reaching the land of Hellas, [810] restrained by no religious awe, they
(the Persians) ravaged the images of the gods and set fire to their temples.
Altars have been destroyed, statues of the gods have been thrown from their
bases in utter ruin and confusion. Therefore, since they wrought such evil,
evil they suffer in no less measure; and other evils are still in store:
[815] the spring of their woes is not yet quenched, but it still wells forth.
"Mortal man should not vaunt himself excessively. For presumptuous
pride, when it has matured, bears as its fruit a crop of calamity, from
which it reaps an abundant harvest of tears."
Zeus, in truth, is a chastiser of overweening pride and corrects with heavy
hand. |
| Zeus |
Colossal
gold and ivory cult statue in temple of Zeus, Olympia, 438-432 B.C.
Stewart, T50:
Pausanias 5.10.2 ff.
(10) The image was made by Pheidias, as is witnessed by an inscription written
under the feet of Zeus: "Pheidias son of Charmides, an Athenian, made
me"
Within the temple stand pillars, and inside also are porticoes above, with
an approach through them to the image.
(11) The god sits on a throne made of gold and ivory. On his head lies a
garland in the form of olive shoots. In his right hand he holds a Nike of
ivory and gold as well, which carries a fillet and wears a garland on her
head. In the god's left hand is a scepter made of all kinds of metal, and
an eagle perches on top of it. The god's shoes and cloak are of gold. On
the cloak are inlaid figures and lily-flowers.
The throne is rich with gold and jewels, and ebony and ivory too; and upon
it there are painted figures and sculptured images. Between the feet of
the throne are four bars, each stretching from foot to foot. The bar right
opposite the entrance has seven sculptured images: the eighth has disappeared,
but they know not how... They say that the youth binding a fillet on his
head resembles Pantarkes, an Elean boy who[m] Pheidias loved. Pantarkes
won a victory in the boys' wrestling contest during the 86th Olympiad [436].
All the floor in front of the image has been paved not with white but with
black tiles. A raised rim of Parian marble runs around the border of the
black stone, to keep in the olive oil that is poured out. For olive oil
is beneficial to the image at Olympia, and it is olive oil which keeps the
ivory from being harmed by the marshiness of the Altis. On the Athenian
Akropolis it is water, not olive oil, which benefits the so-called Parthenos.
For the Akropolis is extremely dry owing to its excessive height, so that
the image, being made of ivory, yearns for the dampness it brings.
Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria (Training of an Orator) 12.7-9
Pheidias is held to be a greater artist in the fashioning of gods than of
men, and his Zeus [like his Athena] even added to the existing religion
a new element, so closely does the majesty of the work approach the god
himself.
Stewart, T49:
Strabo, Geography 8.3.30 (Strabo born 64/63 B.C., and lived until
21 A.D. or later)
But the greatest of these [offerings] was the image of Zeus made by Pheidias
of Athens, son of Charmides; it was made of ivory, and it was so large that,
although the temple was very large, the artist is thought to have missed
the proper symmetry, for he showed Zeus seated but almost touching the roof
with his head, thus making the impression that if Zeus arose and stood erect
he would unroof the temple. It is said that when Panainos asked Pheidias
what model he was going to use for the image of Zeus, he replied that it
was the model Homer provided in the following lines:
He spoke, the son of Kronos, and nodded his dark brow,
And the ambrosial locks of the great god swept down
From his immortal head, and all Olympos quaked.
(Iliad, 1.528-530) |
| KRESILAS |
See Democratic
Art: Portraits, Perikles |
| Perikles |
Erected on
Athenian Acropolis in 430s or 420s B.C.
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.74:
Kresilas [made] a wounded man at the point of death, whose face betrays
how fast his life is ebbing, and also an Olympian Perikles, worthy of the
epithet. The marvel of his art is that it made famous men yet more famous.
Pausanias 1.25.1:
On the Athenian Acropolis is a statue of Pericles, the son of Xanthippus,
and one of Xanthippus him self, who fought against the Persians at the naval
battle of Mycale. (Mycale is a mountain in western Turkey opposite island
of Samos; battle occurred in 479 B.C.)
Pausanias 1.28:
There are two other offerings, a statue of Pericles, the son of Xanthippus,
and the best worth seeing of the works of Pheidias, the statue of Athena
called Lemnian after those who dedicated it.
Plutarch, Life of Perikles 3.1 ff. and 7.1 ff.:
III. Pericles was of the tribe Acamantis, of the deme Cholargus, and of
the foremost family and lineage on both sides. His father, Xanthippus, who
conquered the generals of the King at Mycale, 1 married Agariste, granddaughter,
2 of that Cleisthenes who, in such noble fashion, expelled the Peisistratidae
and destroyed their tyranny, instituted laws, and established a constitution
best tempered for the promotion of harmony and safety. [2] She, in her dreams,
once fancied that she had given birth to a lion, and a few days thereafter
bore Pericles.
His personal appearance was unimpeachable, except that his head was rather
long and out of due proportion. For this reason the images of him, almost
all of them, wear helmets, because the artists, as it would seem, were not
willing to reproach him with deformity. The comic poets of Attica used to
call him "Schinocephalus," or Squill-head (the squill is sometimes
called "schinus").
