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book reviews
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et al. Duncan stresses that Roman law names prostitutes, actors, and gladiators
as legally infames, but that repeated legislative efforts to prevent aristocrats from
joining those ranks in any way indicates the allure of the low-Other (256). She
also observes that both actors and prostitutes were paid both to pretend and
cross-dress (accepting the received view, challenged elsewhere in this volume,
that prostitutes did wear the toga).
Kate Gilhuly’s “The Phallic Lesbian: Philosophy, Comedy, and Social Inversion in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Courtesans” suggests that the fifth dialogue
problematizes “the Athenian past of the Second Sophistic” (274). Close reading of
the dialogues and attention to scenarios and terminology are convincing. Gilhuly
accepts the view that Lucian himself performed these dialogues and considers their
relationship to Lucian’s own persona as it emerges elsewhere. Noting Lucian’s
complex identity as politically Roman, ethnically Syrian, and culturally Greek (or
Greco-Semitic), Gilhuly finds salient “the tension between self and other created
by his status as a foreigner who traffics in the Greek cultural past” (276).
Collections like this one reflect current areas of controversy and should
stimulate more work on an important aspect of social and intellectual history.
Especially valuable to the mainstream classicist are the essays that range outside
the Greco-Roman world. A chronological table incorporating all the historical
periods and cultures in the volume would have made the book more accessible
to non-specialists, who too often still rely on outdated studies of the subject.
Passages and shorter phrases are transliterated and translated, and the updated
bibliography incorporates work since 2002.
Madeleine M. Henry
Iowa State University
e-mail: mhenry@iastate.edu
Jeremy Tanner. The Invention of Art History in Ancient Greece: Religion,
Society, and Artistic Rationalisation. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. xvi + 331 pp. 62 black-and-white
ills. Cloth, $99.
In his introductory chapter, Jeremy Tanner quotes J. J. Winckelmann’s
eighteenth-century description of the Apollo Belvedere: “Among all the works
of antiquity which have escaped destruction, the statue of Apollo is the highest ideal of art . . . In the presence of this miracle of art, I forget all else, and I
myself take a lofty position for the purpose of looking on it in a worthy manner”
(6). Tanner makes it clear that Winckelmann, widely regarded as the founder
of modern art history, was not simply recording a personal reaction. Instead,
Winckelmann’s notion of artworks as autonomous objects of aesthetic experience
was deeply rooted in the transformation of the basic institutions of art during
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the Enlightenment. These included changes in patronage and production, and
the introduction of the new philosophy of aesthetics. The new conception of art
as a form of individual expression was tied not only to the notion of personal
liberty but also to the growing obsession with national identities. Winckelmann’s
rapturous response to the Apollo Belvedere is understandable only as a part of
this broader set of social and intellectual currents.
The kinds of art history that Tanner is concerned with in this book are
quite distinct from Winckelmann’s and belonged to profoundly different cultural
networks. Tanner lays out three goals for the book: first, to analyze art as a form
of material culture that was both shaped by society and, in turn, helped to shape
society; second, to develop an analytic framework for comparing classical and
modern art history without conflating the two; third, to move art history to the
explanatory level, exploring not only how classical art developed over the long
term, but why. Tanner’s approach is sociological, drawing especially on the work
of the once influential American sociologist, Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) and the
semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914). As a result, Tanner shifts from
the traditional focus on artists to the interaction of artists, patrons, and viewers.
In chapter 2 (“Rethinking the Greek Revolution,” 31–96) Tanner addresses
one of the central problems in art history, the apparently sudden transformation
from abstraction to naturalism in Greek art in the beginning of the fifth century
b.c.e., famously described by E. H. Gombrich as “the Greek Revolution.” Why,
after generations of continuity within the Archaic style, did Greek artists, alone
among the artists working in the broader Middle Eastern tradition, develop the
naturalistic style of art represented in, for example, Polykeitos’s Doryphoros? For
Gombrich, the “Greek Revolution” was fundamentally a matter of artists breaking
from ingrained patterns and attempting, as individuals, to match the appearance
of their statues with the natural world. Other writers, including several contributors to Diana Buitron-Oliver, ed., The Greek Miracle: Classical Sculpture from
the Dawn of Democracy (Washington, D.C., 1992), have described the change in
terms even more deeply grounded in Winckelmann: the revolution in style was
a product of the birth of individuality and personal freedom that accompanied
the birth of democracy in classical Greece.
Tanner is specifically concerned with what the “Greek Revolution” meant
for cult statues. While he rejects the simplistic equation democracy = naturalism as
an explanatory device, Tanner nevertheless holds that political changes, marked by
the Kleisthenic reforms, had profound effects on both the makers and the viewers
of art. Through most of the sixth century b.c.e., the aristocracy was in firm control
of religious art. Through the forms of the kouros and kore, aristocrats merged
their identities with those of the gods. Through their sponsorship and control of
the sanctuaries, they controlled the access ordinary viewers had to images of the
sacred. While the immediate effects of the Kleisthenic reforms may have been
more complex than Tanner implies, over the course of a generation the authority
of the traditional aristocracy declined, and the sponsorship of cult images was
transferred to the demos, whose representatives commissioned artists who could
book reviews
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address the interests of a broader range of citizens. The new cult statues began to
take on a more nuanced iconography that allowed the personalities of the various
deities to be differentiated and created a more intimate relationship between the
viewers and the cult statue. Thus, in Tanner’s interpretation, the naturalism of the
“Greek Revolution” was not due to the secularization of religious imagery but
to changes within the arena of religion.
In chapter 3 (“Portraits and Society in Ancient Greece,” 97–140) Tanner
examines the relationship between the “Greek Revolution” and the development
of portraiture. In the traditional view, the development of portraiture in the early
fifth century b.c.e. is seen as the almost inevitable consequence of the presumed
new individualism. Tanner, however, reminds us that every aspect of the civic
portrait, from the decision about who would and who would not be honored to
the decisions about scale, pose, and placement, involved political choices made
by the representatives of the demos. The culturally specific physiognomics of the
images—the detached composure in Kresilas’s portrait of Pericles, the carefully
modulated stride of the Polykleitan pose, etc.—were not the result of sculptors
idealizing individual appearances and personalities but were embodiments of
ideals such as sophrosyne (self control); the statues were meant to serve as civic
models.
Tanner examines the changing roles of artists during the late fifth and fourth
centuries b.c.e. in chapter 4 (“Culture, Social Structure, and Artistic Agency in
Classical Greece,” 141–204). Some of the changes were economic. When, after
the middle of the fifth century b.c.e., public commissions generally were reduced
in scale and private patrons and new corporate groups began to take their place,
artists suddenly found themselves in a more competitive world. As art became a
topic of conversation in the emerging philosophical schools, several artists tried
to appropriate for themselves the intellectual trappings of the sophists by writing
treatises and teaching. However, because of their roots in the world of manual
crafts and the hierarchical thinking of intellectuals like Plato, classical artists were
unable to rise to the status of the philosophers and rhetoricians.
In chapter 5 (“Reasonable Ways of Looking at Pictures: High Culture
in Hellenistic Greece and the Roman Empire,” 205–76) Tanner considers yet
another transformation of the basic institutions of art in the Hellenistic and
Roman periods. Beginning with the Hellenistic libraries, museums, and palaces,
and culminating with the private collections of originals and copies in the villas
of the Roman elite, art moved further from the public to the private arena. This
dramatic shift involved not only a change in physical setting but also a change
in social and intellectual context. The emerging elite was expected to be familiar
with the great artists of the classical past as art became a key part of the cultural
capital used to establish and maintain social identity. The “Invention of Art History” referred to in the book’s title took place in this milieu.
In his final chapter (“Epilogue: Art after Art History,” 277–302) Tanner
returns to the role of the artists in this rapidly changing Hellenistic/Roman art
world. Perhaps ironically, in a world in which the great artists of the fifth and
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fourth centuries were now more famous than ever, the largely anonymous Hellenistic and Roman artists were primarily involved in the mass production of
images for the booming art market. In this regard, Pliny’s widely quoted remark
that in 292 b.c.e. cessavit diende ars (“then art stopped”) is interesting. According to Tanner, Pliny did not mean that images ceased to be made, nor even, as
others have suggested, that the classical treatises upon which Pliny drew stopped
being written. Rather, Pliny’s art history corresponded broadly with Aristotle’s
teleological view of poetry: by 292 b.c.e. the visual arts had realized their full
inherent potential, all possible forms of art having been explored. It remained for
Hellenistic and Roman artists only to reproduce copies of the timeless classics
or for others (like Pasiteles) to combine appropriated elements of the classics
into new eclectic forms. The artists produced, in other words, exactly what their
patrons demanded for their esoteric conversations on connoisseurship.
