Fenway Court: 1994

Isa b e ll a S te \\ a rt Ca rcln c r J\ f u s c um

FE N WAY COURT

Published by th e Tru stees of th e Isabell a Stewa rt Ga rdn er Muse um 2 Palace Road Boston, Massac hu setts 02 11 5 Co pyri ght i994

T he My th and Allu sion: Me anings and Uses of M yth in Ancient Gree k and Roman Society Symposium and thi s publi ca ti on have bee n fund ed throu gh a ge nero us donation from C harl es and JoA nne Di ckin son .

Cove r: Me du sa, (detail ), mosaic, seco nd ce ntury A. O ., Isa bell a Ste\.v,art Ga rdn er M use um , Boston .

Ph oto by Dav id Bohl.

No te to li brari ans: Beginning las t yea r, Fe nway Co urt wa s se parated fr om th e M useum 's Annu al Report. Startin g with th is editi on, it will ca rry th e yea r of it's copyri ght and publi ca tion on its cove r, and not th e previous year's date as is customa ry with an Annu al Report. T hi s is to avo id co nfusion in th e futur e, since these lec tures are published in th e sa me yea r th at th ey are deli ve red. For thi s reaso n, coll ec ti ons of thi s pu bli ca ti on will appea r to skip th e yea r i993 .

C o TE TS

Myth and Allusion: !f.eanings and Uses of M yth in Ancient Greek and Roman Society

Foreword

7

C hief Curator's Preface 9 The Uses of C lassica l M yth

Jerome

J.

11

Pollitt

M yth , Art, a nd Life in Arc h a ic and C lass ical Greece

27

Sir John Boardm an The Ghosts of H ome r 41

Tamara Green Getting to be a Star: The Politi cs of Catasterism

52

Peter G reen Mythi c Mode ls of th e Rom a n Soc ial Order in th e Cancelleria Re liefs 72

Eve D'Ambra The Meaning of M yth o n Rom a n Sa rco phagi 91

Dagmar Grassinger yth s to Live By: Drinking in th e Roman H o u se 108

C hristine Kondoleon

FOREWORD

Anne H aw ley Dir ec t o r

Th e i994 Fe n wa y Co urt prese nts th e pape rs g ive n at th e third a nnu al

sc h ola rl y sy mp os ia but a n a rti st-in

Isa bell a Stewa rt Ga rdn e r Inte rdi sc i-

Beh old e r lec ture se ri es, ex hibiti o n s, a nd a n edu ca ti o n prog ra m th at

plin ary Symp os ium , titl e d My th and

Allusion: Mea nings and Uses of My th in Ancient Greek and Roman Society. T h e symp os ia we re in a ug urated at th e Ga rdn e r as a forum wh e re lea din g sc h ola rs a re in vite d to fo c u s o n a n asp ec t of th e M use um 's collec ti o n , expl o rin g n ew id eas and te rrito ry. T hi yea r's symposium co n ve n e r, Dr. Jero m e J. Pollitt h as do n e just th at an d h as abl y co ntributed to o ur und e rsta ndin g of co nte mp o ra ry u ses of c lass ica l m yth .

T h e sy mp os ia a re part of a n ew e ra at th e Ga rdn e r M u se um wh e re

res id e n ce prog ra m , th e Eye of

we lc o m es c hildr e n fr o m o ur n e ighb o rin g sc h ools.

T h e sc h ola rl y sy mp os ia, whil e co ntributin g to sc h ola rship a nd kn owle dge in a pa rti c ul a r fi eld , a re also b ec oming vital links to th e e o th e r prog ra m s at th e Ga rdn e r, e nge nd erin g a c ro ss-fe rtili za ti o n of id eas. Thus, th e knowledge proffe red fr o m th e sc hol a rs beco m es a li vin g thing . . . inte rtwin ed with oth e r sec to rs.

Thi s intell ec tu al a nd a rti sti c ac ti vity res to res th e mu se um to th e ac ti ve

we see k to m ake it o n ce aga in , a li ve ly ce nte r fo r th e expl o ra ti o n of

c ultural stature it h eld durin g th e life of its found e r wh e n Fe n way

id eas, wo rkin g fr o m th e h e rit age of

Co urt was a d yn a mi c, c ro ss-c ultural, c ro ss-di sc iplin a ry ce nte r of id eas a nd a rt.

th e coll ec ti o n a nd of th e found e r, Isa bell a Stewa rt Ga rd n e r. To thi s e ncl , we h ave laun c h ed n o t o nl y th e

7

PR EFACE

Hill ia rd T. Go ldfa rb C hi e f C ur a t o r

T hree yea rs ago we inaugurate d annu al inte rdi sc iplinary symp os ia as th e ce nte rpi ece of our re in vigo ra-

pape rs of thi s sy mp osium co ntributed to our und e rsta nding of th e ro les of m yth in G ree k and Rom an

ti on of sc h olarl y p rog ra mmin g at th e Ga rd ne r M u se um . Th ese sy mp os ia are m em ori ali ze d annu all y in th e mu se um 's publica ti on , Fe nway Court. Las t yea r, in se paratin g th e annu al report fr om thi s jo urn al, we effec ti vely es tabli sh ed Fenway Co urt as th e Ac ts of th e sy mp os ia.

Coordin ated by Professo r Jero m e J. Pollitt of Ya le U ni ve rsity, th e third Isa b ell a Stewa rt Ga rdn e r Inte rdi sc iplin ay Sy mp os ium took as its topi c "Myth and Allusion : Mea nin gs a nd Uses of Myth in An c ient G reek an d Ro m an Soc iety." Focus in g on th e important and ubiquito u s ph e n o m en on of m yth in th e class ica l wo rld , it brought to life th e m an y subtl e roles playe d by stori es and images in G reek a nd Rom an soc iety. Wh eth e r di spl aye d in th e th ea ter as Atti c tragedy, pa inte d o n a red-figure vase, or ca rve d on a m arbl e sa rco ph agu s, th ese m yth olog ica l n arrati ves n o t o nl y reveal th e pe rso n al a nd politica l agen das of th e ir patro ns, but also we re intend e d to call forth spec ifi c res ponses fro m th eir viewers. Th e

soc iety by d e m o nstrating th eir multi va le n ce, whi c h in turn e nsured th e ir rem a rkabl e lon gev ity. Throu gh b rin ging toge th e r inte rn ati o n ally em in e nt inte rn ati on al sc hol a rs in a n info rm al se tting whi ch pe rmitted a fr ee-fl owing di sc u ssio n in a stimu-

8

lating exc h a nge of id eas ac ro ss tim e a nd cultures, it was d e m on strated to a wid e r audi e n ce th at m yth is not simpl y sto ry-telling or n a rrative deco rati on , but a ca rri er of m eaning, loa ded with subtext of hum an inte rac ti on a nd indi vidu al and soc ietal age nd as .

We h ave b ee n ve ry fortun ate th at thi s ye ar, as in previo u s yea rs, our idea l ch oice for a coo rdin ator accepted th e c h alle n ge: Dr. Je rom e J. Pollitt, th e John M. Schiff Professor of C lass ical Arch ae ol ogy and Histo ry of Art a t Yale Uni ve rsity. Beyond a di stingui sh ed ca ree r at Yale, Dr. Pollitt h as se rve d as edito r-in-c hief of th e American Journal of Archaeology as we ll as se rvin g o n th e board of Art Bulletin. In th e sources and docum ents se ri es of C amb rid ge Uni ve rsity

Press h e h as add ressed th e a rt of an cie nt G reece a nd Rom e . His Art

Professo r Chri stin e Kondo leon d e li ve rin g

in the Hellenistic Age (1986) is a n

during th e Gardner's da y-l ong sy mposium

esse nti al refe re n ce . Pe rh aps th e m os t

in January, i994 .

h e r lecture, " Drinkin g in th e Roma n H ouse ",

celebrated of h is b oo ks is th e exemplary Art and Ex peri ence of C lassica l

Greece (1972), an e n co mp ass ing vision of art as th e express ion of ch a nging m odes of co nsc iousness, subtl y integra tin g a rtisti c d evelopm ents with th e societal c h an ges a nd conse qu e nt c h an ges in th e und e rstanding of "self" th at occ urred in G ree k c ulture . His wo rks, insightfull y exploring th e c ultural h e rit ages e mb odi ed in G ree k and Rom a n a rt, refl ec t his intell ec tu al ac uity a nd se nsiti vity as a co nn oisse ur.

In ch oos ing a topic of a ntiqui ty a nd m yth we es pec ially h on or Isa bell a Stewa rt Ga rdn e r. In th e courtya rd , at th e ve ry h ea rt of h e r

crea ti on , sh e place d works of G reek and Roma n an ti quity and a sec on dce ntury Med usa gu a rds at th e ve ry cen te r of th a t space , surrounded by fi gures in ston e. Most of th e anti quiti es in th e coll ec ti on we re p urc h ased by her in Rom e between 1895 and 1901. T h e m os t celebrated wo rk in th e coll ec ti on , T itian 's Europa , find s its ins pirati on in th e revivifying of th e wo rld of an cie nt m yth, T iti an h aving studi ed Ovid .

Fi n all y, we address special words of th anks to JoAn n e and C h a rl es Dicki nso n , wh o genero usly h ave sponso red thi s sym posi u m.

9

10

T H E USES OF CLAS S I CAL MYTH

Jerom e

J.

Pollitt

Yale Uni ve r s it y

Since Antiquity virtuall y eve ryo n e who h as studi e d G reek m yth s h as approac h e d th em with th e ass umption th at th ere is m o re in th e m th an m ee ts the eye, th at in addition to th e often e n gross in g sto ri es th ey te ll , th ey also h a rb o r d ee pe r, or at leas t less obvious, meanings. In thi s sym posium m y colleagu es explo re so m e of th e ways in whi c h what we re perceive d to b e th e " inn e r meanings" of m yth s were exp o und e d a nd give n form by the Greeks and th e Ro m a n s, and I wo uld like to introduce th e ge neral subj ec t and se t th e stage for th e pape rs th at follow by offering a few refl ec tion s on th e va ri ety of ways in whi c h th e signifi cance of Classical m yth s h as b ee n inte rpr ete d sin ce Antiquity.

During th e p as t ce ntury th e gu es t to di scove r underlying m ea nin gs in Classical m ythology h as und e rgo n e three major revolution s.1 First, th e re was th e anthropological revo lution ,

stimul ate d by th e di scovery that m ythology was a uni versa l phenom e n o n , o n e th at occurred among so-call ed primiti ve p eo pl es all ove r th e world . This reali za ti on led to th e th eo ry th at all m yth ology (in cluding th at of th e Greeks, wh o gave th e ge nre its nam e ) might h ave a com mon basis a nd o ri gin in fund ame ntal ritual s co nn ec ted with wh at a re indisputabl y uni ve rsa l preocc up ati on 's of hum a n b ein gs - birth , surviva l, and dea th . The most famous produc t of thi s lin e of th o ught was, of co urse, Sir Ja m es Frazer's The Golden Bough (first e diti o n i890), an d alth o u gh that grea t b ook no longe r co mm and s the un cri ti ca l admirati o n th at it o n ce did , th e th eo ry of th e ritu al origin of m yth still h as adh e re nts.

The seco nd revo lution, origi natin g at about th e sa m e tim e but fl owe rir-: g in popul arity late r, was th e psyc h oa nalyti c approac h to 11

m yth s whi ch pos tul ated th at th ey we re symbo li c fo rms pro jec te d out of th e sub-co n sc iou s m in d in o rder

h owever, th e re we re oth er traditi ons

to re lease and all ay, usu all y in a ve il ed way, hu ma n dri ves and anxieties. It is prob ab ly still tru e today tha t m o re peo pl e h ave lea rn e d abo ut th e sto ry of Oe dipu s fr o m Fre ud th an fr om So phoc les .

An d th e m ost rece nt revo luti on , o n e quite appro pri ate for a n age of com puter program m ers an d of lite rary c ri tics wh o den y th at an a uth or eve r m ea n s what h e o r sh e says, h as b ee n th e stru cturali st inte rpret ati o n of m yth in whi ch it is n ot th e m ythical "story" per se th at is signifi ca nt (ofte n it is rega rd ed as of n o signifi ca n ce at all ) but ra th e r an und e rlyi ng code of fo rm s whi ch fun c ti on s as a ve hicl e fo r m edi atin g social tens io ns and co ntradi cti on s.

A di sti ngui shing fea ture of thi s mo de rn sc h olarship o n th e ph e n o men on of myth h as bee n its ass umpti on th at, wh eth er m yth s are lin ks with th e fo rgo tten signifi ca n ce of primiti ve ritu als, o r di still th e suppressed libid o of huma n n ature into a soc iall y acce ptable fo rm , o r express a coll ec ti ve un co n sc iou s, or co nt ain a hidd en coded m essage, th eir m ea nin g re m a ins large ly e mb edd ed in th e su bconscious mind, wh eth e r it b e indiv idual or coll ec ti ve.

Lo ng befo re th e e ra of Fraze r, Freud , Jun g, and Levy-Strau ss,

consciously perceived but also delibera tely mani pulated. P ro babl y th e

12

in th e inte rp re tati on of myth s in whi c h th eir m ea ni ng was no t onl y

most fa mili ar of th ese is th e traditi o n of inte rp re ting m yth s as all ego ri es, stories wh ose d eta ils symb oli ze d wh a t we re pe rce ive d to b e phil oso phi cal, m o ral, and soc ial truth s.

Alth ou gh it is n ow out of fas hi o n , all ego ri ca l inte rpr etati on h as bee n , in fac t, o n e of th e most e nduring in tellec tu al ph e n om e n a in th e hi sto ry of E urop ea n c ulture, o n e th at o rigin ate d in Antiquity itself and h as bee n go ing o n for abo ut two a nd a h alf th o u sa nd yea rs.

T h e re is so m e reaso n to think th at all ego ri ca l inte rpret a ti on was in ven te d in th e sixth ce ntury B.C. in res po n se to th e n eed to inte rpre t a nd reinte rpre t epi c poe try, es pec iall y H o m e r. 2 As G reek c ulture develope d, th e H om eri c epics we re acco rd ed a rol e so m ething like th at of sc ripture, th at is, th ey we re viewed n ot o nl y as dra m ati c n arrati ves but also as guid es to life a nd state m e nts of c ultural va lu es.

T hi s_is probabl y wh y ea rl y G reek phil oso ph e rs like H e rakl eitos and E mp e docl es ch ose to write in epic ve rse. Simpl y by using H o m e ri c p oe ti c form s th ey we re a bl e to e nd o路"" th eir own id eas with a ring of auth o rity, a nd th eir e mul a ti o n

of th e style of H om e r m ay, in its

Fo r exa mpl e, in th e Quaestiones

turn , h ave h elped to re in fo rce th e id ea th at th e re we re phil oso phi cal

Homericae by on e H e rakl e itos , a late

m ea nin gs e mb edd ed in th e e pi cs.

In an y case , as ea rl y as th e middl e of th e sixth ce ntury B.C. we find th e ea rl y cos m ologist Phe rekyd es of Syros usin g all ego ri cal inte rpre tati on as a way of ge ttin g at wh at h e felt we re th e real, and d ee pe r, m ea nin gs

(p ro babl y first ce ntury B.C. ) exa mpl e of thi s long-li ve d traditi on dedica ted to th e exc ulp ati on of H om e r, th e racy sec ti on in th e Odyssey wh e re H eph a istos traps Ares a nd Aph ro dite in a n e t whil e th ey a re

of ce rt ain Home ri c passages.

Acco rding to Ph e rekyd es, for exa m-

m aking adulte rou s love was inte rpreted as an all ego ry of h ow refin em e nt ca n bring ab out a h a rm on y b etwee n love a nd di sco rd .4

pl e, wh e n H om e r h ad Ze us c h as ti se H e ra in Ili ad i5 .18, tes til y re mindin g h e r h ow h e on ce hun g h e r on hi gh

Rea din g m yth s as all ego ri es see m s to h ave beco m e so co mm on a m ong intell ec tu als of th e C lass ical

with two an vil s h a nging fr om h e r

pe ri od th at Pl ato felt call ed up on to co nd e mn it,5 a rguin g th at it onl y h elped to prese rve irrati o nal submi s-

fee t, th e poe t was reall y alluding to th e way in whi c h Go d sup e rimpo sed ord e r on ch aos and c rea ted th e va rious regions of th e uni ve rse.3 By th e e nd of th e Arc h aic pe ri od

sion to th e di sreputabl e auth ority of poe ts on m oral qu es ti ons. In spite of Pl ato 's attac k, h oweve r, thi s kind

all ego ri zati on h ad b eco m e a n es tabli sh ed way of kee ping th e sc riptural rol e of th e epi cs in tun e with th e

of inte rpre tati on co ntinu ed to be popul a r until late Antiquity. In th e H ell eni sti c pe ri od it was take n up by

temp e r of ch an ging tim es . In addition to offe rin g a way to promul ga te n ew phil oso phica l id eas it also

th e Stoics, es pec iall y C hrys ipp os, to express th eori es about ph ys ics and cos m ology. The Stoic app roac h to cos m ologica l m yth s was parti c ul a rl y influ e nti al a m ong th e late H ell e nisti c gra mm a ri ans like Krates of Ma llos, th e first h ead of th e libra ry at Pe rga m on , who co ntinu ed to use it to elu cida te th e m ea nin g of

prove d useful in d efending th e Hom e ri c p oe m s aga inst th e cha rge th at th ey so m e tim es see m ed to advo ca te imm oral id eas and ac tion s. On th e surfa ce H om e r's gods a nd h e ro es mi ght see m to quarr el or b eh ave pe rfid eo usly, but wh en th e und e rl ying all egori cal m ea nings of th e ir ac ti ons we re prope rl y und e rstood , th ey could b e dee m ed quite res pec tabl e .

H om e r; and through th e wr itings of th ese gramm ari ans it was pe rp etu a ted into th e late r Rom a n E mpire, wh e re it was ad opted with e nthu si-

as m in Neoplatoni sm. In thi s co ntext all egorica l in terpreta ti on co ntinu ed to be a fund amental mode of exegesis in defending th e crea ti on myth s of paga n reli gion aga in st the old charge , now mainl y leve led by hostil e C hri stians, that th ey were ind ece nt. Sa ll ustiu s, th e fri end of Juli an th e Apostate , argued in hi s trea ti se De Diis et Mundo, for exa mpl e, th at th e story of Cro nos swa ll owing hi s children was rea ll y an ex press ion of a dee p philoso phi ca l truth : "Sin ce God is intell ec tu al and all intell ec t returns into itself, thi s myth expresses in all egory th e esse nce of God." 6 One might have thought th at th e triumph of Ch ri sti anity and th e co llapse of th e pagan reviva l wo uld have dea lt a dea th blow to th e alrea dy ve nerabl e tradition of rea ding myth s as all egories , but such was hardl y th e case. From th e Neo pl atoni sts th e traditi on was abso rb ed, in a way th at might at fir st see m surpri sing, by C hri sti an writers of th e M iddl e Ages, such as Ful gen tius in th e sixth cen tury; Rabanus Ma urus and Theodulph , Bi shop of Orlea ns, in th e Carolingian peri od; and John of Sali sbury in th e twelfth ce ntury, all of whom felt th e age-old appea l of C lass ica l mythology and reso rted to all ego ri cal interpretation as a way of makin g it acce ptabl e in th e wo rld of C hri sti an belief and devo ti ona l practi ce.7 Perhaps th e most aston ishing

exa mpl e of thi s transmutation of anc ient myth s to mee t th e nee ds of a later culture is th e fourteent h ce ntury work known as th e Ovide Mora lise, whi ch gave a C hri sti an interpretati on of th e myth s in th e Metamo rph oses of Ovid . That O vid , who was rega rd ed as a wo rdl y poet eve n in paga n Rome, should ha ve beco me th e moral in stru ctor of clergyma n and eve n nun s may see m like one of th e grea t ironi es of hi story, but it also testifi es to th e elas ti city and durab ility of C lass ica l mythology.

In th e Renaissa nce , alth ough th e nee d to reconcil e C lass ica l mythology wi th C hri sti an doctrin e largely eva porated and it co uld now be enjoyed for its own sa ke , a revival of Neo pl atonism provid ed a new stimulus to keep all ego ri ca l interpretation ali ve, and throu gh wo rks like lc iati ' Em blema twn Liber (15 31), fo r exa mpl e, a language and an im age ry for rea din g lesso ns and messages into C la sica l myth s was crea ted which had an impa ct on Europ ea n art until \Nell into th e nin etee nth ce ntury.

One factor th at ti es alm ost all th ese writers on all ego ry toge th er, in spite of th e vas tl y different nature of th e tim es in wh ich th ey wrote , is th at th ey see m to have shared what tod ay might be brand ed an "eliti st" outlook. Understand ing th e rea l signifi ca nc e of myths, th ey felt, was an

att a inm e nt reserved fo r peo pl e of inte ll ec tu al refi neme nt . Aga in , a

G reek m yth og raph y, an d n ot its mai n strea m . T h e m a in st rea m

qu otatio n fr om th e De D iis et

invo lve d an o utl ook th a t was less

M undo of Sall u sti u s will co n vey th e c h a rac te r of thi s state of mind : " . . . just as th e go ds h ave m ade th e

intell ec tu all y self-co nsc io us th an all ego ry a nd also less fa mili ar to o ur way of thinking. Pe rh aps th e wo rd s

goo ds of sense co mm o n to all , but th ose of th e intell ec t o nl y to th e

th at most acc urate ly c h arac ter ize th e way m ost a n c ie nt G reeks, a nd a lso, I

wise, so m yth s state th e ex iste n ce of

b eli eve, m a ny Ro m an s, viewed m yth a re "p olyse m anti c" o r "polyse mo u s."

th e go ds to all , b ut wh o a nd wh at th e go ds a re is revea led o nl y to th ose wh o a re abl e to und e rsta nd . M yth s also re prese nt th e ac ti viti es of th e go ds. Fo r one m ay ca ll th e wh ole wo rld a m yth , in wh ic h bodi es a nd thin gs a re visibl e, but soul s and mind s hidd en." 8 Abo ut seve n hu n dred yea rs la te r we find Jo hn of Sali sbury in hi s En th eticus Ma ior express in g a C hri sti a n ve rsion of th e sa m e attitude wh e n h e says th a t h e studi ed paga n m yth s ''. .. n o t o ut of a n y res pec t fo r fa lse go ds, but beca u se und er th e cove r of wo rd s

(T h ese te rm s are n o rm all y appli ed to wo rds a nd texts, bu t th ey see m equ all y appli ca bl e to th e la nguage of visu al fo rm s.) In Arc h a ic a nd C lass ica l G reece th e possib ili ty th at m yth s mi ght be co ntinu all y re inte rprete d in o rd e r to co n vey n ew m ea nings see m s to h ave b ee n take n fo r grante d , but thi s was n ot see n to co ntradi c t, o r oblige o n e to doubt, th at th e bas ic substa n ce of m os t m yth s was in so m e se n se "tru e" and " real." M yth s to th e G reeks we re

truth s a re hidd en whi c h m ay no t be revea led to th e vul ga r. "9

n o t simpl y a lea rn ed a nd a rtifi c ial scaffo ldin g, as th ey beca m e in th e M iddl e Ages, on whi c h phil osophi-

I h ave spoke n at so m e le ngth about th e all ego ri cal traditi on of m ythical inte rpretati o n b eca u se , as I sa id ,

cal and p oliti ca l id eas co uld be d ra p ed . On th e co ntra ry, th ey we re an e le m ent in a reli gio u s tra diti o n

it is a ge nre of anc ie nt th ou ght th at h as h ad a ve ry lo ng li fe as we ll as wid e influ e n ce in E u ro p ea n inte llec tu al hi sto ry. I h ope it will n ot

th at was a produ c t of co ntinu ing evolutio n rath e r th an hi sto ri ca l reve la ti o n , a nd h e n c e m yth s we re

see m p e rve rse if I n ow point o ut th at th e all ego ri st trad iti o n fo r th e m os t p art re prese n ted a seco nd a ry and ofte n pe dan ti c by-way in a n c ie nt

th o ught to b e capa bl e of yielding or bearin g n ew m ea nin gs in a n atural a nd spo nt a n eo u s wa y.

T h e best kn own and m ost admi red m anifes tati o n of thi s polyse m anti c

rol e of myth s in G reek culture is Ath eni an drama. On th e surface th e Eumenides of Aeschylus, fo r exa mpl e, dea lt with th e guilt and exo nerati on of O res tes fo r killing Aga memn on, but as eve ryo ne in th e Ath eni an audi ence kn ew it also allud ed to tensions within Ath eni an soc iety stemming fr om th e curtailm ent of ari stoc rati c privil eges th at we re part of th e democra ti c reform s of Peri cles and hi s assoc iates. E uripid es' Trojan Women portraye d th e brutality and sufferin g of th e sac k of Tro y, but most sc holars ag ree th at E uri pid es used th e epi c story to refl ec t up on th e hum an devastati on th at wa being ca used in hi s own tim e by th e Pelopo nn es ian War. And in a nu mber of oth er pl ays fa miliar and ubi quito us myth olog ica l subj ec ts are th ought to have fun cti oned as somethin g li ke metaph ors fo r co ntemporary iss ues. What di stin gui shes th ese dramas fr om co ntemp orary and later all ego ri zing co mm entari es, howeve r, is th at, alth ough th ey had seco nd ary mea nings, th eir mythi ca l pl ots still retai ned an intense, vivid beli evability, and we re grippin g as narrati ve ex peri ences; and mos t of th ose who witn esse d th em see m to have beli eved th at th e eve nts whi ch th ey saw reenac ted in th e th ea ter had rea ll y happened at some point in a hazy past. T he polyse mantic app roac h, unlike all egori sm, did

not take th e life-bl oo d out of myths.

If anythin g, it made th em more interes tin g. It was also apparentl y th e comm on prop erty of a large portion of th e popul ati on and hence had a wid es prea d influ ence on the ge neral intell ec tual climate of Greek c ulture . In late Antiquity and postC lass ica l E urope, as we saw, it wa s thou ght th at onl y a selec t intellige ntsia had th e ca pac ity to comprehend th e multipli city of mea nin gs emb edd ed in Greek myth s, wh ereas in Archaic and C lass ica l G reece it see ms to have bee n taken for granted th at th e large audi ences of asse mbl ed citi ze ns who witn esse d dramas at publi c festi vals would be abl e to und erstand th eir signifi ca nce .

Th e papers in th e prese nt sympos ium dea l with exa mpl es of ho w th e mea nings of spec ifi c myth s and mythi ca l person aliti es we re ex plored and extend ed in ancient literature and politi ca l li fe as we ll as in th e visual arts. Tamara G ree n, for exa mpl e, di sc uss es how charac ters in th e Homeri c epi cs we re reassessed and reinterpreted in Ath enian drama , and Peter Gree n talks about how Julius Caesa r and Augustu s elaborated upon th at pec uli ar we dding of politi cs, th eology, myth , and as tronom y th at th ey had inh erited fr om th e Hell eni sti c wo rld . Sin ce th e symposium took place in a di stingui shed art muse um , hovveve r,

it see m s fi tting to co nclud e m y ow n intro du cto ry re m a rks with a bri ef ove rview of so m e of th e ways in whi ch th e re m a rka bl e ada ptability of C reek m yth s affec te d th e im age ry of C reek a nd Ro m an a rt fo r at least a th o u sa nd

rary politi cs h as b ee n co ntrove rsial, and so m e h ave b ee n re lu c tant to acce pt th e id ea th at thi s kind of a p olyse m a nti c app roac h towa rd mythica l im ages h ad evo lve d a t su c h an ea rl y stage in C reek art u Oth ers, h oweve r, h ave pursu ed it vv ith in ge -

yea rs.

I feel th at a rev iew of this so rt o ught to b eg in with a salute to on e of o ur sy mp os iasts, John Boa rdm an , b eca u se it is largely throu gh hi s e ffo rts th a t m a n y art hi sto ri ans are n ow willing to co n sid e r th e p oss ibility th at thi s adaptati o n of m yths to co n vey p oliti cal id eas m ay alrea dy

nuity, and as a res ult we mu st n ow co n sid e r th e p oss ibility, for exa mpl e, th at th e Di osko uroi on a rch a ic Ath e nia n vases mi ght so m etim es h ave b ee n see n as allusio n s to th e Spa rt a n s o r th a t Ajax so m etim es fun cti o n ed as a symb ol of antiPeisistra tid , p ote ntiall y de m oc rati c

a se ri es of influ e nti al and mu c h

for ces in Ath e n s. 12 Movin g to th e stud y of Cl ass ical

d eb ated arti c les b eg inning in i972 Sir John h as argu ed th at th e Ath e n-

C ree k a rt, that is, Creek a rt in th e fifth and fourth ce nturi es B. C., es pe-

ian tyrant Pe isistratos e n co ura ge d th e id ea th at th e re was an a n alogy

c iall y th at of Ath e n s, we find on ce

h ave ex iste d in Arc h a ic C reek a rt. In

b e twee n hi s ow n p oliti cal ac hi evem e nts and a numb e r of eve nts in th e life of th e h e ro H e rakl es and th at late a rc h a ic Ath e ni an vase pa inte rs we re awa re of thi s assoc iati on .

10

The

popula rity a nd inn ova ti ve qu ality of ce rta in types of images of H e ra kl es in black-fi gure vase pa intin g, Professo r Boardm an h as su ggested , mi ght b e ex pl a in e d by th e fac t th at th ey we re also d es ign ed to se rve as allu sion s to th e ca ree r of Peisistratos .

At least insofar as it relates to th e Arc h a ic pe ri od , th e p oss ibility th at th e iconog raph y of Ath e ni a n vases e n co mpa ssed allu sio n s to c onte mpo-

aga in th at th e m a nipul ati on of m yth h as b ee n th e fo c u s of on e of th e m os t o ri gin al d eve lopm e nts in th e p as t twe nty yea rs of sc hol arship . It h as b ee n argu ed th a t a numb e r of famili ar m ythol og ica l cycl es att a in ed th eir ob viou s popul arity in th e m onum e nt al a rt of thi s p e ri od beca u se th ey h ad co m e to b e und e rstoo d as allu sion s, a form of indirec t di sco urse, so to sp ea k, to th e m oral n ature of th e C reeks' vic to ry ove r th e Pe rsian s a nd of th e m o ral b as is for th e Ath e ni a n s' c urr ent prospe rity.

Thi s subj ec t was first dealt with in a co mpreh e n sive way by th e Ge rm an sc h olar E b e rh a rd Th o m as in hi s

pa rti c ul ar o n myth s th at th e Ath e ni ans seem to h ave re interpre te d in o rd e r to make th e m "releva nt," as we wo uld n ow put it, to th eir own ti me -th e m ythi ca l and lege nd a ry battl e of th e Go ds with th e G ia nts, fo r example, a nd th e b attl es of Greek h eroes with th e Am azo ns a nd with th e Ce nt aurs.

As a sa mpl e of wh at thi s n ew approac h to th e ico n ograph y of C lass ica l G reek a rt is li ke, let m e give yo u a bri ef review of wh a t h as b ee n sa id abo ut th e battl e of th e La piths a nd th e Ce nt au rs. T hi s is o n e of th ose arc h etypal G reek m yth s th at pit c ivili za ti on aga inst a savage, primiti ve for ce, and it see m s to c ry o ut fo r m etaph o ri ca l inte rpretati on .

In ea rl y G ree k art, vases with see mingly un a mbi gu o us sce n es d epi ctin g H e rakl es ' fi ght with th e Ce nt aurs in i

South m etope no . 30 fr o m the Parthe non .

447-442 B.C . London , Court esy of th e

Tru stees of th e Britis h Mu se um .

2

Co lumn krate r attr ibuted to th e F lore n ce

Painte r. ca . 460 B.C . Flo re nc e, Mu se o

Archeologico .

book My th os und Gesc hichte (1976 ) and h as mo st recen tl y bee n explo red agai n by David Castri ota in hi s illu m ina ting book en titl ed My th , Ethos, and Actuality (1992). T h ese and oth er sch olars have foc u sed in

th e Pe lopo nn esos h ad bee n th e ru le, but aft e r th e Pe rsia n Wa rs th e sto ry of th e Ce nta urs' ri ot at th e we dding of Peirithoos in T h essaly, an eve nt at whi c h th e Ath eni an h e ro T h ese u s was prese nt, beca m e th e do min ant ve rsio n of th e m yth. T h e Ce nt a u rom ac h y was clea rly on e of th e m ost importa nt subj ec ts in C lass ical arc hi tec tural sc ulpture. It is th e subj ec t of th e wes t pe dim e nt of th e te mpl e of Ze u s at Ol ympi a; fo rm s o n e of th e th e m es of th e m etop es of th e Pa rth e n o n (fi g. l ); is th e subj ec t of th e on e of th e fr iezes of th e H ephaisteion ;

a nd ap pea red on th e sa nd als of Ph e idi as's Ath e na Pa rth e n os . It was also d epic ted in a promin e nt p a intin g by M iko n in th e T h ese ion in Ath e ns, a wo rk that see m s to h ave bee n fr equ e ntl y co pi ed , or at leas t "quoted ," b y vase p ainte rs (fi g. 2).

It see m s virtu all y ce rt a in that th e Thessalian Ce ntaurom ac h y grew in popul a rity beca use of its usefuln ess as a m eta phor for rece nt histo ri ca l expe ri e n ce. Beca use of th e prese n ce of T h ese us, of co urse, it se rve d as an oth e r exa mpl e of Ath e ns' role , vigoro usly promoted afte r Marathon and Plataea, as saviour a nd protec to r of civili ze d institutio ns . In addition , th e Centaurs' b etraya l of fr ie nd ship and tru st when th ey att ac ked th e Lapith wo m e n a nd broke up th e we dding of Peirithoos co uld al so b e inte rpre ted , sin ce th e we ddin g was a sac red rite, as an ac t of impi ety, a n

3 Sil ve r te tradra c hm of Alexa nd e r.

325 B .C . Be rlin , State Coin Co ll ection .

4 Sil ve r te tra drac hm d e pi c tin g Alexa n d e r

an alogy for th e b a rb aro us be h av ior of th e Pe rsia ns 路wh e n th ey sacked th e

with th e h o rn s o f Ze us Ammo n , iss u ed by

Acro poli s and burned its te mpl es in

Lo nd o n , Cou rt esy of th e Tru stee s of the

480 B.C. And b eyo nd th ese broad

Br iti sh Mu seu m .

Kin g Lys im ac h os of Th race. ca. 288-281 B.C.

cultural and reli gious m ea nin gs th e re m ay have bee n a n eve n m o re preci se political signifi ca n ce att ac h ed to images of th e Cen ta urom ac h y. Th e Ce nta urs m ay h ave become an an alogu e, as Thoma s h as spec ul ated , for those G reeks wh o h ad "medi ze d " during th e Pe rsian wa rs, that is, those who had go n e over to th e Pe rsia n sid e. 1 3 Foremost among th ese h ad

b ee n th e kings of Thessal y, a nd sin ce Th essaly was th e hom ela nd of th e Ce nt aurs, it m ay be th at th e Th essalia n rul e rs, a nd oth e r G ree ks who joi n ed th e m , ca m e to be th ought of by th e ir co nte mpora ri es as th e "Ce nt a urs of th e prese nt. " Wh en viewe d in thi s way, th e co mm on pairing of th e Ce ntaurs with th e

T h e id ea that m yth s and m yth olog ica l p e rsonaliti es we re u seful ve hicl es for co n vey in g politi ca l id eas co ntinu ed unab ated in th e H ell e nisti c p e ri od and wa s, as one mi ght ex pe c t, es p ec iall y popul a r am ong th e H ell e ni sti c kings. Alexa nd e r's c la im to b e a desce ndant of H e ra kl es a nd ultim ately of Z e u s led to th e c rea ti o n of im ages on co ins and ge m s in whi c h hi s fea tures we re fu sed with attributes of hi s m yth olog ica l pro ge nitors (for exa mpl e, th e li o n skin h ea ddress of H e rak les (fi g . 3) and th e ram 's h orn s of ZeusAmmo n ) . (fi g. 4) T h e model es tabli sh e d by Alexa nd e r a nd hi s co urt a rti sts was qui ckl y take n up by othe rs. D e m etrio s Poliorcetes, for exa m5 Silve r tetra d rac hm of De metri os

ple, wa s portra ye d with th e horn s of

Poliorce tes. ca. 289/8 B.C . Pri va te

hi s m ythologic al proge nito r, Posei-

Co ll ection.

don Ta ur eos (fi g . 5), and Ptol emy III , o n th e co in illustrated (fi g . 6 )

6 Co ld oc taclra chm with portra it of Ptolemy

h e re h ad him self endowe d with a

Jll

( 246-222

ca.

222-2 0 5

B.C .), iss ued by Ptolemy IV,

littl e of eve rythin g - horn s, th e rays

B.C. Lond on, Court esy of th e

of H eli os, th e aeg is of Zeus, a nd th e

Tru stees of th e Br iti sh Mu se um .

trid e nt of Poseid on adorn ed with th e wings of H e rm es. Thi s practi ce of

Am azons in Ath e ni an art bec omes

bl e nding hum an rul e rs with th e ir

a log ical o ne. T h e Ama zo ns, as John

m yth olog ica l a n cestors, prototyp es

Boardm an n o tes in hi s pape r, oft e n fun cti on ed as doubl e ts fo r th e Persian s, and toge th e r th e m yth s

-a nd protec tors con tinu e d until th e e ncl of th e H ell e ni sti c pe riod . For example, wh en King M ithradates VI

se rved as an express ion of reproac h aga in st, as we ll as a celebrati o n of vic tory ove r, ex te rn al and inte rna l en e mi es of rece nt tim es .

20

7 Portra it of M ithracl ates VI of Pontos.

Ea rl y fi rst ce ntury B.C. Pari s, Lou vre.

of Pon tos se t o ut to b eco m e th e lib-

o nl y m edium in whi c h th e re was a

erator of As ia M in o r fr o m grow in g Ro m an domin a ti on in th e ea rl y fir st

cal fi g ures to co n vey politi cal m es-

ce ntury B.C ., h e app are ntl y in stru c-

sages in H ell e ni sti c a nd Ro m an art.

ted hi s co urt arti sts to re prese nt him

T h e G iga nto m ac h y o n th e grea t

with th e li on skin h ea ddress of

alt a r at Pe rga m on, in additi o n to

H erakles , th e reby in vok in g as p re-

p ro babl y b e in g a cos mi c all ego ry

decesso rs n ot onl y th e h ero wh o h ad liberated Prom eth e us but also

des ign ed by th e gramm a ri an and all ego ri st, Krates of Ma ll os, wh om

Alexa nd er, wh o h ad fr eed As ia min o r

vve h ave alr ea dy m e nti o n e d, m ay

fr om Persia n co ntro l two and a h alf

also h ave b ee n inte nd ed as an allu-

ce nturi es ea rli e r (fi g. 7).