VII. As a young man, Pericles was exceedingly reluctant to face the people,
since it was thought that in feature he was like the tyrant Peisistratus;
and when men well on in years remarked also that his voice was sweet, and
his tongue glib and speedy in discourse, they were struck with amazement
at the resemblance. Besides, since he was rich, of brilliant lineage, and
had friends of the greatest influence, he feared that he might be ostracized,
and so at first had naught to do with politics, but devoted himself rather
to a military career, where he was brave and enterprising. |
| ALKAMENES |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: In the Wake of the Great Masters: Attic
Sculptors in the Peloponnesian War: Alkamenes |
| Aphrodite
of the Gardens |
Marble ? statue
located outside the city walls of Athens, ca. 410 B.C.
Pausanias 1.19.1:
But the statue of Aphrodite in the Gardens is the work of Alcamenes, and
one of the most note worthy things in Athens.
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) p. 77:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36.16
It is certain at least that he (Pheidias) was the teacher of Alkamenes the
Athenian, a sculptor of the first rank, by whom there are a number of works
in the temples in Athens, and also a particularly famous statue of Venus
outside the walls which is called the "Aphrodite in the Gardens."
It is said that Pheidias himself put the finishing touches on this work.
Stewart, T58:
Lucian, Imagines 6 (2nd century A.D. work)
(Lykios, describing the features of Panthea, the ideal woman): But he will
take the curve of the cheeks and the fore part of the face from Alkamenes'
[Aphrodite] in the Gardens, plus her hands, graceful wrists, and supple,
tapering fingers. |
| PAOINIOS |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: In the Wake of the Great Masters: Attic
Sculptors in the Peloponnesian War: Paionios |
| Nike |
Parian marble
statue erected on 30'-tall base in front of temple of Zeus, Olympia,
ca. 420 B.C.
Stewart, T81:
Inscription from base, Olympia 5 no. 259
The Messenians and Naupaktians dedicated this to
Olympian Zeus as a tithe from their enemies.
Paionios of Mende made it and was victorious in making
the akroteria for the temple.
Stewart, T82:
Pausanias 5.26.1
The Dorian Messenians who at one time received Naupaktos from the Athenians
dedicated at Olympia the image of Nike on a pillar. It is the work of Paionios
of Mende, made from spoils taken from the enemy, I think from the war with
the Akarnanians and the people of Oiniadai [452]. The Messenians themselves
say than their dedication resulted from their exploit on the island of Sphakteria
along with the Athenians [425], and that they did not inscribe the name
of the enemy through fear of the Spartans, whereas they had no fear at all
of the people of Oiniadai and Akarnania. |
| KEPHISODOTOS
THE ELDER (Father of Praxiteles) |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: In the Wake of the Great Masters: Kephisodotos
(I) |
| Eirene
and Ploutos (Peace and Wealth) |
Bronze ? statue
group erected in Agora, Athens, ca. 370 B.C.
Pausanias 1.8.1:
After the statues of the eponymoi come statues of gods, Amphiaraus, and
Eirene (Peace ) carrying the boy Plutus (Wealth).
Pausanias 9.16.1:
It was a clever idea of these artists to place Wealth in the arms of Fortune,
and so to suggest that she is his mother or nurse. Equally clever was the
conception of Cephisodotus, who made the image of Peace for the Athenians
with Wealth in her arms. |
| PTAXITELES |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Fourth-century Virtuosi: Praxiteles |
| Hermes
and infant Dionysos |
From temple
of Hera, Olympia, probably a Hellenistic copy
Stewart, T93:
Pausanias 5.17.3
At a later time other statues were dedicated in the Heraion: a marble Hermes
carrying the baby Dionysos, the work of Praxiteles |
| Apollo
Sauroktonos |
"Lizard
Slayer," bronze of ca. 350 B.C.
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.69-70:
Praxiteles also, though more successful and consequently better known as
a worker in marble, created admirable works in bronze: ...He...made a young
Apollo with an arrow watching a lizard as it creeps up with intent to slay
it close at hand; this is known as the sauroktonos or Lizard-slayer. |
| Aphrodite
in temple of Aphrodite, Knidos |
Parian marble
statue of ca. 350-340 B.C.
Stewart, T95:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 36.20-22
First and foremost not only of his, but indeed in the whole world, is the
Venus that many have sailed to Cnidus to see. He made two statues and put
them up for sale together: one was draped and for that reason was preferred
by the people of Cos, who had an option on the sale, even though it was
the same price as the other, for they judged this to be the sober and proper
thing to do. The Cnidians bought the rejected one, whose fame became immensely
greater.... With this statue, Praxiteles had made Cnidus famous. The shrine
she stands in is completely open, so that one can view the image of the
goddess from all sides, an arrangement (so it is believed) that she herself
favored. The statue is equally admirable from every angle. There is a story
that a man was once overcome with love for it, hid inside during the night,
and embraced it, leaving a stain to mark his lust.