As this brief summary indicates, Tanner’s book addresses several of the
most crucial questions in classical art history. The results are always interesting,
but some are more successful than others. Tanner deals particularly well with his
first goal when he approaches art as the product of the complex interaction of
several constituencies (artists, patrons, art writers, viewers) operating within in
a variety of social, religious, and political arenas. His third goal—to explain why
classical art changed as it did over time—may ultimately prove to be impossible,
and Tanner’s idiosyncratic solutions are at best incomplete. For example, by focusing only on cult statues and portraits rather than also considering forms such as
relief sculpture or pediment sculpture, Tanner minimizes the role that expanding
narratives may have played in the stylistic change: as Gombrich noted, we cannot
separate changes in form from changes in content. Nevertheless, Tanner’s approach
is more useful than the two main alternatives, namely, that the change came about
through a series of actions of individual creative geniuses (Pheidias, Polykleitos,
Praxiteles, etc.) or that style simply changed through a vast anonymous Darwinian
process by means of which the style of a black-figure vase, for example, somehow
stylistically “evolved” into a Roman Second Style wall painting.
Tanner is least successful at his goal of developing an analytic framework for comparing ancient and modern art histories. Readers who have been
exhausted by the often impenetrable prose of the critical theory of the last two
decades will initially be relieved that Tanner adamantly avoids postmodern
jargon. In fact, Tanner apparently tries to avoid postmodern theory generally.
For example, he chides contemporary art historians for “purchasing off the shelf
Lacan’s linguistically overdetermined account of the viewer and visuality” (72, n.
165), preferring to resurrect the work of Parsons and Pierce. Tanner’s apparent
antipathy to postmodern theory seems particularly curious since so much of his
book will sound familiar to students of postmodern art and critical theory. To cite
a few examples, Tanner’s interest in deconstructing the narratives that produced
the notion of the “Greek Revolution” is indebted to Derrida; Tanner’s concerns
with artistic agency in chapter 4 coincide with Barthes’s notion of the “Death of
the Author”; his discussion of how shifting artworks from their original public
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contexts to museums and private collections altered their meanings coincides
with the work of Arthur Danto and others on how art may be (re)defined by its
institutional framework; and Tanner’s consideration of how the appropriation of
art by elite Hellenistic and Roman viewers was an appropriation of power is a
concept grounded in Foucault.
Tanner’s final chapter, “Art after Art History,” parallels much that has
been written about the art world today: it is not that “art” has ended, rather that
critics came to doubt the teleological narratives voiced by Aristotle, Pliny, and,
for modernism, Clement Greenberg. In both cases, the aftermath was similar:
academics including Arthur Danto, Hans Belting, Donald Kuspit, and now Jeremy
Tanner write epitaphs for “Art after Art History,” while artists such as Pasiteles
and John Currin produce eclectic pastiches. Throughout the book, Tanner warns
us against seeing classical art exclusively through modern eyes; yet, in the end, his
views, like those of Pliny and Winckelmann, are deeply and inevitably embedded
in the broader intellectual currents of his times.
John C. McEnroe
Hamilton College
e-mail: jmcenroe@hamilton.edu
Elizabeth Irwin. Solon and Early Greek Poetry: The Politics of Exhortation.
Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
xiv + 350 pp. Cloth, $90.
Thirty years ago we understood archaic Greek elegy pretty well—or so
we imagined. The elegists sang of the new developments of the archaic period,
above all the rise of the polis. They wrote first-person poetry celebrating their own
individuality; most modern anthologies open emblematically with Archilochus’s
efim‹ dÉ §g∆ . . . They invoked the phraseology of epic only to reject its values:
Homer’s aristocratic warriors retreated in disarray before the bandy-legged general
of the mercenary Archilochus. The arrival of the citizen soldier was reflected in
Tyrtaeus and Callinus, whose exhortations hoplites chanted as they marched into
battle. Solon was a little harder to accommodate in this picture: an odd hybrid
of Jeremiah and Polonius, rising to occasional grandeur, but weak on logic and
organization. Still, his praise of Eunomia helped bridge the gap between Homeric
naiveté and the abstract thinking of the fifth century. And of course there was
that law code . . .
This explanatory model reflects the Geistesgeschichte approach of Bruno
Snell, Hermann Fränkel, and Werner Jaeger, and it has been notably tenacious.
But as a tool for explaining elegy (and lyric generally) it has come to seem pretty
dated. Archilochus’s “I” was problematized as early as 1964 in K. J. Dover’s contribution to the Fondation Hardt Archiloque volume. But it was in the 1980s that
the ice really started to break up. In an influential article (JHS 106 [1986] 13–35),
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 19 March 2018
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Article
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Medea in Etruscan Art
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Ekaterine Kobakhidze
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Tbilisi State University ekaterine.kobakhidze@tsu.ge
* Correspondence: ekaterine.kobakhidze@ tsu.ge; Tel.: + 995 32 577413706
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Abstract: It could be said with some precision, that in Antiquity the myth of the Argonauts and
especially of Medea herself as a personage of this myth, has enjoyed popularity not only in Greece
but also outside its territories. The first among the Italic tribes to be introduced to the personage of
Medea no doubt were the Etruscans, who were the first to establish intensive contacts with the Greeks
from Euboea founding a colony in Cumae, Italy. It is noteworthy that the first image of Medea in the
World Art is seen on Etruscan ceramics. The paper gives detailed analyses of Etruscan artefacts on
which Medea appears, providing a solid precondition for substantive conclusions. Some new versions
of an interpretation expressed in relation to each of the artefacts on the basis of critical analysis of
Etruscan archeological material, of classical texts and of previously undertaken modern research, are
provided. Images of Medea in Etruscan art confirmed from the Orientalist era to the Hellenization
period represent an original, local interpretation of Medea’s image. Medea’s magical art turned out to
be familiar to the Etruscans, who were well known all throughout the Mediterranean for divination
and being experts of magic. In contrast to the Greeks, they turned Medea into an object of cult
worship, identifying her with the Etruscan sun god Cavatha.
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Keywords: keyword 1 Medea 2 Argonauts; 3 Etruscan Art; 4. Cavatha
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1. Introduction
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The first among the Italic tribes to be introduced to the personage of Medea no doubt were the
Etruscans, who were the first to establish intensive contacts with the Greeks from Euboea founding a
colony in Cumae, Italy1. The personage of Medea was reflected in the mythological perceptions
and worship of cults alternating with Circe, Marica, Bona Dea, Angitia, and Cavatha2 is
present in the perceptions of the Ausones, Marsians, Latins, and Etruscans3. It is noteworthy
that she is encountered in the most archaic layers of the mythological narratives of the
Apennine Peninsula, in the so-called genealogical myths. Consequently, this myth Via Etrusca
became known to other Italic peoples. Information regarding the Etruscan perceptions of Medea is
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Cristofani 1999, 83
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Kobakhidze 2002, 70-79
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Kobakhidze 2007, 102-108
© 2018 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license.
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primarily derived from different genres of antique literature, which so to say, can be termed as
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Locally produced ceramics divided into a few classes from the end of the 8th century to the first
secondary sources. Etruscan works of art themselves can be labeled as primary sources.
It is noteworthy that there has been no complex study of the appearance of Medea in Etruscan art,
which is important in providing a complete account of the role of Medea not only in Etruscan but also
in Antique and world culture.
It is apparent that the chronology of the spread of the Argonaut myth in Etruria cannot be directly
connected to the appearance of Medea’s image on objects made in local Etruscan workshops, because
it was naturally preceded by the import of works of Greek art (mostly ceramic) showing this myth
into Etruria.