T h e prac ti ce of exp ro pri atin g

sio n to th e Att alid kin gs' vic to ri es

m yth ica l pre decesso rs fo r propaga n-

th e Ga ul s, a nd th e kin gdo m s of

di sti c purposes was also take n up

Bithyni a a nd Po ntos. T h e o mnipres-

with enthu sias m by th e stro n gm e n

e n ce of sn aky fo rm s in th e fri eze m ay

of th e late Rom an Re public Marc

eve n b e a n allusio n to a nava l battl e

Antony, for exa mpl e, pro babl y

in whi ch H a nnib al (by thi s tim e a

fo ll ow in g Ptole m a ic pro totyp es,

m e rcena ry fi ghtin g for Bith yni a) h ad

pro mul ga ted hi s im age as a n ew

reso rted to th e barb a ri c strategy of

Di onysos; Juliu s Caesa r cla im ed desce nt fr o m Aph ro diteNe nu s

throwing p oiso n ou s sn akes onto th e decks of Pe rga m en e ships. 16

bl e ndin g of hum an and m yth ologi-

ove r var io u s n o n-G reek en e mi es -

th ro ugh th e so n of th e Tro jan h ero Ae n eas; and Oc tav ian p ro m o ted th e id ea th at h e was spec iall y favo red by 1

Apoll o. 4 F in all y, fr o m th e m ode ls

In Ro m an Imp e ri al art, es pec iall y durin g th e ea rl y e mpire , bl e ndin g m ythi cal fi gures with hi sto ri cal pe rso n alities a nd eve nts beca m e on e of

sh aped by H ell e ni sti c kin gs and

th e m ost typi ca l as pec ts of offi c ial

pe rp etu ated by th e ge n era ls of th e late Republi c, im ages of rul e rs as man ifes tati on s of di vin e and h ero ic

state ico n ograph y. In th e Fo rum

perso n aliti es passe d into th e ico n og-

Augu sti , th e Ara Pac is, as we ll as oth e r Augu stan m onum e nts, for exa mpl e, images of Ve nu s, M ars, Ae n eas, a nd Ro mulu s we re bl e nd ed

raph y of Roma n impe ri al po rtrai ture, a fac t made tangibl e, fo r exam pl e, by th e we ll-kn own im ages in Rome of

Au gu stu s a nd hi s fa mil y as a way of

Cla udiu s as Ze u s, H adri a n as Ma rs, and Co mm odu s as H e rakles. 1 5

re mindin g th e Rom an world of th e e mp ero r's offi c ial di vin e lin eage .17

Portra itu re was n o t of co urse th e

'

22

'

with po rtraits of Juliu s Caesa r and of

T h e u se of m ythi cal im ages to give a

co n c rete form to impe ri al p oli c ies in

doc trin es whi c h were th e n c u rren t

Au gu sta n a rt es ta bl ish ed a preced e nt

ab o ut th e n ature of d ea th , th e so ul ,

th at co uld be foll owed , vvh e n circ um-

a nd li fe afte r d ea th . C um o nt str essed

sta n ces m ade it appro pria te, by la te r e mp e rors. In h e r rece nt b ook Pri vate

th e fac t th a t th ese sa rco ph ag i were p ro du ced in th e p e ri od wh e n th e

Lives, Imperial Virtues (1993), Eve

so rt of Stoic, Neo pla to ni c, and Neo-

D 'Ambra h as expl o red h ow D o mi-

pyth ago rea n all egor iza ti o n th a t we h ave alr ead y m e nti o n ed was in its

ti an , for exa mpl e, u sed m yth s in th e re li efs of th e Fo rum T ra n sito rium to

h eyday a nd th at th e re was n o thin g

e mb od y hi s gove rnm e nt's soc ial

impl au sibl e o r unhi sto ri ca l in th e

poli cies, and in th e paper th at foll ows

supp os iti on th at th e m yth s d epi cted

sh e offe rs so m e furth er th oughts o n th e rol e of m ythi cal fi g ures in th e

o n th e m mi ght re fl ec t th e eso te ri c id eas of th e ir tim e . Art hi sto ri a ns

offi cial a rt of th e F lavian p e ri od .

wh o we re fa mili ar with th e th ou ght

ou sly h ad th e ir pl ace in Ro m a n offi-

of th e tim e o u ght, h e fe lt, to b e abl e to " read " th ese m yth s in th e sa m e

c ial a rt, th ey throve m os t vigo rou sly

way th at Ro m an intell ec tu als did .

in th e Ro m an wo rld , as h as ofte n b ee n obse rve d , in th e a rt th at was

On th e b as is of seve ral late tex ts, for exa mpl e, h e su gges ted th at th e m yth

co mmiss io n ed by pri va te indi viduals

of Ph ae th o n , on sa rcoph ag i like this

for th e ir h o u ses a nd to mb s; and in

third-ce ntury exa mpl e in Co p e nh age n , was a n all ego ry for th e ekp y-

Alth o u gh m ythi cal images obvi-

thi s pri va te a rt th e polyse m a nti c approac h to m yth s of C lass ical G reece see m s to h ave re m a in ed ve ry mu c h ali ve. T h e two m e di a th at pro vid e u s with o ur m os t ex te n sive corpora of m ythi ca l im ages in Rom a n pri va te

rosis, th e fin al co nfl ag rati o n of th e wo rld in Stoic cos m ology (fi g. 8).

(Phae th o n was th e so n of H eli os wh o p e rsu ad ed hi s fath e r to le t him dri ve th e c h a ri o t of th e sun for a day, but

art a re fi g ura l m osa ics and th e relief

b eca u se th e fli ght turn ed o ut to be

sc ulptures on sa rco phag i.

In hi s b ook Recherches sur le

so da n ge rou sly e rrati c Ze u s, in o rd e r to save th e wo rld , had to bli ght him with a thund e rb olt. ) In th e late r

symbolisme funeraire des Romains publi sh e d in i942, F ran z C um o nt prop osed th at m a n y of th e m ythi ca l sce n es th a t a re found on Ro m an sa rco phag i, in a dditi on to se rving as traditi on al form s of deco rati o n , also fun c ti on e d as sy mb oli c refe re n ces to

Ro m a n E mpire thi s id ea h ad b ee n fu sed with th e M ithra ic id ea th at, at th e e nd of th e wo rld , M ithras wo uld desce nd and give immortali ty to fa ithful so ul s by ca rryin g th e m across a ri ve r of fir e. T hinking alo ng simil a r

8 Sa rcophag us from Os ti a de pi c tin g the story of P hae th o n . La te 2n d or ea rl y 3rd cen tury B.C. Copen ha ge n , Ny Car lsberg Glyptotek.

lin es, C um o nt also saw sce n es of

G rass in ge r's stud y of sce n es co n-

Apoll o and Ma rsyas o n sa rco ph ag i as

n ec ted with th e story of Alcesti s offers

an allusion to th e Neo pyth ago rea n

a judic io u s assess m e nt of th e poss i-

id ea of th e triumph of th e lyre, th e

biliti es, and th e limitati ons, of

mu sical in strum e nt th at tran spo rted

"readin g" m yth olog ica l sa rcophagi

pure soul s towa rd th e h eave nl y sph e res

as express ions of an c ient re ligiou s

and was itself a te rres tri al symb ol of th e mu sic of th e sph e res. 18 Both

and phil oso phi cal id eas.

Ancient m osa ics, whi ch we re m os tl y

m yth s, h e co n clud ed , mu st h ave b ee n c h ose n beca use th ey we re fe lt

assoc iated with pri va te d we llin gs

pave m e nt m osa ics, a re prim aril y

to ex pre ss th e as pirati o ns fo r immo rtality of th e Sto ic-M ithra ic or Neo-

o r with buildings devo ted to pri vate

pyth ago rea n Rom an s wh o we re

th e H ell e ni sti c p e ri od , th e House of th e Masks at D elos, for exampl e,

buri ed in th e sa rco ph ag i.

C um ont's work h as ofte n b ee n

leisur e, su c h as bath s. In hou ses of

wh e re we h ave a co mpl ex of Dio-

cr iti cize d by later write rs as too subjec ti ve and as in clin ed to draw co n-

n ys iac and th ea tri ca l ima ge ry, program s of m osa ics see m to h ave b ee n

clusions b eyo nd wh at was wa rranted by th e ev id en ce, but th e likelih oo d

des ign ed to say so m ethin g about th e

th at th e m yth s depi cted on sa rco phagi were intend ed to evoke id eas th at

of th e h o u se .19 Thi s pro gramm ati c

we nt b eyo nd th e simpl e fac ts of th e ir story can n ot be di smi sse d altoge th e r.

In th e prese nt symp os ium D agm ar

profess io n o r life style of th e own e rs appro ac h to m ythol og ical mosai cs continu ed to thri ve into late Antiquity, and in th e eas te rn part of th e Roman world , in c iti es like Antioch , for

example, it lasted right up to th e

1 Fo r a thorough cri tique of th e stud y of

bord e rs of th e Byza ntin e pe riod. A

myth since th e nin etee nth ce ntury see

viv id example of it on th e island of

G .S. Kirk , Myth , its M eaning and

Cyprus is analyzed h e re by Christine

Function in Ancient and Oth er C ultures (1970 ), chapters 1, 2, and 6.

Kondol e on.

I think I am not mi sre prese nting m y co ll eag ue s when I say that a

2 See J. Ta te, "T he Beginnin gs of Greek

recognition of the pol yse manti c

All egory," C lassica l Review 41 (1927)

approach to m yth s ha s provid e d th e

214-15 and "On th e Hi story of

intell ec tual foundation for th e pre-

All egor ism," C lass ica l Quarterl y 28

se nt sympo sium. For th e mo st part we have byp asse d both the mod e rn

(1934) 10 5-14; Jon Whit111an , Allegory, Th e Dynamics of Ancient and M edi eval

fixation with th e subcon sc ious as

Technique (Ca111bridge, Mass. 1987 ) 1-5 7.

we ll as the often qu a int symboli sm of post-Antique European sc h o la r-

3 In general on Ph erekydes see G .S.

ship and ha ve tri e d to look at C lassi-

Kirk and

cal m yth s, to th e ex te nt that it is

Philosophers (1957 ) 48-72. Th e spec ifi c sou rce is Origen (Contra Ce lsum 6-42), quoting Celsus, who in turn quoted Pherekycles (Kirk an d Rave n, p. 66, text 60).

poss ibl e, throu gh th e eyes of tho se who created th e m .

J. E. Rave n, The Presocratic

4 Odyssey 8. 266-366; Qu aestiones Homericae (ed. F. O el111 ann , Leip zig 1910), sec ti on 69. On th e character of Herakleitos's use of all ego ry see Whitman, Allegory, pp. 38-40.

5 Repu blic 377B-378E. 6 Section 4 1 (ed. G . Roc hefo rt, Pari s 1960) . A co nve ni ent E ngli sh translati on is in clud ed as an appen di x in G ilb ert Murray's Five Stages of Greek Religion (3rd edn ., Ga rd en city,

.Y. , 1955 ).

7 Still th e bes t ge n eral so urce is

14 A u seful coll ec ti o n of th e ev id e n ce

J. Seznec, The Surviva l of the Paga n

ca n b e found in Pa ul Za nke r, Th e Power

Gods (N ew Yo rk 1953).

of Im ages in the Age of Augustu s (Ann Arb o r 1988 ), c h apte r 2.

8 Sec ti on 3.3 (s ee no te 6 above ).

15 See Anto n H ekl e r, Gree k and Roman 9 Pa rt 1, sec ti on D , lin es 185-89 in th e

Portraits (Lo nd o n 1912; repr int New York

editi on of J. Va n Laa rh ove n (Le id en

1972), pi s. 180, 246b , and 27oa; Di a na

1987).

E.E. Kl e in e r, Roman Scu lpture (New H ave n 1992) fi gs. 106 (C la udiu s) a nd 24 3

10 j . Boa rdm an , " H e rakl es, Pe isistratos

(Co mm odu s); Kl a us Fittsc he n , Paul

and So ns," RA 2 (1971) 57-72; "H erakl es,

Za nk e r, Katalog der romischen Portrdts

Pe isistra tos, a nd E le usis," JH S 95 (1975 )

in den Ca fJitolinischen M useen (Ma in z

1-12; "Im age and Politi cs in S ixth Ce n-

1984) I, n o. 48, Ta f. 53 (H adrian ) and

tu ry Ath e ns," in H .A.C. Brijd e r, ed .,

n o. 78, Taf. 91-94 (Co mm odus) .

Ancient Gree k and Related Pottery: Proceedings of the Intern ational Vase Symposium in Amsterdam 12-15 April

16 See m y Art in the Hellenistic Age

1984 All a rd Pi erso n Se ri es 5 (Am ste rd am

98-109; o n th e so urces see E sth e r

1984) 139-47; "H e rakl es, Peisistra tos a nd

V. H a n se n , Th e Attalids of Pergamon

th e Unco nvin ced," JH S 109 (1989) 158-59

(ind e diti on , Ith aca a nd London , 197 1),

(Ca mbridge 1986 ), pp . 81-82, fi gs.

p. 99 路 11 R.M. Cook, "Po ts a nd Pi sistra ta n P ro paga nd a," JB S 107 (1987 ) 167-69;

17 Th e evid e n ce is aga in summ a ri zed

Wa rre n C. Moo n , "Th e Pri am Pa inte r:

by Z anke r (s ee n o te 11 above ), ch apter+

So m e Ic onographi c Co n sid e rati o ns," in W .C . Moo n , ed ., Ancient Greek Art and

18 C urnont, Symbolisme, pp. 17-19 and

Iconogra phy (Ma di so n W I 1983 ) 97-118.

74-76 .

12 A. H erm a ry, "Im ages de l' apoth eose

19 It h as b ee n sugges ted th at th e own e r

des Di osc ures," BC H 102 (1978 ) 5q6;

J

Boa rdm a n , "Exeki as," AJA 82 (1978 )

- of th e hou se m ay have bee n an ac tor , o r a group of ac tors, or a n organi ze r of

11-25 ; Ma ry B. Moo re, "Exeki as a nd

th ea tri ca I pe rform a n ces . See Jose ph

Telam oni an Ajax ," AJA 84 (1980) 417-34 .

C h arnon ard , Les mosaiqu es de la maison

des masques, Ex ploration archeologique 13 Ebe rh a rd T h om as, My thos und

Geschichte (Cologn e 1976 ), p p. 50 _51.

de Delo s (Pa ri s 19 33).

MYT I-1 , ART , A

D LIF E I N AR C H A I C

A N D CL ASS I CA L GR EECE

Sir John Boa rdm an U ni ve rs it y o f Oxfo rd

T h e subj ec t of m yth a nd m ea nin g in an cie nt G reece does n o t h ave to be studi ed in te rm s of G reek a rt, but th e re a re goo d reaso n s wh y it sh o uld be . Eve n in a soc ie ty whi c h b oas ts su c h hi gh lite racy as o ur own th e visu al im age co unts fo r m o re as an age nt of m e m o ry, recogniti o n o r im ag in ati o n th a n th e spoke n wo rd o r th e writte n wo rd . W h e re la n gu age m ay fail as a m ea n s of co mmuni ca-

i

After Lewis Ca rroll , Alice's Adventures in

tion a n im age m ay su cceed . T hink

Wonderland (Lond on i909) 10 (drawin g b)'

of th e sign s o n res t roo m s wo rld wid e,

John Tenni e!)

or ro ad sign s. \i\fh e n we drea m , o ur sub co n sc io u s re-o rga ni ses o ur m e n -

b ook fr o m c hildh oo d . T h e same

tal databases for u s in te rm s of

wo uld ap pl y for H u ck leberry F inn

im ages , to whi c h an ythin g we h ea r

or a n y oth er lite ra ry c h a racte r wh om

plays a min o r rol e or n o n e a t all.

'I see' m ean s 'I und e rst and '. If I say

we in stin c tive ly reca ll in te rm s of

"Ali ce in Wo nd e rl a nd ", th e o dd s a re

ow n im ag in ati o n. We still live in a

th at thi s will sign a l to yo u a n im age

vvo rld of im ages, and m ay eve n n ow

of a sm all girl with lo ng ha ir in white

b e witn ess ing a g radu al shi ft fro m

stockin gs (fi g. i ), rath e r th a n wo rd s,

co n ve nti on al Ii te racy - th e reco rd-

of a p oe m o r a so n g; o r pe rh aps eve n

in g of sp eec h o r id eas in th e writte n

a diffe re nt visu al image of a fa vo urite

wo rd-to on e in whi c h th e image

b ook illustrati o n , film , o r simp ly o ur

is of grea ter impo rt an ce . T hink of telev ision , th e n ew p opularity of stri p-ca rtoo n b ooks, vid eo ga m es.

T hink of th e popul arity of books about m an-wa tchin g, h ow th e image

b e twee n th e hum a n a nd di vin e was

we p ro jec t m ay b e m ore revea li ng th an o ur wo rd s, of body langu age, h ow mu ch we a re all n ow m ore th e

ico n s we re devo te d to di vin e o r se midi vine fi gures o r ac ti on s, just as th e

slaves of co nve nti on s in ges tur e o r pose or dr ess, th an of conve nti on s of speec h . Yo u wa nt to b e wh e re eve ryb ody kn ows yo ur face, n o t yo ur n am e. We n eed n ot think ourselves b eco min g th e poo re r for th e ch an ge , but we n eed to rea li se th at th e visu al im age is also, in its way, rea d : th at it h as a gramm ar and synt ax of its own : signals th at p ro m ote p redi c tabl e res ponses. But also th at th ese ru les and sign als diffe r fr o m society to society, fr o m peri od to pe ri od . If I pu t m y tongu e out at yo u , yo u wo uld be und e rstand abl y di stressed a nd feel ins ulted ; but in T ibet it co uld be a fri endl y gree tin g.

O f all an cient c ultures, perh aps of all c ultures of any p eri od , th at of Arch a ic and C lass ical G reece was bese t by icons. By icons I m ea n image s whi ch di splay th e fi gures of go ds, h eroes and m en , o r n arrate th e ac ts of go ds, h e ro es and m en . Sin ce G reek h eroes, go ds and go dd esses were give n th e fo rm of m e n and women and n ot th e se mi-anim al o r m ulti-limb ed c rea ti on s of, say Egypt or th e Hindu wo rld , th e dividing line

blurre d . So of co urse it was also in G reek lite rature, a nd thi s is on e of th e things th at m akes G reek c ulture so fasc in atin g . T h e m a jo rity of th e

subj ec ts of G reek poe try and dram a we re d omin a ntl y th e sup e rn atural or h ero ic until th e Th ea tre of Co m edy of th e fourth ce ntury B.C. A G reek a rti st, wh eth e r h e was a poet, pa inte r o r sc ulpto r, co uld tr ea t co ntemp orary l ife a nd its co ndu ct direc tl y, but h e prefe rre d , es p ec iall y in cases wh e re d ee pl y m o ral o r political o r religio u s probl e m s vve re invo lve d , or wh e re id entifi abl e co nte mporari es we re co n ce rn ed , to approac h it obliqu ely, th ro u gh th e di vin e or h e roi c, in oth e r wo rd s throu gh wh at we call m yth . T h e th e m es of th e G reek trage di a n s are m ythi cal, but th eir m essages are tim eless and ca n ofte n b e sh ow n to h ave sp ec ial releva n ce to th eir day, and ind eed to ours.

But wh at is thi s so-call ed m ythology? It is a mixtur e of folk lore, of adju ste d histo ry, of explanation s for ritu als wh ose ori gins we re lo ng for go tten , of th e sh ee r pl easure of sto rytelling with o r without a moral purpose. Yet eve n th e simples t a nd m ost famili a r story ca n be told with a m o ral purpose; a n ew vid eo of W alt Di sn ey's Pinocchio ad ve rti ses its moral m essage for th e young,

demonstratin g criteri a of ri ght and wrong . Myth was eve r changing and th ere was no one or tru e ve rsion of an y story. T he poe ts and arti sts we re li ars , perh aps, but th ey we re di vin ely in spired. The probl ems of th e ori gin and developm e nt of Greek myth cannot be di smi sse d in a few wo rd s like thi s, but more releva nt at prese nt is th e qu es ti on of how it wa transmitted.

First and for emos t, and in all peri od , whate ve r may be th e standard of literacy supp ose d - by word of mouth : songs and stori es lea rnt at moth er's kn ee, repea ted in th e famil y and with fri ends, in th e mark et place and at th e city gate, ultim ately, if ava il ab le, at sc hoo l. In any oral traditi on such as thi s th ere is room for as man y va ri ants as th ere are mouth s, but th ere are oth er medi a of tran smi ss ion whi ch are no less susce ptibl e to chan ge. So , after word of mouth come im ages : and th e only limitation h ere is that th ere are problems abo ut th e deve lopment of narrati ve in im ages, and th e fa ct th at th e full range of myth was neve r exp ressed in images. But they se rve d as points of reference and reco ll ec tion for stori es, th ey standardi sed form s and th ey were eve r prese nt.

After wo rd of mouth reinforced by images, comes the more formal type of transmi ssion , in performances of epics, h ymns, or plays . Som e co uld

be lea rnt by h ea rt arid were often repea ted an d o ve ry fa mili ar. Others, such as pro du cti ons of pl ays, we re ba sicall y one-off affairs, and perh aps more fa mili ar in detail to oth er a uth ors th an to th e ordin ary man .

La st comes th e written word. T here were few books in C lassica l G reece an d our vievvs about flu ent literacy are pro babl y mu ch exaggera ted.

What do we have of all thi s? A tin y selec tion of th e wr itten word survives, so me of it in clud ing th e works co mm onl y rec ited and li stened to, like Homer, and so me lyri cs and plays. An d we have im ages. Of th e oral tradition whi ch lay behind it all we ca n onl y make guesse , but we do have enough from our so urces to detec t th e bas ic elements of stori es and fi gures, and to observe how th ey are repea ted in different pl aces and periods. Th e pi ctor ial aspects are introdu ce d to th ose of yo u not alrea dy fam ili ar with th em, in thi sa dly summ ary paper.

To und erstand G reek ico nograph y we have to lea rn its grammar, it sy ntax, its symb ols. To justify to yo u what I sa id about th e Greeks li ving in a wo rld of ico ns, it may be enough to point out th at of all ancient peopl es th ey were th e onl y ones who use d painted pottery, by no mea ns expensive and so access ibl e to most purses, as a ve ry sa ti sfac tory fi eld for di spla y of myth . T hat th ey neve r

fa il ed to use eve ry opportunity to decora te th eir fin es t buildin gs, and alwa ys with fi gure and sce nes of myth . T hat virtu all y eve ry craft , by no means onl y th e lu xury ones, use d myth fo r decora ti on . In E uripid es' pl ay th e Io n, Ath eni an wo men are shown visitin g D elphi ; th ey co mment on th e myth sce nes on th e temples; just like, they say, th e scenes th ey put in th eir own weavin g; whi ch reminds us of a dom es ti c craft , exe rcised by wo men, and vvith its own rep ertory of myth .

Eve ry sce ne of th e sa m e story by no means ca rri es th e sam e message.

For exa mpl e, th e battl e of gods and giants whi ch appea rs on man y sixthcentury Athen ian vases is deco rative, but it has a stron g loca l signifi ca nce too for it is th e subj ec t wove n on th e robe give n to th e cult statu e of th e goddess Ath ena at her festi va l, and she is prom in ent on it. But th ere ca n be no th eni an message in th e sce ne of th e sa me story ca rve d at aro und th e same tim e on th e littl e buildin g dedi ca ted at Delphi by island ers of Siphno . And wh en we mee t it aga in , on th e Parth enon nearly a ce ntury later, it is probabl y remindin g th e viewe r of th e uccess of th e rul e of law, G reek law, and G r ek Gods, over fo rces of di so rd er th e G iants路 ' ' and in this it ec hoes th e message of th e whole building and it decorati on whi ch reca ll s th e defea t of th e

Persian in vas ion s of G reece. Yet, at th e sa m e tim e, wh en it appears on a bea utiful gilt sil ve r vase, made

by Greeks but found north of th e Ca ucas us in Russ ia not so long ago , it is ve ry probabl y littl e more th an decora ti ve, borrowing rea dy mad e mould s prepared for some other obj ec t. Two ce nturi es later still, on th e G rea t Altar at Perga mum , it is a far m ore litera ry produ ction and probabl y refl ects on th e Greek kin g's successes aga in st in va din g Gau ls, fo r whi ch this di vin e parab le is prese nted on th eir god's altar; just as th e sam e scene had bee n on Athena 's templ e in Ath ens. 1 This is what is mea nt by li vingeven dying - in a wo rld of icon s.

And if we can und erstand and rea d th em properl y th ey give u perhaps ou r closest insight to th e commonest traditions of myth , and th e ones most fami li ar to th e ordina ry Greeks , rath er th an th e sophi sti ca ted ve rsions of th eir po ets.

How do you tell a story in pictures?

Nowa da ys it is easy. Yo u use a video rec orde r, and if you cannot co mmuni ca te mo vin g pi ctures yo u use a se ri es of still s, wh ich yo u co uld compose if you wi sh in a strip ca rtoon , of photos or draw ings. It all depends on th e ability to record an in stant of action. But before th e ca mera , th e instant of narrati ve action was onl y rec orded in im ages acc id entall y, as

it we re, o r wh e re th e ac ti o n was so simpl e th a t it was in ev itabl e . But

illu stra ti o n s of H o m e r's Il iad , or o n m onum e nts su ch as T ra jan 's Co lumn

eve n in de pi c tin g su c h a simpl e

in Ro m e, whi c h de pi c t se ri es of

eve nt as X kill s Y, yo u h ad to d ec id e

sce n es n a rra ting a sin gle milita ry exp e dition.

wh e th e r to sh ow Y still ali ve, d ying, o r dead ; a nd vvhi ch eve r yo u c h ose still ca rri e d th e m essage of th e wh ole

Alte rn ati vely, yo u prese nt a se ri es

ac ti on . All ea rli e r pi c tures d o n ot

of pi ctur es se parate ly, like a strip ca rtoo n . This was ve ry rare ly prac ti se d

reca ll an instant of ac tion: th ey record

in C lass ica l a rt, althou g h th e re was

a story, and we do wron g -it is a comm o n a rt-hi sto ri cal error-to judge

goo d o pp o rtunity for it, for instan ce o n te mpl e m etopes . Th e sa m e id ea

th e m by th e stand a rd of th e insta nt-

ca n b e expressed eve n in a sin gle fri eze with o ut subdi visio n s, not abl y

of-ac ti o n pi c tur e with whi c h we a re so fa mili a r. T h ose wh o d o fall into thi s e rro r h ave th e n to d evise e lab o-

on vases whi ch offe r a su ccess io n of th e expl oits of Th ese u s. 2 T h e re are

rate aes th e ti c exe rc ises whi c h th ey

ve ry few exa mpl es of su ccess ive

b eli eve a n c ie nt a rti sts to h ave prac ti se d to ac hi eve th e effec ts th ey did .

sce n es of th e sa m e sto ry, n o rmall y n eve r more than two, a nd th e n not

T h ey would do b ette r to sta rt by real-

di sposed sid e by sid e but o n diffe re nt sides of a vase.

isin g th at a n insta nt-of-ac tion sce n e was not onl y un obta in abl e b efor e th e nin e tee nth ce ntury, but it was in co mpre h e n sibl e and th e refor e n ot

In oth e r ea rl y c ultures, su c h as

so u ght afte r. T h e ob jec t was to tell

Assy ri a o r Egypt, th e type of n a rrati ve with su ccess ive sce n es in a sin gle fra m e wa s th e o n e u su all y

a sto ry and th e alte rn a ti ves offe red we re, at th e ir simpl es t, wh e th e r to

adopte d , but most of th eir fi gurati ve a rt is not n a rrati ve so mu c h as

tell it in o n e pi c ture o r seve ral. If in seve ral th e re we re two ways of going

d esc ripti ve, of a ritu al, o r d e mon strati ve of a rul e r's p owe r. Th e prefe rred G ree k m ode of n a rra ti ve was in a

a bout th e m atte r. On e, whi ch was virtu all y n eve r prac ti sed in C la ss ica l a ntiquity be for e la te ce nturi es B. C ., was to prese nt a sin gle co h e rent pi cture with su ccessive ac ti on s de pi c te d in diffe re nt pa rts of it, lik e a pa n ora mi c view of a book- and th e b es t exa mpl es of it in C lass ical a ntiquity a re in fa c t atte mpts to offe r sy n o pti c

single pi c tur e. Th e n a ive way of expl a inin g thi s is to say th at th ey c h ose th e sce n e of m ax imum ac ti on.

T hi s m ay ofte n see m tru e, but it wo uld b e m o re acc urate to say th a t, in all pe ri ods, th ey ch ose th e sce n e of m os t signifi ca nt ac ti o n , and in th e C lass ical p e ri od th e sig nifi ca n ce

2

Departure of Am phia raos. Draw ing fr o m a Co rin thi an column cra te r, abo ut 570 B.C. O nce

Be rl in , Staa tli c he M usee n F i655. Afte r E . Pfuhl , Ma le re i und Zeichnun g d e r C ri ec h e n (M u n ic h i923 ) fi g i79.

m ay not h ave bee n th e sto ry itself but th e m ood o r m essage co n veye d by it. Mo reove r, th e ch oice of a signifi ca nt sce n e does n ot n ecessa ril y m ea n th e ch oice of th e m om e nt of m ax imum ac tion . More is in volve d .

m ood is give n by ges tur e in Arch a ic a rt, thi s b eco min g in c reasin gly rea listi c in th e C lass ical p eriod . This is th e gramm a r of G ree k narrati ve, in ve ry simpl e term s. We return to th e sy nt ax and look at a fa vourite but

inform ati ve exa mpl e .

Co ntrast, for exa mpl e, a sixth -ce nTh e sto ry of th e Seve n aga inst tury Peloponn es ian arti st's tr ea tm e nt Th eb es tell s of th e expedition of of th e sui cid e of Ajax, impaled on seve n h e ro es to take th e c ity of hi s sword , with an Ath eni an 's wh ere Th eb es, in whi ch fi ve would di e, th e h ero simpl y co nte mpl ates sui c ide, o n e b e tra n slated into a d emi god , a psyc h ological stud y, o r a ye t late r and o nl y on e survive for a re turn Ath e ni an 's, with th e tend er treatm atc h . Wh at is m o re, th ey kn ew m ent of th e dead Ajax by hi s th ey we re doo m ed . Th e re was pl e nty favo urite slave-c um-wife .3 of in cid e nt for an y arti st to c hoo se T hi s co uld be expl ore d furth e r from but th e ea rli est sce n es dwell on bu t it in vo lves th e wh ole co rpu s of th e departure of on e of th e lead ers, G reek m yth in art. M u ch depe nd s, of co urse, on id entifi ca ti on of fi gures . - whi ch mi ght see m a n odd choi ce until we see wh at ca n be m ade of it.

G reek pi ctures do n ot ca rry ca pti o ns It appea red on seve ral sixth-c e ntury -o r ve ry seld om . T h e id entity of monum ents, m os t expli c itl y on a fig ures m ay b e give n by insc ripti o ns Co rinthi an vase (fi g. 2). Thi s is a writte n bes id e th e m but thi s is uncom m on. Id entifi ca ti o n of pe rso n is case in vvhi ch a ge n e ri c sce n e of a give n by d ress and attribute, and of wa rrior depa rtin g by chariot from

hom e, with hi s fam il y waving goo d-

th e so n 's co n ce rn , th e see r's fore-

bye, is give n a spec ifi c m ea ning a nd

b odin g. The sum of th ese prese nts a n a rrati ve .

context throu gh in sc ription s, with narrati ve deta il add ed throu gh special trea tm e nt of so m e fi gur es .

By th e u se of th e grammar of

Amphiaraos is se ttin g off to b attl e.

dress, a ttribute a nd gesture , a nd th e synt ax su gges ted by th e ch oice of a

He had b ee n p e rsu a de d to go by hi s wife who h a d b ee n bribe d. That is

sce ne of signifi ca nt ac ti o n whi c h ca n ca rry mu ch mor e th an th e

why she is a t th e back of th e c rowd ,

moment of ac tion and can evoke

at th e left , clutc hin g th e prec iou s n ecklac e whi ch h a d p e rsuad e d h e r,

b oth pas t a nd futur e, th e G reek arti st h ad th e m ea ns of telling a story in a sin gle picture. It wo uld h ave bee n

a naive and unrea li sti c d etail but tota ll y effec ti ve as a pi ece of narrative . Instead of h e r b e ing at h e r hu sband 's sid e we see in th at positi on

eas ier in seve ral, but so m e of th e man y co n stra ints whi c h led him to re jec t th a t so luti o n m ay h ave bee n

th e ir son who , we know, will in du e

purely prac ti ca l ones. It is a sys te m

course ave nge hi s fath e r by killin g

b es t em pl oyed on la rge palati al wall s, and Greece was n ot a place

hi s moth e r. We know th e story and see th e point, but we ha ve to know th e story first and wo uld h ave b ee n lu cky to gu ess eve n m os t of th e

for su c h , as Egypt o r Assyri a we re .

In stea d , th e fi elds ava il ab le to th e arti st we re a h os t of smaller indi vid-

detail from th e sig n als give n by th e figur es alone . At th e ri ght th e family

u al on es, on far co mm oner obj ec ts wh ere rep ea te d sce n es o r th e deve l-

seer or pri es t sits d e jec tedl y on th e gro und making th e conventiona l

opm e nt of multi-fi g ur e sce n es were imposs ibl e. There was always so m ething dom es ti c, eve n d emoc rati c,

gesture of di smay, hand to for e h ea d, for h e knows what will happ e n. And there is a wea lth of symbol s and omens in anima l form. Th e a rti st ha s not delib e ra tely attempte d to te ll the whol e story in one tabl ea u ; nor ha s h e d elib erately added all th ese detail s to remind u s of past and future. He ha s prese nte d eac h figur e in the way that most full y expresses hi s or h e r rol e in the story: the warrior leavin g, th e wife with her bribe ,

about Greek a rt. An oth e r motive may h ave bee n th e intuitive G ree k des ire for a rti sti c unity, a qu ality we observe, a nal yse and admire in th e ir lite ratur e. Even Hom e r, tellin g a se ri es of eve nts o r stori es, lin ks th e m by a co mmon th e m e and interweaves a ho st of other recurrent images to m ake th e h ea re r reali se that a t an y mom e nt h e is m e rely ex perie n c in g a part, whi ch m akes se n se on ly in th e

33

co ntex t of th e whole. Th e artist's ac hi eve ment is exactly analogo us, and th e arti st ac hi eve tru e narrative in single pi ctures wh ic h are rea d, as a whole, and fi gure by fi gure, and differ onl y from a book in th eir co mpara ti ve res tri cti on of detail an d the abse nce of need to turn a page or unroll more of a sc ro ll. T hose who say thi s is not tru e narrati ve are simply playing with word s.

T he same prin cipl e in form s Roma n ar t, and Renaissanc e art where th e subtl ety of symb oli sm is ca rri ed ye t furth er. Its survival do wn to th e in ve nti on of th e ca mera, or ind eed beyo nd , is neatl y illustrated by an exa mpl e to whi ch Professor As hmole drew attenti on .4 It is Turn er's famou s painting of th e Battl e of Trafa lga r, on whi ch the co mm ent of a nava l hi stori an wasTh e telegraphi c message is go in g up (England expec ts, etc ... ) whi ch was hoisted at abou t HAO: th e mi zze n topm as t is fa lling, whi ch we nt about i o/c : a stron g li ght is refl ec ted upon Victory's bow and sid es from th e burnin g Ac hill e, whi ch ship did not ca tch fir e until 4:30; and th e Redoubtable is sinkin g und er th e bows of Victory, alth ough she did not sink until th e [fo ll owin g] ni ght of th e 22nd and th en und er the stern of th e Sw iftsur e.

34

But thi was th e natural wa y to demonstrate th e narrative in one tabl eau. vVhat can we lea rn from th e images once we have und erstoo d how to rea d th em? Th eir use for expl ainin g stori es whi ch are in co mpl ete or even mi ss in g in surviving ancient texts is obvious, but th ere are oth er lin es of enquiry. T h ere are pl enty of th e e sce nes in G reek art and th ey are clo ely databl e. T hi s m ea ns th at we ca n pl ace quite acc urately th e popul arity of ce rt ain stori es, or eve n th e moment at whi ch th ey are in ve nted, and occas ions on whi ch th ey change signifi ca ntl y.

Th is all ows us to spec ul ate on th e reason s for in ve nti on or change, and to detec t in our oth er sources any reli giou s or politi ca l moti ves. T here has bee n mu ch interes t in rece nt yea rs in th e wa y in whi ch stori es co uld be in ve nted or changed for politi cal purposes or to co mm ent on co ntempo rary eve nts. Or, to put it anoth er \Nay, to obse rve how ce rtain myths or fi gures beca me ex pl oited by citi es or fac ti on , and how th e fortun es of th ese fi gures refl ct th e Inte res ts and changing fortune s of their patron s; in oth er wo rds, how poe ts and pri es ts and th erea ft er arti sts (whose wo rks we kno w, whil e we do not usuall y have any of th e speec hes, hymn s or poe ms whi ch mi ght have in spired th em) adju sted

3 Herakles and Amazons. Ath eni an amphora , abou t 560 B.C., Muse um of Fi ne Arts, Boston 98.916.

th eir trea tm ent of stori es. T he mec hanics of all thi s are not easy to fathom , but th e res ults are obvious.

Thus, it has beco me clea r th at sixth-century Ath e ns adopted Herakles as her favourite hero , probably beca use he wa s their city goddess Athena 's favourite hero . The Athenian tyrant famil y es pec iall y exploits him. New stori es are in ve nted and old ones changed , and we see all thi s best mirrored in art, on vases and bronzes and templ es .

T he tyrants were e jected from Athen s in 510 B.C. Herakl es cannot leave beca use he is still firml y housed

in G reek story- tellin g as Ath ena's favo urite. Instea d, a new favo urite is found for th e new democ racy-a ri va l to Herakl es-These us. Hith erto T hese us' app ea rance in th eni an art had bee n unremarkabl e, no more fr equ ent than in oth er states, and his Ath eni an bac kgro und wa s eve n qu estionabl e. From art we ca n see th at a whole new cyc le of Th ese us stor ies was in ve nted, and no doubt ca nonized in a poem too. Hi s Ath eni an ori gin is co nfirm ed by giving him a se ri es of ex ploits on th e road from hi s birthpla ce to Ath ens wh ere he is recognise d by his mortal fat her.

35

Th ese a re all obviously inte nd e d to co mp ete with H e rakl es' labo urs.