Stewart, T98:
Lucian, Amores 13-14 (2nd century A.D. work)
When we had taken sufficient delight in the garden plants, we entered the
temple. The goddess is placed in the middle—she's a most beautiful
statue of Parian marble—smiling just a little haughty smile. Since
she is swathed in no clothes all her naked beauty is revealed, except that
she unobtrusively uses one hand to hide her modesty. So great was the power
of the craftsman's art that the hard unyielding marble has done justice
to every limb.... The temple has a door on both sides for those who wish
to see the goddess directly from behind so that no part of her be left unadmired.
It's easy, therefore, for people to enter by this other door and survey
the beauty of her back.
Deciding, then, to see all of the goddess we went round to the rear. And
as the door was opened by the woman responsible for keeping the keys, immediate
amazement at her beauty seized us. The Athenian who had been an impassive
observer shortly before...suddenly shouted, "Herakles! What a well-shaped
back, what generous flanks, what an armful to embrace! How delicately moulded
the flesh of her behind, neither too thin and close to the bone, nor yet
revealing too great an expanse of fat! And as for those precious parts sealed
in on either side by the hips, how inexpressibly sweetly they smile! How
perfect the shape of the thighs and shins as they stretch down to the ankle!"
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) p. 130:
Lucian, Imagines 6
(Lykios, describing the features of Panthea, the ideal woman): And now he
will make it possible for you to see the statue coming into being as he
fits it together, taking only the head from the Knidian [Aphrodite]. For
he will not want to use the rest of the body since it is nude. But the area
around the hair and the forehead and also the neat line of the eyebrows
he shall let her have just as Praxiteles made them; likewise the dewy quality
of the eyes with their joyous radiance and welcoming look, this too he shall
preserve just as Praxiteles conceived it. |
| SKOPAS |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Sculptors: The Fourth-century Virtuosi
IV. The Mausoleum Sculptors: Skopas |
| Maenad
with a knife and a dead kid |
Marble statue
ca. 350 B.C.
Stewart, T114.
Kallistratos, Descriptions of Statues 2.1-4 (work of 3rd or 4th century
A.D.)
Skopas, as if moved by some inspiration, imparted to the making of his statue
the divine frenzy that possessed him. Why should I not describe to you from
the beginning the inspiration of this work of art?
The statue of a Maenad, wrought from Parian marble, has been transformed
into a real Maenad. For the stone, while retaining its own nature, yet seemed
to depart from the law which governs stone; what one saw was really an image,
but art carried imitation over into actual reality. You would have seen
that, hard as it was, it became soft to resemble the feminine, though its
vigor corrected the femininity, and that, though it lacked the power to
move, it knew how to dance in Bacchic frenzy, responding to the god as he
entered within.
When we saw her face we stood speechless, so clear upon it was the evidence
of sense perception, though perception was not present; so clear was the
intimation of Bacchic divine possession stirring Bacchic frenzy, though
no such possession aroused it; and as many signs of passion that a soul
goaded by divine madness displays, these blazed out from it, fashioned by
art in fashion indescribable. The hair fell free to be tossed by the wind,
and was divided to show the glory of each strand; this most of all transcended
reason, since, stone though the material was, it obeyed the lightness of
hair and yielded to imitation of its tresses, and though void of life's
vitality it was vital withal.
Indeed you might say that art has harnessed the impulses of growth, so unbelievable
is what you see, so visible is what you do not believe. It actually even
showed hands in motion—for it was not waving the Bacchic thyrsos, but
carried a victim as if crying "Euoi"!—sign of a more poignant
madness. And the figure of the kid was livid in color, and the stone took
on the appearance of dead flesh; and though the material was one and the
same, it severally imitated life and death…. |
| BRYAXIS |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Fourth-century Virtuosi IV. The
Mausoleum Sculptors |
| Mausolus
and Artemisia or Mausolus' Ancestors |
Marble statues
found on north side of Mausoleum (and hence possibly by Bryaxis), Halicarnassus,
ca. 353 (death of Mausolus) or 351 (death of his wife Artemisia)
Stewart, T108:
Pliny, Natural History 36.30-1
The rivals and contemporaries of Scopas were Bryaxis, Timotheus, and Leochares,
whom we must discuss together because they all worked on the carvings for
the Mausoleum. This was the tomb built by Artemisia for her husband Mausolus,
the satrap of Caria, who died in the 2nd year of the 107th Olympiad [351;
he actually died in 353]. These artists were chiefly responsible for the
work's inclusion among the Seven Wonders of the World. On the North and
South sides it extends for 63 feet [actually 120 feet] but the length of
the facades is less, giving a total circumference of 440 feet. It rises
to a height of 25 cubits [probably the colonnade alone] and is enclosed
by 36 columns...Scopas carved the east side, Bryaxis the north, Timotheus
the south, and Leochares the west, but before they had finished, the queen
died [351]. However, they refused to stop working until it was complete,
since they had decided that it would be a monument both to their own glory
and to that of their art, and even today their rivalry persists. A fifth
artist also joined them. For above the colonnade is a pyramid that equals
the building's podium in height, tapering in 24 steps to its peak; at the
top is a marble chariot-and-four that Pythis made. With this added, the
building's total height comes to 140 feet. |
| SILANION |
Perseus web
site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Fourth-century Virtuosi IV. Two
Independents: Silanion |
| Satyros
the Boxer |
Statue at
Olympia by Silanion, commemorating his victory there of 332 or 328 B.C.