Greek myths also appear on ceramic products belonging to various periods in the wake of imported
ceramics.
quarter of the 6th century BC belong to the earliest period. These are: Etruscan geometric ceramics,
painted ceramics of the Orientalist period from Caere, ceramics with white figures done on a red
background, the so-called white on red, bucchero, and Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics.4
1. Hydria from Caere.
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A supposed image of Medea first appeared in world art on Etruscan ceramics made from bucchero
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A few words regarding the city of Caere itself where an interesting work of Etruscan art was
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during the Orientalist period. Particularly, a hydria dating from 660-640 BC has been found in the
Etruscan city of Caere (Etr. Cisra, Gr. Agylla -modern-day Cerveteri), where according to widespread
opinion, Medea and a three-headed dragon have been pictured.
discovered.
Information about the city itself bears importance in light of the fact that Etruria had never been a
unified state. The term “Etruria” implied the conventional unity of cities quite different from each
other, with the city of Caere being distinguished for its location and the high level of development of
the culture.
Due to proximity to the sea, Caere can be boldly called an Etruscan naval gate. This was really the
reason for Caere’s especially intense contact with the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians, with
this being further reflected on their varied culture. Caere was one of the important members of the
thalassocracy of Etruscan cities, giving it the means to found such colonies as the quite distant
Marseilles 5 and receive the honor of participating in such international and massive projects as
constructing the treasury of Delphi. 6 Naval might was the not the only reason for Caere’s close
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Bellelli
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Michetti 2016, 73
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Brique 2013, 47
2008, 27
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relationship with the Greeks. According to tradition, Caere is considered to have been founded by the
Pelasgians of Thessaly two generations before the Trojan War along with the city of Spina. Hellanicus
of Mytilene argued that the Pelasgians of Thessaly, after their expulsion by the Greeks, migrated to
italy, landed near Spina, founded Cortona, and changed their name into “Tyrrhenians”7,which is also
corroborated by Dionysius of Halicarnassus8.
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Let’s return to the image presented on the Cerveteri hydria, which to this day has been given many
Thus at one glance, there were some certain preconditions for an interest in the myth of the
Argonauts here in Caere where it was considered to be a place of the settlement of the Thessalian
Pelasgians. The distant voyage of Jason, the Thessalian hero, was reflected by this myth.
interpretations.9 Ronald Dick, who first published this image in 1981, took it to be an episode of the
battle between Heracles and the Hydra, but being characteristic of the 7th century, the typical Etruscan
woman’s attire worn by this figure stripped away support for Dick’s version10 (Figure 1-2)
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Hellanicus, EGM fr. 4, in Dion. Hal., Ant
Rom. 1.28.3;
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Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom I, 18, 3-5;
See: Martelli 1987, 94, 265; Schmidt 1986, 388, n. 2;
Strazzulla 2006, 631-672; Lortkipanidze, 2004, 37-40.
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Bonfante 2003,
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Figure 1.
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Figure 2
The woman wrapped in a long cloak, facing the three-headed snake, and touching the two upper heads
with outstretched arms has been quite enthusiastically connected to the episode of the Argonaut myth
according to which Medea puts the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece to sleep with a spell ( Figure
3).
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Figure 3
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A supposition was also expressed that Medea might be generally pictured as a sorceress. The basic
argument of a viewpoint equating this woman’s figure to Medea is represented by the fact that an
image of Medea with the corresponding inscription “Metaia” has been shown on an Etruscan olpe
made in approximately the same period and in the same workshop, which we will focus upon below.
Apart from this, the connection of Medea to the woman pictured on an Etruscan olpe, at one glance,
is bolstered by the fact that Medea appears on Greek ceramics surrounded by snakes. Particularly,
Medea might be pictured in the middle of two snakes on two Attic lekythoses dated to 530 BC. One
is kept at the British Museum (Figure 4)
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Figure 4.
whereas the second is in Würzburg in the Wagner Museum Collection11 (Figure 5).
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http://www.engramma.it/eOS2/index.php?id_articolo=1378
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Figure 5.
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About four years ago, while analyzing this particular work, Daniel Ogden notes in a quite
interesting book printed at Oxford Drakon. Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman
Worlds12 that connecting the image to Medea and the dragon from Colchis (accordingly, here not
only Medea, but the earliest image of the Colchis dragon would be shown) is difficult to imagine. It
is basically stated in his argumentation that the Golden Fleece appears nowhere on the hydria and the
Colchis dragon would never be pictured with three heads. Neither can Ogden support the connection
of the woman’s image with one of the Hesperides, because neither has the Hesperides’ garden been
pictured, nor do the other Hesperides appear in the proximity of the monster Ladon (if this is clearly
Ladon).
After a broad excursion into Greek mythology and cult worship dedicated to the relationship of a
virgin, priestess, and snakes, where the author supports himself on excerpts of compositions by
Herodotus, Aelianus, Lucian, Pausanias, and others, Ogden exchanges it with material on the
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Ogden 2013, 203 and foll.
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Romans, even searching for a key here among Roman sources and archaeological material.
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It is interesting that stemming from the fact of the Marsian language differing a little bit from
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Absolutely identical subject material is not confirmed, although a search for certain parallels in Italian
material can be managed. In this case the Marsian goddess Angitia is implied, who like the Marsians
themselves, enjoyed a reputation as a snake tamer among people inhabiting ancient Italy. It must be
taken into account that aside from the three-headed snake, two other snakes appear on the Etruscan
olpe with their heads pointing towards the figure of the woman.
Latin13, the etymology of the name of the Marsian goddess (Angitia) can be precisely connected to
the Latin for snake “anguis”. The genealogical myth of the Marsians given by Plinius is examined in
detail in my aforementioned article “Medea in the Religion and Mythology of Ancient Italic People”.
Plinius notes that Circe’s son Marsyas was an ancestor of the Marsians14. It is interesting that Servius
clearly points out that in Marsian mythology, Circe is an equivalent to the goddess Angitia15. At the
same time, some cases of alteration between Circe, Medea, and Angitia have been demonstrated by
me. It is a noteworthy fact that Caere, where the hydria was found, borders on land settled by the
Marsians, providing the supposition that the image of the snake taming woman on the vessel might
be inspired by Marsian myths as well.
If Antigia of the Marsians is pictured on the Etruscan olpe, what relation did it have to Etruscan
conceptions, or to say it otherwise, what local significance did a snake itself have in Etruscan folk
tales? Why did the Marsians’ conceptions turn out to be relevant for the Etruscans? In my opinion,
the key for this is offered by Etruscan art itself. Here, not only is the theme of goddesses with snakes
implied, which was popular all throughout the Mediterranean starting from the Minoan period and
which is confirmed in images of Vanth, the goddess of death in the Etruscan pantheon, as can be
clearly seen on a bronze sculpture from the 5th century BC at the British Museum16 (Figure 6.).
13Conway
1897, 289-299
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Plin. Nat. Hist., VII, 15
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Serv. Ad Aeneid., VII, 750
16Bonfante,
Bonfante 2002,210.; Spinola, – http://www.bretschneider-online.it/rda/rda_pdf/rda_11/rda_11_05.pdf
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Figure 6.
One’s attention is captured precisely by the three-headed snake shown on the Etruscan hydria,
which, as was noted, appears nowhere in the material connected to Medea, Circe, nor any of the other
goddesses with snakes.
A Thracian parallel is worth noting, indicated by Nancy de Grummond in connection to the image
of the three-headed snake and the woman. An image of a three-headed snake and a woman is engraved
on a silver Thracian plate gilded with gold from Letnitsa (Bulgaria) dating to 350 BC, with the woman
holding a mirror17.
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(Figure 7.)
de Grummond 2006, 5.
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Figure 7.
But the most noteworthy thing is the Etruscan material itself and especially the image of the threeheaded snake, which had been discovered on some wall art of an Etruscan tomb a few years ago.
Particularly in 2003, in the Tomba della Quadriga Infernale at the necropolis of Pianacce dating to
the beginning of the 4th century BC, a three-headed snake can be seen pictured in the underworld18
(Figure 8-9).
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18http://www.museosarteano.it/pagina4.php?linguanumero=2#iniziopagin
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Figure 8.
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Figure 9.