T h ese us' im m o rt al fa th e r Poseid on too is recall ed n ow in a sto ry whi ch dem on strates it: H erakl es too h ad both a m o rt al fath e r, Amphitryo n and a imm ort al o n e, Ze u s.

In th e las t pa rt of thi s pap er I wa nt to expl ore thi s furth e r. So far we h ave m a inl y consid e red how m yth was related in th e visu al arts; we n eed n ow to add so m e co n side rati o n of why. I do so throu gh an oth e r well fa mili ar im age, th at of Am azo n s. I deal ra th e r summ a ril y with th eir o ri gin s and fir st appea ran ces in G reek art, th ou gh thi s is in itself a goo d exa mpl e of th e ge n es is of sto rytellin g in spired by sto ri es of (a nd limited experi ence of) for eign peoples wh o are th e n absorb ed into G reek m yth-m aking.

In G reek m yth Am azo ns are h os til e but res pec ted and th ey eve n attrac t c ult, whil e th ey we re sa id to h ave pl aye d a part in th e es tablishm e nt of th e wo rship of Artemi s at E ph es u s.

T hey we re th o ught to live in th e eas t, n otabl y th e n o rth-eas t, wh e re th ey h ad a c ity, T h emiskyra. T h eir co nfli ct with G reeks pro babl y h as som ethin g to do with ea rl y yea rs of explorati on in th e Bl ac k Sea region .

Th e m odels fo r th e m depe nd rath er on travele rs' tales and bl end se ve ral different n oti ons. All , h oweve r, relate to th e b eh aviour of th e n omads of

th e Ru ss ian and As ian steppes, sin ce th ey and th e Am azo n s h ad a reput ati o n for b e in g fin e rid e rs, abl e to pe rfo rm re m a rkabl e milit ary tri cks fr om th e sa ddl e, su c h as th e Parthian sh ot, with a b ow, bac kwa rd s, at th e ga llop .

T h e Parthi an s, of co urse, de rive d fr om nom ads of th e sa m e region . That th e re we re wh ole trib es of wo m en wa rri o rs is hi ghl y improbabl e and imprac ti cal, but th at wo m e n fou ght bes id e th e ir m e n see m s su gges ted by milit a ry grave goo ds found in so m e buri als.5 I wo nd e r too wh eth e r we mi ght n ot add to th e fe minin e as pec ts so m e kn owledge of th e n o m ad Mo ngo l tribes wh ose m en are ge n e rall y defi cient in fa c ial h a ir and are of sm all but strong phys iqu e.

T h e Am azons li ve d in an a rea th at m ad e th e m n atural alli es for King Pri am , so th e re is a co ntin ge nt at T roy with th eir qu ee n Pe nth es il ea, with wh om Ac hill es beca m e e m oti o n all y invo lve d , th o u gh h e kill ed h e r. T h at is o n e story. Th e id ea of an exp editi o n ary for ce of G reeks th at fou ght th e Am azo n s co m es eas il y en o ugh , and was assoc iated with H e rakl es a nd a relati ve ly ea rly ge n e rati o n of h eroes, pre-Troj a n War and in a way anti cipating it. This ge n erates m an y sce n es of th e m with H e rakl es in th e sixth ce ntury (fi g. 3), and th ey a re sh own as o rdin ary warriors, o nl y sli ghtl y less h eav il y a rm ed th an m e n but with th e u su al e quipm ent

and n o n onse nse abou t h aving onl y on e breast, whi c h is th e res ult of late r G reek pse u do-etym ology. By th e e nd of th e ce n tury th ey ca n be give n dress approp ri ate to th e pa rt of th e wo rld fr om whi c h th ey ca m e, a nd to n om ad s whom th e G reeks h ad m e t a nd wh ose skill s we re th ose of th e Am azons, th e Sc ythi a ns.

W h e n ce th ese fin e patte rn ed track suits, whi c h I sh ovv on a late r vase (fi g -{), a nd th e bow-a nd-arrows case, instead of th e usu al qui ve r. But th ey

4 T heseus and A maz on s. D raw ing fro m

a re still wo m e n , a nd as wo m e n do, th ey a ttrac ted m e n fo r purposes

a n Ath e n ia n vo l ute c ra te r, a bou t 460 B.C .

oth er th an fi ghtin g. T hi s mi ght also refl ec t expe ri e n ces of G ree k trave le rs a nd ea rly coloni sts wh o sought

op .c it. (fi g. 2), fi g. 50 5.

wives fr om n ati ve po pul ati ons, but who in the north east fo und profo undly xe n oph obi c peo pl es. In m yth ological te rm s thi s aspec t of th e Am azo n story was assoc iated wi th T h ese us, n ot H e rakl es . Th ese us was judge d to

Reco nstru c ti o n of th e shi e ld of th e Ath e na

apl es, M useo Na zionale 242i. Afte r Pfuh l,

5 T he Fig ht with A maz ons at Athens.

Parth e nos, abou t 440 B.C. Afte r T he E ye

of Greece (edd . D . Ku rtz a nd B. Spa rk es: C amb ridge i982) 19, fi g. 1 (sc he m e of E. B. H a rrison ).

37

h ave m ounted a sm all raiding fo rce of hi s own , so as no t to co mp e te with th e story of H e rakl es' a rm y, a n d with

of it for th e loni an s. (I n hi story wh at

hi s co mp ani o n Peirith oos. Sc en es of thi s app ea r at th e end of th e sixth ce ntury, se parate fr o m but pa rall el to th e H e rakl es fi ghts, a nd ind ee d to th e sce n es at Tro y with Ac hill es a nd

h ave h app e n e d at th e tim e, sin ce thi s is wh at attitud es and dec isio ns

Penth es il ea.

Recall wh at we saw of th e role of H erakl es and hi s stori es in sixthce ntury Ath e ns and th e n ew ro le of T h ese u s. O n e of th e points th ey h ad in co mm o n wa s Am azon s, a nd collabora ti o n betwee n th e h eroes was m ore releva nt in th e political climate of th e day th an positi ve ant ago ni sm.

So a n ew story is c rea ted and we find m ore of it in art th a n in lite rature , so our skills of recog n iti on and inte rpretati on a re called into play.

T h ese u s is all owed to join H e rakl es ' ex pediti o n: th e two tales a re m e rge d .

F urth er impetu s fo r su ch a link p ro babl y ca m e fr o m th e fac t th at th e sto ry th e n mirrored hi sto ry, in th at it h app en ed in th e ye a rs wh en th e Ath eni ans dete rmin ed to b oldl y go wh ere n o m a in land G reeks h ad go n e b efo re, with an ex pediti on a ry fo rce to th e eas t, aga inst th e Persia ns in supp ort of th eir Io ni an co usins.

T h e Pers ian s we re n ot unlik e Sc ythian s, n ot unlike Am azo n s. T h e Athe ni ans enj oye d a n otabl e ea rl y su ccess wh ic h th ey surely m ade mu ch of, eve n if n othing mu ch ca m e

is imp o rt a nt is n ot wh at h appe n e d eve ntu all y, but wh at wa s th o ught to

de pend up o n .)

Life h as a way of imp rov in g o n a rt.

T h e Pe rsia n s th e m selves pro ceeded to in va d e G reece a nd we re h eld by th e Ath e ni a n s at Ma rath on in 490 B .C . On th e Ath e ni a n T reas ury at D elphi , e rec te d to celebrate th e ir su ccess, th e joint exp editi on of H e rakl es a nd T h ese u s see m s to h ave bee n celeb ra ted . We mi ght h ave expec ted mu ch m o re of thi s in a vic tori o u s Ath e ns, but hi sto ry inte rve n ed aga in , rapidly ec h oed by m yth and art. T h e Persian s h ad att acked G reece, and procee d ed to do so aga in in 480 and

479 ; th ey eve n took Ath e n s, but th ey we re eve ntu all y and fin all y repulsed .

T h e m ythi cal mir ro r of thi s h ad to b e an Am azo n exp editi on of reve n ge aga in st G reece , and su ch a story concocted in Ath e n s h ad to m ean an att ack o n Ath e n s itself, and thi s in turn m ea nt p ro m in e n ce for Ath enian T h ese us, not H erakles . It co uld hard ly h ave bee n n ea te r, and th e m an y sce n es of G reeks fi ghtin g Am az ons in Ath e ni a n art of th e fifth ce ntury (as fi g A) are th e refor e of Th ese us and h is Ath e ni a n coll eagu es fi ghting off th e Am azo n s fr o m th eir n ati ve la nd , just as th e Ath e ni ans h ad see n off th e Pe rsians.

It is n ot diffi c ult fo r u s to obse rve th at H e rakl es h as n ot m e rely t ake n a bac k sea t but h as left th e stage . T h e story was cele brated in th e wa ll pa intin gs of Ath ens; o n m a ny vases in va ri o u s ways p ro babl y in spired by th e wa ll paintin gs; and o n th e Parth e n o n , whi c h is in m a ny ways m o re a wa r m e m o ri al a nd de m o n stration of c ivic prid e th a n a te mpl e.

It is th e subj ec t that deco rates th e first m eto pes th a t yo u see approac h -

still n o t un fa mili a r, whi ch see m s as

in g th e te mpl e, a nd th e ex te ri o r of

th ou gh it is ca rve d o ut of woo d , h as

Ath e n a's ow n shi eld , h eld by h e r

an exagge rated c urve d hi gh h ee l a nd

go ld and ivo ry c ult statu e within

so m e h ow alwa ys loo ks unga inl y a nd

(fi g .5). By ab o ut thi s tim e th e Am a-

too bi g for its wea re r. In Brita in, and

zons beg in to b e give n Pe rsia n dr ess

n o do ubt in th e States also, th ey m ay

rath e r th a n G reek o r Scythi an , to

b e call ed M inni e Mo use sh oes,

bring h o m e th e co mp a ri so n.

beca use th e a rti st's im age of our

All this n arrati ve is di spl aye d ,

fa vo urite m ythi ca l ro d ent co n veys

quite intelli gibl y eve n without

wh at we m ea n fa r m o re effec ti ve ly

insc ripti on s, on a wid e ran ge of m edi a , fr o m eve ryday goo ds su c h as

th a n co uld a ny m o re d e ta il e d o r co rrec t d esc ripti o n .6 We do th e

vases, to ete rn al m o num e nts su c h as

sa m e, of co urse, wh en we talk abo ut

th e Pa rth e non . T h e ir m essages we re

a Sh e rl oc k H olmes' ca p o r pipe, d e-

we ll und e rsto o d by th e Ath e ni ans

p e ndin g o n a rti sts' im ages of th e

and oth e r G ree ks; we h ave to work

m ythi cal fi gure, but desc ribin g rea l

a littl e h a rd e r, but a combin ation of

o bj ec ts of a pa rti c ul a r type. T h e

obse rvation of hi sto ry, a nd of th e sig-

G ree ks co uld do th e sa m e with th eir

nal s whi ch eve ry Gree k arti st had to

Am azo n s. In th e fourth ce ntury B.C.

u se to express hi s n arrati ve , e n abl es

th e G reek Xe nophon led a co ntin-

u s to co m e close to th e an swe rs.

ge nt of m e rce n a ri es wh o had beco m e

Th e readin ess to recall life throu gh images of m yth is o n e th at h as not

in vo lve d in Pers ian d yn as ti c tro ubl es, up throu gh As ia M in o r, in

left u s. Le t m e give a tri vial exa mpl e.

hi s fa m ou s An abas is, e ndin g in th at

Th e re is a type of wom a n 's sho e

dra m ati c gree ting to th e sea. E n

which b e lon gs to th e i 9 3os but is

route th ey e n counte re d m a ny trib es, 39

mainl y hostil e. Th ey we re, in a way, in Amazon land , and when Xe noph on desc rib es th e wa rlike equipment of one of th em he says th ey use battl e axes such as the Amazons ca rry. As we with M inni e Mous e, he use d reference to famili ar artistic depi cti ons of mythi cal fi gures to defin e acc urately and un equi vocall y an obj ec t of real life . Th e im age , and th e im age in th e se rvice of myth , triumphed over th e wo rd and literal desc ripti on , as it always has and , I suspec t, al ways will .

1 Fo r sce n es of th e wa r with th e G ia nts see T. H . Ca rp e nte r, Art and My th in

Ancient G reece (Lond on 1991) 74-75, a use ful so urce fo r thi s wh ole subj ec t.

T h e Pe rga mum alt ar-R .R.R. Smith ,

Hellenisti c Sculpture (Lond on 1991) 157-164. T h e Ca ucas u s vase - A. Leskov,

Grabschdtze der Adygeen (1990) fi gs .

19 1-197.

2 Ca rp e nte r, op .cit. , fi gs . 236-2 39 .

3 Ca rp e nte r, op .cit. , fi gs. 331 , 332-

J. Boa rdm a n , Athenian Red Figure Vases, Archaic Period (Lond o n 1975 ) fi g. 246 .

4 In Architec t and Sc ulptor in C lass ica l G reece (Lo nd o n 1972) 1445 Fo r th e "arch aeology" of Ama zon s see

R. Roll e, Th e Wo rld of th e Scythi ans (Lo nd on 1980) 86-89. For th e iconograph y, Ca rp e nte r, op.cit. (n .1), 12 5f., 164f., 20 5; a nd for th e assoc iati o n with T h ese us,

J. Boa rdm an , Th e Eye of

G reece (edd . D . Kurtz and B. Sp arkes; Ca mbrid ge 1982) 1-28.

6 Illustra ti o n by M a ri on Cox afte r th e well-kn own ca rtoo n ch a rac te r.

TH E GH OSTS OF H OME R

Tamara Green Hunt e r Co ll ege

The tellin g of a myth , like th e writing of history, is a means of ordering ex pe ri ence; and th e Greeks , a rele ntlessly histo ri cal peo pl e, used th e telling of m yth to shap e th e ir experience of th e past. We write about th e past to make sense of th e prese nt, a nd so we mu st constantly rewrite th e past, to impose co ntinuou s meaning on our prese nt; and for th e Greeks, th e story of th e Trojan War, its ca uses and its aftermath, first told by Hom e r

The Iliad a nd th e Odyssey fra m ed th e qu estion s th at th e G reeks wo uld eve r aft e r pose about th e n ature of th e world a nd of human existe n ce; th ese po em s are th e pri sm s through whi c h th ey filt e red and refrac ted th e meaning of history, the stru cture of politi ca l de bate, th e und e rstanding of th e di vin e, th e definiti on of hum a n relation ship s, th e limits of

but retold by th e histori a ns, poe ts

human mortality, a nd th e meaning of h eroic achievement. An d yet, at th e sa m e tim e, th e c harred ruins of

and philoso phers, is th e past to which the y returned , aga in and again , in

Troy stand just over th e di vi din g wa ll of memory, be twee n past and pre-

order to understand th ei r prese nt.

Whatever the historicity of war waged

se nt, a wall that b arred e ntran ce into an irretri eva bl e wo rld.

over a woman, th e m yth s of Troy shaped Greek pe rc e ptions of reality

There was a tim e, recorded in th e mythic memory of th e G ree ks, wh e n go ds and mortals wa lked th e ea rth

for a thou sa nd yea rs; to borrow a construct from th e hi storian of sc ie n ce, Thomas Kuhn , Troy was th e paradigm

toge th e r; but aft e r Troy, th e go ds see m ed to lose inte res t in a n inti -

by which all knowledge of th e way in which the world works was ordered, and Homer was its constructor.

m ate invol ve m e nt in hum an affairs , glimpsed now only in drea m s a nd in visions. There was a tim e wh en

41

h eroes perform e d d eeds past all darin g, ga ining for th e m selves kleos,

d epi c te d in th e Iliad a nd th e Odyssey

und ying fame ; bu t afte r Troy, th e

ce n tury Ath e n s; and yet, we fin d

aren a for the ex hi bition of hum an va lo r was fo reve r dimini sh ed a nd

th em in th e th ea tre sta ndi ng ce nter stage, ac ti ve pa rtici pan ts in th e often

co nstri c ted. W ith th e d es truc ti o n

acrimo ni ous d e bates o f th e radica l

of Tro y, th e psyc hi c world of th e

d e mo c racy. F iftee n of th e surviving

G reeks wa s ind elibly alte red , but

33 tragedi es con cern Troy; and o ur

what happen ed th e re co ntinu ed to h a unt th e m forever.

anc ie nt sources repo rt th at it was

Th e m e mory of Troy proved to b e a bottom less well spring both of

Sophocl es' i23 pl ays .

nati onal pride and of rec urre nt

clai m Troy, a nd with it, H omer, as

nightmares, for every tim e th e t ales we re told , and vvhateve r fo rm th e

th e ir own; a nd in wh at ways d id th eir th eatre tra n sfo rm th e e pic vision ?

telling took, th ey evoke d m e m o ri es

W h at h appens to aristocratic hero-

both o f exulta nt glo ry and unsp eak-

ism wh e n it is set within th e context

able ca tastroph e. And und e rl ying eve ry telli ng wa s th e be li ef th at g rea t

of a n evo lving d em ocracy? Wha t

d ee ds, if un sung, wo uld va ni sh from hum an m em o ry. An d so, eve n wh en

M yce n ae, h ave to say to Pe ri cles, lea d e r of Athe ns at th e he ig ht of h er

th e H omeric world va nish ed , th e

powe r? Wh at co uld c rafty Od yss eus

ghosts of Horn e r co ntinu e d to sta lk th e G reek im agin ative land scape .

teac h Alc ibiades o r Cleo n , d esc rib ed by the ir 5th ce ntury co nte mpo raries

Troy was th e m emory agai n st which all oth e r m em ory wa s teste d

as vulga r d emagogues? And , fina lly, to wh ic h Athe ni an wome n , whose

an d m easured ; and it is prese nt everywh e re we look in th e G reek

lives were controll ed by a multitude

wo rld , eve n in th ose pl aces wh e re su c h insistent reco llec tion m ight see m to be an an omaly. Perhaps most anomalous is th eir prese n ce in Greek, th at is, Ath eni a n , traged y, where that dividing lin e between aristocrati c past and d e m ocra ti c present wo uld seem m ost difficult to cross . Th e aristocrati c h eroes

42

woul d seem to h ave no place in 5th

th e subjec t of m o re than a th ird of W h y th e Ath enian atte mpt to

did Agamemnon, sceptred king of

of lega l stri ctures, we re th ose rema rkabl e wo m e n of M ycenae and Troy address in g th eir subve rs ive words?

Hom e r portrays Agame mn on as a terrifying, altho ugh ulti matel y, ineffectu al leader; Menelaus, hi s brother, as a good fi ghter, but strangely passive , c onsid eri ng that it is hi s wife H e len th ey a re fightin g over; Odysse u s as th e p olitical co mpromi ser,

th e infinitely adaptabl e m a n wh ose li es h ave a ce rt ain inso u cia nt c h a rm ; and Ac hill es, vvh ose qu a rrel with Aga m e mn on a nd a n gry withdravva l

li es a nd treac h ery." (II . 282-83 ) In th e Hecuba, th e G reeks vo te, in good democ rati c fas hi on, to sacrifi ce th e

fr om battl e a re at th e ce nte r of th e

Tro jan prin cess Polyxaena on th e grave of Ac hill es, as an offe ri ng to

Iliad as a m an of awe-in spiring integ-

hi s a ngry gh os t. Me n elaus, n ow a

rity, but ultim ately a politi cal mi sfit

c h a mpi on of fr eedo m , m a in ta ins in th e Helen: "we led th e m n ot as

beca use hi s self-imp ose d isolati o n is in compre h ens ibl e to th e oth e rs.

W h eth e r we co n sid e r th e wo rk of th e

tyrants, n ot by fo rce, but th e yo ung

ca utiou sly optimi sti c Aesc h ylu s o r th e cyni call y a ngry E uripid es, it

us." (II . 39 5-96 ) C lyte mn es tra's murde r of Aga m e mn on lea ds ultim ately

re m a ins a trui sm th at th e pl ays in

in th e Oresteia of Aesc h ylus to th e fir st jury tri al. And eve rywh e re, we

whi ch th ese G reek wa rri ors at Tro y appear a re m e rely a mirror th at refl ec ts th e politi cal stru ggles of th e de m oc racy, dresse d up in Hom e ri c costum e; a nd ce rt ainl y th e p oliti ca l an ac hroni sm s in th e 5th ce ntury

m e n of G reece se rve d willin gly with

a re m ad e witn ess to th e power of peith o, pe rsu as ion , whi c h is th e co rn e rston e of th e de m oc racy a nd whi c h fa il ed utte rl y as a politica l too l in th e Ili ad.

tragic vision of Troy a re fair ly easy to sp ot.

drawn by th e m anipul ati on of epi c

T h e exa mpl es are m any: Iphige ni a, dau ghte r of Aga m e mn on , wh ose sac rifi cial dea th so th at th e G reeks

for th e sa ke of 5th ce ntury politi cal de bate, th e ra di ca l indi vidualism of th e H om e ri c h ero was a diffi c ult

But wh ateve r a n alog ies mi ght be

mi ght sa il to T ro y ca uses h e r fath e r

id ea l to prese rve within th e co ntext

so m e un easy m om e nts in th e Iliad , goes willingly to h e r d ea th in E urip-

of th e Ath eni a n poli s, for it opposes th e id eals on whi ch th e c ity is base d .

id es' Iphige nia at Aulis, d ec la ring th at sh e will di e to prese rve th e fr eedom of th e G reeks, so th at th ey mi ght

T h e urge to be h e roi c, to leave on e's m ark on hum a n m e m ory, m ay be a n atural on e, but su ch be h avior

n ot b e rul ed by b a rba ri a n s. Th e Philoctetes of Sophocles recas ts Hom e r's

wo uld h ave bee n di sas tro us to th e surviva l of th e de m oc racy, fo r th e

wil y Od ysse us as th e un sc rupul ous politi ca l ha ck, wh o tri es to co rrupt

h ero is, by d efiniti on , self-ce nte red , co n ce rn ed onl y with himse lf a nd th e ac hi eve m e nt of his goa l.

T h e G ree ks of th e Iliad h ave

eoptole mu s, so n of th e n ow d ea d Ac hill es; in Th e Trojan Women, h e is "that slippe ry m an ...th at mouth of

co m e to Tro y, n ot out of p olitical

43

loyalty an d ce rta inl y n ot fo r H elen 's

least n ot di e without a stru ggle,

sake, but as individual m e n seeking

inglo ri ous, but do so m e thing big

und yin g fa m e; an d eve n if, in co n-

first, that me n to come m ay know

tras t, th e Trojans, le d by H ec tor, a re

of it." (XXII .30 3 ff. ).

o n th e d efe n sive, th ey, too, dream of

In co ntrast, trage dy, as a p roduct

glory. Recogni z ing th e tra n sie n ce of human ex iste n ce, th ey all fight and

of th e Ath en ian polis, mu st suppress th e h eroic eth os as defin ed by Hom er

di e to ga in th e kleos th at will m ake

for several re asons: firs t of all , as we

th em immo rtal. The n otion of a com -

h ave a lready m en ti o n ed, th e hero's

mon goo d, th e ti es of mutu al respon-

isola tionist te nd e ncies are th rea te n-

sibility, tha t a re esse ntial to th e polis could se rve o nl y to di stract th e h ero

ing to th e sta bility of th e c ity, and so trage dy, if it is to preserve the m e m -

from hi s goa l, as th e H o m e ric H ecto r

ory of th e glory of Troy, mu st revi se its meaning.

di cove rs mu c h to hi s di smay.

Poo r H ec tor: within Troy, h e plays

T h e second reaso n has its source

all th e soc ial roles: prin ce, so n , hu s-

in th e Iliad itself. In eve ry li n e of th e

band , father-but wh a t h e reall y

Iliad we h ea r approa ching catastro-

lo ngs for is to be out o n th e fi eld of

phe; Troy will be destroyed , a nd eve ryone, Greek and Trojan al ike,

ac ti o n , freed of respo n sibil ity, loya l o nl y to h imself, ac ting o nl y for himself, eve n if it mean s h e will di e, for

kn ows it; b ut what n o one kn ows is th a t with th e burning of Troy, fore-

that alone will give him eve rl as ting

sh adowed by th e fune ral pyre of

fa m e. W h en Androm ac h e pleads with he r hu sba nd n o t to go out into

H ec tor wh ich ends the Iliad, th e Greeks are also doomed , and with

battl e, H ec tor will not liste n , for h e values kleos above all else: "And som e

it, all possibility for he roism.

It is a for es h adowing wh ose truth

day seeing you sh edding tea rs a m a n

is made pla in in th e Odyssey. When

will say of you , 'Thi is th e wife of

Odysseus sees Achil les in th e under-

H ec tor, who was eve r th e bravest

wo rld , th e best of th e Acha eans is

fi ghte r of th e Troja ns, breake rs of

di smissive of th e heroic fam e that

h orses, in th e days wh e n they fou ght

comes after death : "Do n ot speak

about Ilium ."' (V I. 459 ff. ). And wh e n in those fin al, awful mom e nts, pur-

lightly of d ea th to m e, glo ri ous Odysse u s; I would rath er wish to b e a serf,

su ed by Ac hill es, he realizes that the gods h ave dese rted him , h e thinks

se rving another portionl ess m an , for who m life is poor, than to rul e over

only of that und ying fam e: "But now

all the corpses th at have pe rished ."

m y death is upon m e. L et m e at

(XI. 497 ff. ) And as if to prove that

44

th e h e roi c wo rld pe ri sh e d utte rl y with Troy, wh e n Od ysse u s fin all y returns to Ith aca, h e mu st prove hi s id e ntity to eve ryo n e; and h e see m s surpri sed wh e n aft e r his sla u ghte r of th e suitors, eve ryo n e is a ng ry with him . And eve n h om e, h e is not h o m e : whil e in th e und e rwo rld , h e had learn ed th at in th e e nd h e

G ive n thi s ra th e r bl eak re inte rpre ta ti o n of H o m e ri c h ero ism , h ow co uld th e klea andro n , th e und ying reputati o n s of m e n , survive int ac t?

And m y a nswe r is th at is d oes n 't, at leas t n ot within its H o m e ri c d efiniti on : i. e ., sin gul ar m ale va lo r. Rath e r, th e m ea nin g of kleos is totall y tra n s-

would ha ve to leave th e pl ace th at

form ed in G ree k trage dy, and it is tra n sfo rm ed n o t o nl y by th e revalu-

h e ha s drea m ed of for nin e tee n

a ti o n of th e d eeds of th e m e n wh o

ye ars. H e h as ju st b eco m e, as it

fou ght at Tro y, but of th ose of th e wo m e n as we ll. In th e H o m e ri c wo rld , th e m e n saw T roy on ly in

we re, th e first of H o m e r's gho sts.

And just as Ac hill es re jec te d th e h e roi c visio n h e h ad c h a mpion e d in

te rm s of th e oppo rtunity fo r a kleos

th e Iliad , so too, in a va ri e ty of ways ,

ga in e d throu gh spl e ndid d ea th in

did th e trag ic p oe ts. Ce rt a inl y, non e of th e Hom e ri c h e ro es is ve ry likabl e,

battl e, and so th e m yth of Troy mi ght h ave p e ri sh e d as a n endurin g pa ra-

but affability was n eve r a di stin gui shing c h arac te ri sti c of G ree k h e roi sm ,

dig m , a nd beco m e m e rely a hi sto ri c reli c; but th e m ea ning and th e so urce

eve n befor e T ro y.

eve rth eless, how-

eve r di sagreea bl e th e ir p e rso n aliti es, th e h e ro es of th e Iliad we re admir ed

of kleos was re in ve nte d by th e trag ic

for th e ir da rin g and co urage in th e

pl aywri ghts, and it was d on e th ro ugh th eir p o rtraya l of wo m e n .

Ma n y c riti cs h ave c h a rac te ri ze d

fa ce of dea th , for throu gh th e ir struggle, th ey gave dea th m ea nin g . But

th e co nfli c t b e twee n fe m ale a nd m ale in G ree k lite ra tur e as th e stru g-

for th e pl aywri ghts, th e re dee min g qu ality of val o r find s no ro o m for

gle be twee n th e cla im s of th e oikos, th e famil y a nd ti es of kin ship, a nd

ex press io n , a nd th ose wh o had b ee n

th ose of th e polis, th e c ity, with its soc ial and p olitica l bo nd s, a nd thi s

g rea t wa rri o rs at T ro y a nd survive d now a re indi cted as m o ral co wa rd s, opportuni sts, sh all ow and unthinkin g. Th ey see m so m e h ow defl ate d and e n e rva te d by th e ir exp e ri e n ces a t Tro y. D ea th n o lon ge r c om es in glorious battl e, but throu gh treac he ry, be traya l and d ece it.

th es is goes a lo ng way in expl a inin g th e b e h av io r of m an y m e n a nd wo m e n in trage d y, but n o t, I think , quite fa r e n o u gh . In trage dy, th e d efiniti o n of l?leos is es tabli sh ed n ot by th e m ale, but by th e fe m ale, wh o like th e grea tes t of th e G reek h eroes,

45

Ac hill es, stands in isolation , he r behavior, li ke th at of Ac hill es, too often in comprehensibl e to oth ers; th e Homeri c heroes, as men now embodying th e publi c values of th e democracy, now must play by the rul es of the de mocracy, rules th at, fo r better or wo rse, exclude th e operation of heroic valor. W ithin the fra mewo rk of law th at opera tes in th e city, heroic acti on now seems at best reckl ess, at wo rst savagely cru el.

In Homer, wo men are defin ed by th eir social rol es: wives and moth ers, unmarri ed daugh ters and concubin es .

T he onl y fe males excluded fr om norm ati ve definiti on are th ose Odysseus meets outside th e bou nd ari es of civili zati on: C irce and Calypso and th e Sirens, who threaten to sedu ce, enchant an d devo ur Odysse us. But in the tales of Troy retold in tragedy, th e wo men, both Greek and Tro jan, are cast adrift by th e catas tro phes of war, isolated, th eir place within th e oikos no longer sec ure.

Let us begin at th e begi nning, as it we re, with E uri pides' Ip higenia at Aulis, whose pl ot is alluded to in th e Iliad, when Aga memn on, in his anger at th e proph et Calch as, snarls, "you always give me bad advice ." (I. 106) T he first piece of bad advice, of co urse, had bee n to sac rifice his oldest child , Iphige ni a.

In th e play, Iphige nia and he r moth er Cl ytemnestra have been

su m moned to Aul is, where the G reek fl eet is becalm ed, on the pretext th at Iph ige nia is to be wed to Achil les.

W hen she discovers tha t sh e is to be sacrifi ced to appease the anger of th e goddess Arte mis, at firs t she pleads with her fathe r for her life; an d kn owing no oth er way, she appeals solely on th e basis of fa mily ti es .

"I was th e first to call yo u fath er."

(J. i220 ) But in th e encl, wh ile Agamem non and th e other G reek males waffle, it is she who decides tha t she will go willi ngly to he r death: "It seems best to me to die, and I wish to do this gloriously" (11. i375-76); and whatever one may make of her decision, sh e is th e only charac ter in the story to act in a heroic fas hion in the tradi tio nal defin ition of th at te rm , th rough th e confrontation with death. And th e G reek soldiers clea rl y regard her behavior in this light when she goes to th e sacrifi cial altar, i.e. , she ac ts like a man .

Give n th e eve nts at Aul is, C lytemnestra's mu rde r of her husband upon his return fro m Troy in th e Agamem11 011 begins to make a certain ho rrid sense . Whateve r the compl ex set of motives th at impel her to action, in her rage over Iphigenia, she most resembles th e Homeric Achill es, whose single-minded fury ar ises out of the dea th of his com pani on Patrocl es. What is more, it is clea r tha t in Aga memnon 's absence, she has been

in co ntrol of rgos, i.e ., ac tin g like a man ; and whatever th e audi ence mi ght have thou ght of th e propri ety of wives killin g hu sband s, it is she, more th an any other charac ter in th e pl ay, who ac t out of a he ro ic vision.

The co ntra st of C lytemn es tra's story with th at of her sister Hele n is in stru cti ve . The opinion of th e ancie nts on Helen we re va ri ed and man y. Was Helen dragged off un willingly, an unfortun ate pri ze awa rd ed to Pari s beca use of th e va nity of th e godd ess, or clicl she acco mpany him fr ee ly, co nni vin g to stea l Menelaus' treas ure in th e pro cess? ncl did Menelaus remind th e suitors of th eir oa th beca use he still loved her, or beca use Pari s had tolen hi s property? Was Helen eve n at Troy?

In th e Iliad and eve n more so, in th e Odyssey, she is not blam ed for th e ca tastroph e of th e war; all thin gs cons id ered, th e Trojans are rat her tolerant of her; and when in th e Odyssey, Telema chus, in sea rch of news of hi s fath er, co me to visit Menelaus and Helen, he find s th em sa fel y ensc on ced at hom e in Sparta , ce lebra tin g th e marri ages of th eir children. M enelaus may be sa ddened by th e m emori es of hi s fall e n comrades, but he do es not blam e Helen . An d wh en Helen desc rib es th e infatu ati on that brought her to Troy, her hu sband do es not rebuke her; in th e end , after all , she did

return to him , thu s rees tabli shin g th e soc ial ro le of wife and mother, and she is th e on ly woman whose relations hip with her hu sband su rvives th e war.

T he grea t irony, th en, demonstrated everywhere from th e Odyssey to th e Tro jan Women , is th at Hel en and Menelaus, whose actions were th e ca use of th e war, escaped un ca th ed. But if th e Trojans in th e Iliad are tolerant, in the 5th cen tury it is onl y Menelaus, still blind ed by her charms, who defe nd s, and even commends her as an edu ca tional tool: " ... she benefited G reece. For inn ocen t before of arms and battle Greece grew to manhood then , and comradeship is a teac her of all thin gs to men." (Andromache, 11. 681 ff. ) Everyone else, Greek and Trojan alike, des pi ses her and sees her as the cause of all th eir woes; and she is va ri ous ly portra yed by th e playwri ghts as va in and self-se n 路ing, eage r to ac quit herself of any bl ame.

On ly in E uripid es' Helen is she a sympathetic charac ter, an innocent victim di smaye d at what has been cl one in her name, who bemoans th e bea uty th at has bee n th e ca use of such des tru cti on . The pl ay is se t in Egypt where Helen, it turn s out, has bee n all th e tim e in th e co urt of th e Egyptian kin g; alth ough Menelaus thinks he ha s rega in ed hi s wife, he has ca ptured, in fact, on ly a gho t 47

of her, an eidolon. It is seven yea rs after th e wa r, and Me nelaus, shi pwrecked, lands in Egypt and eventuall y discove rs the truth : th at th ey have been fi ghti ng over an empty im age. "Yo u mean it was fo r a cloud , fo r noth ing that we did all that wo rk?"

(I. 705 ) Ma ny modern critics have seen this play as a tragicom edy, but I must confess th at I find the res iliency of Me nela us and Helen in the light of th e calam ity of Troy rath er depressing, fo r it reveals all too obviously th e fo olishn ess of men, th e futil ity of valor, and th e deceitful arroga nce of th e gods. And th at is th e import of th e m essage th at th e gh osts of H elen's broth ers, Castor and Polycl euces, deli ve r, in more sober tones, at th e encl of E uripid es' Electra: "Sh e never we nt to T roy.

Ze us fas hioned and dispatched an eicl olon th ere to Ilium so th at there might be strife and murd er of mortals." (u . 1280-83) T he madcap behavior of H elen and Me nelaus is mo re th an co unterbalanced elsewhere by th e gri ef of th e Troj an qu ee n Hec uba whose rage matches th at of C lytemnestra, and whose outrageo us behavior in th e face of irreplacea ble loss reminds me most of Ac hill es. Sh e has seen her husband Pri am slaughte red by the G reeks as he clung to the altar; of her surviving children, one, Polyxae na, is about to be sacri fice d upon

the grave of Ac hill es; another, Cassand ra, has esca ped in to madness; and the n she discovers th at her son, Polydorus, sent along wi th some gold for safekee pi ng to th e ki ng of T hrace, has been murd ered by hi m.

Such is the framework of Euripid es' Hecuba, in which th e aged queen first seeks justi ce, and th en when the G reek leaders refu se to punish h im, takes awful reve nge u po n the T hracian king herself.

Aga m em no n, a mo ral coward who is afra id to act out of fea r of wha t th e othe r G reeks might think, gives tacit approval to her plan, alth ough he has onl y scorn fo r the power of wo men: "h ow can women have th e strength of m en ?" (I. 883 ) He will fi nd out soon enough, wo n't he?

For th e same murd ero us fury, arising out of un bea rabl e grief, that drove Ach illes to a slaugh te ring ram page, im pels both Hecuba and C lyte mnestra . T heir co urage, like tha t of Ach ill es, has its so urce in emoti onal torm e nt.

And if the surviving heroes of Troy are somehow di minished in the eyes of th eir audi ence, what can we -say about their sons, who seem stymied by the fac t that the arena of heroic ac tion has suddenl y sh runk ?

Telemac hus may, in the Odyssey, have hi s own ad ve ntures, but even he knows th at th ey are noth ing in comparison with those of th e men

at Troy. H e is, ins tead , exh orted by tho se a round him to h ave th e stre ngth a nd co urage of Ores tes, wh o defend ed th e h on or of his fath e r Aga m e mn on by killin g hi s m oth e r C lyte mn es tra.

Alth ough it is Orestes who is h eld

n ot h es itatin g, I saved him. " (II. 319321) And th e n , thinkin g tha t Ores tes is dea d , sh e dec ides th at sh e mu st ac t alon e; a nd trying to win ove r h e r siste r, C hrysos th e mi s, sh e speaks of kleos and andreia , or m ale co urage, th at will be th eirs if th ey do th e deed .

up as a mod el to Tele m ac hu s, it is, in th e eyes of th e poe ts, E lec tra ,

(II . 947 ff. ) C hrys osth e mis repli es, "you we re b orn a wo m a n, n ot a m an"

Cl yte mn es tra 's daughte r, a nd not Ores tes, Aga m e mn on 's son , wh o

(I. 997), but th e ir broth e r kn ows be tte r. "Co nsid e r th at Ares, th e go d of

see m s m os t ca pabl e of ass uming th e

wa r, is in wo m e n too ." (I . 1243)

h e roi c m a ntl e. Alth ough F re ud cast E lec tra in th e rol e of th e unn a turall y

But on ce th e deed is don e, Ores tes is see min gly with out purpose . H e is dri ve n m ad by th e Furi es, spirits of bl ood ve ngea n ce, wh o pursu e him

loving da ughter and sister, h e r actions m ake much m ore se nse wh e n viewed throu gh th e n ow refo c used h e roi c le ns. Ores tes m ay h ave b ee n th e on e comma nd ed by Ap oll o to exac t punishm e nt for th e murd e r of hi s fath e r, but in reality, it is his siste r El ec tra who , in eve ry trag ic ve rsion of th e story, dri ves him on to do th e d eed .