Pausanias 6.4.5:
Satyrus of Elis, son of Lysianax, of the clan of the Iamidae, won five victories
at Nemea for boxing, two at Pytho, and two at Olympia. The artist who made
the statue (at Olympia) was Silanion, an Athenian. |
| Seated
Bronze Statue of Plato |
In Academy,
located a mile outside walls of Athens, ca. 370-360 B.C. See Democratic
Art: Portraits, Plato
Stewart, T120:
Diogenes Laertius 3.25 and 3.28 (work of early 3rd century A.D.)
In the first book of the Memorabilia of Favorinus it is stated that
Mithradates the Persian set up a statue of Plato in the Academy and inscribed
on it: "Mithradates the Persian, son of Orontobates, dedicated to the
Muses this portrait of Plato, made by Silanion"
(The poet Amphis): "Oh Plato, all you know is to frown with eyebrows
lifted high."
Simplicius, Physics 4.14 (commentary of 6th century A.D.), describes
Plato as having a "fine shape of his nose, ... breadth of his body,
... (and) beauty of his eyes."
Ephippos (4th-century B.C. contemporary of Alexander the Great) is quoted
by Athenaios (11.509 c-d) as stating that one of Plato's pupils had "well
trimmed hair and a long beard," a hairstyle that is consistent with
portraits of Plato. |
| LYSIPPOS |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Fourth-century Virtuosi IV. Lysippos
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) p. 145, and Stewart, T124:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.37, 34.61 and 34.65
(37) Lysippus is related to have made 1,500 works, all of them of such artistic
quality that any single one could have given him fame; this number came
to light upon his death, when his heir broke open his strong-box. For it
was his custom to put in it one gold coin, worth a denarius, from the fee
which he received for each statue.
(61) Duris says that Lysippus of Sicyon was nobody's pupil; originally a
bronze-smith, he joined the discipline after hearing a response from the
painter Eupompus. When asked which of his predecessors he followed, Eupompus
pointed to a crowd of people and said that it was Nature herself, not another
artist, whom one should imitate.
(65) Lysippus is said to have contributed much to the art of sculpture,
by rendering the hair in more detail, by making the heads of his figures
smaller than the old sculptors used to do, and the bodies slenderer and
leaner, to give his statues the appearance of greater height. Latin has
no word for the symmetria which he most scrupulously preserved by a new
and hitherto untried system that modified the foursquare figures of the
ancients; and he used to say publicly that while they had made men as they
were, he made them as they appeared to be. A distinguishing characteristic
of his is seen to be the scrupulous attention to detail maintained in even
the smallest particulars. |
| Apoxyomenos
(Youth Scraping Himself) |
In front of
the Baths of Agrippa, Rome, during Tiberius' rule, 14-37 A.D.
Stewart, T124:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.62
(62) He (Lysippos) was a most prolific artist, and made more statues than
any other sculptor, among them a Man Scraping Himself with a Strigil, which
M. Agrippa dedicated in front of his baths, and which the emperor Tiberius
was astonishingly fond of. Although at the beginning of his principate he
kept control of himself, he was unable to do so in this case, and had the
statue removed to his bedroom, substituting another in its place. But the
Roman people became so indignant at this that they raised an outcry at the
theater, shouting, "Give us back our Apoxyomenos!" So despite
his admiration for it, the emperor returned it. |
| Eros |
At Thespiai
in Boeotia, Greece
Pausanias 9.27.1:
Later on Lysippus made a bronze Love (Eros) for the Thespians. |
| Satyr and
infant Dionysos |
In Athens?
Stewart, T124:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.64
(64) He (Lysippos) also made... a satyr now at Athens. |
| Colossal
Herakles (Farnese type) |
In Agora (Marketplace),
Sikyon, Greece
Pausanias 2.9.8:
Here (in Agora of Sikyon) there is a bronze Heracles, made by Lysippus the
Sicyonian.
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) pp. 148-149:
Libanios, Ekphraseis 15 (4th-century A.D. Greek rhetorician)
It was not possible for Herakles, when he ceased from his labors, to stand
without praise nor to avoid being an object of wonder as he took respite
from his achievements, but rather, by being represented in sculpture, he
was preserved so that people could see him both laboring and after a labor.
It was with a form of this sort that the artist set him up in a conspicuous
place. For Herakles rested there, not undergoing danger as he was when Nemea
saw him, but rather as Argos received him after he destroyed the lion. Thus
he stood there bearing tokens of his exploits, but at the same time having
passed the high-point of his trials. To begin with his head bends toward
the earth and he seems to me to be looking to see if he can kill another
opponent. Then his neck is bent downward along with his head. And his whole
body is bare of covering, for Herakles was not one to care about modesty
when his attention was directed toward excellence. Of his arms, the right
one is taut and is bent behind his back, while the left is relaxed and stretches
toward the earth. He is supported under the arm-pit by his club which rests
on the earth, experiencing the same leisure [as he]. And so the club supports
him while he rests, just as it saved him when he fought. The artist has
done well, it seems to me, in arranging the disposition of the club. For
while laboring he [Herakles] uses his right hand, while in pausing for a
moment of peace he uses his left. And he has also given him an idle hand.