This tomb is noteworthy in many respects and has not been an object of thorough study for the
time being, although in this case, it reveals that the image of a three-headed snake is not foreign to
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Etruscan art and is connected to the underworld. According to one idea, the three-headed snake with
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In this respect, a theme of the relationship of the Etruscan snake to Cerberus is no less interesting,
beards can be perceived as a guardian of the underworld.19
being an issue of separate research, although it must be noted that Cerberus, having snakes appearing
on its body, is represented on a famous Ionian hydria from the Louvre Museum Collection of the
Archaic Period. This hydria was also found in Cerveteri and is dated to 510 BC (Figure 10).
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Figure 10.
Thus, there is a supposition that the hydria discovered in Cerveteri with the image of the woman
and a three-headed snake is not connected to Medea and must supposedly reflect the voyage of a
deceased person to the underworld or some ritual connected to their burial, where the three-headed
snake shows a creature living in (or guarding) the underworld, with this creature in turn being
approached by a priestess or goddess (possibly Angitia or Vanth), or the deceased herself.
2.Olpe From Caere.
Identifying the woman pictured on the aforementioned Etruscan olpe dating to 630 BC found right
in Caere to Medea is no cause to doubt, because it is accompanied by a proper inscription “Metaia”,
which according to a majority of researchers, represents an Etruscan transliteration of Medea’s name.
19
Pieraccini 2016, 100
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Medea is seen surrounded by the Argonauts and Daedalus (Taitale) on this vessel found in the same
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This vessel created during the Orientalist period of Etruscan art and made from bucchero is dated
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tomb. It must be said like Medea, this is the first image of Daedalus in world art.
to 630 BC, having been discovered in a grave. Today it is part of the Villa Giulia Exhibit.
What is pictured on this olpe? There are some zoomorphic images on the top frieze: a lion, some
panthers, and floral ornaments (Figure 11-12).
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Figure 11.
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Figure 12
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The lion is placed in the center with the panthers flanking it. These panthers have a human foot
sticking out of their mouths, whereas on the lower frieze, which is noteworthy for this paper, there
are some carved out scenes in the following sequence (from left to right) (Figure 13):
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Figure 13
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1.
Two boxers sparring with each other, with each wearing only one sandal on a foot.
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2. A young man coming up out of a small, ritual (?) cauldron.
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3. A woman wearing a long robe coming towards a columnar wedge holding a staff in her
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4. 6 naked men following after each other in a line. The leader of the procession has his
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5. A flying, winged man with hands lifted high having the inscription of “Taitale”
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left hand and having her right hand lifted up in the air. She has the inscription “Metaia”
on her clothing.
hand upraised like Medea. They are holding a long, fabric-like item bearing the
inscription “Kanna”.
between one of the wings and the body.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that many researchers more or less connected to classical art,
mythology, or literature have had a desire for interpreting this scene. This is understandable, because
this has something to do with the first images of Medea and Daedalus in world art! Many
investigations have been devoted to these images and it is noteworthy that one of them belongs to
Nino Lortkipanidze, an exceptional Georgian researcher who has specially examined this specific
work in a paper “The Reflection of the Argonaut Myth in Early Greek Culture”.
Along with this, many questions arose due to the image, particularly the mythological theme
presented on bucchero. Some of them are: Which scene connected to Medea is pictured here, who are
these men going in the procession, what do the boxers show, what is the connection of all this to
Daedalus, is this one episode or a cyclic alternation of episodes?
The paper format does not provide the means of presenting every idea connected to the theme in a
detailed manner, thus you will be introduced to the concise contents of the basic versions through
general theses and be offered a few personal interpretations as well.
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2.1. The young man coming up out of the three-legged cauldron and Metaia
In the general opinion of researchers, the scene where Medea rejuvenates through her sorcery must
be shown here, whereas the young man coming up out of the small cauldron might be Aeson, Pelias,
or Jason, who was prepared beforehand by Medea for Aeëtes’ difficult tasks20. It’s possible that all of
them together are implied here so Medea’s image as a sorceress might be generalized in this way.21
Nino Lortkipanidze justly notes that “flatly identifying the pictured young man with someone
becomes more difficult due to the fact that all the literary sources connected to the miracle of
rejuvenation by Medea belong to a period considerably later than 630 BC.”22
20
Rizzo, Martelli, 1993, 32
21M.Schmidt,
22
1986
Lortkipanidze 2004, 21.
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Yet, the earliest of these literary sources is a fact regarding Jason’s rejuvenation by Medea preserved
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In regard to connecting the young man emerging from the cauldron on the Etruscan olpe to Pelias,
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The figures of three standing women and one man sitting down accompanied by the inscriptions
by Simonides23, when a fact concerning Aeson’s rejuvenation appears considerably later with Ovid24.
Along with this, which will be examined below, the scene of Aeson’s rejuvenation has never been
presented in art. In the classical age, rejuvenation generally implies a change from one age to another
– a transformation from an old person to a young one, or that of a young man to a teenager or child.25
this is impossible according to the myth, for Pelias’ rejuvenation had generally never taken place –
his body was boiled in a cauldron and he passed away as an old man. Let’s see which version of the
theme is more frequently represented in other Etruscan works, even in a later period. Two 4th century
BC Etruscan mirrors of the Hellenization period will be examined as examples.
Metvia, Menrva, Rescial, and Heasun are shown on the first mirror, which was found in Talamone in
1878 and is kept today at the British Museum26. Metvia27 is Medea holding a drinking bowl in her
right hand and bringing it to the lips of an almost unconscious Heasun (Jason) (Figure 14 a). Menrva,
the Etruscan Athena and easily identifiable with a garment bearing an image of the Gorgon
Medusa, tries to hold Jason’s neck with her right hand while holding an oinochoe in her left, in which
a magical liquid has supposedly been poured. A bird flies close to her hand.
250
23Simonides,
24Ovid.
25
fr. 204
Met.7. 159-293
Graf 1997,41
26London,
27The
British Museum, GR 1901.6-18.1.
transliteration of the Greek Μήδεια into the Etruscan forms of Metaia, Metua, and Metvia, according to some
researchers’ opinions, indicates various sources of borrowing – Rigobianco 2013. For example, in the case of Metaia, the
name is fitted to the form of local names widespread in Caere – Rizzo, Martelli 1993,47
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Figure 14. a
b.
It’s interesting that a similar oinochoe is held by Menrva/Athena on the pediment of the 5th century
BC Temple A at the Caere port of Pyrgi, where an episode from the play Seven Against Thebes is
shown. As it seems, here Athena is trying to bestow immortality on Tydeus28 (Figure 15).
28Terracotta
plaque from Pyrgi, Rome, Villa Giulia
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Figure 15.
In regard to Rescial being pictured on the mirror, she might be one of the Lasas represented on a few
Etruscan mirrors.29 Definitively, in the opinion of some researchers, this scene shows the Colchian
episode of the Argonaut myth, where Medea gives Jason a magical liquid to drink in order to
successfully complete Aeëtes’ difficult tasks.30 Unfortunately, there are no inscriptions on the second
mirror, which was discovered in 1855 and is currently kept at the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris31
(Figure 14, b.). A man coming up out of a cauldron is shown here. The scene is attended by one
elderly and one young man sitting on a bench and two women standing. In Jennifer Neils’ opinion,
the scene of Jason’s rejuvenation in Iolcos is pictured here, attended by Pelias, his son Akastos,
Medea, and supposedly one of Pelias’ daughters, although it is possible for two of Pelias’ daughters
to be shown instead of Medea32.
The episode shown on this mirror is analogous to scenes pictured on 5th century Attic lekythoses
where a young man in a cauldron also appears.
29Bonfante,
30Meyer
31Paris,
32
Bonfante, 2002, 204
1980, 106, pl.26, 1.
Cabinet des Medailles,1329 (ex Opperman)
Neils 1994, 190
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A scene having a black figure shown on an Attic lekythos discovered in Etruria will be cited as
an example, which in the beginning was connected to the rejuvenation of Jason’s father Aeson.33.
(Figure 16).
Figure 16.
.
As was pointed out above, this episode has been borrowed from Ovid34 and to this day has not been
confirmed on any work of art, although later on it was interpreted as the episode of Jason’s
rejuvenation by Medea in Iolcos. This latter viewpoint really proved to be correct on the basis of some
data 35 regarding a red figure hydria discovered in Etruria, now kept at the British Museum and
belonging to a Copenhagen artist. A white-haired Jason standing by a three-legged cauldron is
pictured on it, who is watching how Medea boils a sheep within it (Figure 17).