Ores tes ca n bring himself to kill th e usurp e r Aeg isthu s, but h e shrinks fr om killing th e m oth e r who gave him birth ; E lec tra, h oweve r, h as no su ch sc rupl es, and in E uripid es' ve rsion of th e story, sh e re bukes him for his cowa rdi ce.

And wh e n in Sophocl es' Electra , th e c h oru s asks E lec tra wh eth e r Ores tes is co min g, sh e ex presses h e r conte mpt a t hi s inac ti on . Th e c horu s tri es to co mfort h e r: "A m an likes to h es itate wh e n doin g a grea t deed , "to whi c h sh e answe rs, "But by

eve rywh e re; and in E uripid es' Orestes, we find a sull e n yo un g m a n , rese ntful th at th e co mm a ndm e nt of th e go d h ad pl ace d him in an unte nabl e pos iti on, for h e a nd hi s siste r ha ve bee n co nd e mn ed by th e peo pl e of Argos as m atri c id es . "All th e citize ns wa nt m e dead ." (I. 446) Th eir onl y h ope is Me n ela us, wh o, wh e n h e arri ves, is th e co nsumm ate m ealymouth ed politicia n , a nxious to wease l out of trying to save his n eph ew.

Hi s fri e nd Pylad es' h a re-brain ed sc h e m e to kill H ele n, at first re jec ted

by Orestes wh o see m s by thi s point to be res ign ed to dea th , is give n n ew life by E lec tra's sc h e m e to take h ostage H e rmi on e, th e dau ghte r of H ele n and Me n ela us. It is E lec tra wh o sugges ts th at Ores tes slit 49

H e rmi o ne's th roa t if Me n ela u s

an d Odysse u s, in the las t yea r of th e

atte mpts to block th e ir esca pe . And it is E lectra wh o c ri es, "H old h er,

wa r, go to Le mn os in o rd er to get the b ow o f H eracles, wh ic h is need ed for

hold h er! Put yo ur swo rd to her th roat and shut h e r up. L e t Me n ela u s lea rn

victo ry ove r th e Tro jans. It is in th e possess io n of Phil octetes who h ad

with wh om h e has to d ea l n ow. Sh ow

bee n aba n do ne d on th e uni n h a bited

him what it m ea ns to fi gh t with m e n ,

isla nd as the G reeks sa il e d to T roy,

no t cowa rds fro m T roy!" (u . i 349-51) Aesc h ylus' Eumenides resolves th e probl e m of E lectra's rol e by simpl y

beca u se, h av ing been bitten by a th e p a in ; t he Greeks co uld not bear

ign oring h e r. O res tes, a fte r hi s attack of m adness, a rri ves in Ath e ns,

hi s h owls n o r th e ste nc h . But n ow th e G reeks n eed both th e bow and

wh e re, Ap oll o h as told him , all will be resolve d. A jury tri al is h e ld, a nd

Philocte tes. At first, Odysseus pe rsu ad es Neoptole m us to d eceive

sn ake, h e sc rea m e d endl essly fro m

O restes is acquitted , after Ath e na

Philoctetes, but th en Neoptole mus,

brea ks the ti e vo te, with Ap oll o,

feelin g pi ty for him , has a cha nge

ca ll ed as a witn ess, d ec laring th at

of h ea rt, a nd prom ises to take him

th e fath e r is th e tru e pa rent of th e

h o m e. Li ke his n ow dead fathe r,

c hild . Th e pl ay, a ni ce littl e piece

Neoptolem u s is an ho n o rable young

of Ath e nia n propaga nd a, foc u ses o n

m a n , but u nform ed a nd ce rta inly without any h ero ic visio n . H e h as

th e es tablishm e nt of a di vine ly sa n cti on ed sys tem of justi ce in whi c h a n y cla ims for fe minin e Ideas a re to be

b ee n prom ised Ideas if h e comes to

suppressed ; in th e m ove from Argos

Troy, but h e h as as yet n o expe ri e n ce of wa r. W h e n we h ea r of hi m aga in

to Ath e ns, th e fe minin e di sa ppea rs from th e ac ti o n. Our a n c ie nt sources

in E uripid es' Andromache, he is

say th a t Elec tra was eve ntu all y m a rri ed off to Pylad es, who und o ubted ly would keep h e r he roi c im p ul ses und e r co ntrol.

Finall y, tragedy prese nts u s with di sm ayin g p o rtraits of two oth e r chi ldre n of h ero es who fou ght at Troy:

d ea d , n ot kill e d in glori o u s ba ttl e, bu t murd e re d.

Neopto le mu s is n ow m a rried to H e rmi o n e, a p arody of h e r moth e r, eve n m o re va in a nd e mpty h ead ed , - but with o ut H ele n 's c ha rm s. H e rm io n e is jea lo u s of An d rom ache, on ce wife of th e T roj an p rince H ector,

Ne optolemus, th e so n of Ac hill es,

bu t n ow m e rely a pri ze of war, wh o

a nd H e rmion e . Our first e n co unte r with eoptol e mus is in Sop h ocles' Philoctetes, in whi c h Neoptole mu s

h as borne Neoptolem us a son; and co n vin ced th at it is And ro m ac h e's sp ell s th a t have left h e r ba rren, sh e

plots to kill h e r ri va l. In Neo ptol emu s' absence , sh e bulli es a nd thr ea t-

exclud ed from th e life of th e poli s, to re mind th e Gree ks of what it

e ns Andromache a nd th e c hild , with

m ea ns to be h e roi c, and to kee p ali ve th e m e mory of Troy. Afte r

th e h elp of h e r father whom sh e h as summ on ed. Andromache, who h as nothing left to lose, gives b e tte r than sh e gets, reviling th e cowa rdic e and treac h e ry of th e Greeks in ge n e ral and M e n elaus and hi s famil y in particular. And eve n und e r threa t of death, sh e is th e on ly character in th e pla y to kee p ali ve th e m e mory of

all , it is H ec ub a who, in th e Trojan

Women , und e rsta nd s bes t th e m ea nin g of Troy: "And if a go d h ad not toss Troy up , and thro wn it to th e ground, we wou ld be in visibl e, unre m e mb e red , not giving th e m es to th e songs of mort als to co m e."

(II. 1242-45)

the heroi sm di spla ye d at Tro y, to still fe el th e h e roic anger. "I ca ll happy those who possess glory ga in ed hones tl y." (I. 321 ) But when th e bluste ring Menelaus, who find s it easy to intimidate women and children, bac ks off after being threa ten ed by th e aged Peleus and suddenly re m e mb e rs h e has to sac k a town , H e rmion e becom es remorseful and threa te n s suicid e. Into this chaotic sce n e stride s Orestes to claim H e rmion e as th e bride h e declares had bee n promised , and in th e process boasts that he has incited the D elphians to ambush and kill Neoptol emus on the altar of Apo llo . After thi s stunning revelation, th e two sn eak off, h and in h and , leaving Peleus to mourn hi s grandch ild . And so thi s is how the quarrel be twee n Agamemnon, th e lead e r of men , and Ach ill es, the best of th e Achaeans, finall y e nd s, not with a bang but with a whimper.

It is left for th e women, those

51

GETTING TO B E A STAR: THE P O L I T I CS OF CATASTER I SM

Peter Green Un i versity of Texas a t Austin

During th e last yea r of h is life, Jul ius Caesar beca me in c reasingly preoc-

who gave the m 5- had a stroke of lu ck. Antony, obstruc ti onist as always,

cupied with th e notion of estab-

ban ned th e exhibiti o n in th e th ea ter

lishing a divin e mo n arc hy -on e,

of Caesar's gilded cha ir and jeweled

moreove r, that was solidly rooted

crown, even though thi s h ad been

in Roman and eve n Etruscan rathe r th an G reek tracl itio n . 1 Afte r th e Id es

sancti oned by clecree; 6 h e probably recall ed th e divin e implications of

of Ma rch, o n e of th e c hi ef preocc upations of th e young Octavian, as

th e simila r use, by th e Successo rs, of d ead Alexa nd er's e mpty throne,

Caesar's heir, was to sec ure posthu-

robe, and dia clem. 7 But at this point

mou s di vine honors for him. Antony, on th e other h and, though in hi s

th e h eave n s took a hand in the m at-

fun eral speec h h e 'la ud e d Caesar as a god in heaven',2 c h anged hi s tack

tus's own Memoirs, transcribed by th e E ld er Pl iny, describing wha t

very fa st once the will was read a ncl Octavia n 's positi on beca m e clea r.

happened: 8 ' During the very days of my Games a comet was observed

A god's will overrode ordinary laws,

in the north e rn quarter of th e sky. It

and th e god 's son -adopted or notwou ld be in an un assa il a bl e position. 3 The man e uve ring between

would ri se abo ut th e eleventh hour

th em from Ma rc h to Jul y of 44 BC over th e matte r of divin e honors was inte nse.4 However, at Caesa r's own posthumous games (zo-30 Jul y) Octavian -

52

ter. We possess a fragment of Augus-

of the clay [i.e. 5 p.m. , or about an hour befo re sun se t], a nd shon e brightl y, being visible from all regions. This star was popularly beli eved to signify th at Caesar's soul had been received into th e divine company of the im mortal gods, for

whi c h reason th at e mbl e m [a st ar] was add ed to th e portra it-bust of him th at we sh ortl y th e reafte r d edi ca ted in th e Forum .'

Oth e r so urces co nfirm a nd

with his (posthum ous) m eta m orph osis into 'a n ew sta r and co m et' . 12 In hi s n a rra ti ve Jupite r in stru c ts Venu s, Caesa r's putati ve an cestor, to 's n atch hi s soul fr om its slain body, so th a t

amplify thi s re m a rkabl e st ate m e nt.

Dio Cassius a nd Su e tonius b oth

fr om his hi gh te mpl e Julius th e Go d (diuus Juliu s) m ay eve r look down

agree with Augustu s th at th e belief

on our Ca pitol a nd Fo rum .' 1 3 Ve nu s, n othing loa th , insta ntl y swoops down , in visible, ca tc h es Caesa r's

in C aesa r's ap oth eos is, a nd th e inte rpr etation of th e co m et th a t we nt with it, ste mm ed fr om th e co mm on peo pl e (rath e r, it is implied, th a n be ing an offi cial prono un ce m e nt of th e C oll ege of Augurs). Both claim th a t th e co m e t (whi c h sh on e co ntinuall y for a week) was C aesa r's soul , be ing take n up into h eave n , and th a t th is was th e reaso n for th e star sub sequ e ntl y place d on hi s im age (and indeed , as we kn ow, al so on some coins).9 But Di o gives a signifi ca nt va ri ati on on th e te rm s of thi s apoth eosis. Acc ording to him th e co mmon belief was that 'Caesa r h ad b ee n mad e imm ortal a nd admitted into th e number of the stars.' 10 Octavi a n him self took th e co m e t se riou sly, but for a diffe rent as tral reason: h e pri va tel y be li eved it to b e th e sign of a ne w age dawnin g, th e inc eption of a Grea t Yea r (magnus amms) , whi c h- sin ce it was associated with the coming of a child-porte nd ed his own symb olic rebirth . 11 It was left to O vid (of all peopl e) to spell out th e details of Caesar's apotheosis in th e greatest detail ,

so ul , a nd fli es up with it towa rd s th e sta rs. It begin s to bl a ze a nd burn in h e r b oso m , so sh e releases it: up it arc h es, ove r th e m oo n , leaving a fi e ry trail behind it, to glea m , fin all y, as a sta r in th e firm a m ent. 14 T h ough O vid m ay be h av ing so m e sly fun h e re (e.g . with th e n oti on of Caesar's an ima as a fire work sudd e nl y igniting in Ve nu s's cl eavage ) we h ave n o reaso n to supp ose th at h e was n ot re ta iling th e appro ve d ve rsion of eve nts. No on e was la ughing; or if th ey were, th ey had th e goo d se nse to kee p th e ir amu se m e nt to th e mselves.

Wh at is m ore, d es pite th e di sclaim e rs about popul ar sup e rstiti on , thi s n ex us of b eli efs co n ce rnin g C aesa r's a poth eosis prove d re m arkabl y durabl e. Th e E ld e r Plin y, an e rudite polym ath of good famil y with n othing popula r about him , co uld argu e that no pra ise was high e n ou gh for th e astron om e r Hipp archu s (fl. 2nd ce nt BC ), on th e grounds that ' no on e h ad done more to pro ve

53

th e stars' kinship with mankind , and th at our so uls form a part of heave n'.1 5 Augustus him self might offi cially disco urage attempts to deify him durin g hi s own lifetim e (no te mpl es to be dedi ca ted to him unl ess he sha red th em with th e godd ess Roma 16 ), but once he was dead - ' re turnin g hi s heavenl y sp irit to heaven', as Vellei us, that pi ous confo rmist, put it17 - he go t th e full wo rks. His catafa lqu e in th e Ca mpus Ma rtius was topped by a wax portrait-im age of him . As this was consum ed in th e fl ames it released an eagle, whi ch 'fl ew aloft, supposedly bea ring his spirit heavenwa rd '. 18 This symboli c device subsequ entl y beca me standard prac ti ce at an empero r's fun eral. T he importance attac hed to it is revealed by th e fac t th at Augustus's wid ow Li via is sa id to have pa id a qu arter of a milli on sesterce to one Num erius Atti cus, an ex-praetor who testifi ed on oath th at he had seen Augustus asce ndin g to heaven in th e traditi onal manner assoc iated with Romulus. 19 On 17 Sept. AD 14 2 0 th e Senate decla reel Augustus im mortaI, vo ted him a sh rin e, and appointed Livia his pri estess.

I have chosen this ph enomenon to discuss fo r seve ral reasons: primarily beca use it highlights th e qu esti on of just what needs such mythi c mode of percepti on satisfi ed in th e G reek and Roman world , and -a fa r tri ck-

54

ie r point - to what extent, and in what sense, they were actu all y beli eved, or ge nerated fa ith (not always th e same thi ng). It is clea r 2 1 th at th rou ghout ancient history, even- or perh aps especiall y-during th ose peri ods (e .g. th e age of the Soph ists in Periclean Athens) whe n rati onalism seemed most predom inan t, the vast m a jority of th e pop ulati on clung stu bbornly to th eir age-old , often highl y irrational , beli efs.22 T h e contrast d rawn by contemporary witn esses, when discussing Caesar's apotheos is in pa rti cul ar, between in fo rmed opinion and th at of 'th e ma jority' suggests strongly th at uc h was the case with rega rd to Im perial deifica ti on.

Yet even so the di tincti on was far from clea r-c ut, and it wo uld , I th ink, be a m istake to supp ose th at wha t we have h ere is a simpl e case of rationali st cyni cs consciously manipulating th e m asses for poli tical ends.

Politi cs, of co u rse, entered into it, as so often in religious ma tters; but whe n th e sedulo us Vell eius wrote of Tibe rius th at he 'deified his father [step-fa th er, in fa ct] not by imperial fi at but th ro ugh ge nui ne beli ef: he did not merely call hi m a god, but made him one', 2 3 the insight, despite Vell eius's known partisa nship, rings tru e . T he E ld er Pliny, as we have seen, beli eved in a living, senti ent cosmos. Th ere would ahvays be the

intell ec tu al scoffe rs - Se n eca wh e n

bala n ced betwee n a ni m ism and

h e wro te th e A pocolocyntosis, por-

anth ro p o m o rp hi sm , with the u n kn own and fo rml ess te rro rs of th e

tray in g th e rece pti o n in h eave n of a sh a mbling, d roo lin g C laudiu s; Lu cian in th e Icarome n ip pos-a nd as tim e we nt by th e e m pero rs th e mselves so m e tim es took th e ir e leva ti o n less th an se ri ou sly (Ves p as ian during hi s las t illn ess rema rk e d : 'O h dea r, I

first slowly b e in g conq u e re d by th e e m erge nt Pro m e th ea n in sights of th e seco nd: to reaso n is hu ma n , appare nt purpose impli es reaso n , and thu s evid e nt p atte rn s (e .g. in th e m ove-

think I'm turnin g into a go d ' 4). Ye t

m ent of th e sta rs) mu st n ee ds impl y th e prese n ce of so m e guidin g mind .

th e prac ti ce of d eifi ca ti o n by ass umpti o n was re ta in ed fo r ce nturi es: it

It fo ll ows th at di vin e powe r is bo th rooted in th e un kn own a nd p rese nts

eve n survive d th e c h a n ge fr o m pagani sm to C hri sti a nity. Co n sta ntin e

c uri ou sly h uma n fea tures . It is, th e refore , n ot at all surp ri sin g to fin d th at

acce pted th e de di ca ti o n of a te mpl e, o n co nditi o n th at hi s n am e was n o t 'soile d by th e repre h e n sibl e prac -

th e go d-kin g, th e m e di ato r be tween h eave n and ea rth , is, as Fran kfort re m arks,2 6 a t th e ve ry h ea rt of th e

ti ces of dan gero u s sup e rstiti o n '. T h e

old es t c ivilize d socie ti es, wh ere 'th e

first e mp e ror ac tu all y to refu se th e h o n o r see m s to h ave b ee n G rati a n ,

pure ly sec ul a r-in so fa r as it co uld be grante d to ex ist at all- was th e

towa rd s th e close of th e 4th ce nt.

AD .2 5 W h ateve r we m ay fee l ab o ut

purely tri vial. W h ateve r was signifi ca nt was imb edd e d in th e li fe of

thi s fo rm ali sed p rocess of ap o th eos is, th e re ca n b e n o do ubt th a t it was

th e cos m os, and it was p rec isely th e king's fu nc ti on to m a inta in th e h a rmo ny of th at integra ti o n .'

2

rega rd ed se ri o u sly.

To expl ain wh y, we n eed to take a cl ose r loo k at so m e of its co n stitu e nt fea tures . T h ese a re also hi ghl y suit-

T h e key to m ythi c fun c ti o n in hi ghl y evo lve d soc ieti es su ch as th ose of G reece a nd Ro m e is th e

abl e for stud y o n a n occas io n stressin g th e a n c ient soc ietal uses of m yth ,

re m a rka bl e, a nd ofte n u n ack n owle dged , ability of su c h a rc h e typa l

sin ce th ey includ e some of th e fund am e nta l buildin g-bl ocks of th e m ythi c wo rld-view. Its ph ys ica l o rd e rin g is

p e rce ptio n s, n ot o nl y to survive in a ra ti on al clim ate, bu t still to sh ape th e be li efs a nd a ttitud es of peo pl e wh o, o n th e face of it, we m igh t exp ec t to reac t ve ry differe ntly. To take an obvio us exa m ple: th e sph e ri-

clea r: h eave n is in th e sky, just as H ades o r Ta rt aros li es b e n ea th it, a nd th e sa m e wo rd , cae lum , ou pavos-' does duty for b oth . Pe rce pti o n is

c ity of th e wo rld was kn own as a

55

poss ibility befo re H e rod o tus, a rgu ed

have n o ears, o r d on't ex ist, o r pay

fo r by Ari stotl e in th e De Caelo, a nd

no h eed to u s; but yo u we see pre-

take n fo r gra nted by Stra bo's d ay. 2 7

sen t he re, n ot in wood or stone, bu t

Ye t th ro ugh o ut th e G raeco-Ro m a n pe ri od -an d ind eed fo r m uch lo nger

for rea l: so to yo u we pray'. There

-all poe ti c a nd th eolog ical cos mi c im age ry obstin ately re m a in ed b ased

fo ll ows a b risk requ est: stop those ma ra uding Aetolia n s.31 Alexande r's conquests, it was argu e d, h ad ou t-

o n th e kin d of a rc h e typ al fl at-ea rth , h eave n-abo e-an d-hell-be low co n-

Di on ys u s. Euhe m erus of Messe n e

cept th at h ad survived in ea rl y

was popula rising th e view that the

thinke rs su ch as An axim e n es o r D em oc ritu s.28 T h e na ture of ec lipses was

O lymp ia n d eities 'were terrestrial

qu ite clear to thin ke rs by th e late 5th ce nt. BC: th a t did not stop an intelligent a nd ed uca ted Ath e ni a n , N icias, fro m los ing a n e nti re exp editi o n a ry fo rce in S ic ily (Sept. 413) b y refu sing to m ove for alm os t a m o n th afte r a n eclipse of th e moo n . 2 9

d one th ose of He racles and

bei n gs wh o b eca m e gods, acq uiring im mo rtal h ono r an d fa m e th rough th e ir be n efactio ns to men 'Y The Roma n p oet E nniu s tra nslated E u heme ru s into L atin . T h e backgro u n d is beco ming clearer. If Alexa nd e r, let alon e D e m etrius, co ul d legiti mately aspire to d ivine

Exa mpl es co uld be multipli ed .

In parti cul a r, th a t stu bbo rn a nth ro-

st atus, th en wh y not Caesa r? Bes id es,

po m o rphi sm so c h arac te ri sti c of th e G raeco-Ro m an wo rld both fo rm e d

on the titl e of rex might - ind eed, did- fi nd th at of di1111s less objec-

the bas is for P rot ago rea n sec ula r

ti onable, even th ough th is wa s an

hum ani sm- 'Ma n th e Measure of all things'3째 -a ncl , fo r th e m a n y,

id ea whi c h , li ke so m uc h e lse, they h ad borrowed fro m G reece.33

h elped to break clown th e barri e rs betwee n m e n and go ds. After th e

A praesens diuus, th en , to borrow H orace's phrase d escribing Augustus.34

O lympians fa iled Ath e ns at Syrac u se

But th e Ides of Ma rch confronted Oc tavia n with a new problem .

a n d Aegospota mi , at C h aero n ea a nd C ra nn o n , it is n o t h ard to see h ow attracti ve a m o rtal Savio r and Be nefacto r, L:wT~p Kai. EuEpyhris, m ight look. In Sept. 2 90 BC th e Atheni a ns welc o m ed D e m etri us th e Bes ieger as a god, obse rving th at ' th e oth er gods a re eith e r fa r away, or

56

Roma n s wh o so obstina tely gagged

E uh eme rus, to C icero's outrage, 35 d escribed cases in which gods died and we re bu ried, th e c lea r im plicati on being that h e re, too, th eir me re m ortality was ma de m an ifest. Apoth eos is, th en , was esse ntial. T his, like divin e d escent, was not som eth ing

natural to th e Ro m an mind ;3 6 but th e re was o n e fam ou s a nd hi ghl y suitable precede nt: Ro mulu s.

Traditi o n all y,37 Ro mulu s va ni sh e d

Di o n ys ius of H ali ca rn ass u s, wh o ca m e to Ro m e in 30 BC, th e yea r afte r Ac tium , and li ve d th e re for a qu a rte r of a ce ntury, was a flu e nt

fro m th e Ca mpu s Ma rbu s durin g a

La tin sp ea ke r a nd an exp e rt o n Ro-

sudd e n sto rm , amid p ea ls of thund e r, enve lope d in a dark clo ud .3 8 C ice ro

m a n a ntiquiti es.48 His ve rdi ct o n th e tradition al acco unt of Ro mulu s'

also sp eaks of an eclipse of th e sun. 39

ap oth eos is th e refor e ca rri es so m e

Our oth e r so urces leave it un ce rta in

we ight: th e d eifi cati o n of Caesa r

as to wh eth e r th e sun 's dark enin g was

h ad take n pl ace o nl y fourtee n yea rs

ca u sed by e clipse o r storm ; but O vid

b efor e hi s a rri va l, a nd we kn ow th at,

m akes it clea r4째 th at in eith e r case

as we ll as studying writte n hi stori es,

th ese celesti al ph en om en a we re

h e m ade a h abit of inte rview in g

rega rd ed as th e sign of ap oth eosis.

e rudite witn esses.49 W h at h e says is:

Ro mulu s' so ul , fr eed of its mortal

"It is appa re nt th at th e di vin ely occa-

1

integum e nt,4 h ad bee n taken up

sio n ed eve nts link e d with thi s m an 's

to h eave n , and admitte d to th e co m-

c once ption a nd di ssoluti o n offe r n o

pan y of th e gods.4 2 M os t c uriou s of

sm all supp o rt to th ose wh o di vinise

all , one Proc ul eius Juliu s - des cribed

by Plutarch as a hi gh-b o rn patri cian ,

m o rt als a nd e leva te th e so ul s of th e illu striou s to h eave n ."5째 What we

and by Ci ce ro as a country bumpkin43

h ave h e re is a ve ry Ro m an argu-

- swore to th e Sen ate th at Romulu s

m e nt: n o rea de r of Li vy o r Juliu s

h ad d esce nd ed fr om h eave n befor e

Obsequ e n s ca n fail to be stru ck by

him in a di vine epiph any as th e

th e Ro m a n obsessio n with h eave nl y

Rom an de ity Quirinus, with instru c-

porte nts: ostenta, monstra , prodigia,

tion s to announ ce Ro m e's futur e as

wid ely rega rd e d as 'prec urso rs of

th e ca pital of th e wo rld , and h ad th en 'departed o n hi gh once m ore'.44 This

social , politi cal, or dynasti c changes'Y Am o ngs t th ese po rte nts sta rs, co m ets,

hi ghl y promi sin g c h arter m yth was

and eclipses fi g ured promin entl y. At

ce rta inl y prefe rabl e to th e alte rn a-

both th e conce ption a nd th e d eath

tive ve rsion (indign antl y de ni ed by

of Ro mulu s, Di on ys ius writes, tradi-

O vid45) whi c h h ad Romulu s mur-

ti o n reco rd e d 'a total eclipse of th e

de red by a m ob of se n ato rs, a nd hi s

sun and da rkn ess like ni ght cove rin g

di sm e mbe red body smuggled o ut pi ece m ea l and sec retl y buri ed,4 6

th e ea rth '.5 2

with th e supposed apo th eosis as a cove r-story.47

va lidity, Caesa r's dea th , too, m u st be

C lea rl y, th e n , if po rte nts h ad an y m arke d by a n eclipse. T h e co m et,

57

norm all y presaging disaster, could one in th e minds of pi ous beli evers be adapted as a sign of apoth eosis (or ambitious cynics), and very (an d, as luck would have it, th e yea r qui ckly found its way as suc h into of Caesa r's birth , 100 BC, was simith e literature . Augustus's demise was larly marked by th e fa ll of a blazing not so lu cky: th e dea rth of portents meteo r53); but for a tru ly convin cing meant th at th ose concern ed had to sign an ecli pse was what was needed, manufacture their own . He nce the and our sources duly reco rd a m ost release of an eagle from the pyre; striking one.54 Unfortunately, astrohence th e testi m ony of N um erius nom ical records show no eclipse Atti cus, so clea rl y modeled on tha t whatsoever as visible in Italy durin g of Proc uleius Julius, tha t he had 44 BC. 55 What actually happened? seen the E mperor's so ul ascending Th e evide nce is sugges tive. F irst, th e to heaven .62 The best that heaven 'obsc uri ng of th e sun 's rays'5 6 lasted co uld manage in return was an a long tim e, almost a year, blocking ecl ipse of th e moon on 27 Septemoff warmth as well as light, so that ber, ten clays after Augustus's official fruit shri veled whil e still half-ripe.57 deifi cation ;6 3 and even this seems Second, unusual visual ph enomena not to have been con nected, then or were record ed in th e sky: a rainbowlater, to th e presum ed apotheosis. 64 8 like halo round th e sun ,5 an d, most We see, th en (to reca pitulate ), strikingly, th e illusion of three solar th at those seeking apotheosis for orbs appearing toge th er. 59 Such Caesar and Augustus used th e case effects are produ ced , partl y by of Romul us as e mpowering preceupper-l evel ice-crystals, partly by th e dent. T his was inevita bl e. Romul uspresence in th e atm osphere of large whatever his royal or divine status qu antiti es of volca ni c dust, and hacl been Rom e's found er: no claimant partly by the res ultant atmosp heri c to second-founde r status could poss i60 N . f v路 'I' G wa rmmg. ow rom 1rg1 s eorbly igno re him. Besides, th ere was gics, togeth er with Servius's note no one else . Rome, like the Greek citing a lost passage of Livy, 61 we _states, had experi enced a long kn ow that 44 BC did, in fac t, see a period of wh at might be term ed particularly viole nt erupti on of Mt. egalitari an rati onalism , when Etna, th e effects of whi ch were felt archaic supersti ti ons an d persona l over a widespread area, and alm ost self-aggrandisement we re equally certainl y produced th e conditions suspect. That deep-roote d anth rodesc ribed. It was not an eclipse; but pom orphism wh ich was at once the it was nea r enough to do duty for curse and the gl ory of both peoples

h ad (as we are a lways be in g told ) fo s-

rarefie d traditi on to whi ch thi nke rs

te red th e spirit of sec ul a r in ve nti o n

fr o m Alc m aeo n to Pla to, from Ari stotl e to C hrys ip p u s, all con tri b uted .

and resea rc h , sco rnin g sup e rstiti o n , mo ckin g- pa radox ica ll y - anth ro pom o rphi sm itse lf wh e n it appea re d , as it was b o und to, in re li gio n : as ea rl y as th e 6th ce nt. BC Xe n oph a n es pointe d o ut th at T hrac ia n go ds h ad blu e eyes a nd reel h a ir, a nd th at if h o rses co uld draw o r sc ulpt, th e ir ico ns wo uld co m e out equin e. 65 It is less we ll und e rstood th at th e sa m e in stin c t und e rl ay th at reve rsio n to a uth o rit a ri ani sm whi c h m arked th e 4th ce nt. BC a nd th e H ell e ni sti c e ra. E uh e m e ri sm a nd its n a tural co n co mit a nt, rul e r-wo rship , mi ght, as we h ave see n , res u scita te a nd ex pl oit ce rt a in a rc h e typal instin c ts of th e hum a n psyc h e - no t leas t for a go d-king wh o e nj oyed ass umpti o n to h eave n ; but th ey did so a t th e exp e n se of th e O lympi a n panth eo n , whil e still re m a inin g obstin ate ly anth ro p o m o rphi c . Sin ce th e n o nOl ympi an cos m ology o n whi ch th ey dr ew -prim a ril y th at de ri ve d fr o m th e Pyth ago rea n s -lacke d a n a nth ro pornorphi c dim ens io n altoge th e r, th e res ult was a m os t c uri o u s intellec tu al and symb oli c impasse.

No thing de m o n strates thi s m o re strikingly th a n th e sta rry a poth eos is dec reed for Caesa r and Au gu stu s, de ri vin g as it does fr o m a n improbabl e m a rri age b etwee n simple p opul a r beli efs a nd a co mpl ex, intell ec tu all y

T h e ni ght sky was co m fo rti ngly fa mili a r, a nd a reass urin g h e lp in n eed to sa il o rs a nd fa rm ers, as bo th H es iod a nd Aratu s re mi nd us. H ere, too , a nth ro p o m o rphi sm a n d th e riom o rph ism h ad bee n at work, red u c ing pl a n e ts, co n stell at ions, th e zodi ac 66 to fa mili a r en titi es: Jupite r, Ma rs, Ve nu s, Perseus, th e Chario tee r, An dro m eda, Orio n th e Hun te r, a n d va ri o u s swa n s, b ea rs, cl ogs, se rp ents, fi sh es, sea-m o nste rs, wa te r-carr ie rs, rams, and so o n. But h ow di d a n an c ient viewe r co n ce ive th ese ph en o m e na? W h at, above all , did ca taste rism , th e tra n slati o n to h eave n of m ythi ca l fi g ur es- h eroes, o r, la te r, hum an as pirants - ac tu all y mean?

W h e re, a nd wh a t, was th e 'h eave n of Ze u s' th at, in Ara tu s's poem , th e H o rse fo reve r circles? 67 T h e mo m e nt we pose qu es ti on s li ke thi s, we rea li se th at th e re is n o a n svve r in visual te rms. O lympu s is a place , even in its m ythi c fo rmul ati o n , a nd we ca n im ag in e bo th panth eo n a nd palace.

So a re H ad es o r th e E lys ian F ield s.

It is n o acc id e nt th at wh e n Se n eca wa nted to sa tiri se th e apo th eos is of C laudiu s h e firml y pl ace d th e sce n e in O lympu s, with Jupite r a nd Merc ury, H e rc ul es a nd Ja nu s, as c h a rac te rs. A clutch of se nti e nt sta rs wo uld h ardl y h ave se rve d hi s purpose . A

59

mind wh en apostrop hising Ne ro:

Ath e nia n S tra n ge r observes in Pla to 's Laws,73 rega rd ed astronom y as th e

le t th e weighty God-E mpero r after

hi gh road to ath eism.

simil a r co nsid e rati o n was in Lu ca n 's

d ea th settl e in mid-firm am e nt, n ot

P lato him self played with th e id ea,

d estroy th e balan ce of h eave n b y la ndin g off-ce nte r!68 Th e Graeco-

to wh ic h h e grew m ore a ttracted as

Ro m a n traditi o n of ap o theos is,

th at intelligence (voDs-) a nd so ul

un abl e to ass imilate wh at Jud eoC hri stia n apocalypti cs took in th e ir

(l(Juxrj) we re n ecessarily coexiste nt,74

strid e, 69 h ad wo und up so m ewh e re b e tween poeti c m etaph o r an d a phil osophica l abstrac ti o n: a nthro-

h e grew o ld er. Since he be li eved

th e regul a ri ty of m ovem e nt in th e cos m os led him to credit it, too, with bo th .75 As S cott observes,7 6 ' inc reasin gly Plato wrote as if th e di recti o n

po m o rphi sm , afte r boldl y enli stin g th e suppo rt of th e m ysti cal Hig h e r

to wh ic h th e soul po in ted was up-

onsense, h ad th e n b ee n totally d efea ted by it.

Ol ym pians are desc ribed in quas iastral te rm s. H e n eve r really ca m e

wa rd ', so th a t in th e Phaedrus th e

It is a c uri ou s logical tra il , but its

to term s with this p roblem ; but (to

ce ntral te n et is absolutely clea r: th e sta rs are living bodi es, with so ul a nd intell ec t. 7째 In a n c ie nt G reece and

h ow p h ys icall y loca ted hig h e r religio u s realiti es are : th e high e r o n e

Rom e th ey h ad virtually n o fo rm al

goes phys icall y, th e n ea re r (it wo uld

c ult (which see m s to h ave b een dis-

seem) on e is to G od '.77 This mixture

missed as eith e r fo re ign o r arc h a ic 71) , and it is n ot h ard to see wh y: the M il-

of ab strac ti o n and spec ific ity is n ot

es ian s and th e ir su ccesso rs expla in ed th e m in m ate ri al term s, whil e th e

in visibl e.7 8 In th e Aca d em y, too, Xe n oc ra tes argu ed th at th e st ars and

reli gious found th em lacking in

pl an e ts we re gods, as d id H eraclid es Po n tic u s.79 T h e p se u do-Pl aton ic di a-

a nthropo m orphi c pe rso n ality. It was th e Pyth ago rea n s of Magn a G raecia wh o were suffi c ie ntl y imbu ed with m ysti c ism both to rega rd th e m as gods and to b eli eve 'th a t the hum an so ul com es fro m h eaven and re turn s the re at d eath'.72 In th e Pe ri clea n Age su ch views p rovoke d widespread intell ec tu al scepti cism , but also co ntinu ed to attract th ose wh o, as th e

60

quote Scott aga in ) ' it is surpri sing

m ade easie r b y th e astral soul be ing

logu e E pinomis virtually assumes a religio n of th e h eave nly b odi es: th e stars a re n ot on ly gods but oversee rs of m a nkind , livin g an d providen t. 80 Fo r th e Sto ics the regular m otion of th e h eave nl y bodi es offe re d proof o f th eir di vinity, and ind eed of d ivin e p rovid e n ce. 81 C icero in th e Somnium

Scipionis offe rs a gli mpse of the

pl a n e ta ry d e iti es, co mpl ete with th e mu sic of th e sph e res; 82 but h e also

la ti o n of h eroes to h eave n was an age-o ld b elief. 85 As Pasca l sa id , le

as tron o mi cal sce n e as 'th e pl ace

coeur a ses ra isons que la raison ne connaft point: th e h ea rt h as reaso n s

wh e re great and o utsta nding m e n

of whi c h reaso n kn ows n othin g. T hi s

find th e ir full rewa rd ', with 'a path

is a di c tum th at mu st always h ave

desc rib es thi s h alf abstrac t, h alf

to h eave n ex isting for tho se vvho

appli ed to ca taste ri sm a nd apoth eo-

h ave dese rve d we ll of th e ir c ountry', 83 and allud es to th e mom e nt

sis, bo th of th e m processes h eavi ly

wh e n 'th e spirit of Romu lu s pe n etrate d thi s ve ry shrin e'. 84

ca tas te ri sed pe rso n look like? wh e re

Wh at h e m ea nt by thi s is singularl y h a rd to d ete rmin e. Wh e n th e pious follo we d th e c ourse of th e

dep e nd e nt o n sy mboli sm (wh a t did a in th e caelum o r oupavos was hi s d we llin g? ) a nd , wo rse, on n onpredi c tabl e h eave nl y sign s. 86 T hi s las t co nsid e rati on is pro babl y

com e t th a t th ey h e ld to b e C aesa r's

th e m a in reaso n wh y, des pite th e

immortal soul , or wa tch ed th e asce nt

in c reas ingly fr equ e nt de ifi ca ti on

of th e ea gle th at symboli sed an id e n-

of m on a rc h s durin g th e H ell e ni sti c

tic al progress for Augu stu s, how did

pe ri od , ca tas te ri sm re m a in ed rare,

th ey e n visage th e h eave nl y regim e to

o nl y b eco min g a viabl e opti o n wh e n

whi ch th ese de ifi e d spirits we re sup-

th e sprea d of Stoic cos m ology es-

posedl y admitte d ? No t, it see m s safe

tabli sh ed a close inte rco nn ec ti o n

to say, as a kind of m ath e m ati call y

(au Âľ mi8EL a ) b e twee n mi c ro cos m

prec ise - and probabl y in visibl e -

and m ac ro cos m , so th at a rul e r's

celes tial plan etarium . It see m s far

p rog ress was h eld to b e di c tate d by,

more likely th at hi stori ca l n ecess ity,

and in step with , th e m ove m ents of

sh a rp en e d by a whol e sequ e n ce of continge n c ies - Alexand e r's con-

th e h eave nl y b odi es. 87 F ull ca tas te rism de m a nd e d , id ea ll y, th e appea r-

qu es ts, the deva lu ation of th e Ol ym-

an ce of a ' n ew' star, whi ch in th at

pian god s, th e ri se of Euh e m e ri sm ,

age of n ake d-eye as tro n o m y88 m ea nt

th e con vul sive c ivil c onfli c t th at dev-

e ith e r a com et or a n ova; a nd th e

astated th e late Rom an Re publi c -

di sad va nt age of both th ese was th at

crea ted an atm os ph e re in whi ch a n

th ey rapidl y va ni sh ed aga in . (A cyni c,

es c alatin g a rc h etypal hun ge r for

surveying th e co urse of H ell e ni sti c

CTWTTJpLa a nd di vin e red e mption

hi sto ry, mi ght dec id e th at thi s was all

ove rrod e all rati on al consid e ration s

too appropriate; but a co urt as tron o-

in th e m a n y: a te nd e nc y du ly note d

m e r who va lu ed hi s life wo uld h ardl y

and ex ploited by th e few. Th e tran s-

h ave agreed .)