The lion skin is draped upon the club, and this covers both the lion and
that by which it was destroyed. Of Herakles' two legs the right one is beginning
to make a movement, while the left is placed beneath and fitted firmly on
the base, and this arrangement makes it possible for the onlookers to learn
just what sort of man Herakles is, even though he has ceased from his labors.
|
| Alexander's
Hunt |
Bronze monument
at Delphi
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) p. 146:
Plutarch, Life of Alexander 40
Krateros set up a memorial of this hunt at Delphi and had bronze statues
made of the lion and of the dogs, and also of the king engaged in combat
with the lion, and of himself coming to give aid; some of these were made
by Lysippos, others by Leochares. |
| Granikos
Monument = Alexander's Squadron |
Bronze monument
commemorating battle with Persians of 334 B.C. at Granikos River in northwest
Turkey; monument was originally at Dion in Macedonia, and was moved to Campus
Martius, Rome
Stewart, T124:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.64
(64) He (Lysippos)...made...Alexander's Squadron, in which he rendered the
portraits of his friends with the highest degree of likeness possible in
every case.
J.J. Pollitt, Art of Greece (1965) p. 146:
Arrian, Anabasis 1.16.4 (2nd century A.D. work)
Of the Macedonians, twenty-five of the "Companions" died in the
first assault, and bronze portraits of them stood in Dion [in Macedonia],
made by Lysippos at the command of Alexander.
Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome 1.11.3-4 (work of early 1st
century A.D.)
This is the Metellus Macedonicus who had previously built the portico about
the two temples (of Jupiter Stator and Juno Regina in the Campus Martius,
Rome) without inscriptions which are now surrounded by the portico of Octavia,
and who brought from Macedonia the group of equestrian statues which stand
facing the temples, and, even at the present time, are the chief ornament
of the place. Tradition hands down the following story of the origin of
the group: that Alexander the Great prevailed upon Lysippus, a sculptor
unexcelled in works of this sort, to make portrait-statues of the horsemen
in his own squadron who had fallen at the river Granicus, and to place his
own statue among them. |
| Bronze
Portrait of Alexander the Great |
Stewart, T131
and T132:
Plutarch, Moralia 335A-B and 360D:
When Lysippos had finished his first Alexander with his face looking up
towards the heavens (just as Alexander himself was accustomed to look, slightly
inclining his neck to one side), someone not inappropriately inscribed the
following epigram:
This statue seems to look at Zeus and say:
Take thou Olympos; me let earth obey!
For this Alexander ordered that Lysippos alone should make his portraits.
For only he, it seemed, brought out his real character in the bronze and
gave form to his essential excellence (arete). The others, in their eagerness
to imitate his crooked neck and melting, limpid eyes, failed to preserve
his virile and leonine demeanor…. Lysippos the sculptor did well to
find fault with Apelles the painter for painting Alexander with a thunderbolt
in his hand; he himself represented Alexander with a spear, an attribute
true and proper to him, which time would never rob of its glory. |
| EUTYCHIDES |
Son of Lysippos
See Perseus web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
V. The School of Lysippos: Eutychides |
| Colossal
statue of Tyche |
Placed in
Antioch in Syria at Orontes River (bronze), baroque
Pausanias 6.2.7:
[7] The artist who made this statue was Polycleitus, while that of Timosthenes
was made by Eutychides of Sicyon, a pupil of Lysippus. This Eutychides made
for the Syrians on the Orontes an image of Fortune (Tyche), which is highly
valued by the natives.
Stewart, T140:
John Malalas (Byzantine author), Chronographia 11 p. 276 Bonn
And he [Trajan, emperor 98-117] restored the theater at Antioch, which was
unfinished, and set up in it...a gilded image of the Tyche of the city,
seated above the river Orontes, and crowned by the kings Seleukos and Antiochos.
[Seleukos I was founder of Antioch on the Orontes River in 300 B.C.; Antiochos
I was son of Seleukos I and ruler of Eastern Seleucid Empire from 293/2
B.C. onwards.] |
| PHANIS |
Pupil of Lysippos
See Perseus web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
V. The School of Lysippos: Phanis |
| Epithyousa
(Sacrificing Woman) |
Bronze, baroque
composition and rococo mood
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.80:
Phanis, the pupil of Lysippos, [made] an Epithyousa, or woman sacrificing.
|
| POLYEUKTOS |
...of Athens
See Perseus web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
Early Hellenistic Athens: Polyeuktos |
| Demosthenes |
From Athenian
Agora = Marketplace (bronze), Attic simple style
Stewart, T138:
Ps-Plutarch, Moralia 847A
[Demosthenes, in exile and hunted by the Macedonians] asked for writing
materials and wrote (so Demetrios of Magnesia says) the couplet that was
later inscribed by the Athenians upon his portrait:
If your strength had been equal to your will, Demosthenes,
Never would the Greeks have been ruled by a Macedonian
Ares.