33Attic
34Ovid.
lekythos with a black figure, Leiden, Rijksmuseum,
Met.7. 159-293
35London,
British Museum, E163, from Vulci
Meyer 1980, 106, pl 69/70, 5
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Figure 17.
Accordingly, stemming from the fact that a scene of Aeson’s rejuvenation has not been confirmed in
art for the time being and as was previously determined, it’s impossible for Pelias to be shown in this
context, the young man coming up out of the cauldron on the Etruscan olpe must be Jason.Why is
Jason’s name not indicated on the Cerveteri olpe or how can his identification be carried out? In regard
to the identification of Jason’s image, in this respect, Jennifer Neils’ remark in connection to Jason’s
images in classical art is of interest. She specifically notes that Jason does not have some mark
differentiating him. He is frequently shown naked or with a traveler’s cloak and cap, with him being
encountered less frequently with a single sandal, as a rule.36
In regard to the reason as to why the name of the main character from the Argonaut myth is not
shown beside Medea and Daedalus, this topic will be revisited upon presenting some final
conclusions.Thus it is the supposition that the young man pictured on the olpe must be Jason, despite
it not being accompanied by an inscription and accordingly, the central scene reflected on the Etruscan
lekythos must show Jason’s rejuvenation by Medea in Iolcos. In this respect, an observation of one
36Neils
2001 p.636
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Etruscan ritual is interesting, being pictured on one of the Etruscan mirrors from 275-250 BC37, where
three children having the names Mariś Isminthians, Mariś Husrnana, and Mariś Halna follow an
initiation ritual by submerging themselves into a deep vessel filled with liquid38. (Figure 18)
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Figure 18.
It is notable that the Etruscan god Maris, having three epithets embodying the god’s various ages
here, is shown on yet another bronze mirror where he is participating in the same initiation ritual by
submerging himself into a liquid39 . Maris, who was a patron god of fertility in archaic Etruscan
37London,
British Museum, ES 257B – Bonfante 1986, 243
38
de Grummond, , 2006, 21
39
Pallottino1992 29-30; Wagenvoor 1956, 219 and foll.
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conceptions, is a symbol of renewal and rebirth in his Ausone variant, having been shown as a centaur.
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The same ritual is seen on an Etruscan-Latin basket from Palestrina where Menrva stands in a
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He died and rose from the dead three times.40 (Figure 19)
cauldron of boiling liquid along with the armed Maris. Menrva has one hand wrapped around Maris’
leg, whereas she holds a slender stick or spike up to his face or nose. Cerberus has been shown by
Maris’ head, whereas an image of a winged woman flies close to Menrva41 (Figure 19).
Figure 19.
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It is noteworthy that despite the myth connected to the Argonauts being conveyed on the
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Now it is time for the next image, in particular a procession of six men bringing Kanna.
Etruscan olpe, the scene is adorned with Etruscan subjects: Medea is wearing Etruscan attire42,
she is holding a staff, and there is a small cauldron characteristic of Etruscan rituals where Jason
undergoes rejuvenation, being similar to Etruscan works of this period.
40
Ael. VH, IX, 16; Kobakhidze 2005, 59
41
http://www.langkjer.dk/origin/2-26.htm
42
Bonfante,2003, 216
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2.2 The six men and Kanna
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Maria Rizzo identifies these six men as the Argonauts, whereas the oblong object they are holding
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is not the Golden Fleece or the Argos, as it might have been according to the myth. Instead it is
identified as the fabric mentioned in Pindar’s 4th Pithian ode, which the Argonauts had received as a
sign of winning in a competition held on the island of Lemnos.43
While agreeing with Rizzo that the Lemnos episode of the Argonaut myth is shown here, Erica
Simon considers that the Argonauts do not appear here, instead they are the Dactyls, patrons of the
art of finding iron and greatly honored on the island of Lemnos. The Dactyls are holding a door bolt44.
As demons of craftsmanship, the Dactyls are an ideal combination of Medea, having the art of magic
and of Daedalus, a skilled artist.
In my opinion, the men pictured on the Cerveteri olpe following along behind Medea in a line
create a unified composition with Medea and it is not possible to examine them independently from
the figure of Medea. It is quite clear on the picture that Medea and the man at the head of the
procession have the same gesture and the man’s forward placed foot touches Medea’s long robe. At
the same time, if this is from the Lemnos episode of the Argonauts, Medea has no business being here
because this adventure befell the Argonauts before sailing to Colchis.
I think establishing the meaning of “kanna” will elucidate this topic even more. It is
encountered in Etruscan texts only once in this form and, as it seems, is an adjective derived by
the “na” suffix from kana and kana mentioned in other inscriptions. The “na” suffix is universally
understood to mean “belonging”, or so to say “belonging to kana”. In regard to the meaning of
cana/kana itself, it must mean “a decoration” or “gift”, being confirmed in a number of epigraphic
works, according to the established version .45
Yet a version of various interpretations of this word exists according to which kanna must be read
as kauna, with it possibly being connected to the Greek word ϰαυνάϰη, which itself is etymologically
connected to “gunnaku” in Persian and Syriac, meaning “something made from fur”.46 In Burket’s
point of view, this word came into the Greek lexicon from Persian during the so-called Orientalization
43
Rizzo, Martelli, 1993,36-40
44
Simon 2000, 171-181
45For
46
a detailed overview of these forms in Etruscan epigraphic materials, cf. Rizzo, Martelli, 1993, 47-53
Pugliese Carratelli 1994, 363-369
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period with the meaning of “a worsted wool cloak”. 47 At one glance, on the basis of the latter
interpretation of the Etruscan word, a certain justification can be found for connecting the image
shown on the olpe to the Lemnos episode – the Argonauts bring a woolen fabric which they have
earned as a prize for winning in a competition on Lemnos Island. Yet there has also been an attempt
at connecting “kanna” to the Greek “κάννα” (reed) or “κάνναβις” (cannabis). 48 There is also
Schmidt’s 49 viewpoint that this word might be connected to the Greek word “κάννας” which is
encountered in Aristophanes’ The Wasps50 and means a sacral rug made from willow branches or
grapevines.
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I think the latter meaning of kanna might not precisely reflect the etymology of the Etruscan word,
yet essentially be closer to this specific episode, whereas the fact that the ornament of this object is
identical to the ornament shown on Medea the priestess’ cloak does not indicate that kanna is a fabric,
as Rizzo deems it to be,51 but instead that this thing bears a sacral function. Accordingly it really
might have been placed in the corresponding box located between Daedalus and the sixth man.52
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Thus, in my opinion, the main theme shown on the olpe, on the whole reflects the scene of Aeson’s
rejuvenation by Medea in Iolcos, which in comparison to the Lemnos interpretation, might have been
attended by all the participants of this narrative – Medea, the Argonauts, and Jason.
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Let’s examine the other figures presented on the bucchero for some final conclusions.
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2.3. The boxers
In the case of connecting the scene pictured on the bucchero to the island of Lemnos, it’s
understandable who the boxers might be. They are clearly the Argonauts participating in a contest,
earning a prize later on, too. There will be no digression here regarding the reason of why the
47
48
49
Burkert 1984 ,38-39
See:
Rix, 2002-2003, 95-101
Schmidt 1986
50Ar.Vesp.394
(κοὐ μή ποτέ σου παρὰ τὰς
51
Rizzo, Martelli 1993,17
52
Rizzo, Martelli 1993, 17
κάννας οὐρήσω μηδ’ ἀποπάρδω)
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contestants are wearing only one sandal. It will only be noted according to one opinion that one of
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Jennifer Neils notes that wearing a single sandal might have been significant for a young man
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the contestants might be Jason himself, who according to the myth, had lost a sandal in Pelias’ palace
before his arrival,53 whereas in a second version, these are some other Argonauts competing against
each other for their other sandal.54
during an initiation.55Nancy de Grummond is also a supporter of perceiving the scenes presented on
the olpe as an initiation ritual, seeing the beginning of the ritual precisely in the ritual competition,
which is followed by washing and receiving a garment as a gift.56
The tradition of showing scenes of boxers in Etruscan art is interesting. An exhibit at the Dallas
Art Museum is noteworthy in this respect, which depicts some boxers fighting each other for a
prize shown on a second plane. The similarity of the poses between the boxers shown on this
ceramic object and the boxers on the olpe from Cerveteri are striking. In both cases the boxers have
one foot extended forward and placed on their opponent’s foot. One hand is bent and the other is
brought forward. The Dallas ceramic is dated to 750 BC and can be boldly considered as a prototype
of the Cerveteri boxers (Figure 20).