Alte rnati vely, th e person de ifi ed and catas terised co uld be ass igned to an existing but appropriate star.

Su ch \\'as th e case wi th Arsinoe II, siste r and \\life of Ptole my Phi ladelphos, \\/ho in 2 70 \Vas (accord ing to Callimac hus89) eleva ted to th e constell ati on of Ursa Mi nor: from other so urces9° \Ve kno\V that she became a protector of sa il ors, and thus th at her ca tasterism was to th e Pole Star.

In this ca pac ity she \Vas an ava tar of lsis,9 1 who in he r turn was ass imilated, inter alia as naviga ti onal guide, by the Virgin M ary. It seems hi ghl y probable, th en , th at th e title Star of th e Sea (Stella Maris), associated with th e Virgin from an ea rl y period ,92 appli ed equ all y to sta r and to catas terised goddess, and vvas th e attribute, not onl y of Isis but also of Arsin oe. H ere, th en, we find a fun cti on whic h could co mpensate for th e lack of embodi ed reality. The most famo us catasterism , however, was a mere literary jeu d'es prit. Bereni ce, \\life of Ptolemy III, dedi cated a tress of her hair in th anks for he r husband 's safe return from th e T hird Syri an War (z47-6 BC ). Th e tress \Vas stolen, and Conon, Ptolemy's co urt as trono me r, iden ti fi ed it as a fa int star-cluster be t\Vee n Leo and Virgo . Calli mac hus \\/rote a poem on th e subj ect, closely imitated by Ca tu ll us.93 At most, thi s episode testifi e to the in c reas ing eros ion of

barri ers bet\Veen earth a nd heaven .

The paradox ical conclusion fac ing us, the n, is th at Rome, at the dea th of Ca esa r and for long the reafter, fe lt a grea ter need-\Vh ether religious or pol itic al -for th e mysteries of divinisa ti on an d apotheosis than had ever been exper ienced in th e grea t Hell e nisti c kingdoms.

Earl y on, even Alexander had been forced to solici t deification for himself, and had provoked some fai rl y abrasive co mm ents whe n he did so (e .g. fro m D emosth enes: 'Son of Zeus? Sure: of Poseidon too if he fan cies it').94 Catasterism, \Vh ich to begin with had survived as a pop ul ar supe rstiti on ,95 was, in the late 1st cent. BC, give n a trem e nd ous boost by the growth of astrology, itself largel y du e to the Stoic cosmol ogical th eory of auÂľ mi8ELa betwee n mi cro cosm and macrocosm. 96 Its comb in ati on with th at oth e r characteristic ympto m of the age, the deifi cati on of kings, was probabl y inevitabl e.Th e deep need for a wTrip(a , salva tion , whic h now mani fes ted itself th roughout th e ~a s te rn M edite rranean fo u nd its an wer-betwee n th e apo th eoses of Caesa r an d Augustus-in th e witness of a ma n \\/ho was also a king, also God , a nd whose story likewise in volves both a symboli c star and direc t ass um ption into H eaven.97

1 See in parti cul ar Lil y Ross Taylor, Th e Divinity of the Roman Emperor

5 Di o Cass. 45.6-4; Suet. Di v. Jul. 88.

(Middl etown, Co nn ., 193 1) 58-77; L.

6 Di o Cass. 45 6.5; App BC 3+ 28.

Ce rfau x & J. Tondri au, Le Culte des

Souverains dans la Civi lisation greco-

7 Plut. Eum . 13; Di od. Sic. 18.6o-6i.

romain e (Tourn ai 1957 ) 286-90; P. G ree n, C la ssical Bea rings (Lond on

8 Plin . N H 2.94: 'Iis ipsis lucl orum

1989 ) ch . xii (' Caesa r and Alexa nd er:

meo rum di ebus siclus crinitum per

Aemulatio, Imitatio, Co mparatio'),

se ptem di es in reg ion e cae li qu ae sub

193-209, 289-96. Caesa r affec ted, inter

se ptentri onibu s es t co nspec tum <es t> .

alia, th e hi gh red boots assoc iated with th e kings wh o reigned in Alba Lon ga: Di o Cass. 43.2.

Id ori ebatur circa uncl ec im am horam cli ei clarumqu e et omnibu s e terri s co nspi cuum fuit . eo sicl ere signifi ca ri uolgus crecliclit Caesa ri s anim am inte r cl eo rum

2 App . BC 2.14 3:

w:; 8EO V oupcivL OV

imm ortalium numin a rece ptam, qu o

uµv EL . A longe r ve rsion of th e speec h

nomin e id in signe simul acro ca pitis

in Dio C ass . 4+ 36-49

eiu s, quocl rn ox in fo ro co nsec rauimu s, acli ec tum es t.'

3 Ro ss Taylor 82.

9 Ross Taylor 91 n .21 , citin g a ses tertius 4 Brutus, orga ni sin g th e Ludi

of L. Ae miliu s Buca , el ated to late 44

Apollinares (6-1 3 Jul y) in absentia as prae tor was fa ced with th e doubl e emb arrass ment of doin g so in a month now nam ed after th e dea d Di ctator, and , worse, of th e fin al day of th e fe sti viti es (13 Jul y) bein g Caesa r's birthda y. H e did what he co uld by insistin g th at th e an cient name for th e month , Quin ctili s, be use d instea d . C ice ro has so me halfamu se d, half-sh oc ked comm ents on thi s (and on th e n ervo us ca n ce llin g of a performan ce of th e trage dy Brutus) : Ad Att . xvi. I. 1, 4.1, 5.i. Furth er detail s give n by Ross Taylor, 83-90 .

BC. C f. also Serv. ad Virg. Eel. 9-47· 10

Di o Cass. 45 .7. 1: ETTEL µEVTOL

aaTpov n TTapa TTciaa:; Ta:; ~ µEpa:;

EKEL va:; EK

T ~ :;

apKTOU TT po:; EaTTE pav

ECE¢civri , Ka l au To Ko µtjT riv TE n vwv KQAOU VTWV KQL TT poa riµ aLVE LV o'la TTOU Ei'.w8E AEyovTwv, ot TTOAAOL TOUTO µE:v OUK ETTLO"TEuov, Tc\) 8E: 8Tj Ka[aap L auTo

w:; KQL ciTTri8ava n a µEV4J KQL ES T OV Twv aaTpwv cip L8µov EyKaTEL\q µEv41

civETleEaa v, eapatj aas- XUAKOUV auTov' ES TO 'A¢ po8[mov, ciaTEpa uTTE:p KEcpa\~ :;

T~S

EXOVTa, EO"TTlO"Ev .

Suet. Di v. Jul. 88 : in cl eo ru rn num erurn relatu s es t, non ore mocl o secl

et persuasione dece rn en ti um sed et pe rsuas ione uolgi. Siquid em ludi s, quos primos consecrato ei he res Augustus edebat, stell a crinita per septem continu os di es ful sit exori ens circa un decimam horam, creditumqu e est anim am esse Caesa ris in caelum recepti ; et hac de causa simulacro eius in ue rti ce add itur stell a.

14 Ib id. 843-50 : ui x ea fatu s e rat, medii cum sede se n a tus cons titit alma Ve nus nulli cernenda sL11 qu e C aesaris erip u it memb ris nee in aera sol u i passa recente m animam caelestibus intulit astri s

11

Plin. NH 2.94: haec [th e qu ota ti on

from th e M emoirs, above, n .81 ill e in

dumqu e tuli t, lum en capere atque ignescere sen it

publi cum : interiore ga udio sib i il ium

e mi sitqu e sinu : lun a uolat al ti us ill a

natum sequ e in eo nasc i interpre tatus

fl amm ife rumqu e trahens spati oso

est. Ross Taylor 91 reminds us that a Great Yea r was at hand ' wh en sun ,

limite crinem stell a mi cat. ..

moon , and pla nets return to th e sa me relative position from whi ch th ey had

15 Plin.

H 2.9 5: Ide m Hipparc hus

set fo rth at th e beginn ing of th e cycle',

nu mqua m sa ti s la udatu s, ut qu o ne mo

and that Octavian thus 'turn ed it as he

magis adprobau e rit cognation em cu m

did th e othe r signs of Caesa r's godhead

hom ine siderum animasque nostras

to hi own glory' . On thi s magnus a11m1s

pa rtem e se caeli .

see C ic. De Rep. 6.2+ 16 Su et. Div. Aug. 52. Th ere was, of 12

's idus ... nou um stell amqu e co man-

course, a n extensive borde rl ine area

tem' (Met. 15.749). O vid 's hyperbole is appos ite in a way he co uld not have

was forb idd en to offi cial dec ree : whe n

foreseen , since the kind of astral sight-

Virgi l wrote (Eel. i. 6-8) th a t 'deus

whe re literary m etaphor co uld do what

ing in volved might be eith er a nova or a

nob i haec oti a fec it', and h is characte r

comet, but not both in one!

vowed to sac rifi ce on th e altar of the (-unn amed) deus in qu es ti on, or Horace,

13 Ovid Met. 15.840-2:

more spec ific, desc ribed Augustus (Odes

' han c animam interea caeso de corpore raptam

3.5.1-4) as a praesens diu us, th ey we re

fac iubar, ut se mper Ca pitolia nostra forumqu e

don e th eir outstand ing figures) as

diu us ab excelsa prospec tet lu liu s aede.'

trea ti ng hi m (as the Greeks had long L<J08EOS-, godlike, rath er tha n claiming

ac tual god head on hi s behalf. Cf. Dio Cass . 5i. 20 .

17 Ve il. Pa t. 2.12 3.2: a nim a m cae les te m

24 S u e t. Div. Vesp. 23+ Ac n e in m e tu

cae lo reddidit.

quid e m ac pe ri c ul o m or ti s ex tre ma abs tinuit ioc is ... pri ma qu oq u e m o rb i

18 Di o Ca ss. 56 42 .3: dETos 8E n s .. .

access io n e , 'Va e,' inquit, 'p uto d e us fi o.'

dv(TTTaTO ws mi. 8 ~ T~v l\Jux~v m'.n ou

25 See G. Bo iss ie r, a rt. 'Apo th eos is',

ES

T OV

oupavov dva¢E pwv. Fo r th e

ca tafalqu e see 34.i.

C. D a re mb e rg & E. Sagli o, Dictionnaire

des antiquites grecqu es et romaines (Pa ri s 1877-1919 ), vo l. i, 323-7, es p . 326.

19 Ibid . 46 .2.

26 H e nri Fra n kfor t, Kingship an d th e 20 C IL

I2 p . 244 [Fas ti Amite rnini ]:

se na tu d ec re ti. C f. Di o Cass. 56 4 6. 1-2 .

Gods: A study of Ancient Nea r Ea st Religion as the Integ ration of Society and Na ture (C hi cago 1948) vii, 3.

21 I di sc uss thi s po int in g rea te r d e ta il

27 Ari st. De Caelo 2.13-14, 293a 15 - 298a

in a forth co min g pap e r, ' D eli ve rin g th e

20; Strabo 2 5. 10, C. n 6; cf. 0.A.W.

G o (o )d s: D e m etriu s Poliorce tes a nd

Dilke, Gree k and Roman Ma ps (Ith aca ,

H e ll e ni sti c Di vin e Kin gs hip ', prese nted

N Y /Lo nd on 1985 ) 24- 38.

Di va Aug usto h o n o res cae les tes a

durin g th e 1993 co n fe re n ce on ' Kin gs hip and th e Orga ni za ti o n of Powe r in G reek

28 Ari st. ibid . 294b 14-22; cf. Anax i-

Soc ie ty', h e ld und e r th e a uspi ces of

m a nd e r frs . 122-4 Kirk-Rave n- Sc h ofi eld

th e Prog ra m in Aegea n Sc ripts a nd

(pp . 133-4), a nd (on D e m oc ritu s)

Pre hi sto ry, D epa rtm e nt of C lass ics,

W .K.C. G uthri e , A History of Greek

U ni ve rsity of Texas a t Austin .

Philoso phy, vo l. ii (Ca m b ridge 1965 ) 422 .

22 See in pa rti c ul a r on thi s topi c E .R.

29 Thu c. 7.50 44 (with Go mm e-

D odd s, The Greeks and the Irrati onal

D ove r-Andrewes' n ote, 428-9 ); Di od .

(Be rk eley 195 1), c h . vi, 179-206,

Si c 13.12 .6; Plut. N ie . 23.

'Ra tion a li sm a nd Reac ti on in th e C lass ica l Age'.

30 D-K 80 fr. B.l = Di og. Lae rt. 9.51: TTQVTWV

23 Veil. Pa t. 2. 126 .1 : Sac ra uit pare nte m

xpriµ ci TWV µETpov EGTLV

a v8pwTTOS .

suum Caesa r n o n imp e ri o, se d re lig ion e , n on app ell a uit e um , se d fec it

31 T hi s ith yph alli c paea n is reco rd ed

d e um .

b y Duri s of Sa m as in Bk xx ii of hi s

Histories, a nd prese rve d b y Athenae u s, Deipn . 6. 25 3d-f = FG rH 76 F 13; cf. also

Demochares ap. Ath en. Deipn. 6. 253b-c

37 Ci ce ro, our earli est witness (De Rep.

Demetr. 9.1, 10 -4-), 11.1. Th e passage cited runs as fol lows in G reek: aAAOL µE:v ~ µaKpav yap

u 6. 25, 2. 9.17-19), has the great me ri t of

= FG rH 75 F 2 and Plut.

cim::xoucnv 8EOL I ~ ouK E'xouow

wrn I ~

stating his case before Caesar's apotheosis, and thus esca pes the obvious suspicion of co ntamin ation by propaganda

OU K do-Lv ~ OU TTPOOEXOUCTLV ~µi:v ou8E:

whi ch ca n be bro ught aga inst our other

Ev, I oE: 8E: TTapov8' 6pwµEv, I ou ~u\Lvov

sources, wh ether pro or con: Livy u6

ou8E: AL8LVOV , ci\A' cXAT]8LVov· I

pass im; Plut. Rom. 27-28; Ovid Fast.

8~ a o [.

2-491-509, M et. 14.806-27; D ion . Hal.

Euxoµrnea

Ant. Rom. 2.56. 1-7.

32 Diod . Si c. 6. u-2 (ap. Euseb. Praep.

Ev. 2.2.52-3 ) = Euh emeru s of Messe ne fr.

38 Li vy u 6.1; Plut. Rom. 27.6-7; D ion.

III .25 Winiarczyk; cf. C ic.

Hal. Ant. Rom.2.56.2; Ovid. M et.

D i.42.119.

14.816-7, Fast. 2-493-4.

33 See W. Warde Fowl er, Roman Ideas

of Deity in the Last Centu ry before the Christian Era (London 1914) ch. 1v, 81-106, esp. 90 ff.

39 Cic . De Rep. u 6.25 (he dates it to 5 Jul y, 714 BC !) , cf 2.9.17.

34 See above, n.16.

41 O vid expresses thi s in a strik ing 35 Ibid .: ab Euh em ero autem et mortes et sepulturae demonstrantur deo rum ; utrum igitur hie confirmasse uide tur religionem an penitus totam sustuli sse?

im age (Met. 14.824-6): co rpus morta le per auras di lapsum tenues, ceu lata plum bea funda missa solet rn edi o glans intabescere

36 Ward e Fowler (above, n.33 ) 96. St

caelo ...

Augustin e qu otes (Civ. Dei 3-4) a characteristi c op inion expressed by Varro on

42 Cic. De Rep. 2.10.q deorurn in

th e subj ec t: Util e esse ciuitatibus eli cit

num ero co nlocatus; Livy u6.6; Plu t.

[Varro], ut se uiri fortes, etiamsi fa lsum

Rom. 271 civT]pTTaoµ Evov ELS 8EOuc;

sit [emphasis mine], diis genitos esse crecla nt, ut eo modo an imus hum anus uelut cliuinae stirpis fidu ciam gere ns res magnas aclgredi enclas pra esumat audacius, agat ueh ementius et ob h oc impl eat ipsa sec uritate fe li ciu s.

KaL 8Eov Eu µEv~ yEvT]oOµ Evov auToi:c;

66

EK XPTJOTOU ~ao LAEWS ; Di on. Hal. 2.56.2 (sceptica l): ot µE:v ovv µu8w8EoTE pa Ta TTE PL auTou TTOLouvTES ... ¢aoLV auTov ... ci¢av~ yEvfo8m KaL

TTEmoTEuKaoL v uTTo Tou TTaTpos

"ApEOS

T OV

dv8pa civrlPTTcia8al.;

8LaTptl)JaS, 8LaAEKTOV TE ' PwµalK~v

Ovid ut supr.

T~V

EKµa8 wv Kal. ypaµµciTwv

Twv Emxwp(wv A.a~wv E TTWT~µT]v,

43 Plut. Rom. 28. 1: dv8pa Twv TTaTpLKtwv yEvEL TTpwTov,

~8EL

EV TTcivn TOUT4J T0 XPOV4J Ta TE

8oK Lµ wTaTov; C ic. De Rep. 2.10.20:

auvTEL v ovTa TTpos

T~v

UTT08ECJLV

TQUTT]V 8LETE A.ouv TTpayµaTEU OµEv os .

Romul o Proc ul eio, hom ini agres ti ...

44 Li vy u 6.5-T 'Haec,' inquit, 'loc utu s sub li mi s abiit'; C ic. De Rep. 2.10.20; Plut .

49 Ibid . 3: Kal. Ta µE:v TTapa Twv A.oy LwTciTWV civ8pwv, oLS ELS oµL\(av ~A.8ov, 8L8axD TTapaA.a~wv, Ta 8' h

Rom. 28 pass im; Ov id Fas t. 2-499-509.

Twv LCJTOpLwv ci\E~ciµEvos.

45 Fast. 2-497-8: Lu ctu s erat fal sae qu e patres in crimin e caedi s. . .

50 An t. Rom. 2.56.6: EO LKE 8' ov µL Kpav ci<jlop µ~v TTaPEXELV Toi:s 8EOTTOLOUCJL Ta 8vfj Ta Kal. ELS ovpavov

46 Di on . Hal. Ant. Rom. 2.56.3-5; Plut.

Rom. 27.5-6.

47 C ic. De Rep. 2.10 .20: Pro cul eius prim ed by th e se nators 'qu o illi a se inuidi am interitu s Romuli pell erent' ; cf.

civa~ L ~ci(O UCJL

Tas l)Juxas Twv Em<jlavwv Ta auµ ~civTa

EK TOu 8Eou TTEpl.

T~v

avyKpLCJLV

Tou civ8pos EKEivou Kal.

T~v

8LciKpLa Lv.

2 51 Art. 'Di vinati on', O CD 357.

Plut. Rom. 27.7. C icero is at so me pains

52 Ant. Rom. 2.56.6: EV TE yap T0

to supp ort th e n oti on of apoth eos is (as a

~wa µ0

va lid ati on fo r th e SPQR), arguin g th at

EKALTTEL v <jlaCJLV o \ov Kal. CJ KOTOS

Romulu s' dea th occ urred at a tim e wh en

TTaVTEAWS" WCJTTEP EV VUKTL

G reece was alrea dy civilised, 'min orqu e

KaTaCJXELV EV TE TD TEAEUTD auTou

fabu li s ni si de ueteribu s rebus haberetur fid es' .

TaVTO au µ ~fjvm A.EyouCJL TTci8os.

48 Di on . Hal. Ant. Rom. q.2: Eyw KaTa TTA.Evaas ELS ' ITa\(av a µa T0 Karn\u8fjvm To v Eµ<jlu\Lov TTOAE µov uTTo Tou

.l:E ~ acnou

Ka(aapos

E:~86 µT] s

Kal. c\y8oT]KOCJTfjs c\A.uµ mci8os [ 32-29 BC ] µrnouCJT]S, ml. Tov xp6vov

E~

EKEivou

ETWV 8uo Kal ELKOCJ L µEXP L

Tou TTapovTOs yEvoµEvov Ev ' Pwµl]

Tfj s µTlTPOS auTOu .. .Tov T~v

~A. L ov

yfjv

53 Jul. Obs. S45: Fax arcl ens Ta rquinii s late ui sa subito lapsa ca dens.

54 Virg. Geo rg. i.463 ff , and Se rvius ad Joe. ; sc hol. Lu ca n i. 541; T ibull. 2.5.75;

Ovid Met. 15.785 ff ; Plut. Caes. 69; Plin . NH 2.98; M. Antonius ap. Jos. Af

14. 3o9.

55 Oppolzer's Canon of Eclipses (New

coronae et u ersic olores circuli , qualiter

York i96z, trs. of th e Ca non der

Augusto Caesare in prima iuu enta

Finstemisse, i887) li sts two solar eclipses

urbem intran te post obitu m patris.

for 44 BC: one on i8 Apri l, total in the North Pacifi c Ocean and M ex ico, but

59 Plin . N H 2.99: soles pl ures si mul

invisibl e in E urope, sinc e th ere it took

cernu n tur, nee supra ipsu m n ee infra

pl ace at nigh t; and a second, annul ar,

sed ex obliqu o, numquam iuxta nee

eclipse on

11

October, over South

contra terram , nee noctu sed aut

Ameri ca, also in visibl e in Europe. Cf. F.

ori ente aut occi dente .. . trinos soles

Boll , art. 'Finsterni sse', PWK 6 2355 .

anti qui saepe uidere, sicu t ... M. Antonio P. D olabell a ... coss. [44 BC ]; Jul. O bs.

56 Plut. Caes. 69.3: TO TTEpi. ci µaupwµa 57 Ibid.

T OV ~ALOV

T~S' auy~S'.

§ 68: soles tres fulserun t, circaqu e solem imu m corona spi ceae sim ili s in orbem

s4: o\ov yap EKE'Lvov Tov

emicuit.

E:vwvTov wxpos- µE:v 6 KuK\os- Kai.

60 See Robert Greenler, Rainbows,

µ a pµapu yas- ouK E'xwv civhEA\E v,

Halos, and Glories (Cambridge i980)

ci8pavES' 8E m l. AETITOV cin' auTou

i42-3 (coron a rou nd the sun , known as

KaTrjEL TO 8Epµ6v , WO'TE T OV µE:v ciE:pa

'Bishop's Ring'), citing D .E. Archibald,

8vo¢Epov Kai.

~apuv

cia8E vd q

T~S'

'T h e large coron a round the sun and

8LaKpLVOUO'T]S' aUTOV clAEaS'

moon in i883-4-5, generally known as

E: m ¢E: prn8m, TOUS' 8E rnpnous-

"Bish op's Ring", in pt. iv

~µL TTETTTOVS' Kai. clTEAELS' cinav8~ am

Roya l Society's report, The Eruption of

Kai. napaKµciam 8La

T~v

t!JuxpoTTJTa

i (E ) of the

TOU TIEPLEXOVTOS'. Cf. Plin . NH 2.98:

Krakatoa and subsequent phenomena (London i888); i76 (th e 's picea effect'

fiunt prodigiosi e t longiores sol is defec-

described by Plin y, above, n.59); 26-8

tus, qualis occiso di ctatore Caesa re et

(fal se sun s, 'sun dogs') .

Anton iano bell o totius pa en e anni pall ore continuo; Jul. Obs.

S68, mu ltis

m ensibus languida lux fuit.

58 Dio Cass. 45-4+ LPLS' ncivTa Tov ~ ALov no\\~ Kai. TTOLKLATJ TTEPLEO'XEV; cf.

Su et. Div. Aug. 95, Jul. Obs.

S68, Plin.

NH 2.98: ci rca soli s orbem ceu spiceae

68

6i Virg. Georg. i471-3: quotiens C yclopum efferuere in agros iuidimus undantem ru ptis fornacibu s Aetn am, fl ammaru mque globos liqu efactaque uolu ere saxa ...

Servi us ad Georg. i.4 72: ma! um omen es t quoti e ns Aetna , mon s Siciliae , non fumum se d fl a mm a rum ege rit globos; e t, ut eli c it Liuuiu s, tanta flamm a ante morte m Caesaris ex Aetna monte defluxit ut non tantum ui c in ae urb es, se d etiam Regina c iuita s, qua e multo

uncle tuam uid eas obliqu o sicl e re Romam.

Aeth e ri s inm e n si partem si presse ri s un am , sen ti e t axi s onus. Librati pondera cae li or be te n e medio . . .

spatio ab ea di stat, adflaretur.

69 See M. Himm elfarb, Ascent to

fo See above, p. 54, with nn. 19 and 20.

Heaven in Jewis h and Christian apocalypses ,

ew York 1993路

63 F. Boll, art. ' Finsternisse', PWK 6.2360.

70 The mo st th orough ana lysis of thi s b elief known to me is Alan Scott's

64 What it was re lated to was th e

Origen and the Life of the Stars: A

mutin y of th e Pannonian leg ion s: see

Histo ry of an Idea, Oxford 1991, to whi c h

Tac. Ann. 1.28; Dio Cass . 57+4路

thi s essay is h eav il y indebted . I do not think it accidenta l that Scott, a th eo lo-

65 Xenophanes frs. 168-9 Kirk-Raven-

g ian , has in ves tigated it with more

Schofi eld.

attention than any classicist.

66 I am inclin e d to accept th e th es is

71 See, e .g., Aristoph. Peace 406;

propound e d by E.J. Webb, The Na mes of the Stars (London 1952), ch. x,

Plat. Crat. 397c 8-d 2; Arist. Metaph.

10 74a 39-b 8.

157-1 75, that the zo diacal sc h e m e was formulated in Greece, shortl y before 500

72 Scott (above, n. 70 ) 4, citing 0-K 58

BC , by C leos tratus: cf. Plin. NH 2.31.

B 1, 23 B 8; Ar istoph . Peace 832-4; and Loui s Rougier , L'O rigine astronomique

67 Arat. Phaen. 223-4: . .. mhap 6 " lmrnsl Ev f:.L OS' ELAELTaL Ka( TOL ncipa

mortalite celeste des ames (Cairo 1933 )

811tjaaa8m.

80-2 and pa ss im .

68 Lucan , Phars. i.45-60. See esp . 53-8:

73 Plat. Laws 967 a 1-5.

de la croyance pythago ricienne en l'im-

Sed neque in arctoo se dem tibi legeris orbe , nee polus aversi ca lidu s qua uergitur aus tri ,

74 Plat. Soph. 249 a4, Phil. 30 c 9-10, Tim. 30 b 2, 46 cl 4-6.

75 Plat. Phil. 30 a 5-8, Tim. 36 cl 8-e 5.

counted upon , an eagle was liberated at th e fune ral, to represent visibly th e so ul

76 Sco tt (a bove, n .70) 9.

of th e E mperor fl yin g to heaven ... '

77 Scott1 3.

87 Cf. P. Green, Alexander to Actiwn (rev. eel . 1992) 454-5 , 595-7.

88 The telescope was only invented c.

79 Xenocrates frs. 15, 17 H ein ze;

1608, probabl y by Hans Lippershey, and

Heraclicles Ponticus fr. rn Wehrl i.

developed by G alileo and Kepler: E nc.

Brit. 12 vol. 21, cols. 903-4.

Sen . De Prov. i.2; Scott 48-9 with furth er

89 Call im . Dieges. 10.10 (=Pfeiffer Callim. fr. 228): ' EK8fom s 'A.pa Lvoris· ¢rial.v 8' mh~v civtjpnaa8m i'.mo TWV

reff.

~L oaKoupwv. The survi ving papyrus

81 C ic. N D 2.16, 54, Pro Milone 83;

fragm en t of the poe m contains an 82 C ic. De Rep. 6.16-19

intrigui ng reference to th e queen's

83 Ibid . 6.25, 26: 'hun c locu m .. . in quo

aµafov ~ OT] I('A.vciKWV lJTTO

om nia sunt magni s et praestantibus

KAETITOµEv ]a napE8EL <S'> aE\avq. ...

uiris ... siquidem bene meritis de patria

Furth er, if Barber's emendation is good,

quasi li mes ad caeli acli tum patet ... '

Arsinoe had been regarded, with

apoth eos is: vuµcp a, GU µEV aaTEpLaV tm'

remarkable implications, as a 84 Ibid . 6.24: ' ... cum Romuli animus haec ipsa in te mpl a penetrau it .. .'

(metaphorical?) star during her lifetime, so th at ca tasterism simply relit a stella r light that had been quenched:

85 F. Cumon t, After Life in Roman

[ciaT~P

.. T]l na8wv cirrfo~TJ ;

Paganism ( lew Haven 1923) 153-64.

90 See G. Macurdy, Hellenistic Queens 86 Cf. Edwyn Beva n, art. 'D eification

(Baltimore 1933 ) 126-8; P.M. Fraser,

(G reek and Roman )' in Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics,

Ptolemaic Alexandria (Oxford 1972, repr.

1984) vol. i, 239 ff., ii, 668-9; R.E. Witt, Isis in the Graeco-Roman World (Ithaca NY/Lon don 1971) 126 and n . 3oi.

vol. iv, 525-33, esp. 530, disc uss ing Augustus's obsequi es: 'As th e timely appea rance of a co met could not be

91 W itt 48, 214

American Phi losophica l Soc iety).

92 R.H. All e n , Star Names: Thei r Lore

97 I am d ee ply gra teful to Professo r

and Meaning (1899, repr.

Kate Brac h er of W hitm an Co ll ege fo r so

ew Yo rk

1963 ) 454. O n th e nu mero us co nn ec-

ge n ero usly givin g of h e r tim e and expe rt

ti o ns be twee n Isis an d C hri sti a nity

knowledge to h elp m e und e rstan d th e

(th e V irgin Mary in pa rti c ul a r) see

astronomica l im pli ca ti o ns a nd poss ibi li-

W itt 26 7, 272 ff.

ti es of th e ce les ti al ph e n omena di sc u ss ed in thi s pape r. Profe ss or Robe rt

93 See H yg inu s, De Astrono mia 2.24 Le

Gree nl er of the Ph ys ics D e partm e nt,

Boe uffl e; Ca llim . fr. n o Pfe iffer; Ca tull .

Un ive rsity of Wi sco n sin , Mi lwa ukee,

66 with Fo rd yce's co mm e nta ry, 328-41;

an d Profes sor E m e ritus Da vid E van s

and in ge n e ral Frase r (ab ove, n .90) vo l.

of th e Department of Astro n om y,

i, 239, 729-3 0, iib 1021-6; Ce rfa ux &

U ni ve rsity of Texas at Austin , have also

Tondriau (above , n .1) 199-200.

g rea tl y clarifi ed m y thinking o n co m ets, nova s, a nd m eteoro logica ll y occa sio n ed

94 H ype reid es In Demosth . 3u 5; cf.

opti ca l effects su c h as 's un dogs'. T h ey

Plut. Mo r. 219E, Di og. Lae rt. 6.63.

sh o uld n ot be h eld respo nsibl e for any sc ie ntifi c cocasseries that survive in m y

95 See, e .g., Ari stoph. Peace 8 32 ff.: ~v ap ' ou8 '

a AEYOUCJL

KaTa

TOV

OUK

aEpa,J

text. As always, m y thinking in mediis

rebus h as b ee n co nsid e rably sha rp ene d

ws ciaTEPES yLyvoÂľE8 ', oTav n s ciTio -

by di sc u ss ion with Professo r C.M .C.

8civi;i ... It is interestin g th at Ion of C hio s,

G ree n of th e C lass ics D epa rtm ent in

refe rred to at 835-7, is desc rib ed in thi s

th e U ni ve rsity of Iowa.

co ntext, n o t e ntire ly by way of jes t, as clGTTJ P vuv EKEL .

96 This is a n e n o rm o u s subj ec t, which I ca n on ly tou ch o n h e re. For a useful introduction see M. N il sso n , Geschichte

der griechischen Religio n, vo l.ii , ' Di e h ell e ni sti sc h e und rom isc h e Zeit' (3fd ed. Munich , 1974) 216-81, 486-519 ; F. C umont, Astrology and Religion among

the Greeks and Romans (1912, repr. New York 1960); F.H . C ra m e r, Astrology in Roman Law and Politics, I (Phil ade lphia 1954: Vo l. xxxvii of th e Me moirs of th e 71

MYTHIC MODELS OF THE R OM ORD ER I

SO C!

L

THE CA ' CE LL ERIA R E LIE FS

Eve D 'Am bra Vassa r Co ll ege

In Roman state art myth is often synonymous with the legendary origins of th e city: one need only think of the Augustan progra m glorifying th e exploits of Ae neas and Romulus, as depi c ted on th e Ara Pac is and in the Forum of Augu tus, for exam pl e. 1 Augustus, to some exte nt like th e Republi can dynasts who preceded him, had to claim kinshi p with th e deiti es and found ers of th e ci ty to assert the legitimacy of his rul e . The rep resentations of th e foundin g myths, however, also expressed a certain Roman preocc upation vvith identity and self-consciousness about charac ter: the pietas of Aeneas and th e virtus of Romulus provid ed models for th e ideal Roman. In oth er wo rds, th e founding myths not only narrate th e heroic beginni ngs of th e empire but also all ude to its destiny th rough the portrayal of Roma n vi rtu es.

Emperors used myth in th e servi ce of politics in order to end ow th eir

72

own poli cies with th e dignity an d we igh t of tradition. Myth also allowed th em to reshape th ei r image and, in a sense, to rein ve nt what it was to be Roman th rough a creative cull ing from th eir cultural property, a jumb le of inherited an d borrowed concepts from their predecessors in th e Mediterranean bas in. 2 For th e Ju li oC laudians th e Augustan myth ology of th e found ing figures made perfect sense in th ei r qu est for continuity, but by th e late first century A.O., th e second dynasty of Rom e, the Flavia ns, introduc ed new elem ents and redefin ed th e traditional figu res of the state mythol ogy as an instrument of their p ubli c policy. In th is essay I would like to consid er how th e emperor Dom itian made use of the myth ological heritage in th e th e Ca ncelle ri a Reliefs to allude to the ranks and rol es of Roma n citi zens.

The Cancell eri a Reli efs (figures i and 2), two fri ezes named for the ir

di scove ry und er th e Palazzo d ell a Ca n cell e ri a in Ro m e in i937-1939, a re m ad e of m a rbl e fr o m Luni

T h e re li efs h ave res isted sc h ola rs' atte mpts at inte rpr e tati o n : althou gh it is ge n e rall y acce pted th at th ey

(a n c ie nt Lun a) and eac h m eas ure

da te to th e re ig n of D o miti an (A. D .

approxim ately

81-96), th e re is littl e ag ree m e nt as to wh at th ey represe nt. W ith th eir cas t of c h a rac te rs in cluding th e e mp ero r, d e iti es, pe rso nifi ca ti o ns, pri es tesses, li c to rs, and soldi e rs, th e reliefs a re n otewo rth y for sce n es th a t de pi c t hi sto ri cal ch arac te rs and d eiti es sid e

2 .06

m e te rs in h eight

and 5-6 m e te rs in le ngth , alth o ugh sec ti o n s a re mi ss in g fr o m b oth fri ezes.3 T h e a rc h aeo log ical c ontext of th e fri ezes in a dump n ext to a Republi ca n to mb offe rs n o evid e n ce of th e ir o ri gin al loca ti o n in Ro m e,

1 Cancell eria Re liefs, F ri eze A. Ph oto co urtesy of the Va ti can M use u ms, Neg. :>G'<X. 15.17.

alth o u gh sites, su ch as th e Te mpl e of Fortuna Redu x, th e Porta Triumphalis, a nd th e Po rti c u s Di vo rum , h ave

by sid e o n a g ra nd sca le (s ce n es of a simil a r co mpl ex ity ca n be fo und in th e Augu sta n o r Tib e ri a n Bosco reale

bee n prop osed by sc h ola rs. 4 T h e fri ezes a re di spl aye d in th e M u seo

C up s).5 On e ca n di stin gui sh am o n g th e impe ri al fi gures, th e de ities, a nd th e pe rso nifi ca ti o n s th ro ugh p ortra it typ es o r id ea li ze d depi c ti o n s,

G regori a n o P rofa n o of th e Va ti ca n , a nd m y wo rk owes mu c h to th e coo p e ra ti o n of th e a uthoriti es th e re, p arti c ul a rl y D o tt. Pao lo Li ve ra ni a nd Dott. G ia nd om e ni co Spin ola .

a nd throu gh spec ifi c cos tum es o r attributes. T h e reli efs see m to re prese nt sce n es of imp eri al ce re m o n y,

73

pa rti cul a rly th e adventus or profectio

and personificati ons.

th at requi res a cortege to greet or

D o miti a n is esco rte d to the left,

se nd off th e e mpe ror and h is sol-

in th e directio n of the fl ying Victory,

di ers. Ye t th e inte rpreta ti on of F ri eze

by a li cto r, Ma rs, Minerva, and a

A as a sce ne of adventus or profectio

pe rsonifi catio n , wh o is id e n tified as

of D o mitian h as bee n co mp li cated by co mpa ri so n s with late r, fu ll y

eithe r Ro m a o r Virtus (fig. 1).8 Th e

d evelop ed d epi c ti on s, whi c h differ from th e scen e d epi cte d in th e extan t 6

e m pe ror is fl a nked b y two female d e ities o r p e rsonificatio n s, who are bo th wa rri or godd esses, co mrad es in

panels of Fri eze A. Th e ide ntifi ca-

arms to h eroes. Both fe m ale fig ures

tion of fi gures h as also bee n co mpli -

appear in acti on poses im plying

2

Ca n c ell e ria Reli efs, F ri eze B . Photo courtesy of th e Va ti can M use um s, Neg. XXV. 9 -47路

ca ted by the reca rving of Domitian 's

mom e ntum , takin g long strides with

h ea d into a p ortra it of hi s successo r, Nerva. Wh e n Dom itian vvas assassi-

th eir kn ees be nt, and th e ir gestures

n ated in 96, th e senate d ecreed a damnatio memoriae th at initi ated th e

trace an ascending di agon al through -th e poised b od y of D o mitian .

Mi n e rva wears a Corinthi an h el-

d estru cti o n of hi s in sc riptio n s a nd statu ary. 7 G iven th e m an y unresolved

m et with an owl suppo rting the c rest, h er aegis ove r a belte d pe pl os,

problem s of inte rpre tatio n a nd id en tification , I will restri c t m y re marks to Frieze A (fig. 1) in thi s essay a nd foc u s on th e m yth ologica l fi gures

and sh e carries a shi el d with an a wreath of ol ive branches carved in

74

relief on its o uter surface (fig. 3) .