The statue, a work of Polyeuktos, stands near the roped-off enclosure [in
the Agora] and the Altar of the Twelve Gods.
A papyrus (POxy 15.1800 fr. 3) dates the commission to 280/79, while Plutarch,
Demosthenes 31 adds that the statue "stood with its hands clasped",
securing the identification beyond doubt.
Pausanias 1.8.2:
[2] After the statues of the eponymoi come statues of gods, Amphiaraus,
and Eirene (Peace) carrying the boy Plutus (Wealth).
Here stands a bronze figure of Lycurgus, 1 son of Lycophron, and of Callias,
who, as most of the Athenians say, brought about the peace between the Greeks
and Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes. 2 Here also is Demosthenes, whom the Athenians
forced to retire to Calauria, the island off Troezen, and then, after receiving
him back, banished again after the disaster at Lamia. [3] Exiled for the
second time. 3 Demosthenes crossed once more to Calauria, and committed
suicide there by taking poison, being the only Greek exile whom Archias
failed to bring back to Antipater and the Macedonians. |
| KEPHISODOTOS
THE YOUNGER (son of Praxiteles) |
See Perseus
web site, under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers
and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period Early Hellenistic
Athens: Kephisodotos |
| Menander |
Inventor of
New Comedy, from theatre of Dionysus in Athens (bronze), Attic simple style
Pausanias 1.21.1
XXI.[1] In the theater the Athenians have portrait statues of poets, both
tragic and comic, but they are mostly of undistinguished persons. With the
exception of Menander no poet of comedy represented here won a reputation.
|
| Aphrodite |
Medici, (marble?),
rococo
Stewart, T134:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36.24
The son of Praxiteles, Cephisodotus, inherited also his skill. His group
of People Grappling (symplegma ) at Pergamon is much praised, being notable
for the way in which the fingers seem really to sink into living flesh rather
than marble. At Rome his works are a Leto in the Palatine temple, a Venus
in the collection of Asinius Pollio, and the Asclepius and Diana in the
shrine of Juno within the Porticus Octaviae. |
| DOIDALSAS |
...of Bithynia
in northwest Asia Minor |
| Crouching
or Bathing Aphrodite |
Originally
with Eros ?, perhaps originally in Bithynia (bronze ?), rococo with baroque
composition
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36.35
The same Polykles and Dionysios, the sons of Timarchides, made the Zeus
in the adjoining temple (of Jupiter Stator, within the portico of Octavia,
the Campus Martius, Rome), where are also an Aphrodite bathing by Doidalsas,
and a standing Aphrodite by Polycharmus. [Latin of last part is: fecerunt...Venerem
lavantem se sedaedalsas stantem Polycharmus.] |
| BOETHOS |
...of Chalcedon,
east of Byzantium
See Perseus web site under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
V. The Second-Century Neo-Classicists: Boethos |
| Boy with
Goose |
Marble or
bronze, rococo with baroque composition
Stewart, T161:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.84
Boethus, though he is better in silver, did a child strangling a goose by
hugging it. |
| POLYKLES |
...of Athens
See Perseus web site under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
V. The Second-Century Neo-Classicists: Polykles |
| Sleeping
Hermaphrodite |
Bronze, rococo
with baroque composition
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.80:
Polykles made a famous Hermaphrodite. |
| EPIGONOS |
...of Pergamon
See Perseus web site under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
V. Sculptors Active at Pergamon: Epigonos |
| Menelaos
with body of Patroklos |
By Epigonos,
perhaps in Athena Sanctuary at Pergamon (bronze), baroque
Homer, Iliad 17.1 ff. and 17.722 ff. (8th century B.C. epic)
[1] Brave Menelaos son of Atreus now came to know that Patroklos had fallen,
and made his way through the front ranks clad in full armor to bestride
him. As a cow stands lowing over her first calf, even so did yellow-haired
Menelaos bestride Patroklos...
[The Trojans get Patroklos' body and strip Achilles' armor from it. Then
the Greeks recover the now-naked body.]