385
53
Rizzo, Martelli 1993,41
54
Simon 2000, 178
55
Neils 1994 V.636
56de
Grummond, 2006, 5-6
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Figure 20.
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It is interesting that even in the Mycenaean world, as it seems, boxing was conducted with these sort
of moves, since the boxers pictured on a 1,300 BC amphora are placing their right, stretched-out foot
on each other. Yet a greater similarity can be detected on the relief of a Mesopotamian terracota dating
to approximately 2,000 BC, which was discovered in Eshnunna, at Tell Asmar in modern-day Iraq
(Figure 21).
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Figure 21.
Despite the various interpretations of the theme shown on the Etruscan olpe, the majority of
researchers agree on one thing that the boxers are the Argonauts. Supporters of the Lemnos
interpretation consider this match to be a part of the Lemnos competition.
In my opinion, the ritual of Aeson’s rejuvenation has a sacral significance indicated by the
images of the priestess, the three-legged cauldron, and the sacred rug, at the same like all rituals
according to the Etruscan tradition, being accompanied by ritual contests. The ritualistic nature of the
athletic contests was clearly not foreign to other cultures, yet athletic Etruscan fights identified
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basically from the art of tomb walls, as a rule, were accompanied by images of priestesses, which
were foreign to the Greek world, for example. Let’s examine an image showing a wrestling match for
example, which is dated to 530 BC and is from a so-called Augur tomb at Tarquinia (Figure 22).
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Figure 22.
As is clearly seen, a priest holding an arched staff appears behind the contestants and tells the future
according to some birds. Along with this, a ritual cauldron stands behind the wrestlers indicating the
sacral nature of the contest.
Thus it is the opinion that the picture shown on the Etruscan olpe must be examined as a single
narrative presented in one act, which is relevant to the Iolcos episode of the Argonaut myth. The
central figure of this episode is Medea, who is rejuvenating Jason. This ritual is accompanied by
athletic contests with the participation of the Argonauts and a procession of men (Argonauts)
following Medea the priestess with a ritual gift.
In my version, the unified nature of the narrative shown on the Etruscan olpe is strengthened by
the most recent archaeological data as well, according to which the scenes shown on the Etruscan
ceramic product of this period reflect only one specific episode from a narrative of Greek
mythology. A combination or alteration of a few episodes on it are only confirmed later on.57
Thus, this episode of the Argonaut myth which the Etruscans had learned about from the
Greek colonists undergoes a certain transformation on Etruscan soil and becomes suited to the
57
Bellelli 2008, 27-28
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expressive forms and cultural reality that were established in a conservative Etruscan society. Being
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It’s true, there is a viewpoint that it is difficult to find some sort of logic in the principle of selecting
shown on the Etruscan olpe, attired in Etruscan garments, and holding an Etruscan staff (which is not
naturally encountered in an analogous scene on Greek vases), Medea performs a ritual by following
Etruscan customs. Some boxers, participants of the procession bringing a sacral gift to the ritualistic
pillar, are involved in the ritual. An Etruscan ritual of a man’s initiation is reflected by the scene, in
which a contest, bathing, and a sacrifice are presented.
an episode from Greek mythology on something locally made by the Etruscans. But in my opinion,
this logic really exists, especially at the first stage of Greek-Etruscan relationships and until the socalled Hellenization period in Etruscan art began. Three specific factors will be named, which in our
opinion, defined the depiction of the narrative connected to the Argonauts on an Etruscan olpe
discovered in a tomb:
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1. Caere’s factor – as was mentioned before, naval might was not the only reason for Caere’s close
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2. The sacral factor – This specific theme from the stories of the Argonauts had been selected due
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3. The Iolcos episode of the Argonaut myth was interesting for the Etruscans precisely in the
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4. An initiation ritual connected to renewal and rejuvenation existed in Etruscan cult worship, as
relationship with the Greeks. Along with the city of Spina, Caere was traditionally considered to
have been founded by the Pelasgians of Thessaly, which is corroborated by Dionysius of
Halicarnassus as well.58 Thus, the specific preconditions existed for an interest in the Argonaut
myth reflecting the distant voyage of Jason, a Thessalian hero, right here in Caere, which was
considered as place for the settlement of Pelasgians from Thessaly.
to its sacral function, which as it is known, is a very familiar theme to the Etruscans. They were
distinguished all throughout the Mediterranean for knowledge in various arts of divination and
for their religiosity.
context of a deceased person’s burial, for it reflected a process of rejuvenation, a renewal of life
stirring hope for the deceased to be reborn.
was mentioned above.
449
450
451
452
453
454
The analysis of Etruscan ceramics from the Archaic period reveals that the Etruscans aspired
towards naturalism when conveying Greek myths and maximally preserved independence in the
context of assimilating the culture of other peoples.59
Szilàgui’s hypothesis is also worthy of note in connection with this, as he specially studied
themes shown on Etruscan-Corinthian vases from 630-500 BC. Despite the existence of Greek
58Dion.
59
Halic. I, 18, 3-5.
Smith 1999,179-206
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455
456
457
458
459
characters on Etruscan ceramics, he had concluded that they had an Etruscan essence. Many things
460
461
462
463
This episode shown on the Etruscan olpe has been interpreted through local naturalism, which
as such turned out in these works where the theme has not been identified and it is clearly based on
an Etruscan context. He names one of the exhibits at Villa Giulia as an example of this, which is dated
to the years 630-580 BC, where some themes completely unknown to Greek mythology are depicted
60
implied the placement of the ritual within a so-called Etruscan context and its depiction through
attributes and forms (the boxer scene, the ritual of dedicating kanna, Medea depicted with a staff)
characteristic of Etruscan cult worship and rituals.
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
2.4. Daedalus
Clearly, it’s impossible to make a final conclusion without an analysis of Daedalus’ figure, because
even today, an interpretation of Daedalus surrounded by Medea and the Argonauts remains a problem
for researchers. Currently, not one theme from Greek mythology or literature has been confirmed
possibly connecting Daedalus and the characters of the Argonaut cycle to each other.
Supporters of identifying the theme shown on the olpe with the Lemnos episode of the Argonaut
myth explain Daedalus’ appearance beside Medea and the Argonauts (the Dactyls) in the following
manner: As a craftsman and inventor bestowed with a special talent having been transformed into an
epithet of craftsmanship. (In this case, the Greek adjective “δαιδάλος” is implied, which signifies one
who is trained, a master craftsman and is used as an epithet by Pindar for Hephaestus. Hephaestus,
61
who is battling against Ares, has the caption Δαιδάλος on an image of the one of the vessels.)
62
Daedalus is “ideally” connected to the island of Lemnos. Lemnos, where according to Homer
,
,
Hephaestus’ blacksmith shop was located in the crater of an active volcano and where the capital was
Hephaestia63, represented a place in the world at that time renowned for the finding of metal and
metallurgy. In the same respect, the Colchis “of plentiful gold” stirred up some interest, with this
interesting the Etruscans as well, who were distinguished themselves for finding and working
60.
Szilàgui 1992.
61
– Preller, 1872, 148-149;
62
Preller, 1872,106.