Alth o ugh sh e m oves to th e left, sh e

turn s back to look at D o mitia n a nd

Mars, u sh ers th e emperor and hi s

lifts h e r b e nt ri ght arm to th e n ape

soldie rs eith e r to or from Rom e . I

of h er n eck, covered b y th e back

prefe r to avoid th e deba te of wh eth e r

of h e r h elm et.9 By linkin g M in e rva

th e fr ieze represe nts a n adventus o r

and Domiti an in p arti c ul ar through

profectio beca u se th e fragmenta ry

gla n ce a nd gesture, th e artist und e r-

state of th e frieze with its m issi ng

l ines th e re lati onship b e twee n

left pa n el m akes any such iden tifi-

di vinity a nd e mp ero r th a t is th e

catio n te ntative and, instead , explore

foundation of Domitian's m yth-

th e m ea ning of the d eities and th e

ology. As the protector of th e F lavian

p e rso nifi catio n s for D o miti an 's polit-

h o u se, M in e rva was a pa rti c ul a rl y appropri ate godd ess for D om itia n 's

ical prog ra m at large 11 (Ma ri an n e Bergm ann 's observatio n that th e

prog ram s. She gove rn ed b oth th e

h ead of Vespas ia n was re carved on

public and th e pri va te, th e c ivic a nd

Frieze B calls into qu esti on th e pre-

th e domestic sph e res, as th e source

vious inte rpretati ons of th e pair of

of c unning stratege m in th e fi elds of

fri ezes 12 ) . Minerva and Mars are

war and as the gu ardian of young

suita ble escorts for an e mperor wh o

women a nd th e teac h e r o f th e dom-

was an xious to prove h is m astery of

esti c a rts, su ch as spinning and weav-

warfare and, in fact, spent a co nsid-

ing. Domitian 's Forum Transitoriu m

e rable tim e away from Rom e at th e

celebrates th e dom es ti c aspec t of

frontie rs. D omitian imme diately se t

th e godd ess, and its fri eze d epic ts a

out to achieve milita ry glory in his

m ytholog ical sce n e, th e punishm e nt

wa r aga inst th e Ch a tti in Germa n y

of Arachne, as a m o raliz in g exem-

in 83 a nd in th e D ac ia n (or Ro m-

plum w Minerva's role, like Ath e n a's,

anian ) wa rs of 8 5-87 that ended less successfull y with a p eace treaty afte r

was ambi guous b eca u se sh e was fe minine in form , yet m asc ulin e in

two defeats, ye t h e appea rs to have

d e m ea nor; sh e was ruthl ess in war-

b een an abl e ge n e ral in th e Sa rm a-

fare , yet sh e e n sured tha t young

ti an wa r alo ng th e D an ub e in 9 2. 1 3

women were doc il e and subse rvie nt in th eir roles as wives a nd mothers;

The h istori cal traditi o n , h oweve r, compa res hi m un favorab ly to h is

fin all y sh e was th e virg in al goddess,

fath er, Vesp as ian , and brothe r, T itus,

born from h e r fath e r a nd barren, ye t

and refl ec ts se n a to ri al op ini on in its

sh e also ruled over th e h ouseh o ld

h ostil ity to Domitian. The sources

and its p atri arc h al o rga ni za tion.

(Suetonius, D io, Tac itus, a nd Pliny

M in e rva is sh own in h e r m ilita ry asp ec t in Frieze A as sh e, alo ng with

the Younge r) most likely reflect th e Tra ja ni c propaga nd a tha t sough t to 75

vil ify Domi tia n as th e last m e mbe r of the F lavia n dynasty ( just as Vespasian did with Ne ro , the la st Juli o-C laudia n ), and to leg itimi ze th e new reg im e by asserti ng a clear break from Domitia nic gove rment. 14 O n th e d o m es ti c front D omiti an emba rked on a progra m of urba n renewal, th e rebuilding of Rome and its ha ll owed te mpl es after th e fire of 80, a nd c ultural ren ewal, with p olicies of social a nd m oral refo rm, su ch as the ree n actm e nt of th e Augustan m arriage legislati on in 89-90 .15 Statues of th e ch aste M in e rva comple mente d the image of a c ity with lighted altars and glea ming shrines; its c iti zen s ste rn and warlike , with d uti fu l m oth e rs at th e h ea rth.

The pa iring of th e wa r gods, M in e rva a nd Mars, in Frieze A is sign ifica nt in state art. M ine rva h as pree min e n ce in the sce n e th ro ugh h e r proxim ity to th e e mpe ror and h e r promine nce in th e co m positi on 16: h e r fig ure overlap s th at of Ma rs. Like M ine rva , however, Ma rs gestures and m oves towa rds th e right, th e directi o n of th e co rtege, - bu t turns back to fa ce the empe ror (fi g . 4 ). M a rs wea rs a helm et with a griffin suppo rting th e c rest, a cu irass 3 Min erva, D eta il of Fri eze A. Neg. Fra nc Palai a.

4 M ars, D eta il of Fri eze A. leg. Franc Palaia.

d eco rate d with Jupite r's li ghtnin g

Roma or Virtus, as a pe rsonifi ca ti on

bolts on th e sh oulde r pi eces, a nd

of the empire o r of its mi litary valor

ela borate boots m ade of anima l

(fi g. 5). 9 In o n e sense, th e Amazon

skins, poss ibl y those of a fel in e.

fi g ure stands in opposition to M in-

H e ca rri es a lance and a shi eld

erva b eca u se of th e contrast of th e

d eco ra te d with th e h ead of Jupite r

Am azo n 's exposed breast to th e aegis-

Ammon in re li ef in its ce nte r. Both

clad breast of Minerva, shi elde d a n d

allusions to Jupite r refer to hi s role

invuln e rab le. In another se n se, th e

in confe rring victory, whil e th e

Am azo n ap proximates M in e rva in

de piction of Jupiter Ammon sp eci-

h er wa rri or asp ect or, rath er, is an

fic a ll y recalls th e shi elds di splayed

e qui va le nt fo rm that is di sguised by

in th e Forum of Augu stus, th e monu-

th e foreign costum e a nd its ba rba r-

m e nt most closely assoc ia ted vvith

ian Amazon assoc ia ti o n s with th e

1

1

Ro man impe rial conquest. 7 T h e

borde rs of the kn own world. Fo r the

fi g ure can be compared to a Flavian

Greeks th e Am azo n s represented an

cult statu e of Mars that, alth o u gh

inve rsion of th e n orm, with wo m en

h eavil y restore d, displays similar

as wa rriors, a rm ed an d ridin g horses,

boots mad e of fe lin e skin s and also

living outdoo rs a nd apa rt from m en.

th e motif of th e griffin , th e m ythical

Removed fro m c ivil ize d society a nd

b east of Ne m esis, the goddess of

th e fam ily, the Ama zo n s mate with

ve ngea nc e, loca te d on hi s cu irass

m e n o n occas ion; if so n s are born ,

rath er than on hi s h e lmet. It is

th ey a re m a ime d o r e masc ul ate d . 2 0

thoug ht that this statu e was di s-

The Ama zo ns evin ced th e threa t of

covered n ea r the boundary of th e

savage and bloodthirsty women, bro-

Forum Trans itorium a nd th e Forum of Augu stus, and it m ay have se rved

ken free from bonds of m atri mo n y, ye t th e ir ulti ma te d efeat by the

as a re place m e nt for th e statue of

Greeks e nsured th e impossib il ity

Mars U lto r in th e templ e in Aug u s-

of matri archy a nd th e leg iti macy

tu s's forum .18

of social norm s.2 1 As c rea tures th at

M in e rva's rol e, howeve r, is

owed their successes to th eir heroic

te mpe red throug h th e other fe m ale

qual iti es, based on the Greek mod el,

fi g ure fl a nking th e e mperor: th e

and th e ir failure to th e ir femin in e

Amazon fi g ure, armed with h elm et,

weakn ess, th e Am azons wi elded an

shi e ld , and sword-belt (th e swo rd is hidd e n by h e r shi e ld ) and dressed in

erotic a ttractio n th at arou sed more th a n a few Greeks, most n otably

a short doubl e-girt tuni c expos in g

T h ese u s an d Ac hill es. 22

o n e breas t, has bee n id e ntifi e d as

T h e Amazo n fi g u re in Roma n

77

state art is id entified eith er as Roma or Virtus. T he scholarship on thi s question is convo luted beca use th ere is no firm distinction between th e two fi gures since the ir a ttri butes a re frequ ently virtuall y identical. 2 3 Th e narrative context of state reliefs ought to be suffi cient to id entify depi cti ons of Roma and Virtus but often th e context is ge neri c or unclea r, as we see here. 2 4 Only th e personificati ons represented on th e reverses of coins and identified by legen ds are incontrovertibl e . In Flavian coin age Roma appears as an arm ed godd ess standing alone or with a Victory in her hand to prese nt to th e empero r; she is also depicted seated on a pil e of enemy arms or on a rocky th ro ne. 2 5 Virtus is seen in id enti cal costum e standing alon e or occasionall y 路with Honas, th e personificati on of honor or milita ry glory; also on e of her legs is raised, th e foo t often restin g on a helm et. 26 One wonders if the ambiguity may have been intention al because th e domains of each figure are simil ar and overlap: Roma as th e militant defender of th e city and state, a comrade in arms to th e emperor, and Virtus as valor and brave ry in ac tion , an attribu te or virtue of the fJrincep s. On Fri eze B th e sea ted helm eted fe mal e with one exposed breast can be id entifi ed as Roma through comparisons with co ins

(fig. 2);27 on Frieze A th e figure, identical except for he r standing posture and a detail of her coi ffur e, should also be Roma. As far as we kn ow, the fri ezes were m eant to be viewed togeth er an d the repetiti on of Roma as both seated and standing fi gu res in each scene wo ul d have made sense .

Corn eli us Verm eule lai d the grou nd wo rk fo r the study of th e types of th e godd ess Roma: he observes that fi gures of Roma also borrow the iconography of Athe na, parti cularl y on coins and gems.28 Roma, th erefo re, is someti mes shown as Athe na Nikeph oros, sometim es as an Amazon , or as a pastiche of both types. As types of th e fe male warrior, images of Athena and of Roma blur into one another; then, it is strikin g tha t th e pa ir of stri ding Mine rva/Athe na and Roma frame Domitian. Th ey are va riati ons on the sam e th e me: ti ine rva is the patrioti c goddess of th e city; Roma is its chaste defend er.

In th e com positi on of th e Frieze, both fi gures are marked by the verti-cal acce nt of th eir lances and, more importantly, they share th e iconograp hic element of th e Gorgon (fi g. i). M in erva's aegis traditi on all y bears th e head of Medusa, although its eyes are shut here; Roma brandishes the Medusa's head, its eyes wide open, on her shi eld . Furth ermore,

Domitia n 's fibula is d eco rate d with th e Go rgo n 's h ead, its eyes closed in th e mann e r of the Medusa on Minerva's aegis. 2 9 It is sig nifi cant that both godd esses and the e mpero r standin g between th e m bear th e mark of th e Medusa: b es id es h er mon strosity a nd a ndrogyn y, th e h ybrid c rea ture gives birth at th e mome nt that sh e dies. When sh e is d ecapitate d by Perse u s, h er p rogen y spring from th e bloody stump of h er n eck .3째 In a sen se, Medusa's act of reproduc tion is a n a nal ogue of Ath e na 's birth from th e h ea d of Zeus: Zeus, howeve r, does not expire after Athena e m e rges full yformed , nor do es h e lose his h ea d in th e ac t. Ye t Medusa was sa id to h ave mated with Poseidon in a sa n ctu ary

5 Ro m a, D e tail of Fri eze A.

of Athena that was d efil e d b y th e

Fran c Pal aia.

eg.

coupling. Tainte d by h e r polluti o n , h e r g ru eso m e appea ran ce with a

th at the full fo rce of th e Medusa

h ead wreathed b y snakes, and h er

was not requ ired-h e r po tency li es

intim acy with th e phys ical asp ec ts of life and d eath , sh e stands opposed to

dormant).3 2 As ch aste warriors '"'ield ing th e sign of th e Me dusa, M in e rva

the virgin al Athena/Minerva in eve ry

an d Rom a are isolated from the

way.3 1 As a result, Medusa is re du ced

d oma in of wo m en, the famil y, and

to a troph y, h e r seve re d h ead is wo rn

they rep el sexu al ad va n ces; th e ir

as a feti sh with th e powe r to para-

purity co ntri b utes to their heightened

lyze, to incapacitate th e goddess's

powe rs, the ir undilu ted strength an d

e nemies. It is c uriou s that th e Gorgon's eyes are closed on M in e rva '

self-suffi c iency. 33

aegis and Domiti an 's fibula b eca use

m atte r) represe nted in th e guise of

that would weake n its powe r (pe r-

an Am azon? For th e o rigins of

haps the menac e of Minerva and

Roma, we must turn to th e Greek

Domitian was reputed to be such

east, where he r cult d eveloped from

Why is R o m a (and Virtus, fo r th at

79

th e rul er cults of H ell e ni sti c kin g-

from th e late seco nd-ce ntury B.C.

d o m s and h e r d epictio n s deve lop ed

Temple of H ecate at Lag ina tha t rep-

on co ins of Ro m e 's cli e nt st a tes in

resents a n all ia n ce b etwee n th e local c iti es and Rome. 37

th e second and first ce nturi es B.C.34 O n G reek co ins, she fr equ en tl y is

To b e sure, Ro m a c learly diffe rs fro m th e Am azo ns, b ecau se a a pe r-

represented as Ath en a, whil e o n Ro m a n co ins, h oweve r, th e pe rsoni-

so nifi cati o n of Ro m e and a god dess

fi ca ti o n appea rs in milita ry costum e,

with a c ult, she lacks a ri c h m yth o-

fre qu e ntly with Amazo n a ttributes.35 If Rom a represe nts th e e mp ire's

log ica l h e ritage and ge n eaology.

Accou nts th at ass ign he r a role in th e

d ominion , its tran sce nd e n ce of physica l and te mpo ral bo und a ri es, th e n

fo un d ing of the c ity- Rh o m e is cast as a T roj an wo m a n who in c ites th e

th e Am azo n evoke d th e image o f

burning o f Ae n eas's sh ips in G reek

th e bo rd e rl and s a nd th e co n st a nt

ve rsio n s of th e m yth -

vig il a n ce required to subdu e di st a n t

co n tradi c to ry a nd colo rless - with o ut

a nd un kn own te rrito ri es . As wo m en

exten d e d n arra ti ves of hero ic adve nture.38 Rom a su cceeds pri mari ly as

always on th e ve rge of los ing c ontrol , th e Am azons did the m selves in by pushin g too far-b y d a ring to att ack Ath en s to resc u e th eir qu ee n , to e n slave Athe ns as they h ad oth e r cities.3 6 C lea rl y n o t th e d efea t of th e

are n ota bl y

a sym b ol th at ad apts th e Am azon ico n ograph y a nd di stil ls ce rta in asp ects of th eir m yth ology. In the impe ri al im age ry th e Am azons ' wea po ns h ave b ee n roma n ized : th e

Am azo ns n or th e ir caree r as fa il ed

Phrygia n cap, p elta, a nd d o u ble axe

imperi alists wo uld attract th e Rom an s

a re replaced by th e western h el m e t,

to this im age , ye t, pe rha ps, th e Ro m a n s se lec ted aspec ts of th e m yth th at suited th eir require m ents. The

rou n d shi eld , la n ce, an d parazonium .39 In th is way Roma m ay h ave

reappraisal of th e Am azon reputa-

approp ri ated the Am azo n's aggression a nd aud ac ity, and de pl oyed

ti on (pe rh a ps co rrespo nding to revi-

th ese wea p ons aga in st R om e's

sio ns in th e ir m yth ology) m ay h ave bee n part of a wid er ph e n on o m e n on

e nemies on th e frin ges of th e e mpire.

- The indigeno us Amazo n was

beca use c ities in Asia M in or d epi cted Am azon s as th eir fo undi ng

fa milia r to Ro mans in th e fi gu re of Ca m ill a, in Bo ok

11

of th e Aeneid,

fi gures o n co ins minted in th e

wh o ri d es into battl e wi th o n e breast

H e ll e ni sti c and Impe ri al periods,

exposed , arm e d with h e r bow, qu iver, a nd javelin. 4째 An acolyte of Di a na

and Amazo ns a ppea r as p e rso nifica ti on s of c iti es in th e n orth fr ieze

80

who was ra ised in th e fo rests of Italy

and nursed at th e tea ts of a wild ma re, Ca mill a has a telorum et virginitatis amorem (a love of a rm s and virginity, 583-84) that dri ves he r to join Turnus's me n aga inst Aeneas. ccompan ied by her staun ch handmaid ens, she fights fearl essly and with great dispatc h, as a veritabl e whirlwind of ca rn age on th e ba ttl efi eld . When Camilla is fin all y c ut dovvn, Diana promi ses he r honor, fame , and prope r revenge, th e just rewa rd of th e deserving warrior.

In co ntrast, Anchises praises Roma, in Book 6 of the Aeneid, beca use she will enclose th e seven hills with one great wall.41 Camilla and Roma are two admirable warrior wome n with Amazon tende ncies; yet, th e form er pe ri shes because she wages wa r on Aeneas, while th e latter will thri ve beca use she guards th e city and th e sons it breeds, she personifies its defense .

Rom an religion traditi onally absorbs foreign deities or trea ts goddesses, such as Aphrodite and Cybele, as naturalized emigres by bringing their images into th e city and establishing te mpl es for th em .

Eva Ste hle has discussed this ph enomenon as a way of co-opting th e power of the foreign deity, that is, of neutralizing any harmful effe cts and turn ing th e deity's resourc es to Rom e's advantage.42 Pe rhaps something similar can be sa id of Rom a's

appropri ation of Amazon attrib utes: th e unsavory aspects (i.e., the motif of female revolt) a re dimi nished, wh il oth e rs- th eir va lor and feroc ity-serve Rome. Th e image of the Ama zo n is one of a su perb fi gh tin g instrum en t, with th e warri or's courage and co ncentra ti on un di stracted by fem inin e concerns, ma rriage and fam il y. Like Min erva, th e Amazons rep resent a youth fu l id ea l of fem ini nity in a state of trans iti on between adolescence and adul th ood , a nd they resist th e next phase of a woma n's life, her domesti cation through marriage.43 T his extreme and unn atural behavio r (for Mi nerva, virgin ity is abso lu te; fo r th e Amazons it is th eir independence from and defia nce of me n) forti fi es and intensifi es th ei r powers, and makes them fo rmidable, da ngerous, and wa rloving. The representa ti on of Roma as an Amazon may ha ve summoned th e pu rity of the vi rgin, th e hero ism of th e and rogynous wo man warri or, and th e self-suffi ciency of the fe male ind ependent from the famil y. T he figur e of Roma person ifies the city and, by extens ion, the empire: he r virtu es impl y th at th e city walls are in violabl e beca use they are sec ured by force:H To th e right of Roma are a pa ir of perso nifi cations, th e Gen ius Senatus an d Genius Po puli Romani (figure s i and 6). In Roman religi on, the

ge nius is a tutelary or guardian spirit

rel ief, the

oll ekens Reli ef, o rigi-

wh o accompani es a p e rson through

nall y from th e Palatin e Palace but

hi s life to protect him.45 The Genius

n ow lost and known through d raw-

Senatus a nd Genius Populi Rom ani se rve not o nl y as guardian spirits of

ings (in th e Victoria a nd Alb ert Muse um ) .48

th e se nate and citi ze nry but also are

Both person ifi ca tions a re

de pi cted as represe ntatives defined

intended to b e seen in oppositio n to

by th e ge n e ral characteristi cs of th eir

one a noth e r: in contrast to th e age

institution or group. In th e fri eze

of th e Genius Senatus, th e youth of

bo th fi gures are set off from th e

th e Genius Populi Roma ni is indi-

soldi e rs b ehind th em by th e ir class ically ideali zed heads (originall y

cated by his b ea rdl ess fac e .49 The

adorn ed with laurel wreaths), th e ir longe r hair, costumes, and attrib-

figure has reached th e age upo n which a yo uth undergoes th e rite of passage to adultho od by assuming

utes. Th ey rai se th eir right arms in

th e toga virilis and th e n sha ving his

greeting to Domitian. The Genius Senatus is imme diately recogni zable as a mature man with b ea rd.4 6 H e

first growth of b ea rd. 5째 The personi-

wears a toga and senatorial sh oes,

in a mantle draped from his shoul-

and displ ays a rin g on hi s h an d . H e carries a scepte r ca rved from a rough

der to opposite hip that leaves most of his torso ba re. His chest and

branch that is deco rate d with a glob e

abdomen are modell e d to suggest a

and a bust on its handl e . A similar

pliant expan se of fl esh , not yet developed nor h arde n ed by a military reg-

scepte r is carried by another figure of the Genius Senatus on an Antonine base in th e Vi ll a Doria

fic atio n , h oweve r, does not don th e toga worn by hi s e ld e r but, rather, is

im en of exercise. No longer a skinny boy, the figure has fill ed out to dis-

Pamphili .47 The severely abraded

pla y a broad virile chest and ample

bust surmounting the scepter in

midriff. Th e te rm s of contrast a re

Frieze A probabl y also originally

c lear: age and yo uth , bearded a nd

d epicted th e e mpero r. The age, th e dress, and th e sc epte r of the Genius

beardless, clothed and bare-chested.

Senatus mark him with th e insignia of hi s elite rank and th e dign ity of

his left hand is the cornucopia , th e

au thority. Distinguish ed by h is proximity to D omitian, the Genius

ca rved in a pattern of rosettes and spirali ng stems, and spills ove r with

Senatus is depi c ted participating in a sacrifice in anoth e r Flavian state

grapes, sprigs of grain, figs, almonds,

Th e attribute that he carries in horn of plenty, which is ornatel y

and pine cones. The co rnucopia

symbolizes a bund an ce a nd ge n e rati o n in m a ny varied co ntexts : in the F lavia n coin age p erso nifi ca ti o n s, su c h as Fo rtuna, Co n co rdi a, a nd Pax, ca rry th e co rnu copia .51 The bo unty of th e co rnu copia, with its display of th e fruits of th e It alia n soil , evin ces th e effortl ess ha rvests of th e golde n age an d evokes Ro m e's ab ility to nouri sh and nurture its yo un gY T h e figur e h olding th e cornu copia also offers a n im age of th e flo we r of Roman yo uth : th e vigorous ph ys ical prese n ce of th e pe rso nifi cation is yet a noth e r product of th e soft breezes and warm sun of the co untrys id e. As a proud sp ec imen of a yo uth who has just a tta ined m a nhood , th e fi gure represe nts the p ossibilities of th e future and th e promise

6 G e nius Sen atus and G e n ius Populi

of a ca ree r not yet begun. T h e p e r-

Roma ni , D e tail of Fri eze A. Ph oto co urtesy

sonifi ca ti o n a ppea rs to lack th e

of th e Ge rm an Archaeol ogical Institue,

insigni a of rank of hi s co unte rpart,

Rome, Neg.

41.333.

probably, because, as a fresh-fac ed yo uth , h e has not m a d e his m a rk in th e world . Yet his elabo rate b oo ts,

also th e sophisti cation a n d refi n em en t of th e statesm an with the raw

made from skin s of a fe lin e, are th e sa m e as those worn by Roma a nd

vitali ty and virility of th e n ext generati on .53 The wo rld of th e Geni us

Ma rs. In a se n se, his footwea r sug-

Sen atus is th at of the fo rum and

gests that th e yo un g citi zen 's voca tion

courts, his sp h ere that of th e c ivic

is to be found in th e milita ry.

au th o rity and law, whi le the Ge niu s

The pair of pe rso nifi cati on s illustrate th e rh etori cal formul a, senatus

Populi Roman i bears th e gifts of n ature, as see n in th e cornu copia,

populusque romanus, th e official

his phys ique , a nd th e sh oes ma de of

express ion linking th e ruling body

troph ies from th e hu n t, wild a nimal

and the rul ed . They not onl y juxta-

skins. Yet it is n ature u nd e r cul ti-

pose ven erable age with youth , but

vatio n: th e cha racte r of the ideal

D omiti an, the n down to th e licto r,

citi ze n will be fo rm ed by m ilita ry trai nin g . It is tell ing that th e rep re-

th e offi ce r an d h is sol di e rs, on the

se ntative of th e Roma n people is

one h a nd ; an d on the oth e r, fro m

d epicted as a h ealth y and stro ng yo un g m an , a n abl e-bodied rec rui t

M ine rva, in her civic aspec t, to

fo r th e a rmy. In fac t, th e figure a nd th e attributes of th e Ge nius a re often

Se na tus an d th e G eni us of the Roma n Peop le, represented as a

co nfu sed with th ose of Honas, th e

poten ti al sold ie r with u ntappe d

pe rso nifi ca ti on of m ilita ry h on o r o r

strength. Although the sold ie r

glory (see th e fi gures in th e trium ph relief an d on th e keysto n e of th e Arch of T itus) .S4 T h e de bate abo ut

prospe red u n d er Domitia n beca use h is pay was ra ised by a thi rd in 84, the co n serva tive agenda e n sured

th e icon ogra ph y of th e Gen ius a nd Honas is simila r to that abo ut Ro m a-

by legisla ti on tha t th e social orde rs wo u ld n o t m ix, wh e the r in the

Virtus, an oth e r insta n ce in whi ch

institutio n of m a rriage, u nde r th e

D om iti an , th e n to th e Genius

th e disputed fig ures sh a re comm on

sc ru tin y of the state with th e revival

inte rests a nd probabl y de ri ve fro m

of the Juli an laws on ma rriage a nd

on e type th at represented a b road fi e ld of m ea ning.SS

adultery, or even in the th eater, with

Th e rema inin g fi gures, b ehind

its regula ti ons fo r sea ting according to sta tu s.S 6 Do miti an's paternalisti c

and to th e ri ght of th e p a ir of p e r-

poli cies also in cluded an edict

sonifi ca ti on s, a re soldie rs in tuni cs,

agains t castrati on in 82-83, but it is

ca rryin g the ir shi elds, lan ces, and javelins; th e ir offi ce r turns back

n ot clear if it was intend ed to protect

towa rds seve ral of th e m (fi g. i ).

T h eir juxtap os ition with the Ge nius

Roma n manhood or to regu late the slave m arket.S 7 E ri ka Simon h as interp reted

Sen atu s a nd Genius Popul i Ro m ani evokes th e co ntrast of th e arma of

F ri eze A as re presenti n g th e virtus of D omitian .S 8 T his is, no do u bt, tru e

th e soldi e r a nd th e toga of the citi-

bu t th e fri eze also represents som e-

zen . T h e express ion , domi militi-

_thi ng m ore tha n an allego ri cal depi cti on of th e noble impe ri al virtue.

aeque (a t h o m e an d in the fi eld; in p eace a nd in war) co m es to mind.

T h e ranks a nd roles of the c iti ze nry are defin e d in sim ple te rm s of mili-

T h e di sc u ss io n of th e Am azon a ttri butes of Roma (and Virtus) leads to oth e r consid erati ons ab out the ch a rac ter of pe rson ifica ti o n s as well

ta ry duty and c ivi c resp ons ibility, the li nes of autho rity clea rly d rawn

as priestesses. In frieze B th e Vestal

fro m Ma rs Ul tor an d M ine rva to

Virgins, as counte rpa rts to the

m a ide n wa rri o rs of fri eze A, fl a nk th e seated Rom a (fi g . 2). T h ey may witness th e establishm e nt of a pri esthood for th e F lavia n dyn asty a nd, th erefore, represe nt pietas, acco rdin g to Simo n .59 I wo uld like to co n c lu de with a few th o ughts ab o ut th e g ua rdi a n s of th e Ro m an state and th e no ti o n of

wome n caught in ad u lte ry an d free m e n in h omosexu al li aisons. T h e virgini ty of th e goddess, perso ni fi catio n , and p ri estess sustain e d th e state, h oweve r, D omitian's inte rve ntio n in pri va te life, h is a tte mpts to legislate chastity, had li ttle or no effec t o n th e h ealth of th e e mp ire.

virginity in Rom a n m yth ology. T h e in viola bl e fe m ale b odi es of M ine rva and Rom a are d epl oyed aga inst the

1

exteri o r, th e ch aste wa rri ors p atrol th e co nteste d bo rd e rs wh ere Ro m ans

the Age of Augustus, tra ns. H. Shapiro (An n Arbo r 1988) for a general acco unt

co nfro nt n o n-Roma n s. Th e Vestals

of the role of mythol ogy in state monu-

safegu a rd the publi c h ea rth , foste ring prosp e rity a nd well-be ing fro m

men ts; also, B. Kell u m, The City

See P. Z anke r, The Power o{Images in

Adorned: Th e Play of M eaning in

within th e h ea rt of th e c ity. V irginity, a n unnatural and incap acitating

Augustan Rome, in preparation.

sta te wh e n prol onged in th e life of a

com m enting on an ea rli er draft of th is

m ortal m a ide n , gra nts these fi g ures

paper, which is in ten ded as an in tro-

purity a nd , oddly e n ou gh , p ote n cy; th e latte r defin ed in th e se n se of h eighte n e d p owe rs a nd a n un com-

duction to a study of the personi fi cation

promising o r steadfa st d e di ca ti o n to th eir duti es, o r even th e ac qui siti on

for jou rnal s fo und in the American

Jou rnal of Archaeology, 95 (1991) 4-16.

of political pre rogati ves, in the case of th e Ves tals. 60 It is te lling th at th e

2

Ge niu s of th e Ro m a n People is rep-

ity in Republican Rome (Ithaca 1992).

rese nte d as a n e phe bic you th , hi s innoce n ce intact and tale nts unde-

3 T he literature is extensive, an d I

velop ed-purity a nd pote ncy in a n oth e r key. It is for th ese yo uth s th at D o mitia n advoca te d m o ral reform a nd re ligio us revival in hi s role as cen so r promo ting m a rri age a nd legitima te c hildbirth, punishing

I am gra tefu l to Judi th Barringe r for

Ro ma in sta te art.

In th e fo llowing I use abbrevia ti ons

E. G ruen, Culture and Nationa l Ident-

indica te only th e m ost important studi es here : F. Magi, I rilievi flavi del Palazzo della Cancelleria , Monumenti va ticani di archeologica e d'arte, v. 6 (Rome

1945); J.M.C. Toynbee, The Flavian Reliefs from the Palazzo della

85

Cancelleria in Rome (Lond on 1957); E. Sim on , "Zu den fla vischen re li efs

A und B von der Ca ncelle ri a," JdI loo

de r Ca ncelleri a," JdI 75 (1960) i34-56;

(1985) 543-55; F. Ghedini, "Ri flessi della politi ca dom iz ianea nei rili evi fla vi di

E. Kell er, "Studi en zu den Cancell eria-

Palazzo dell a Cancell eria," Bui/Comm

Reli efs: Zur Ikonographi e der

91 (1986) 291-309.

Perso nificationen und Profectio-bzw.

Adventusdarstellungen," Klio 49 (1967)

4 It see ms that, after the danmatio

193-217; A. Linfert, "Propaganda und Programm- ein e Deutung des Cancell-

memoriae of Domitian in A.O. 96, th e friez es we re removed from th eir original context, transfe rred to an im peri al work-

eriareliefs," Kolnfb 10 (1969) 56-fo; A.M. McCann , "A Re-dating of th e Reli efs

hop for reca rving but then th e project

from th e Pala zzo della Ca ncelleri a,"

was aba ndon ed before the fri ezes co uld

RM 79 (1972) 249-76; F. Magi, "Brevi ossservaz ioni su di una nuova dataz ion e dei relievi della Cancell eria ," RM 80

be re install ed in a n ew setting; See Pfa nn er (1981) 514-518, and infra n. 7.

On the ir original setting: Magi (1945 )

(1973) 289-91; A. Bonanno, Portraits and Other Heads on Roman Historical Reliefs up to the Age of Septimius

Cancell eria," JRS 38 (1948) 14; Ghedini,

Severus (O xford 1976); M . Pfann er, "Tec hn ische Beobachtunge n an den

291, 299 (on the importance of th e Temple of Fortuna Redux for th e subj ect ma tter).

136-141; Toyn bee, 19; H . Last, "On th e Flavia n Reliefs from the Palazzo della

Cancell eri areli efs," AA, 1981, 514-18; M .

Bergmann and P. Zanke r, "'Damnatio

5 T. Hol sc he r, "Di e Geschich tsauffa s-

M emoria e' Umgearbeitete

ero- und

sung in der rbm isc hen Reprasen tations-

Domitiansportrats: Zur Ikonograph ie

kunst," JdI 95 (1980) 265-321; A. Kuttn er,

der fla vischen Kaiser und des Nerva," JdI 96 (1981) 317-412; M. Bergmann , "Zurn Fries B der fla visch en Cancelleriareli efs," MarbWPr (1981) 19-31; H.W. Ritter, "Ein ne uer D eutungsvorschl ag zum Fri es B der Ca ncell eriareli efs," MarbWPr (1982)

Dynasty and Em pire in the Age of Augustus: The Case of the Boscoreale Cups (Berkeley 1995).

6 G. Koeppel , "Profec ti o und Adven tus," Bonnfbb 169 (1969) 130-94.

25-36; G. Koeppel, "Die hi stori sc hen Reliefs der romi sc hen Kaiserzei t II:

7 E. Varn er, Damnatio Memoria e and Roman Imperial Porta iture, Diss. Yale

Stadtromisc he Denkmaler unbekannte r

University 1993, on th e probl ems of

Bauzugehorigkeit aus fl avisc her Zeit,"

interpreting th e histori ca l and archaeo-

Bonnfbb 184 (1984) 5-9, 28-34; E. Simon, "Virtus und Pietas: Zu den Fri ese n

logical evid ence associated with the

86

condemnare memoriam.

8 Magi (1945 ) 21-22, 75-76, interpreted

10 See m y Private Lives, Imperial

th e fig ure as Roma; Toynbee, 10, as

Virtues: The Frieze of the Forum

Virtus; Simon (1960): Roma ; Ke ll er (1967): Virtus ; Simon (1985 ): Virtus ;

Transitorium in Rome (Prin ceton 1993 ).

VM. Strocka, "Beobach tungen an den

11

Attika re leifs d es severi sch e n Qu ad rifro n s

for a synopsis of th e literature.

See Koeppel (1984) 6-8, and 29-30,

von L ep c is Magna ,'' AntAfr 6 (1972) 158, n.3, on the difference be twee n th e

12 Bergmann (1981 ) 23-24; Sim on (1985 )

depi c tions of Roma a nd Virtus; M.

554-555 : I find S imon 's hypoth esis th at

Pfann e r, Der Titusbogen, Beitrage zur

th e frie ze rep resents Domitian's adven-

Erschliessung hellenistischer und kaiserzeitlicher Skulptur und Architektur,

tus of 93 plausible (rathe r than ilagi's id e ntification of th e adventus of 83).

v. 2 (Mainz 1983 ) 67-70, on th e di stinc-

tions be tween Rom a as a n ind ep e nd ent

13 B.W . Jones, The Em peror Domitian

de ity on an e qual footing with th e

(L o ndon 1992) 126-59.

e mp eror and Virtus as a n imperial virtue express ing th e cha racte r of the empero r.

In m y opini o n th ese di stin ction s are often not appa ren t in th e representatio ns

15 D 'Ambra , 19-46, with b ibl iography.

of Roma-Vi rtus on coins and in relief sc ulpture.

16 W. Sch i_irmann , Unte rsuchungen zu

Typologie und Bedeutung der stadtromis9 T hi s gesture h as defi e d in te rp retatio n :

chen Minerva-Kultbilde r, Rivista di

Magi (1945 ) 103, assoc ia tes it with th e

Archeologia, Supp . 2 (1985).

gesture of Di a na Venatrix drawing an a rrow from a quiver o n h e r ba ck while

17 P. Zanker, Forum Augustum. Das Bild-

Toynb ee, 13, desc ribes Minerva a dj ust-

programm (Tubingen 1968) 13, fig. q

ing th e n eckguard of h e r h e lm e t as she prepares for battle and Simon (1960 )

18 H . Stuart Jo n es, A Catalogue of the

146, relates it to th e ep iphan y of th e M ine rva's recognition of Domitian or

Ancient Sculptures Preserved in the Municipal Co llections of Rome: The Sculptures of the M useo Capitolino

eve n an ac t of affiliati on betwee n god-

(Oxford 19 12) ca t. n o. 40, 39-40, pl. 7路

d ess and e mperor, and I th ank Guy

Zanker (1968) i 8, figs. 48 and 49.

godd ess; I think th at it h as to do with

Metraux for hi s suggestion abo ut th e importance of revea ling the h a ir in th ese c irc um stan ces.

19 G. Calza, "La fi gu raz ion e di Roma

25 BMCRE, vol. 2, pl. 19.9, pl. 19.16, pl.

nell'a rte antica," Dedalo 7 (1926) 663-

2q, pl. 23.5, pl. 83.9 .

688; C. Ve rm e ule, The Goddess Roma

in the Art of the Roma n EmfJire (Cam-

26 BMCRE , vol. 2, pl. 20 .2, pl. 76.1, pl.

bridge, Mass. 1959); R. M ell or, "Th e

77. 2, pl. 77.8.

Goddess Roma ," ANRW 2.17.2 (Berli n and lew York 1981) 950-1030; A. Dan ti ,

27 Kelle r, 2q

"U n framm ento di ril ievo con la rappresentazion e di Roma-Vi rtus nel Museo nuovo ca pi tolin o," BMusRom 3 (1989 ) 23-30.

29 Magi (1945 ) 20, n. 1, on th e rarity of M edusa depi cted with eyes closed.

20 Herodotus, Histories 4.114; Diodorus Siculus, 2-44-46. W Blake Tyrrell ,

30 Hesiod, Theogony 270-83; For othe r

Amazons: A Study in Athenian Mythmaking (Baltimore and London 1984); P. duBois, Cen taurs and Amazons: Women and the Pre-History of the Great C hain of Being (Ann Arbo r 1991).

versions, see Apoll odorus, Bibliotheca 2. 3.2, 2+2-3; O vi d, Metamorphoses 4. 79o-8o3.

31 On Ath ena/M inve ra an d M edusa as riva ls and doublets: Eur ipi des, Ion

21 Lys ias, Funera l Oration , 2-4-6.

989-991;

pol lodoru s, Bibliotheca

2+2-3; Pind ar, Pythian Odes 12; I also 22 Plutarch, Th eseus 26-28; D . von

owe th is obse rva tion to Molly Myerowitz

Both mer, Amazons in Greek Art (O xford

Levin e, The Gendered Grammar of An-

1957 ) and J. Boardman , "He rakles, Th ese us and Am azons," in D . Kurtz

cient Mediterranean Hair, in preparation .

and B. Sparkes, eds., The Eye of Greece

32 Magi (1945) 20, n. 1, observes th at

(Ca mbridge 1982) 1-28, for th e su bj ect

M edusa's eyes are shown closed wh en

represe nted in G reek vase painting and

her decap itated head is displayed by

sc ulpture .