[722] On this Menelaos and Meriones (a Cretan) took the dead man in their
arms and lifted him high aloft with a great effort. The Trojan host raised
a hue and cry behind them when they saw the Achaeans bearing the body away,
and flew after them like hounds attacking a wounded boar at the loo (game
of stakes) of a band of young huntsmen. For a while the hounds fly at him
as though they would tear him in pieces, but now and again he turns on them
in a fury, scaring and scattering them in all directions—even so did
the Trojans for a while charge in a body, striking with sword and with spears
pointed at both the ends, but when the two Ajaxes faced them and stood at
bay, they would turn pale and no man dared press on to fight further about
the dead. |
| Gaul Monuments
|
Bronze, baroque
Stewart, T150:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.84
Several artists have represented the battles of Attalus and Eumenes against
the Gauls: Isigonus [probably should be Epigonos], Pyromachus, Stratonicus,
and Antigonus, who wrote books about his art. |
| Gaul Monument |
Athena Sanctuary,
Pergamon (bronze), baroque
Inscription from round base:
King Attalos having conquered in battle the Tolistoagii Gauls around the
springs of the river Kaikos [set up this] thank-offering to Athena. |
| Dying Trumpeter |
By Epigonos,
from Gaul Monument in Athena Sanctuary at Pergamon (bronze), baroque
Stewart, T151:
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 34.88
Epigonus, who imitated almost all the subjects already mentioned [philosophers,
orators, monarchs, athletes, divinities] excelled with his Trumpeter and
Weeping Child pitifully caressing its murdered mother. |
| Warlike
nature of the Gauls |
Strabo
(who lived 63 BC - 21 AD):
The whole race is fanatically fond of warfare. They are vociferous and act
on impulse. When they are upset, they immediately gather together in groups
in the open, to urge on to warfare, without the slightest preparation or
reflection. |
| Appearance
of Gauls |
Diodorus Siculus
5.28 (late 1st century B.C. history):
The Gauls are tall in body, with rippling muscles... They are always washing
their hair in limewater and pull it back from the forehead..., so that they
look like Satyrs and Pans; the treatment of their hair makes it so heavy
and coarse that it looks like the mane of a horse... Some of them shave
the beard, but others let it grow a little. The nobles shave their cheeks
but let the moustache grow until it covers the mouth. |
| Gauls |
Polybios,
on battle at Etruscan town of Telamon in Italy, 225 B.C. (2.25-31; Polybios
was 2nd century B.C. author):
The Insubres and the Boii wore trousers and light cloaks, but the Gaesatae
in their overconfidence had thrown these aside and stood in front of the
whole army naked, with nothing but their arms... [The fine order and the
noise of the Celtic host terrified the Romans; for there were countless
trumpeters and horn blowers and since the whole army was shouting its war
cries at the same time there was such a confused sound that the noise seemed
to come not only from the trumpeters and the soldiers but also from the
countryside which was joining in the echo. No less terrifying were the appearance
and gestures of the naked warriors in front, all of whom were in the prime
of life and of excellent physique. All the warriors in the front ranks were
adorned with gold torcs and armlets...] But to the naked men in front events
turned out differently to what they had expected and caused them much discomfiture
and distress. For since the Gallic shield cannot cover the whole body, because
they were naked, the bigger they were, the more chance there was of missiles
striking home. At length, unable to ward off the javelin throwers because
of the distance and the number of javelins falling upon them, in despair
and distress some rushed upon the enemy in wild rage and willingly gave
up their lives. |
| MYRON
OF THEBES |
As attested
by a Hellenistic inscription from Pergamon (see J.J. Pollitt, Art in
the Hellenistic Age, 1986, p. 311, note 13) |
| Drunken
Old Woman |
Perhaps showing
a participant in Ptolemaic festival of Adonis, Alexandria, Egypt (see J.J.
Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age, 1986, p. 143; purpose of festival
was to celebrate death and resurrection of Adonis, who was shared between
Aphrodite and Persephone and often identified with Near Eastern fertility
god Tammuz); according to an alternate theory, woman would be connected
with Dionysiac cult (see William R. Biers, The Archaeology of Greece,
2nd ed., 1996, p. 303).
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36.32:
As to Myron, the celebrated bronze caster (was Pliny here conflating the
Early Classical with a Hellenistic Myron?), his statue at Smyrna (where
a copy of the Hellenistic type also known from copies in Munich and Rome,
the Capitoline Museum was found) of an intoxicated old woman ranks among
the most famous works. |
|
Theocritus
Idyll 15 (excerpts from Psalm of Adonis; Idyll dated ca.
250 B.C.)
One bed Cypris (Aphrodite) keeps, and one the
rosy-armed Adonis.
A bride-groom of eighteen or nineteen years is he,
His kisses are not rough, the golden down being yet upon
his lips!
And now, good-night to Cypris, in the arms of her lover!
But lo, in the morning we will all of us gather with the
dew,
And carry him forth among the waves that break upon the
beach,
And with locks unloosed, and ungirt raiment falling to
the ankles,
And bosom bare, will we begin our shrill, sweet song.
You only, dear Adonis, so men tell,
You only of the demi-gods,
Do visit both this world and the stream of Acheron (a
river of the Underworld)...
Be gracious now, dear Adonis, and propitious
Even in the coming year.
Dear to us has your advent been, Adonis,
And dear shall it be when you come again. |
| HAGESANDROS,
POLYDOROS AND ATHANADOROS |
...of Rhodes
See Perseus web site under Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors:
Their Careers and Extant Works: The Sculptors: The Hellenistic Period
V. Greek Sculptors and Rome: Hagesandros,
Polydoros and Athanodoros |
| Grotto
(Spelunca) |
Forming summer
dining hall from villa of Tiberius, Sperlonga, Italy
Tacitus, Annals, Book 4.59 (on events of 23-28 A.D.; Tacitus lived
ca. 55-120 A.D.):
LIX. It happened at this time that a perilous accident which occurred to
the emperor strengthened vague rumours and gave him grounds for trusting
more fully in the friendship and fidelity of Sejanus. They were dining in
a country house called "The Cave" (Spelunca in Latin, from which
Sperlonga derives), between the gulf of Amuclae and the hills of Fundi,
in a natural grotto. The rocks at its entrance suddenly fell in and crushed
some of the attendants; thereupon panic seized the whole company and there
was a general flight of the guests. Sejanus hung over the emperor, and with
knee, face, and hand encountered the falling stones; and was found in this
attitude by the soldiers who came to their rescue. After this he was greater
than ever, and though his counsels were ruinous, he was listened to with
confidence, as a man who had no care for himself.