63Burkert
1983,260
Kerenyi, 1951,155
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482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
metal. Lemnos and the communities of Colchis were symbolically connected to each other.64
491
492
493
494
495
496
It’s clear no one denies the close connection between Etruscan and the language of the Lemnos
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
Accordingly, it is possible for Daedalus and the Argonauts (the Dactyls) to be associated together
within this context. Nino Lortkipanidze names the extant ancient contacts between Etruria and the
island of Lemnos as some of the motives and additional arguments for a depiction of the Lemnos
episode of the Argonaut myth on this bucchero by the Etruscans. Particularly, according to her
hypothesis, some information regarding the resettlement 65 of the Tyrsenians (Etruscans) and the
dwelling 66 of Pelasgians and Tyrsenians on Lemnos are corroborated with Herodotus. This is
confirmed by archaeological data, particularly by a stela from Lemnos dating to the 6th century BC
made in a language cognate to Etruscan which indicates the organic connection existing between
these two geographic centers.67
stela, which is clearly reflected in very recent research by de Simone, Hergon, and Maltzham68, yet
the fact also has to be taken into account that aside from this specific case, no supposition has been
expressed by researchers regarding the probable depiction of some mythological or historical fact
connected to Lemnos on any work of Etruscan art. Along with this, I think a demonstration of the
Etruscans’ interest in finding metal on the tomb inventory is out of context.
At the same time, it must be justifiably noted that apart from Etruscans living in Caere having a
mythological relation to the Thessalians, which was discussed above, the city of Tarquinia had some
quite intimate connections with one more active area of the Argonaut myth, particularly with Corinth,
which is confirmed in Antique literature. A myth narrated by Pausanias in Description of Greece is
implied here, according to which Athena’s temple, located in Corinth and called Salpinga, had been
founded by Hegeleus, Tyrsenos’ son (this is the Tyrsenos, who according to Herodotus, led the people
from Lydia who were later given the king’s name as an ethnonym) and Heracles’ grandson. It was
Hegeleus himself who taught the aristocrats having come from Temenos how to play the trumpet he
had invented. This is why Athena’s temple is called “The Trumpet”. 69 The settlement of the
64
Lortkipanidze 2004, 28-31.
65Hdt.,
I, 94
66Hdt.,
VI,137
67
68
69
Lortkipanidze 2004, 37
De Simone 1996; Heurgon, 1985, 93-103; Malzahn 1999, 259-279.
Paus., II, 21, 3
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507
Corinthian Demaratus in Etruria attests the extant bilateral connections between Etruria and
508
509
510
511
Let’s return to the Etruscan olpe and examine the theme of Daedalus, Medea, and the Argonauts
512
513
514
515
516
Corinth. Livius tells us regarding this.70
with the assumption that in all, the Lemnos
episode is not pictured but instead the one at Iolcos,
specifically the scene of Aeson’s rejuvenation by Medea in which the Argonauts participate. How is
it possible to include Daedalus in this context?
Before this topic is examined directly, a brief mythological digression will be presented possibily
pointing out certain parallels between Daedalus and Medea. Having never ended up in one
mythological narrative, it is notable that certain points of contact can be found for Medea and
Daedalus,
despite them being distinguished from ordinary mortals through special abilities, with the
first being magic and the second being craftsmanship:
517
518
519
1. It is true that having a discussion about a precise chronology in a myth is impossible, but
520
521
522
2. Daedalus is also connected to a solar cult like Medea (Medea, as the grandaughter of
523
3. Medea and Daedalus have committed the murder of a close relative in their homeland;
524
525
4. Like Medea, Daedalus also runs away from his homeland and then leaves his new
526
5. Medea defeats Talos, Daedalus’ creation, with her sorcery.
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
6. And finally, an episode of great interest to us – the murder of Pelias carried out by Medea
Medea and Daedalus are “contemporary” characters – Theseus, the one who defeats the
Minotaur imprisoned in the labyrinth built by Daedalus, is Medea’s step-child.
Helios; Daedalus as a servant of Pasiphae, Medea’s aunt and Helios’ daughter, a craftsman
having flown towards the sun and lost his only son due to the sun’s power);
homeland, where he loses his child (children). Both of them run to safety by flying away.
through someone else, Pelias’ daughters, with the body of the king Iolcos being boiled in
a bubbling cauldron(In general, a person’s rejuvenation or them being brought to life by
being boiled in a cauldron is not foreign to other epochs and cultures
71
). This manifests a
certain likeness to Daedalus’ adventure, although being of a later character, is greatly
interesting – having escaped from Minos, Daedalus seeks refuge in Sicilia with Cocalus,
the king of Kamikos. When Minos comes looking for Daedalus, Cocalus makes him
agree to bathe in the bathhouse. Here he is killed by Cocalus’ daughters, or according to a
second version, Daedalus throws him into the boiling water himself and kills him.72
72Liv.I.34.1-7.
71
cf. Vojatzi 1982, 99-100
72Hdt.,
vii.169, Diod. Sic.,IV, 78, 80; Hyg. Fab. 44; Paus. VII.4. §5; Ov. Met., Book VIII, 261
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I will return to these parallels when making some final conclusions. Before presenting them, it
seems necessary to examine Daedalus in the context of Etruscan art and mythology, without which it
is impossible to make a correct analysis.
Today it is universally recognized that the term “Taitale” shown on the Etruscan olpe really fits
with the Greek Daedalus. Images of Daedalus are encountered elsewhere in Etruscan art with
precisely this form of the name (with some minor alterations – Taitle). In particular, it is on Carnelian
scarab beetle at the British Museum73 (Figure 23).
543
544
545
546
547
Figure 23.
which is dated to 450-400 BC and shows Daedalus (Taitle) bobbing on top of the sea. It is also on a
5th century BC golden bulla from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore74, where Icarus (Vikape) is
depicted together with Daedalus. This last inscription where the Greek digamma is reflected indicates
73
In regard to Etruscan scarabs and in connection to this specific work, cf. Krauskopf 1999, S. 405-421), 416
74Rizzo,
Martelli 1993, 44, 47-48
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that the story of Daedalus and Icarus in Etruria had been known from an ancient time and it might
have been borrowed from a Dorian source – either Corinth or Crete.75 (Figure 24).
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
Figure 24.
Both these works are of a comparatively later time period and in comparison to the Cerveteri olpe
belonging to the Orientalist period of Etruscan art, they were created during the Hellenization period
of Etruscan art. Along with this, as on the scarab beetle, the episode of Daedalus’ adventure well
known from Greek mythology is shown on the bulla, which cannot be said for Daedalus’ unknown
narrative shown on the Etruscan olpe. Yet he is pictured here with wings like on the seal and the
scarab beetle.
It must be noted that there is an idea that there is a border in the differentiation of functions of
Daedalus’ images during the sixth century in Etruscan art. Specifically, Daedalus must be perceived
as a mythological character in the first half of the 7th-6th century BC, however as a so-called “local”
craftsman and mythic hero in the second half of the 6th century and the 5th century BC.76
75
Morris 1995,196
76Prayon
1998, 102-105.
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563
564
Accordingly, stemming from the dating of the Etruscan olpe, Daedalus must be perceived here as a
565
What must this demonic character depict in this specific context?
566
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mythological character, possibly as a certain demonic power in comparison to the Daedalus pictured
on other Etruscan works, where he comes across as a craftsman or mythic hero.
A fact must be taken into account that in relation to Greek myths, Etruscan ceramic makers,
as a rule, were characterised by an aspiration towards thematic transformation and variation,
which reveals their artistic freedom and at the same time, a desire for Greek myths to be fitted to an
Etruscan reality.77
This trend is seen especially clearly during the Orientalist period itself, when the first steps were
being taken in Etruscan-Greek relationships. At one glance, the Hellenic myths depicted on works of
Etruscan art reflect the Greek narrative, but at the same time they do not coincide with the Greek
model and offer other iconographic schemes. There are many anomalous themes differing from works
of Greek art in these schemes. These themes had been created through the influence of local
conceptions.78
It is noteworthy that the Etruscan pantheon is still not “open” to foreign and Greek influences
during the Orientalizing period.
If the scene depicted on the Etruscan olpe is viewed within this context, where, as was mentioned
before, a ritual of Etruscan rejuvenation or rebirth can be deciphered beyond the Iolcos episode of
Jason’s rejuvenation by Medea, and in which a priestess and participants of various cult acts of a ritual
initiation – that of a contest as well as a sacrifice – are included, it will be possible to explain Daedalus’
appearance within this context as well.
If we again return to the Etruscan mirror on which three Mars are shown and the scene of the
Etruscan rejuvenation is depicted, a few gods are presented here, including Menrva (Athena) and
Turms.
Mariś Isminthians sits on Turms’ arm, a god corresponding to Hermes Psychopompos.79 Is
the winged being corresponding to Teitale among them or not?