Perse us. T he motif, th erefo re, indi cates h er defeat, her dea th .

23 See supra n . 19.

33 Supra n. 3i.

24 See supra n . 8. On the type of Roma seated on a pi le of arms, see E.M. Loreti , "Co nsid eraz ioni sul tipo sc ulto reo di Roma seduta," ArchClass 37 (1985) 174-

88

34 M ellor, 956-96i.

35 Mell o r, 961-63; C . Fayer, "La ' <l ea Ro m a' sull e m o n e te grech e," StRom 23 (1975) 273-88.

Constru ction of Fema le Sexuality,"

Helios 16 (1989) 143-64.

43 O n m arriage as the initi ation rite

36 Lys ias, Funeral Oration 2-4-6; Di o do ru Si culus, 4.28; M. Me rck, "T h e

fo r wo m en a n d as th e ins titu ti on tha t

C ity's Ac hi eve m en ts: th e Patrioti c Am a-

ma tro ns, see J.-P. Ve rnan t, M yth and

zo n om ac h y and An c ie nt Ath en s," in S.

Society in Ancient Greece, tran s. J. Lloyd

Lipshitz, e el. , Tearing the Ve il (Lo nd o n

(Atl a nti c H igh la n ds,

1978) 95-rn.

id em, Mortals and Immorta ls: Collected

d omesti cates wild virg ins into doc il e

.J. 1980) 139-40;

Essays, e el . F. Ze itlin (P rinceto n 1991) 37 Lo reti , 171-81; LJMC 1 (1981) 643-50

207-19.

(P. D evambez); On th e Te m ple of H eca te a t Lagin a: A. Sch o be r, " D e r

44 A.E. H anso n , "T h e Medical W riter's

F ri es d es H ekateio n s von Lagin a,"

Woma n ," in D. H alperin ,

IstForsch 2 (1933) 72-76, pl. XI; E. Simon , in H es iocls Theogonie," AA, 1993, 277-84;

a nd F. Ze itlin , eels., Befo re Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic Experience in the Ancient G reek Wo rld (Pr inceton

see also P. M ingazz ini , "La clatazio n e

1990) 326-327, with c itations.

" D e r Laginafri es uncl cl e r H e ka te m ythos

J. W inkler,

cl ell a base di Pozz u oli ," RM 83 (1976) of c iti es o f As ia Min or d e pi cted as

45 G. Du mezi l, Archaic Roman Religion, trans . P. Krapp, vol. 1 (C hi cago

Amazo ns o n a mid-l ate first-century

a nd Lo n don 1970) 357-fo; R. Sch illing,

A. O . sta tu e base.

"G e n ius et Ange ," in Rites, Cultes,

425-29, p is. 148-50, fo r pe rso ni fica ti o n s

Dieux de Rome (Paris 1979) 417-22.

38 M e ll or, 954-55.

46 H. Kun ckel, Der romische Genius, 39 Loreti, 174路

RM -E H 20 (Heidelberg 1974) 37-42.

40 Ve rg il , Aeneid 11.432-33, 498-506, 532-94, 648-867 .

47 Magi (1945) 79-80, 118, fi g. fo ; Ku n ckel, 50, 81, pl. 25.2.

41 Ve rg il, Aeneid 6.781-84.

42 E. Ste h le, "Ve nus, Cyb ele, and th e Sabin e Wo m en: th e Ro m a n

49 E. Rink, Die bildlichen Darstellungen des romischen Genius

(G iesse n 1933) 41-46; Kun c kel, 33-37, 40-42; J. Be ranger, "Le Gen iu s Populi Ro m ani clans la po litiqu e impe riale ,"

56 Jones, 144; D 'Am bra, 35-37, 96-100;

Principatus (G e n eva 1973) 411-27. T his is

J.-M Ca rr ie, "T h e Soldie r," in

th e earli est exta nt representatio n of the

A. G ia rdin a, e d., The Romans, trans .

G e nius Populi Ro m an i in m onu m e n tal

L.G . Coc h ran e (C hi cago and Lo n don

art (as opposed to d ep ic ti o ns on co in s);

1993 ) 100-37

BMCRE , vol. 2, pl. 14. 14, pl. 50 .10.

57 Jo n es, 107 a nd 204, n. 33, with 50 D . H a rmo n , "T h e Fa mily Festi va ls of

c ita tion s.

Ro m e," ANRW 2 . 16.2 (Be rlin an d New York 1978) 1592-160 3; S Di xon , The

58 Simo n (198 5) 554-55.

Roman F'amily (Ba ltim o re a nd Lon don 1992) 101-02.

51 BMCRE, vol. 2, pl. 6 2-3, pl. 2i. 5-6,

60 M. Bea rd , "T h e Sexua l Sta tus of the

pl. 23 -4, pl. 2+ 7, pl. 25.5 , pl. 26 -4

Vestal V irg in s," JRS 70 (1980 ) 12-q

52 Be ranger, 41 5-16.

53 Berange r, 418; also, J. Berange r, "Les G e ni es de Sena t e t du pe upl e ro m a in e t Jes reli e fs fl avie ns d e la Ca ncelle ri a,"

Principatus (Gen eva 1973 ) 4o i.

54 Pfa nn e r (1983 ) 65-71, 82, pls. 4 5, 53 .1, 78: Ho nos, however, may wea r th e c uirass and co ron a c ivica (th e Genius Popul i Ro m ani is n eve r d epi cted wea rin g th ese).

TH E M EAN !

R OMA

C OF MYTH O N

SAR CO PH AGI

D ag m a r G rassinge r Philipp s- U ni ve r s ita t Ma rbur g

Ro m a n sa rcophagi with th e repre-

h ero isa ti o n of th e d eceased .3

senta ti o n of m yth ological scen es are

In th e li tera ry sources of Rom a n

kn own to u s from th e middl e of th e

ti mes, h oweve r, as likewise in Greek

2nd up to th e e nd of th e 3fd ce n tury A. O . T h e m yth s rep rese nted o n th ese

an d L a tin grave epigrams, the fi gures of m yth are used as exempla,

sa rcophagi a re num ero u s. We h ave

th at m eans as m od els o r p atterns of

m o re th an 25 myth s o n ove r 1200

fi xe d c h aracte rs, virtues o r mora l val -

1

Ro m a n sa rcophagi. Sh own a re the

u es . Thi s m ea n in g of a n example

G reek m yth s of Achil les, Adonis,

does n o t apply to th e wh ole sto ry of

Am azon s, Meleage r, N iobe or Perse-

th e myth , h owever, bu t only to fixed

phon e, to m e nti o n on ly so m e of th e th e m es .

aspec t of it whi ch are sh own as signifi can t.4 W h e n a wo m an is

T h e a rti cle will try to answe r th e qu esti o n of th e m ea ning of th ese

com p a red to Pe n elope, th e wife of Ulysses, th is does n ot m ean that sh e

m yth ological reliefs o n Rom a n

h as bee n wai tin g for h e r h u sba nd fo r

sa rco phagi and wh y Ro m an c iti zens

20 yea rs, th at oth e r me n wante d to

we re so kee n to ac quire a sa rcopha-

m arry h er during th is time an d th at

g u s with a G reek m yth o n it.

sh e h ad a son. On the co ntrary, it

U p unti l n ow, th e m yth ological

m eans th at sh e is a "good " wife wh o

scen es h ave b ee n inte rpre te d e ith er

is prac ti sing wool spin ning and wool

as th e m a nifes ta ti on of th e h op e of a

weaving - tha t m eans lab ours at

2

h appy life after d ea th or, in oth e r

h ome - an d th a t sh e is ch aste an d

cases, wh e n th e m yth ological h ero of th e re prese nta ti on is sh own vvith

tru e to h e r h u sba n d.5 Sh e possesses

th e p o rtra it of th e deceased, as th e

th at sh e co rresp on ds to th e ideals of

th e virtue of pudicitia (ch astity). By

91

ch ose n a sm all grou p of Roma n

socie ty in regard to th e b eh avio r of a "goo d" wife. T h us th e m ythological

sarcophagi whi ch d ep ict th e death

exa mpl es are used as m ode ls of con-

of Alcesti s. These sa rcoph agi we re

du ct. T h ey a re explainin g an ideal

produ ced m a inly in the 2nd half

codex of co ndu ct in Ro m an soc iety

of the 2nd century A. O.

and , thus, h ave a no rmati ve ch a rac-

Th e sto ry of Alcestis's death h as

te r. They are illustra ting patte rns of

survived in a G reek traged y of th e

va lu es and rul es of soc ie ty. Exempla

sa m e n am e b y Eurip ides . Alcestis

a re used in a co mparative se n se.

was th e wife of Ad metus, wh o was

A pe rso n co mpa red to o n e of th e

desti n e d to die you ng. Th e god

m yth ological h e roes is rega rd e d o nl y in on e as pec t to be like this

Apollo, wh o ha d befri e nd ed Admetus,

h ero . Vie also h ave to und e rst and

tus to li ve if a nother perso n would

th e represe nta ti o ns of G reek m yths

di e in hi s place . Adme tus asked hi s

o n Ro m an relief sa rcophagi as su ch

aged p are n ts to di e for him, bu t th ey

exempla. Th ey are to b e read like

both refu sed . Alc esti s th e n volu n-

grave epig ra m s. M y a rti cle will

tee re d to take h er husband 's place

de m onstrate o n e exemplum.

and di e d fo r h im. Afte r h e r death , H erc ul es, wh o was a gu est in

To expl ain m y th eory I h ave

1

pe rsu ad ed the Fates to all ow Adm e-

Alcesti s sa rco ph agu s, C h a teau d e Sa in t Aign a n , Fran ce (Neg. Koc h ).

92

2

lces tis sa rco phagus, Va ti ca n , M u seo Ch ia ram o n ti, l n l'. 1195 , from O sti a

( leg. DA I Rom 72.590).

Adm etus's house , resc ued Alces ti s whil e struggling with T hana tos and brought he r back to life, th us repaying Adm e tus for hi hospitality.

On th e Roman sarcoph agi, wh ich are decorated onl y on th e fro nt and th e two adj oining sid es, bu t not on th e back, th e story of th e dea th of Alcestis is usuall y depi c ted in three scenes on th e fron t. In one case, we have two additi onal scenes on each of th e adj oining sides (fi gu res 4, 5, 6).

Befor e inte rpreti ng the scenes one by one, I shall desc rib e th em bri efl y.

Th e earli est Alcesti s sa rcoph agus known to us is a ches t now in France in th e cas tl e of Saint Aignan 6 (fi g. i), which can be elated styli sti call y to th e yea rs around i5 0 A.D. Anoth er exa mple (fi g. 2) is a sa rcophagus from O sti a, now displayed in th e Muse ums of th e Vati ca n .7 It ca n be elated by th e inscripti on on the lid and th e portraits of th e represented figure s to th e yea rs a round i6o A. D .8

Th e scene in th e cente r of th e front pan el depi cts, a on all the sarcophag i of th e Alcestis gro up, th e dea th of Alces tis. Alces ti s is lying on a couch with a backrest and t\\'o armrests - a Roman lectus. She has sunk more (fig. i ) or Jes (fig. 2) back into the pill ows, lea ni ng on he r left elbow and fac ing the viewer. T he lectus is surro un ded by mourners: an old ma n and an old wo man on the left and a yo ung woman on the ri ght side. O n a foots tool in front of th e couc h th e two ch il dre n of Alcestis are weeping, th e littl e boy on the right and the li ttle gi rl on the left side. T he husband , Acl me tus, is either standing in a mournful but di gn ifi ed pose to th e left of the lectus, as on the sa rc oph agus in France (fi g. i), or stridin g forward from th e left, as on the example from O sti a (fig. 2). Here he is to uching with hi s right han d th e righ t vvri st of hi s wife.

93

T he left scene on th ese two sa rcophagi depicts Aclme tus as a nude hunter surround ed by hunting compani ons in hunting dress . The huntsmen are dressed in short tunics, man tl es and boo ts, one of th e m wears a hat-a pilos (fi g. i ). Aclm etus, on th e co ntrary, is barefoot and wea rs a mantl e, whic h covers only th e back and one should e r. As a hunter he holds a spea r and a swo rd , on th e sarcoph agus fro m O stia he has a clog on a leash on his ri ght sid e (fi g. 2). In th e ri gh t scene we can see Aclmetus a third tim e, now striding forwa rd from th e left to seize with his ri ght hand th e ri ght hand of Hercul es, who is approaching from th e ri ght. He rcul es is recogniza bl e by th e li on skin hanging over his left shoulder an d th e club he is holding.

On th e sa rcoph agus in France (fi g. i), Hercul es is fo ll owed by two compani ons, possibl y also huntsmen.

Between Aclm etus and Hercules a femal e fi gure is visible in the background, who holds two fin gers of her left hand to her mouth . On th e sarcophagus from Ostia (fi g. 2), Aclm etus and H ercules are clasping hands ac ross the lovv cave of the three heaclecl hound of hell Cerbe rus. Betwee n th em in th e backgro und appea r th e three Fates, th e first Fate being recogni zable by th e roll in her left hand and th e gesture of her ri ght hand . Behind He rc ules

94

stands th e sh roud ed fi gure of Alces tis's ghost or, respecti vely, her shad e with an idealised fa ce. Behind h er we ca n see Proserpi na with a torch in her ri ght hand res tin g he r left hand on the shoulde r of her e nth roned h usband Pluto, who is mak ing th e ges ture of clementia (bl ess ing) with his right hand .

Th e next two sarcophagi, a fro nt panel in Rom e, Vill a Albani9 (fig. 3) and a chest fo rm erly in Cann es, but now lost 10 (fig. 4), are to be elated to the years around i70/i80 A. O . In th e ce ntre can be seen th e well known scene of th e dy ing Alces ti s, here howeve r witho ut Acl m etus on the left of the couch . And in the ri ght scene we ca n recognize, as on th e sarcophagus in France (fi g. i), Aclm etus approac hing fro m th e left and seizing th e right ha nd of Hercules . New is th e left scene, whi ch depi cts the discuss ion between Admetus and his old father, or respecti vely his old parents, concernin g his salvation from death . T his disc ussion is overhea rd by Alcesti s who is stand ing with her fe male serva n t in th e left corn er of th e representation . The l ost sa rcophagus form e rly in Ca nnes on ce had two additio nal scenes on th e adj oining sides. On th e ri gh t side (fi g. 5) we can recogni ze aga in, as on th e sarco ph agus from Osti a (fig. 2), th e enthroned god of th e und erworld , Pluto, with a heavil y veiled

3 Alcestis sa rcophagus, Front pa nel, Rome, Vi lla Alba ni , Inv. 140 ( eg. DAI Rom 54-434).

sh ad e at hi s right sid e; in front of

di sc u ss ing a nd , in the backgro un d ,

him approac h es Alc es ti s h e rself, al so

hi s fa th er. In th e sce n e with the

veil e d , a nd th e refo re a lso c h a rac ter-

death of Alc es ti s th e num be r of

ized as a shad e of the und e rwo rld .

m ou rnin g wo m e n h as been

On th e left side (fig. 6 ), th e vei led

increased an d th e c hi ldren h ave

sh ad e of Alc esti s is guid e d o ut of th e

ch a nged th e ir pos itio n . Asid e from

underworld by H e rc ul es with hi s

th ese sa rcop h ag i with m ore o r less

lion skin han gin g over hi s ba ck .

in tac t front pa ne ls, so m e mo re

The und e rworld is symboli zed by th e a rc h of a ga te and th e three

fra gm e nts are ex isting, whi ch ca n

h eade d h o und of h ell to the left of

sarcop hagi .12

Alcesti s. This scen e of Alc es ti s's re turn is also depicted o n th e front

Co n cern ing th e in te rpreta tion of th e sce n es and th e ir m ea n ing in

of a sa rcop hagus in Ge n oa (fi g. 7) whi c h ca n b e date d, by th e p o rtra it

con n ec ti on with th e sarcoph agi, th e opin io n s of a rc h eologists are co n-

of th e d ying woman , to th e first yea rs

cordant. To quote Pete r Blome:

be asc ribed to som e o th e r Alc es ti s

of th e 3rd ce ntury A.D. 11 Here th e hell-hound is mi ss in g, but o n th e

Th e sym boli c va lue of th e m yth

o th e r sid e of H e rc ul es stands Adm e-

a rt can be considered p rove n : Alc es ti s volun tee red to di e in

tu s, to whom Alcesti s is re turning.

Be twee n this scene and th e sce n e

of Alcesti s for Roma n sepulchral

with th e dying Alcesti s, we recogn ize

p lace of he r husband , howeve r sh e did no t di e, bu t return ed

th e hunting companion of Adm etus

from th e dead: p roof of life afte r

with th e short tuni c and th e h a t-

dea th. Sh e di ed for love. To th e

pilos-who is bea rdl es h ere. In

Rom ans su c h love is a virtu e,

front of him we see Adm e tu s

th ey call e d it concordia .1 3

95

But was thi s rea ll y th e m ea nin g of

on th e lid of th e sarcoph agu s, whic h

th e m yth of Alces ti s on th e Rom a n

even gives u s th e names of th e co u-

sa rco ph agi? Did thi s m yth mean th at

pl e, Ca ius Iunius Euhod us a nd hi s

love o r concordia triumph s ove r

wife M etilia Ac te. 14 Thus Adrnetu s

d ea th ?

To answe r thi s qu esti o n I would

is sh own h ere with th e portrait of

like to exa mine th e re presentations

tra it of M e til ia Acte. But what do es

of th e Alc es ti s m yth on th e Rom an sa rcophagi with th e h e lp of the pic-

d eath of Alcesti s, Adrnetus d oes n ot

torial 'language' of th e d epictions (in Ge rm an we ca ll it 'Bildsprache' ).

appea r as a go od ch aracte r. H e does n ot wa nt to die him self, but tri es to

Tha t m ea ns th at co mparabl e form s

con vince hi s aged parents to die for

Euhodus, and Alcestis bea rs the po rthis mean ? In th e whole story of th e

4 Alcestis sa rcophagu s, form e rly Ca nn es (Fra n ce ), Vi lla Fa ustina , n ow lost ( eg DAI Ro m 70.1046).

of re prese ntation in compara ble

him ; th e n h e accepts th e d eath of

co ntex ts of re prese nta tion h ave

hi s wife in h is stead . His on ly posi-

th e sa m e m eanin g. To supp ort th e m ea ning of this 'langu age' of th e

ti ve fea ture is hi s h osp itali ty to

d epiction s I c ite grave epigram s a nd oth e r lite rary so urces .

First of all we have to cons id e r th at at least th e sa rcophagu s fro m Ostia (fi g. 2) with the d e pi c tion of

H e rc ul es; and thi s hospitality is, in th e traged y of Euripides, exactly the - reaso n wh y the h e ro resc u es Alcesti s fro m d ea th .

On th e R o man sa rcophagi, h oweve r, Adm etus in th e left scene is presented to us as an heroic hu nte r.

the Alcestis m yth was m ade not on ly fo r th e wife but also for th e husband .

Th e motif, whi ch is shown o n th e

\li/e know thi s fr om the insc ription

sa rcophag u s in Fran ce (fi g. i ), can

be compared to a statu ary m otif used from Hell e nisti c tim es to praise the deceased as a virtuous man . A grave stele from th e Via App ia in Rom e, which can be el ated to Augustan times, shows th e motif in reli ef.15 Like Aclm etus th e thus honored man is sta nding fro ntall y, fac ing th e viewe r; like him he is nude an d barefo ot, wea ring th e same type of mantle. T he cuiras at the bottom indicates th at the man on th e reli ef is praised beca use of his military virtu es. Aclrn etus, howeve r, is praised as a virtuous hunter in conn ection with th e hunting companio ns around him . T he m otif of E uh oclus/ Aclm etus in the left scene (fi g. 2) is comparabl e to th at of a fi gure of Meleager on a sarcoph agus in th e Capitolin e M use um in Rome. 16 Meleager is th e heroi c h unter par excellence. Meleage r and E uh oclus/ Aclmetus are dressed similarly and both are holding a hunti ng clog on a leash. Likewise Aclm etus in th e left scene of th e sarcoph agus in G e noa (fi g. 7) is represented in an heroic motif. He is comparable to th e figure of a Diosc u ros on a Meleager sa rcoph agus at Woburn Ab bey.17 We can recognize the same attitude with one hand holding th e mantl e pull ed around to th e front at th e hip . T he motif of the nude Aclm etus in th e discuss ion scene (fi gures 3 and 4) is used in other contexts to depict

oth e r heroes: for in stance, D iomecl es with the pall adiu m on a silve r c up in Paris. 18 Someti mes th e motif is used even for Hercul e .19 In comb in ati on with a h unte r th is motif therefo re cha rac te ri zes Aclmetus as an heroic h u nte r as well.

In Roman art, h u nti ng scenes are chosen to depi ct one of th e ca rdinal virtu es of men, that is virtus. Som e state reliefs, for insta nee, rep resen t th e E mpero r Had rian h un ting. O n one tonclo he is h un ti ng a wild boar an d on anothe r he has already killed a lion, to me n ti on onl y two exa mples. 20 On a coin fro m Rome we see th e E mpe ror Commocl us on horseback atta ckin g a lion. T he insc rip ti on gives us the clue to th e in te rpretatio n of th is scene: it means virtus. 21 T h us state reliefs an d coins with hu nting scenes are prais ing th e virtus of th e Empero r. Transferred to Acl me tus and his representatio n as an he roic h unter, we can recogni ze in him an example of virtus -an exemplum virtutis. But Ad me tus is also depicted as an exemplum concordiae, and that is shown in the right sce ne, which can be in te rpreted as the arrival of Hercules . O n th e sarcophagus in Fra nce (fi g. i), Hercul es app roa ches from the ri gh t, accompan ied by othe r fi gures also arriving from the right. Adm etus, wal king u p to hi m fro m the left, is seizing the right han d of th e hero to 97

H adria n. 2 3 The person ifi cation of Roma is welco ming the Empero r to Rome. A coin of H adrian sh ows the same sc h eme, a nd th e legend says that it is meant to be an adventus

Augusti. 24 On th e coin, Roma and H adria n a re claspi ng hands, and this gesture is, as we kn ow from othe r coins, a formu la of concordia (co ncord ).25 On the coin of Hadrian

adventus an d concordia h ave been combined in on e scene. On the Alcestis sa rcop h agi of th e 2nd ce ntury o nly th e a rri va l of H e rcul es is 5 Right side of th e Alcestis sarcophagus, forme rl y Ca nnes, now lost

depicted. On th e sa rcophagu s in Genoa, h oweve r, th e sce n e h as b een develop ed into a real concordia-

(Neg. DAI Rom 70 .1048).

scene (fi g. 7). H e re the personificati on of concordia h e rself is stand ing

welcome him as a host. This gesture of Admetus in combination with an

be tween th e two men a nd is em bracing th e m . Admetus an d H e rcules are

adventus is not uniqu e. We find it o n ce more m a scene on a sa rcophagus lid in th e Vi ll a Borghese in Rome. 22 The scene d epic ts th e arrival of th e Amazons and King Priam of Troy who welcomes th e m .

Priam grasps the righ t hand of the leading Amazon in th e sa m e way as Admetus seizes the hand of H e rcul es.

The pictorial sch eme of th e m a rching fi gures is that of an adventus, an arrival , kn own to us once more from sta te reliefs. We can compa re an adventus-reli ef in Rom e in the Palazzo d ei Conservatori, which shows th e arrival of the Emperor

to be restored really clasping hands.

The sc h em e is known to u s fr om th e wedding sce n e of a gro up of sa rcop hagi , where th e bride an d th e bridegroo m are con n ecte d in th e dextrarum iunctio - the hand claspto d e mon strate th eir co ncord. 26 Therefore, Admetus and H ercules are shovvn to us in concordia, an - allusion to the h ospitality of Admetus to H e rc ul es . Concordia was another cardinal virtue in Roman society.

Concord was h igh ly valued particularly in con necti on with th e social system of patrons and clients .

Likewise concordia signified,

politicall y, loyalty to th e E mperor.

Th e refo re Admetu is sh own to u s as a n exem/Jlum concordiae.

Th e m a in sce n e in th e ce ntre of th e front reli ef of all sa rcoph ag i, h owever, is th e dea th of Alcesti s.

Alcesti s li es dying on a Rom a n be d , m o urn e d b y th e m e mbers of h e r Roman ho u seh old . T h e old woman b es id e h er is h e r old nurse, who is id e ntifi e d by th e h ood sh e is wear ing (fi gures 3 and 4). Th e e ld e rly m a n to th e left of th e be d is to be inte rpreted as a n old tutor-the paedagogus -who is charac terized by h is b ald h ead, his full b ea rd a nd hi s

6 Left side of th e Alcestis sarcophagus,

Gre ek mantle (fi gures

for m e rl y Can n es, n ow los t

i,

2, 3 a nd 4) .

As th e yo un g fema le serva nt at th e

( eg DAI Rom 70 1047).

h ea d of th e lectus, th e old nurse an d th e paedagogus usu all y be lo n ged

wi th th e th ree suppo rts, th e footstool

to a be tter install e d Roman h o useh old .27 Thus we ca n see Alcestis in

side of th e d ead child, th e paeda-

th e central sce n e dying in a Roma n a mbi e nt. She is m ea nt to b e a

gogus and th e m ou rning fema le serva nt at th e head of th e lectus. On

Roma n lad y rath er than a G reek h eroine . Th e pictorial sc hem e of th e

th e sa rcophagi of th is group, whi c h ch ie fl y d ep ict th e dea th of ch il dren

d eath scene is that of a Ro m a n con-

an d youn g women , th e pa re nts sit in

clamatio, d eli vered to u s by a gro up

d eep sorrow besi de th e lectus. And

of Rom an sarcophag i with scen es

th is is exac tly th e mea ni ng of th e

of pri va te life, especiall y th at of c hildre n. On a sa rcophagu s of th e

sce n e, as R. Amedi ck h as shown: profo un d g ri ef abou t death that h as

middl e of th e 2nd ce ntury A. D . in Agrige nto 28 (fi g. 8) th e conclamatio

co m e too ea rl y. These conclamatiosce n es all signi fy the so rrow felt for

is shown as th e main scen e on th e

those wh o di ed too yo ung. And also

right sid e of a sc hool scene. W e ca n co mpare n ea rl y every d etail with th e

on th e Alces tis sarco ph agi , the ce ntral sce n e, n ow recogni za ble as a

dea th scen e of Alc esti s: th e lectus

conclamatio, is express ing prima rily

in fro nt of it, th e ol d nurse a t th e

99

7 Alcestis sa rcop h agus, Ge n oa , S. Ma ri a delle Vigne (Neg. DAI Ro m 77-431).

8 Sarco phagus with scenes of th e life of c h ild ren , a sc h ool scen e and co nclamati o, Agrige n to, Museo Regionale ( eg. M useo Regio n ale).

th e traged y of an ea rl y death. 2 9

ture of h oldi ng h a nds is, h owever,

In acco rdan ce with th e poe m s of m o urning and consolati o n , th e h old-

n ot to b e mi staken fo r a dextrarum iunctio , th e real clasping of h ands

in g o r tou ching of th e o utstre tc h ed ri ght h and of th e dying Alcesti s by E uh odus/Adm etus (fi g. 2) or by th e old paedagogus (fi gures i , 3, 4 and 7) is a ges ture co n veying dea th. 3째 It

a nd does, th e refore , not m ean co n-co rdia, as Peter Bl om e suggests .31 A sec ond gro up of m onuments to b e co mpared with th e sce n e of th e dying Alc es ti s a re some grave reli efs,

indica tes a co nnec ti on b etwee n the dyin g and th e li ving until the e nd ,

whi ch d epi ct th e deceased woman reclining o n a lectus. Alces ti s wi th

pe rh aps also a last fa rewell. T h is ges-

a ba re to rso (fi g. i ) rese mbl es ve ry

100

c losely th e rec linin g Ulpi a E pigone

h o m e is one of th e n o n-cano ni cal

(fig . 9 ) o n a lectus-re lief of the Tra ja ni c pe riod .32 T h e b are to rso

labo u rs of H e rc ules. I n th is se nse

expresses in bo th cases th e Ve nus-

J.M.C . Toyn b ee h as tri e d to expla in

like b ea uty of th e two wo m e n . T h e

th e m ea n ing of th is sce n e on Ro m an p rovin cial grave rel iefs. 35 In a wall

attitud e of Me tili a/Alcesti s o n th e

pa inti ng of a Ro m an tom b o n th e

sa rcophagu s from O sti a (fi g. 2) is to

Vi a L ati n a, th e ac t of H ercules lead-

b e found aga in o n th e g rave reli ef of

ing h ome Alcesti s is shown as a n

Feli c itas (fi g. 10) in th e Palazzo dei

h e ro ic deed of th e p aga n hero, pa ral -

Co n servato ri in Ro m e of ab o ut th e

lele d by th e C hristia n scene of Jes us ra ising L aza rus from th e dea d. 36 On

sa m e d ate .33 H e re th e com parison to th e beauty of Ve nus is sh own by a m o re disc reet fo rmul a: n a m ely th e sleeve slipping off h er sh o ul de r.

th e Alcesti s sa rcop h agi pe rhaps th e returnin g sce n e can b e expl a in e d as a c lea r in di ca ti o n to th e viewe r tha t

Thus Alcesti s, li ke Ulpi a E pigo n e

th e de picted story is th at of Alcesti s,

a nd Feli c itas , is also d e p icted in

sinc e th e iconog raph ic sc h e m es of

Venus-like b ea u ty. And tha t m e an s

th e Alcestis m yth are ra th e r co mm on

sh e is re presente d to u s and to th e

a nd n o t ve ry disti n ct, as I h ave tri ed to demon stra te.

Ro m a n viewe r as a n exemplum

pulchritudi nis.

T h e m a in asp ect of th e Alcestis-

H aving n ow und e rstood th e 'pi c to rial la n gu age ' of th e d epic -

exemplwn, h owever, is ce rtai nl y n ot

tio n s, we ca n read th e rep rese nta-

an d th us n ot h er tri umph ove r death .

ti on s of the Alcesti s sarcoph agi as

The lite rary sources as well as G reek

foll ows: Adm etus is sh own as a n

and Lati n grave epig ram s give u s anoth e r clue to th e un de rsta n di ng

exemplum virtutis a nd a n exemplum concordiae, wh e reas Alc esti s, as an exemplwn pulchritudinis, h as suffe re d a tragic a n d too ea rl y dea th .

In thi s co ntext, th e m ea ning of

h e r re turn to th e worl d of th e li vin g

of its m eani ng . In th e fabulae of H yginus, fo r insta n ce, Alc esti s is liste d togeth e r with Pen elope u nd e r th e h eadli n e : Quae castissimae

th e scen e of th e return of Alc es tis

fu erunt (H yginus, fab. 256). T hat

(figures 2 , 6 and 7) is n ot quite ce rta in. The sce n e is de p icted o nl y

Pe nelo pe, as a n exa mple of a "good"

twice o n th e fro nt a nd o n ce o n th e

wife ; sh e is p ra ised as an exa mple

adj oining sid es, wh e re scen es of th e

of c h astity. An oth e r h eadli ne of

und e rworld ofte n u se d to be

H yginus (fa b. 243 ) gro ups h er u nd e r:

placed .34 Us ually Alc estis b eing le d

Quae se ipsae interfecerunt, those

m eans , Alcestis is rega rd ed , like

101

9 Grave reli e f of U lpia E pigo n e, Va ti ca n , Museo G rego ria n o Profa n o , In v. 98 56

(1 eg. Fo rsc hu ngsarc hi v Koln 2264/0).

women, who di ed toge th e r with o r instea d of th eir hu sbands. By h e r

m a rri age instead of g ivi ng h er life to

d evo ti on to h e r hu sba nd , Alcesti s is an exa mpl e of woma nl y virtu e par

pra ises Alcestis a nd Penelope for the ir pietas, an d a grave epigram

excellence.

from O cl essos tells us that a woma n ,

In gra ve epi grams so m e wo m e n

h er hu sband. O vid (ars am . III i5-19)

wh ose n a m e is n ot prese rve d , d ied

a re praise d or praise th e m selves ,

for h er mate at the age of

li ke Kallikrateia, as a n ew Alcesti s who di ed fo r h e r husb and Zeno n ,37

now, l ike Alcesti s, ga in e d fam e and praise.4째

or c la im eve n to h ave surpassed Alcesti s, like Atili a Pomptill a a nd

T h e sa m e mea ning of th e Alces tis m yth is g ive n in th e n ewly discov-

Ol ympias.3 8 Olympias exceed e d

e red Alcestis pa pyrus in Barcelona,

Alcestis in h e r sen siti vity - pinyte ancl Kallikrateia, moreove r, was

whi c h ca n b e ela ted to the mid dle of th e 4th century A.O. I sh all quote

univira , a n oth e r woma nly idea l in

the passages in qu estion (in Engl ish tran slation ):

Roman soc iety m eanin g that sh e was m a rri ed onl y once.39

20

and h as

Whe n th e daughter of Pe li as saw th e tea rs of h e r husband ,

Ma rti al (ep. IV 75 ) uses th e topos of Alc es ti s as a co mmon motif to

sh e c ri ed alo ud: I, I want to be

poke fun of N igrin a, who , to d e m onstrate h er d evotion to h e r husband,

sent to dea th! M y h usband, I wan t to go to th e grave for you !

brought paternal wealth into th e

I gra nt you gladl y, I donate my

102

10

Cra ve re li e f of Felic itas, Rom e, Palazzo d ei Co nse rvatori, Ga ll e r ia, In v. 69

(Neg DAI Rom 57 i497)

com ing days to yo u , Admetus -

to come, and I shall live fo reve r

a spouse for h e r spouse! (pro coniuge coniux) If I di e for you ,

as a pious wife (et coniux pia semper ero) <And so m e li nes

if m y se nse of duty proves to be greater than that of yo ur mother, than that of your father

furth e r:> And yo u too . . . lea rn

(si vinco matrem, vinco pietate parentem: pietas is translated as

from m y example wh at a se nse of duty is (de me disce exem plum

pietatis).4 1 H e re Alcestis inte rprets he rself as

sen se of duty), immense glory will be in store for m e after m y

an exemplum pietatis. She di es n ot for love or concordia but ou t of h e r

death (taus magna mei post fun era nostra ). True, I shall be no more, but m y feat wi ll be rem e mbered through ce nturi es

sense of duty to h e r husban d. She h as c hosen d eath because he r selfsac rifi ce will b e reme m b ered for ce nturies to com e a nd wi ll bring h er

everlas tin g glory. And thi s is exactly th e main aspect of th e Alcestis myth on Roman sa rcoph agi: th e deceased wo man, wh o di ed lil?e Alcesti s, is praised as an exemplum pietatis It is her memory th at li ves on through her fam e.

2

H . Sic hterrna nn in G. Koch-H.

Sichte rm an n, Romische Sa rkophage,

Handb uch der Archaologie (Berlin , i982), pp. 583-617.

3 H . W rede, Consec ratio in Fo rma m Deoru m, Vergottlichte Privatpersonen in

der romischen Kaiserzeit (Main z, i981),

Co n c lu s i o n

pp.

O n Roman sa rcophagi G reek myth s we re used to depict the tragedy of dea th and , at th e same time, to praise th e virtues of th e deceased.

Th e valu es represented are th e ca rdinal virtu es of Roman soc iety. For men th ese are, for instance, virtus an d concordia. Fo r vvo m en these are pietas, castitas and pulchritudo.

By using th e G reek myths in thi s mann er, many oth er a pec ts of th e myth s had been re jected. Only th ose aspects were cho en whi ch co rrespond ed to th e Roman interpretati on of an id eal mode of co ndu ct.

4 H. Ko rnh arclt, Exemplum , Eine

i

pass im.

bedeutungsgeschichtliche Studie (D iss. Gottinge n, i936), pp. i passi m.

5 Antho logia Palati na VI no. 289; XV no. 8 (eel. Tusc ulum, Ml.inchen,

i957/58). Ovid, ars am. III i5-16.

Propertiu s, eleg. II 9,3. Hygin ., fab. 256.

W. Peek, G ri ech isc he Grab inschrifte n (Berli n, i960), no. 359. See also E. cl 'Amb ra, The Cu lt of Virtues and the

Funera ry Relief of Ulpia Epigone, Latomus, Revue cl 'e tucl es La ti nes, vol. 48, 2 (Bruxelles, i989), pp. 399-400.

6 P. Blo me, Zur Umgesta ltung griechischer Mythen in der romischen

I am most grateful to M aureen Ca rroll-Spil lecke for improving th e E ngli sh of my arti cle. All errors are my own.

Sepulkralkunst, Mitteil unge n des D eu tsc hen Archaologischen lnstituts, Romisch e Abtei lung, vol. 85, i978 {Ma inz, i978 ), pp. 435-445 fi g.

i.

7 H. Sichterman n- G. Koch, i

Fo r bas ic informati on see G. Koc h,

Sarkophage der romi sc hen Kaiserzeit (Darm stadt, i993 ), pp. 72-79.

G ri ech isc he Mythen auf romisc hen Sarkophage n (Tu bingen, i975), pp. 20-21 no. 8 pls. i6. i7,2. i8. i9 .

8 K. F itt chen, Ober Sarkop hage mit

i7 E . An gelico ussis, T he Wobu rn Abbey

Portriits verschiedener Personen, Ma rburger vVin ckelm an n-Programm

Coll ec ti on of C lassica l Anti qu ities,

1984, Symposium i.iber di e antiken Sa rkophage, Ed. B. And reae (Marburg,

(Main z, i991), pp. 73-74 ca t. no. 60 figs.

269, 282.

Mo num enta Arti s Roma nae, vol. XX

1984), pp. 141-143 figs. 38-46.

18 F. Baratte, Treso rs cl 'Orfe vreri e 9 C. Ga sparri , Forsc hunge n zur Vill a

Gall o-Roma ins, Catalogue of the

Albani, Katalog der Bildwerke III , Eel .

Exhibiti on, Pari s, Musee du Luxe m-

P.C. Bol (Berlin , 1992), pp. 48-49 cat. no.

263 pis. 21-25 .

bourg (Paris, 1989), pp. 82-84 ca t. no. i7 fi g. p. 83 (righ t). For fu rth er exa mpl s see B. Hi.ib ne r, Ikonograph ische

10 Blom e, Zur Umgestaltung, pp. 435445 pl. 142, l.

Un tersuchu ng zum Moti vschatz cl er stad tri::i m isc h en mytho logisc hen Sarkoph age des 2. Jhs n . C hr. , Bo reas,

11

Ibid ., pp. 435-445 pls. i43,i. 144-146, i.