Suetonius, Life of Tiberius 39 (Suetonius lived 69-140 A.D.)
XXXIX. But after being bereft of both his sons—Germanicus had died
in Syria and Drusus at Rome—he (Tiberius) retired to Campania, and
almost everyone firmly believed and openly declared that he would never
come back, but would soon die there. And both predictions were all but fulfilled;
for he did not return again to Rome, and it chanced a few days later that
as he was dining near Tarracina in a villa called the Grotto (Spelunca in
Latin, from which Sperlonga derives), many huge rocks fell from the ceiling
and crushed a number of the guests and servants, while the emperor himself
had a narrow escape. |
| Inscribed
plaque from grotto wall |
With epigram
by Faustinus Felix, 3rd or 4th century A.D., Sperlonga (translation from
H. Anne Weis, "Odysseus at Sperlonga: Hellenistic Hero or Roman Heroic
Foil?", From Pergamon to Sperlonga: Sculpture and Context, 2000,
126):
If Mantua could give back her divine Poet and Seer (i.e. Vergil), astonished
at the immense work here, he would yield [his authority] to the cave, and
to the treacheries of the Ithacan (i.e. the statue group with Odysseus'
theft from Troy of the Palladium, the wooden Athena), the flames and the
blinding of the Half-Beastómade heavy by both sleep and wine (i.e.
to the statue group depicting the blinding of Polyphemus), to the caverns
and the restless waters, the Cyclopean rocks, the savagery of Scylla and
the ship's helm broken in the surging waters (i.e. the statue group with
Odysseus' ship and Scylla). |
| Second
inscription, Odysseus' ship from statuary group, with Scylla |
On outrigger,
group depicting his encounter with the monster Scylla:
Athanadoros son of Hagesandros, Hagesandros son of Paionios, and Polydoros
son of Polydoros, the Rhodians, made [it]. |
| Blinding
of Cyclops Polyphemos |
By Odysseus,
copy (?) from Tiberius' dining grotto at Sperlonga (bronze), baroque
Homer, Odyssey 9.360 ff.
[360] "So he spoke, and again I handed him the flaming wine. Thrice
I brought and gave it him, and thrice he drained it in his folly. But when
the wine had stolen about the wits of the Cyclops, then I spoke to him with
gentle words:
" 'Cyclops, thou askest me of my glorious name, and I [365] will tell
it thee; and do thou give me a stranger's gift, even as thou didst promise.
Noman is my name, Noman do they call me—my mother and my father, and
all my comrades as well.'
"So I spoke, and he straightway answered me with pitiless heart: 'Noman
will I eat last among his comrades, [370] and the others before him; this
shall be thy gift.'
"He spoke, and reeling fell upon his back, and lay there with his thick
neck bent aslant, and sleep, that conquers all, laid hold on him... [375]
Then verily I thrust in the stake under the deep ashes until it should grow
hot, and heartened all my comrades with cheering words, that I might see
no man flinch through fear. But when presently that stake of olive-wood
was about to catch fire, green though it was, and began to glow terribly,
[380] then verily I drew nigh, bringing the stake from the fire, and my
comrades stood round me and a god breathed into us great courage. They took
the stake of olive-wood, sharp at the point, and thrust it into his eye,
while I, throwing my weight upon it from above, whirled it round, as when
a man bores a ship's timber [385] with a drill, while those below keep it
spinning with the thong, which they lay hold of by either end, and the drill
runs around unceasingly. |
| Laocoon
Group |
In palace
of Titus, Rome, in Roman times, baroque
Stewart, T171:
Pliny, Natural History 36.37-8
Furthermore, many have little fame, because despite the distinction of their
work, the number of artists involved becomes a barrier to recognition, since
no single man monopolizes the credit, nor can several of them be recognized
on equal terms. Such is the case with the Laocoon in the palace of the emperor
Titus, a work to be preferred to any other painting or sculpture. From one
stone the eminent craftsmen Hagesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus of Rhodes
made him [Laocoon] and the extraordinary intertwining coils of the snakes,
following a plan agreed in advance.
Summary of Arctinus' Destruction of Troy (composed in the 8th or
7th century B.C.):
The Trojans were suspicious of the wooden horse and standing round it debated
what they ought to do. Some thought they ought to hurl it down from the
rocks, others to burn it up, while others said they ought to dedicate it
to Athena. At last the third opinion prevailed. Then they turned to mirth
and feasting believing the war was at an end. But at this very time two
serpents appeared and destroyed Laocoon and one of his two sons, a portent
which so alarmed the followers of Aeneas that they withdrew to Ida. |