Beiheft 5 (Diss. Mli nste r, 1990), pp. 9 5-102.

12 Koch-Sichtermann , Ri::imi sche Sa rkophage (see note 2), p. i3 7 note u.

19 Ibi d , p. 102.

13 Blom e, Zur Umgestaltung, p 435.

20 H . Meyer, Antin oos (M linche n.

See also S. Wood , Alcestis on Roman

i991), p. 218 pls. i 32,u; i34 i.

Sarcophagi , Am erican Journa l of Archeology, vol. 82, i978 (Boston, 1978),

21 T. Holscher, Die Geschicht-

PP 499-510.

sau ffa ssung in der rdmischen Repriisentationsktmst, Jahrbuch des Deutsc hen

14 Ibid. , pp. 499-500.

Archaologisc hen Instituts, vol. 95, 1980 (Berlin , 1980), p. 290 fig. 25.

i5

1.

H imm elm an n, Herrscher uncl

Athl et, Catalogue of th e Exh ibiti on

22 K. Schefold, Bilderbiicher als

Bonn , Akacl emisches Kun stmuse um

\!orlagen rdmischer Sarkophage, Melanges de l'ecole fra nca ise de Rom e,

(Mi lan, 1989), pp. 100-125 fig . 49. i6 G. Koch, Di e an tiken Sarkophag-

Antiq uite, vol. 88, 1976 (Rome , i976 ),

reli efs, vol. XII , Di e myth ologischen

p 810 fig . 21.

Sarkophage 6, M eleager (Berlin , i975), p. 85 ca t. no. i pis. ia. 2a.

23 G.M. Koeppel, Profectio und

29 Amecli ck, Vita Privata, pp . 72-74.

Adventus, Bonn er Jahrbi_icher, \路ol. 169, 1969 (Kevelae r. Koln. G ra z, 1969), pp.

By th e way, we have th e sam e picto rial sch eme of a conclamatio in th e cen tra l

130-194 fig. 9路

scene of som e Meleage r sarcoph agi, whi ch dep ict the ea rly death of this

24 P.L. Strack, Untersuchunge n zur rom isc hen Reichspragu ng des zweiten

young he ro . H ere again we find the fi g-

Jahrhunclerts, Tei] II Die Reichspragung

of the bed. See C. Koch, Meleager (see

untf r Hadrian (Stuttga rt, 1933 ), pl.

note 16), pp . 119-124 ca t. nos. 112-122 pls.

10,

ure of th e old paedagogus at th e left encl

642.

96-112.

25 Lexicon Iconographi cum Mythologiae C lassicae , vol. V 1 (Zu ri ch.

Mu nchen, 1990), pp. 479-498 s.v.

Homonoia/Co ncorcl ia (T. Holsch er).

30 J. Esteve-Forriol, D ie Trauer- u ncl Trostgecli chte in cl er romisc hen Liter-

atur (Diss. Mt_inc hen, 1963), p. 142 J.

Holsc her, Die Geschichtsauffassung, pp. 301-303 fi g. 35路

31 See note 13.

26 Ibid ., pp. 289-290 figs. 22. 23

32 D 'Am bra, The Cult of Virtu es (see note 5), pp . 392-400. F. Si nn , Vatika n-

27 From Ju vena l, for in stance , we kn ow

isch e Museen, M useo Gregoriano

that in Roman ociety an old nurse was

Profano ex Latera nense, Katalog cle r

rega rd ed as so methi ng of a status

Skulpturen, Vol. I 1 , Die Grabdenk-

sym bol. Following Juve nal (6, 352 ff. ), Roma n ladi es, to make a good im pres-

mi:iler 1, Reliefs, ltare, Urn en, Monumenta Artis Roma nae, vol. XVII (Ma in z,

sion on the pu blic at the th eatre

1991), pp. 36-37 ca t. no. 13 fi gs. 30-32.

" ... rented cloth es, atte nd an ts, an old nurse an d a blond haired servan t".

33 H . Wrede, Zweites Sym posion iiber die antiken Sarkophagreliefs,

28 R. Ameclick, Di e antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. I, Di e Sarkophage mi t

Archao logischer An zeiger 1977 (Berlin,

D a rstell u ngen a us el em Men sc h en leben

4, Vi ta Privata (Be rlin , 1991), p. 121 cat. no. 2 pl. 53,i. F. Valbruzz i, Un sarcofago di bambino rinvenu to ad Agrigen to, Gra beskunst cl er rom isc hen Ka ise rze it, cl . G. Koc h (Main z, 1993), pp. 155-158 pl. 66, 1.

106

1977 ), p. 405 note 184 p. 419 fi g. 103.

Co mpa re also Sinn , op.cit., pp . 45-46 ca t. no. 19 figs. 52-5 3.

34 Koch - Sichte rmann , Rom ische Sarkophage (see note 2), p. i88.

35 J M .C . Toynbee, Greek myth in

Roman stone, Latomus, Revue cl 'etud es La tin es, vol. 36 (Bruxell es, 1977), pp.

377-380, 406-412.

36 K. Weitzman n, Age of Spirituality, Catalogue of th e Exhibiti on New York, Metropolitan M useum of Art (Princeto n, 1979), pp. 242-243 ca t. no . 219.

37 An thologia Palatina VII no. 691 (eel . Tusculum , Munchen, 1957).

38 W. Peek, G ri ech ische Gra bgeclichte (Berlin , 1960), no. 393 (Olympias); no .

463 (Atili a Pomptilla).

39 B. Koetting, Un ivira in lnschri ften, Romani tas et C hristi anitas. Stucl ia J.H. Waszink (Amsterdam. London, 1973), pp. 195-206. B. v. Hesberg-Tonn , Coniunx Cari ss ima (D iss. Stuttgart, 1983), pp 66, 130-135, 175-176, 191, 198, 201, 22440 W.M . Calder III, The Alkestis

Inscription from Odessos: IGB R Iz 2 2 2 , Ameri can Journal of Archeology, vol.

79, 1975 (Boston, 1975), pp. 80-83.

41 M . Marcovich, Alcesti s Barcin on ensis, Mnemosyne Suppl. 103 (Leid en . New York. Kobenh avn. Koln, 1988), pp 30-34.

MYTH S TO L IVE B Y: DRr T l-I E R OMA

KI

G l

H OUSE

C h ri stine Kondo leon W il l iams Co l lege

Ancient attitu des toward drink ing and th e culture of th e vine a re vividly expressed in lite ratu re and art. Texts and images atte t to an ico nograp hy of wine that if traced back to th e rece iving audi ence ca n illumin ate not only th e soc ia l codes of drin king, but the process by whi ch indi vidua ls mad sense out of what was rec ited or depic ted. One obviou s loc u for th express ion of the pleasure of win e are the pa in ted vases of th e Greeks. Th e uses, ab uses, and mythologies of wine ani mate th e G reek picto ri al imagination. T he spec tac le of th e revels in for ms th e imagery of th e bl ack-a nd red-figure vessels used fo r dri nk ing. In seve ral recent surveys, es peciall y by the French cholars Francois Lissa rrag ue a nd Fra ncoise Frontisi-D ucroux, th is imagery is seen as integral to the G reek experi ence of the ba nqu et in th at th e re is consc ious inte rplay be tween th e fi gures on th e vessels

108

and th e participant in a ym pos ion .1 D espite the consisten t di vi ion of th ese painted scenes into two distin ct gro u ps, namely those tha t ill ustra te h uma ns engaged in dri nking and those th at di splay th e divin e revelries of D ionysos and hi s fo ll ower , the mortal and th e divine are bu t m irror refl ec tion of th e G reek attitu des towa rd wine. A consistent me sage is tha t\ ine must be mixed with wa t r in or !er to dri nk as a civili zed Greek, thus the pro mi nence of the kra ter on pain ted vases, an d the enorm ous nu mbe r of kraters decorated with revelers.2 T he di da ctic pot nt ial for such images is realized on a black-fi gu red dinos from the Louvre, dated ca. 560, whe re a populated fr ieze unfo lds a roun d its shoulde r. T he stri p of figures ca n be read as a comm enta ry on di ning: first a sympos ion with mu ltiple reclining gue ts is repr sented; next a D io nysiac procession with li vely sa tyrs;

fol lowed b y a gro up of hu ma n ac tors

evide n ce are th e recepti on rooms .

wi th m ask and b urles qu e gestures;

T h e selection, interpretation , a nd combination of mosaic th emes in

an d fina ll y, m ythological sce n es th at d epi ct un co ntro ll ed pass ions a n d th e abuses of h osp ital ity.3 T h e lesso n of

th ese co n vivial spaces all ow us to recons tru ct the local mentality of

th e pa inte d fri eze is filte red th ro ugh

th e inh abitan ts. A c lose reading of

rea lity, ritu al, and m yth . One imag-

m osa ic e nsem bles phys icall y con-

in es th e Greek audi e n ce as ve rsed

n ected to dini ng reveals, with th e

in the reading of suc h seque n ces.

In d eed , th e respon se of th e a n c ie nt

a id of litera ry sources, th e social

sp ec ta tor pla yed a n integral pa rt in th e formul ati o n of visu al and ve rbal

und e rline the program m at ic inten t of th e ir compositions .

im age ry. Hom e r's d esc ripti on of the

In one inge n iou s fo rmulatio n ,

conditi ons of th eir reception an d

shi eld of Ac hill es is a p aradigm in

four m yth s are b rough t togeth e r

th e stud y of a n c ie nt rh e toric for th e

a long th e west p ortico of th e pe ri-

p rocess where by verb al sequ e n ces evoked m e nta l images.4 V\lhil e th e

style in th e House of D ion ysos at

Greek m e nta lity is n ot a R oman one,

h o u se elated a rchaeol ogicall y to th e

and th e ir soc ial h ab its a re n ot com-

late second ce ntury A.D. (fi g. i). 6 A

p a rabl e, th e inte rpl ay b etvvee n art

contextu al ana lys is of th ese mosa ics

ob jec t, partic ipant, a nd eve nt set

is m a d e eas ier b y th e c ircu msta n ces

forth in these studi es of pa inte d

of their display as they are foun d just

vases su ggests a wa y in whi ch we can ap proach Roman drinkin g th e m es

o utsid e of th e m ain dining room or triclinium (at th e weste rn encl of th e

di splaye d in the Ro man h ouse.

M u c h rece nt sch ola rship on th e

h ouse) and within a specifi c deco rative program. Pec u l iarities in the

Paphos in C yprus, a Roman town

a rt and architec ture of th e Roman

represe ntati o n of the myths refl ec t a

h o u se p romotes th e n oti on th at th e

p asti c h e constru ction th at draws on

domus expresses th e social realiti es

loca l tra diti o n s and geographic lore

of its inh ab ita nts a nd of Roma n soc i-

for its inspi ratio n . Th e use of pe rso n-

ety at la rge.5 Of all th e ca tego ri es of

ifi ca ti ons, ofte n obsc ure , and ide nti-

domesti c d eco rati o n , fl oo r mosa ics

fying Greek lab e ls, suggest th at th ese

survive in th e grea tes t nu mbe r and

are self-co n sc ious crea ti ons, no t

a re th e most lo qu ac ious fo r co ntex-

prosa ic cop ies. T h e in te rpretation

tu al inqui ries. The one zo ne of th e

of th ese sce n es, and the explana ti on

a nci ent house for whi c h th e re is

for th e ir iconographi c tw ists, re li es

ample textual and a rc h aeolog ical

on seein g th e m with the verbal and

D

CJ

1

Paph o , I-l ouse of Di onysos, plan \\'ith mosaic designs, b)' C . Polyca rpou

(courtesy of I. Nicolaou )

vi sual ac u ity of th e ancient spec tator.

The absence of a single literary text to un lock th eir myste ri es frees our discuss ion fr om th e sea rc h fo r an authoritati\'e source. Yet th e location of th e mosa ics bound s th em in a parti c ul ar way th at provid es an extern al frame of refe re nce fo r th e asse mbled mythi cal fragmen ts.

T he four myth ologica l panels th at deco rate the west porti co of the peri style are fro m th e sou th to th e north: Pyramos and Thi sbe; Di onysos offering th e gift of win e to Ikar ios and th e F irst Win e-d rinker ; Poseido n and mymone; and lastl y, Apoll o and Daphn e (fi g. 2). Leaving asid e th e long panel with lka ri os for a momen t, let us fo cus on th e three pan els 110

depi ctin g th e amoro us episode .

Th eir simil ar ities in terms of the ir size, the me, an d compos iti on- eac h with three fi gures in m inimal landscape -c reate a \'isual impression of unity. Th e visitor is in \' ited by th e style of th eir presen tation to consid e r them as a gro up. A uc h, th ey evoke what Elea nor Leac h calls th e ""isual fi cti on of th e pinacotheca" in th at th ey, li ke th ei r mural co unterpa rts, defin e an enviro n ment in whi h myth commu nica te omethi ng about rea lity.7 Just as di vine pun ish ment m ight be constru ed as th e the me of roo m 1 in th e House of th e Ve ttii at Pom peii ,8 th e loves of th e gods might be th e shared th eme of th e west portico mosa ics, or the

2

Paphos, Ho use of Dionysos, west porti co pan els, drawi ng by M . Medi c

(courte y of th e Depa rtm en t of Antiqui ties, Cyprus)

th eme of metamorph osis sin ce th e three myth s in volve transformati ons: Thisbe into a mulberry bush ; Daphn e into a laurel bu h , and Am ymone into a spring.

Oth e r pe rspecti ves on these connection s onl y confirm s the pol ysemous nature of such assembl ages and how easily our interpre tations ma y fall short of what th e anci en t spec tator ac tu all y und erstood. In seeking to desc rib e th e con ve nti ons th at shaped th e mod es of see ing and comprehension , it is instru cti ve to turn to the works of lite rary th eo rists preoccu pied with th e in teraction between text and reade r. Most appli cable for art histori cal inquiry are th e writin gs of \1\Tolfgang Ise r and Wolfgang Kemp, th e latter has in fact substituted th e work of art for th e text and the viewe r for th e reader in his constru cti on of a "reception aesth eti c."9 lser's account of th e reading process is especiall y useful for our ana lys is: "Communicati on in lite rature is a process se t in motion and regul atecl .. . by a mutuall y restri c ti ve and magnifying interaction between the expli cit and the

impli cit, between revelation and concealm e nt. Wh at is concealed spurs th e rea der into action , but this ac tion is also controll ed by what is revealed; the explicit in its turn is transform ed wh en the impl ic it has been brought to light. Wh enever th e rea de r bridges the gaps, communi cati on begins." 10 In follow ing th e affinities and differences between th e Paph ia n fra gme nts of mythpi ctorial tex ts, as it were, an outli ne of th e patte rns di scove red by th e orig inal viewer emerge .

It is poss ibl e to approach the west porti co panels and note th e di stin cti ve fea tures of the lkario panel. It is set at th e ce nter of the col on naded corrid or and is nea rly twi ce as long as th e other three in th e series (+ 3 m eters long) (fi g. i ). Th e co mposition is arra nged in three parts: Oionysos and Akm e are seated at th e so uth encl of th e panel; lka rios sta nds in the middl e with an oxenclrawn cart at his side; two drunken figures are set in th e north corn er (figs. 3 and 4). Each fi gure is identifi ed by a G reek inscripti on including th e two drunks who are give n th e 111

3 Paphos, House of Dionysos, Di o nysos, Akme, lkari os and "Th e First \<\Tine-Drinkers" (co urtesy of th e Departm ent of n tiquiti cs, Cyprus)

title of "Th e First Win e-Drinkers" (fig. 4).

Th e Ikario panel stands out for its length , for the amoun t of pi ctorial de tail (figures, prop , and insc ription ), and for its central and ax ial placement \\' ith rega rd to the gran d triclinium. The diffe rence is intentiona l and emphatic; th e vis itor's progres across th e porti co is arres ted, and th e ax ial relatio nship bet\\'ee n this mosa ic pa nel an d th e din ing room is th ereby hi ghlighted. The selec tion of th e myth and its unu ual depiction in three-parts was und oubtedly deter min ed by its location . Th e myth of Ikarios ce ntered on the inventi on of wine makes a perfec t introduc ti on to th e mass ive grapeharves t spread across th e fl oor of th e grand reception hall . Spatially and ico nograp hi call y, th is long mosa ic serves as a kind of vestibule for the main dinin g room. T h visito r is in vited to visua ll y and kina e th e tica ll y un ite this sce ne with the mo aics of the Triu mph of D ion ysos and th e vine-harvest (fi g. i ).

112

Th e Paph ia n artist depicted the legend of th e inve nti on of wine in two pa rts with D ionysos p resen ting th e vi ne and h is th e gift of th e vin e and the wine to Ikar ios on one side, and the drun ke n shepherds to whom lkari os gave the first dri nk on the oth er (fi gs. 3 and -J.). The few extant representations of thi s legend display a va ri e ty of approac h s to it illustration , but th e Paphian mosaic is the onl y one th at ge nera ll y follows the nar rati,路e. Th e myth is featured in th e mid t of a vast vine ca rpet mosa ic found in th e oecus (reception room ) of th e House of th e Labe rii at Oudnau In th e center of this mid-second century mosa ic, D ionysos stands near a goat a nd pours wine ou t of his cup \\'hile Ikar ios, bea rded and in a hort tuni c, offers a cluster of grapes to a sea ted fi gure in imperial ga rb.

In what migh t be termed a mythological shorth and, Di onyso pours win e from a ka n tharos and stands bes ide Ika ri os who carries grapes in the fo lds of hi mantle in a mosa ic pan el from a late antiq ue vill a at

in sc ripti on to in te rp re t all th ree mosa ics as an en se mble th at fun ctio n ed as a n apotropa ion aga in st envy (invidia ).1 3 Seen from th e perspec ti ve of th e inscription, the Th ree Graces b ecom e a topos of be n efice n ce and th e tvvo wine /vine scenes a mo ral lesson on th e rewards and pu ni sh m en ts of Dion ysos. T h e panel with Ikari os and Dion ysos begins the se ri es as a kin d of hospitabl e g reeting to th e g u est ente ri ng th e room .

The message is underli ned in th e next pan el b y th e T h ree Gracesa th eme tha t appears as a sa lu tato ry d evice in ma n y a Roman bath and wo uld b e eas il y und e rstood as su c h in th e Gall ic vill a. 14 T h e firs t two pa n e ls p rese nt an opposition to th e 4 D etai l, "T h e First W in e-Drinke rs"

last m osa ic whi ch il lustrates another

(co urtesy of th e D epartme n t of An tiq u ities,

ep ig ram of Martial wh e rein a goat ea ts the vin e o u t of e n vious sacril ege

Cyp rus)

and is conde m n e d by Di onysos to 12

is th e first o f three pa n els tha t d ecorated a receptio n roo m in thi s late

die (Ep ig. 3.24). Th us th e gu est is welcomed , as Ikarios was rece ived b y D ionysos, but wa rn e d aga inst

fourth o r ea rl y fifth century Galli c

b ring ing invidia into th e h o use.

V ino n in Na rbo nn e (fi g. 5).

T his

villa . T h e p end ant p an els of thi s

Alth o u gh m u ch late r in date a n d

p ave m e nt d epi ct resp ec ti vely, th e

of a m ore expli cit na ture, the Ga ll o-

T hree G races , an d a goat eating th e

Ro m a n tria d of m osaics offe rs a gloss on th e Paphi an vers ion of the in ven-

vine b es id e two sh eph e rds. A long in sc ripti on run s b elow all three. It is a n epigram from Ma rti al a nd may b e

tio n of wine. In a se nse , lkarios in

tra n slate d as: "Yo u wh o scowl, and

role as the T h re e G races in Gau l;

d o n ot favo rably read thi s, m ay yo u e n vy all m e n , you li vid one, n o ma n

h e serves both to co ntra st an d to connect the two parts of th e panel.

e n vy yo u !" H e nri Lavagne u ses the

In an innovative lea p , th e Paph ian

th e C ypriot mosa ic plays th e sa m e

mosa icist used Ikari os to balance th e compositi on in terms of narrati ve conte nt and form al confi gu rati on .

Ika ri os- th e ancient parago n of hospitality-turns forwa rd vvith an open ges ture and welcomes th e guests at th e sa me time th at he receives th e gift of wine. Th e re is also a dida c ti c qu ality to Ikari os' pose; he signals th e beneficial associa ti ons of wine by pointing to th e divin e co uple. Th e

deleteri ous effects of wine exh ibited nearby. In fact, akme is defin ed in a late antiqu e lexicon as temperance, in th e sense of moderation. H e re, th e mosaicist goes beyond th e narrative to create a n exeges i of myth .1 5 In a broader readi ng, "Th e Fi rst Wi ne-Drinkers" at Pap hos rep rese nt an u ngrateful , un civili zed response to hospitality; th eir excesses !eel th em to murd er Ikari os. Th ere is a

5 Vinon, three-panel mosa ic from the reception room of a late anti q ue 1路illa (courtesy of I-1. Lavagne)

harmful effects of wa nton drinking (i.e. th e mi suse of the gifts of D ionysos) are disparagingly illustrated at th e oth er encl by th e drunken shepherds. Th e in clusion of AKMH, who is not accounted for in the lite rary texts, is best understood as a personifi cation. Although she is shown drinking from a bowl, her composure and dignitas seem to be offered as a model th at is contras ted with th e

moral lesso n in th e Paphian Ikarios scene th at works on at least two levels: internally, th e bless ings bestowed on the fo ll owers of Dionysos are celebrated in both th e lkari os scene and in th e Trium ph and Vintage scenes (beyond in the triclinium); whil e extern ally, it serves as a ca utionary message to th e guests -"Do not abuse our hospitali ty."

Th e fa ct that ancients would have

und e rstood this m o ra l lesso n is

ica ll y, th e n th e pro posed rela ti on-

und e rlin ed by th e u se of Ma rti al's ve rse in th e Gall o-Roma n mosaic.

ship between th e Hippolytos and P h aedra mosaic a nd th e west porti co

Rh e tori cal treati ses give further

se ri es reestabl ish es a refere nti al fi el d

proof th a t su c h lesso n s vve re part of

in which a parti c u lar read ing was

an c ie nt intell ectu al di sco urse. Fo r

co n stituted.

insta n ce, th e third-ce ntury rh eto r Menander instructs hi s p upils to

Alth ough th e lka ri os pa nel can be see n in co njunctio n w ith the Di on y-

empl oy Hippolytos as an example

siac th emes of the large re ception

of tempe ra n ce (sophrosyne) for the

ha ll adjace nt to the west po rti co, its

purposes of d emo n strating th e qua lity of self-restra int in th e ir pra ises of a gove rn o r. 16 T h e h ero's immu n ity

ce ntral loca ti on and la rge r scale cast th e three oth e r m yth s in to its frame-

to hi s stepmothe r's sexual a d vances

vid ed by both thei r ph ysical setting

establish ed him as an anc ie nt

a nd by the instructi on inhe rent in

exe mplum of m od e ratio n. A visua l

the lkarios panel, th ese narrative seg-

counte rpa rt to this ve rbal d evice

m e nts app ear struc tured an d seque n-

is su ggested by th e pl ace m en t of a mosa ic with Hipp olytos a nd Pha edra

tial. 'Ne sh o uld now turn to th e a m orous m yth s an d exam ine th eir

in room 7 at Paphos (fig. 6 ). T h e fig-

iconographi c peculiarities. 17 A qui ck

ures fac e towa rd th e e ntranc e wh ich

ske tch of th eir u nus ual qualiti es

is on axis with the west po rti co (fi g. i).

must suffice fo r th is essay.

Just as th e othe r three pa n els in the

wo rk . Taken within th e co ntext pro-

The first sce n e the visito r sees

west portico, thi s m osa ic also pre-

upo n ente ring th e west porti co is

se nts an a moro us episode with th e ac to rs in th e middl e, in roughl y th e

th e Pyramos and T hisbe mosa ic (fi g. 7).18 It is clea rl y an ad hoc

sa m e size pan el. The fac t th at

c reation in which elemen ts from

Hipp olytos is shown spurning Phaedra- und e rlin ed by Eros who points

startle d T hisb e , th e leopardess, and

hi s to rch down wa rd , an d by Hippoly-

th e cloak a re com bin ed with th e pre-

tos who hold s th e diptyc h away so as

se ntation of Pyramos as a river god.

not to read it- could h ave b een read

T h e in cl u sion of T hisb e's lover as

as a coda to th e instructive to n e of

flu vial d eity can be traced to easte rn

th e lkarios m osa ic, " m oderation in

Greek so urc es; one late antiqu e

pass io n , as with drink ." If we accept

repository of Near Eastern lore ab o ut

th at the decorations of ind ividu al

ri ve rs and o th er bodies of wa te r is

rooms might be related prog ram m a t-

th e Dionysiaca by Nonnos, a fifth-

th e O vid ia n tradition , namely the

1

ce ntury a uthor from Alexa ndri a. 9

in fr ont of h e r signal s a Paphi an vari-

In this p oem, Pyram os a nd Thisb e are desc rib ed as two rive rs th at,

a nt fro m th e mosa ic examples foun d in b oth the west a nd east whi c h ge n-

along with th e N il e and E uphra tes, Alph e ios and Arethusa are li ken e d

labe le d as Lad on do es accompany

e rall y follow Ovid. A ri ver god

to love rs wh o seek eac h oth e r an d fl ow into one anothe r. Fo rtun ately,

Apoll o and D aphne o n a white glass

a m osa ic preserves a visual reco rd of

the Coming Muse um of G lass, and

thi s lege nd. A seri es of busts of the

vase foun d in Kertch , prese ntly in

ri ve rs Alphe ios, Arethusa, Pyramos,

probabl y produced in An ti och in the first h alf of th e third-century. 21 The

and Thisbe ca n b e found in th e late second-century House of th e Porti-

ex isten ce of th e glass vase with Greek insc rip tio n s that nam e th e characte rs

coes at Antio ch . 20 Arethusa and

makes a strong case for an alte rna-

Thisbe appea r as female busts and

ti ve re presentation, o ne th at fo ll ows

confirm th e inte rpretation of th ese

eastern literary texts based on Syrian

four as two pairs of love rs trans-

so urces . In seve ral of th ese, in clud-

formed into th e rive rs and springs

ing

desc rib ed in N onnos' poem.

Pass ing over th e ce ntral lkarios

th e da ughter of Lad on, the ri ve r that

onnos, D aph ne is desc ribed as

flows n ea r th e te mple of Apollo at

pan el, th e n ext pan el th e visito r

D aphne , in th e d istri ct of Antioch .

e n co unte rs is on e that depi c ts Amymon e and Poseidon. The

The re a re seve ral m osaics from Antioch, and othe r eastern texts that

en co unte r b e twee n thi s n ymph and marin e god resulted in a spring in

support m y ide ntification of thi s ri ver god as Lado n. In summa ry, the

th e Argo lid bea ring h er nam e . There are other reason s wh y the m yth of

unusu al e mph asi s on ri ver pe rsonification s in th e de pictions of two of

Amymone mi ght h ave bee n selec ted

th e three shorte r panels, a nd the fac t

for a house in the Near East, but for th e purposes of th is disc u ssion we

that eac h story ca n be linked with a body of wa ter su ggests that the con-

ca n focu s on the aqu eo us outcome of th e ir e n co unte r.

cept of wa te r itself migh t be th e und erl yin g conn ec tion .

Apollo and Daphne are th e subject of the last pane l at th e northe rn

tions I ca n offer for th e combin ation

Whil e there are seve ral constru c-

e nd of th e portico; th e m a iden is

of th ese m yth s wi th the lkarios

shown in th e midst of h er transformation into a laurel tree. The addi-

pa n el, the re is one tha t I find comp ellin g in view of th e arch itec tural

tion of a b ea rd ed ri ve r go d reclining

a nd fun ctio nal co ntext of these

n6

6 Paphos, House of Dionysos, Hippolytos and Phaedra, room 7 (courtesy of th e Departm ent of An tiqu iti es, C yprus)

mosa ics. M y proposal in volves a

wate r so that m e n might stan d

sp ec ula ti ve lea p into th e vis ual

upright (i.e. "b e c ivili zed " and n ot

h a bits of Roman society. T h e c u s-

stoop e d over like anima ls). In grati -

to m s of win e-drinking as preserved

tude, th e Attic king b uilt an altar to

in th e texts of symposiac literature a re at the core of m y h ypothesis. A

th e "upright Dionysos" in th e shrin e of the Seaso n s, and an othe r nearby

se ri es of su c h texts a re compil e d by

to th e Nymp h s "to rem in d devotees

Ath e n ae u s in hi s Deipnoso phistae

of the mixing." We then learn th at

(a lea rn e d coll ection of writings on

m e n were to drink only a sip of

dining fro m the third ce ntury), one of whi ch co nta ins informati o n

u nm ixed win e to recall th e power of th e "good god " and th e reafter to mix

relevant to th e interpretati o n of the

wate r vvith wine and invoke the

wes t po rti co en semb le. Ath e n ae us

name of Z e u s Soter "as a warn in g

(II . 38) qu otes the H ell e ni sti c a uth o r

and reminde r to drinkers th at onl y

Philochorus wh o relates that Di ony-

whe n th ey d rank in thi s fa shion

sos ta ugh t th e Athe ni a n king Amphi-

wou ld th ey surely be safe."

ctyon h ow to drink wine mixed with

22

By quoting the Hell e nistic

7 Pap h os, H ouse of Di onysos, Pyramos a nd Th isbe , west porti co (co urtesy of th e D epa rtm e nt o f An tiqu ities, C yp ru s)

customs and weaving th em into his own discourse on drinking, Athenae us implies that it was accessibl e to a Roman audi ence. As such , it provides a textual parall el to what can be und erstood in th e Ikarios panel, namely, wil) e-drinking is th e benefa cti on of a divin e teacher -Di onysos .

T he second point made in th e text is that to drink in a civili zed manne r one needs to mix wine with wa ter.

Just as th e Altar to the Nymphs reminded th e Attic inhabitants to

n8

drink mixed wine, so migh t th e th ree aqu eo us myth s effec ti vely recall wa te r to th e minds of the ancient guest. The moral impl ications of the tale, demonstrated by th e symposi ac praye r to Zeus, are also applica bl e to_th e lka ri os m osa ic which offers a pic torial demonstrati on of th e delete rious effects of wa nton drinkin g.

Athenae us fo llows the Hellenistic text with h is own medi tatio n on drunke n ness and the mystic rites of Dionysos (II A o) .

In th e same text, Athenaeus

for in sta n ce .2 3 Acc o rding to one

(II-41-44) goes on to list vario u s kinds

sch ola r, "Th e anc ie n t Roman's pe r-

of water-fresh, salty, spring, we ll s -

ceptual and conceptual re ad ing of

avai lable to th e consum er. In hi s taster's guide to wate rs Athenaeus

th e reli ef program [of th e Ara Pac is], filtered th rough laye rs of myth ical

takes th e read e r on a tour of so urces

a nd e tiological stru c ture, could onl y

found throughout th e ancient wo rl d.

Might not a simila r sequ ence of

h eigh ten th e appre ci ation of its te m poral impl ications." 2 4 It wo u ld

ideas b e presented in th e west portico at Paphos where diffe rent waters

appea r th en th at the coll ection of ancient m yths in the west portico

(rive rs-Ladon and Pyra mos; a sp ring-Amymon e, and th e sea -

at Paphos were end owe d wi th a n imme di acy precisel y because of a

Poseidon ) are de picted alongsid e th e

"participatory identifica ti on" o n th e

drunk e n figures and th e gift of wine?

The text of Athenaeus prese nts

p art of th e viewe r.2 5 T h e communi-

a sequ ence of verbal im ages which, in turn , suggests a way in whi ch th e

between revelation an d con cealment, and between the re alms of th e

anc ie nt sp ec tator might have und er-

ve rbal and the visu al , b etwee n real-

stood th e Cypriot mosa ics. The col-

ity a nd fi c ti on.

ca ti on occurs, as Iser pointed o ut,

lec tion of these m yths, set in the con text of th e m a in reception wing of th e Paphian house, d e m a nds that th e viewer go b eyo nd m e re ide ntification of narra tive segm ents, and use th e ir visu al imagination to co n ceptualize the aqueous ele m e nt of th ese m yth s and to link th e m to the drinking of wine - a social b e h aviour in which th ey we re about to take part.

Rece nt ana lys is of Rom an publi c art and of Latin texts have revealed a co mpl ex ity of allusion even in th e most ca nonical exa mpl es (e.g., Virgil and Ovid). The a nci e nt sp ec-

1

See especial ly F. Li ssarrague, The

Aesthetics of the Greek Banquet. Images of Wine and Ritual (Princeton, 1990); and J.-L. Durand, F. Fronti si-D ucroux and F. Li ssarague, "vVine:Hurnan and Divine," in A City of Images.

Iconography and Society in Ancient Greece by C . Berard , C . Bron , J.-L. Durand et al. , tran s. by D. Lyons

tator, it would see m , was capabl e of followin g the cross-refe re nc es

(Prin ceton, 1989) 121-130 .

b e twee n th e panels of th e Ara Pacis,

2 Lissarague 1990, esp. 3-19.

3 For an illustration of th e Lou\'re

Rezepti onsasthetik ," in W. Kemp, Der

Dinos E 876, see Be rard, Bron , D urand

Betrachter ist im Bild (Koln , 1985 ) 7-27

e t al. 1989, fi g. 187a,b,c, pp 136-137 JO

I er 1980,

lll.

4 For a di sc uss ion of th e ekphrastic potential of Hom er' desc ription of the

11 For a descripti on and bibl iography of

sh ield of Achilles, see E.W. Leach, The

thi s mosa ic from roo m 32 of the vil la,

Rhetoric of Space. Literary and Artistic

see K. D unbab in , The Mosaics of Roman

Representations of Landsca/Je in Republican and Augustan Rome

1

and Patronage (Oxford, 1978 ), pp. 182-3,

(Prin ceto n , 1988)

esp. 266, lm .

11-1+

orth Africa. Studies in Iconography

5 See e p. E. Gazda , ed. Roman Art in

12 H . Lavagne, "Les Trois Graces et la

the Private Sphere (Ann rbor, 1991); J. R. Cla rke, The Houses of Roman Italy

visite de Dion yso c hez lkarios ur une

100

B.C.-A. D. 250. Ritual, Space, an d

Decora tion (Berkeley, 1991); and most recen tl y, A. \Vall ace-H adrill , Houses and Society in Pompeii and I-:lerculaneum

mosaYqu e de larbon na ise," Fifth

International Colloquium on Ancient Mosaics, ed . P. Joh nso n, R. Li ng and D .J. Smith (Ann

rbor, 1994) 238-248,

color fi gs. 1,2,5 a nd 7.

(Prin ce ton , 1994).

13 Ibid ., p. 245-247.

6

fu ll study of th e mo aics can be

found in C. Kon doleon, Domestic and

14 Ind eed, it ha bee n noted th a t the

Divine: Roman l\!Iosaics of the House of Dionysos (Ithaca, 199 5).

image of the Graces ec ho the use of th e same fi gures in th e epi grams so th at "vi ua l image and ve rba l expre ion

7 Leac h 198 , 379.

fo rm pa rt of a common vocab ul ary," see K. Dun bab in, "Baia rum Grata Volup tas:

8 C larke 1991, 222, fi g. 131.

Plea ures and Dange rs of the Bath ,"

9 W. Ise r, "Inte rac tion be tween Text

(19f.39) 6-46, esp. 21-22.

Papers of the British School at Rome 57 and Reader," The Reader in the Text.

Essays on Alldience and Interpretation

15 In th e Athenian world , the excesses

(Pri nce ton, 1980) 106-119; and W. Ise r,

of the ba nqu et were a subj ec t fo r more

The ct of Reading. A Theory of Aesthetic Response (Baltimore, 1978);

di rect representati on; as th e G reek

and W. Kemp, "Kunstwisse nsc haft u nd

was confronted by the outcome of too

12 0

d rinker bro ught the cup to his lips he

mu ch of a good thin g. E.g., revelers are

22 For th ese and other ancient theories

depi c ted stooped ove r and vo mitin g in to

on th e civi li zing an d dom esticatin g rol e

bowls whi le supported by yo un g mal e

of D ionysos and the invention of win e,

slave , see Be rard , Bron, D urand , et al.

see Dirk Obb in k, "Dionysus Po ured

1989, p. 116, fi g. 170.

Ou t: Anci en t and Mode rn T heo ri es of

16 Menand e r, Treatise IV.10-416.

Masks of Dionysus, T. H . Carpente r

Sacrifi ce an d Cu ltural For111atio n," an d C.A. Faraone, eds. (Ithaca, 1993 ), 17 Som e of which have been disc ussed

pp . 65-86, esp. 79-82. See also W.

in C. Verm eu le, Greek and Roman

Burke rt, "Or iental Symposia: Contrasts

Cyprus (Boston , 1976), pp . 101-114; others of whi ch ca n be found in

an d Pa rall els," D ining in a Cla ssical

Konclol eo n 1995 路 chapter 5 Fo r desc rip-

199 1), pp. 7-24.

Context, W. Slate r, eel. (Ann Arbor,

tion s of th e c nes and co lor pla tes, see D . Micha elid es, Cypriot Mosaics

23 As is recentl y argued by B. Kellum ,

( icos ia, 1992), pp. 22-40.

"'vVha t we see an d wha t we don ' t see.

Na rrative Stru cture and th e Ara Pa cis

18 For a deta iled disc ussion of thi s pan el and its ico nograph y and so urces,

ugu tae," Art History 17 (1994), pp. 26-45, e p. 38-40.

see C. Kondol eo n, "A Case for Artistic In venti on: A Cypriot Pyramos and

24 Fro111 Pete r J. Holl id ay, "Time,

Thisbe," Archaeologia Cypria IL (1991)

H is tory, and Ritual on th e Ara Pa cis Augustae ," Art Bulletin 72 (1990) p. 55i.

19 For a recent anal ys is of th is poem , ee G . W. Bowersock, Hellenism in Late

Antiquity (Ann Arbor, 1990), esp. 41-49.

25 Ibid. , p. 55i. If we foll ow P. Holli day, it i evid ent that Rom ans were ca pabl e of relating all egories and myths to co ntem pora ry events and that these

20 Doro Levi, Antioch Mo saic Pave-

were th e common prac ti ces of th e

ments (Prin ceton , 1947) p. 58, pl. 9b.

viewing publi c.

21 For an ill ustration, see Glass from the

Ancient World: The Ray Winfie ld Smith Co llection (Corning M useum of Gla ss: NY, 1957), p. 165, no. 32+

121