It must be said up front that a winged being in Etruscan art of the Orientalist period is only
equivalent to a god. Winged beings generally reflect movement between the realms, whereas in tomb
77Maggiani
2008, 47–56.+
78
de Grummond, 2006
79
van der Meer 1995 ,167
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590
art – a movement from this world to the next, from death to life.80 Here, Daedalus must be examined
as a winged, demonic power attending the scene of rejuvenation and rebirth.
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Which god can attend this ritual?
Providing an answer to this complex question significantly digresses from the theme of the paper.
At a glance, this scene, reflecting a rejuvenation ritual and implying rebirth, might have been attended
by a pscyhopompos god, including Turms depicted on the British Museum mirror and many other
gods connected to the underworld, of which many are represented in the Etruscan pantheon. Yet I
think two factors must be given more consideration:
597
1. Local (in this case Caere) cults and their functions;
598
2. Represented images with the same expressive forms in the same chronological period.
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
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611
To briefly formulate it – Which gods are depicted with wings among the honored gods in 7th
century Caere and which of them can be connected to the renewal of life and rebirth?
Caere and its port Pyrgi were known for the temples of many gods. It must be mentioned that each
Etruscan city had a so-called prominent god at various different times which has especially honored
along with the common Etruscan gods. At this stage, 6 temples have been identified in Caere, whith
only two of them having been studied archaeologically. This is a temple, which in accordance with
antique sources, was dedicated to either Leucothea (Pseudo Aristotle)81 or Ilithyia (Strabo)82 and is
dated to the 5th century BC. There is also the 6th century temple of Uni.
According to tradition, the
temple of Leucothea at Caere had been founded by Pelasgians from Thessaly.83
Today, Leucothea and Ilithyia have been identified with the Etruscan goddess Thesan by
researchers.84
Thesan the dawn goddess is an ancient winged goddess remembered in the form of Tes on
Liber Linteus.
80
Haynes 2000,148
81Arist.
Oeconomica,2.1349.b; Ael., VH, I, 20; Polyaenus, Strat. 5.2.21
82Strabo,
83Banti
5.2.8.
1973, 39
84Dennis
85
She was especially honored in Caere and Pyrgi.
1985, 291
Simon 2006 60
85
the
It is noteworthy that she was
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613
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615
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619
simultaneously the goddess of divination, childbirth, and the generation of life. 86 Her name is
supposedly commemorated in a votive inscription on a 7th century bucchero amphora from Chiusi
and on a oinochoe from Traliatela.87 It is noteworthy that she is encountered with the sun god Usil on
the Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis mummy wrappings (TLE 1)88, as well as on many images.89 In regard
to images of Thesan during the Orientalist period, a few works along this line are interesting, where
Thesan is presented while flying. Her image on an acroterion within Leucothea’s temple at Caere is
also informative in this regard, which is currently placed at the Berlin Antikesamlung. Thesan is
taking away a young man (adolescent?) in her arms while flying ( Figure 25).
620
621
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Figure 25.
86
87
88
89
Jannot 2005 ,158-160
Carpino 2003, 109, note 62
Pallottino 1968
Bonfante 1986, 226
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An image of Thesan on a bronze mirror from Vulci dating to 570 BC captures one’s attention, where
the goddess has again taken up a young man in her arms and is flying away quickly Here there will
no longer be any digressions regarding interpretations of the image, according to which the myth of
Eos and Cephalus is depicted. This Greek version, in my opinion, represents a Hellenic attempt at
interpreting the Etruscan theme shown on the acroterion. (Figure 26)
628
629
Figure 26.
630
631
632
A reinforcement for an Etruscan vessel dating to 570 BC having an image of a flying woman and a
633
bronze Etruscan image currently kept on the island of Samos can be relegated to this group of images
(Figure 27).
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635
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637
638
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645
Figure 27.
It is possible to surmise that the Etruscan Thesan stands beyound Taitle, which as a specially
honored goddess and a patron of rejuvenation in Caere and Pyrgi, attends this initiation ritual and is
perhaps trying to snatch up the rejuvenated young man. But the figure depicted on the Etruscan olpe
is not a woman, attested by its connection to Daedalus and its naked depiction, which is impossible
in the case of a goddess in the Etruscan reality of the Orientalization period. It is the opinion that
some other male solar god might be here, encountered in Thesan’s retinue. This might be the sun god
Usil,90 who was also specially honored at the temple in Pyrgi (Figure 28).
In this respect, images of Usil from the Orientalist period at the A Temple in Pyrgi are especially
interesting, manifesting a great similarity to the figure of Taitale depicted on the Cerveteri olpe.
90
Cristofani 2000, 313
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Figure28.
A bronze image of Usil supposedly from Vulci dating to approximately 490 BC and currently in a
collection at the J. Paul Getty Museum is also interesting. (Figure. 29)
Figure 29.
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653
654
A brass stand created at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC is of the same type, which has been
655
(Figure 30).
identified with Usil and today has been put on the auction at the Royal Athena Galleries
91
656
657
658
Figure 30.
659
660
661
2. Results
662
663
664
665
666
667
I suppose, that hydria discovered in Cerveteri with the image of the woman and a three-headed
snake is not connected to Medea and must supposedly reflect the voyage of a deceased person to the
underworld or some ritual connected to their burial, where the three-headed snake shows a creature
living in (or guarding) the underworld, with this creature in turn being approached by a priestess or
goddess (possibly Angitia or Vanth), or the deceased herself.
91
http://www.royalathena.com/PAGES/EtruscanCatalog/Bronze/BLL02JE.html
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668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
Thus in my opinion, it is the winged Etruscan solar god Usil/Catha standing beyond Teitale pictured
696
References
697
698
699
700
Banti, Luisa (1973). Etruscan Cities and Their Culture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of
on the Etruscan olpe from Caere. He had a local cult in Caere and images of him were typologicaly
connected to winged images of Daedalus.
This connection was supposedly not based only on an iconographic similarity, but instead on a
realization that the name of the winged Daedalus was in a certain relationship with the sun. It is
possible to examine Medea as well in the same context as the granddaughter of Helios. Medea, who
was connected to the Etruscan god Cavatha, the daughter of the sun Catha92, was naturally included
in this narrative.
The rejuvenation of Jason by Medea is pictured on the Etruscan olpe, with an Etruscan ritual of
rejuvenation and rebirth being read beyond it (this ritual is known from images and antique sources).
This ritual was connected to solar cults, which were characteristic of many religions and the cult
worship of Egypt and the East. The sun, being born anew every dawn, was perceived as a symbol of
rejuvenation and rebirth.93
The ritual of rejuvenation in the context of the Etruscan tomb stirred up hope for the deceased’s
rebirth and immortality.The Etruscans’ longing for cultural relationships with the Hellenic world is
reflected by the perception of characters of the Argonaut myth as participants of the ritual, including
Medea and Daedalus, a hero of a popular mythological narrative and a possessor of demonic power.
At the same time, it answered a modal tendency of the Etruscan elite’s infatuation with “foreign”
culture. Images of Medea in Etruscan art confirmed from the Orientalist era to the Hellenization
period represent an original, local interpretation of Medea’s image. Etruscan culture, in turning out to
be a mediator between the Greek and Italic worlds, performed a great role in popularizing Medea and
the myths connected to her on the Appenine Peninsula. Medea’s magical art turned out to be familiar
to the Etruscans, who were well known all throughout the Mediterranean for divination and being
experts of magic. In contrast to the Greeks, they turned Medea into an object of cult worship,
identifying her with the Etruscan sun god Cavatha. She penetrated into the mythology, religion, and
art of the ancient Italian people through the Etruscans. It can be said that the Etruscan reception of
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Kobakhidze 2007, 105
Bellah 2011,233. Stadler 2012,465
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de Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2006). Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend, University of
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(2003). Discs of Splendor, The Relief Mirrors of the Etruscans, The
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The Aesthetics of Emulation in the Visual Arts of
Ancient Rome
Kousser, Rachel . CAA.Reviews ; New York New York: College Art Association, Inc. (Jun 28, 2006)
ProQuest document link
FULL TEXT
Ellen Perry The Aesthetics of Emulation in the Visual Arts of Ancient Rome Cambridge University Press, 2004. 224
pp.; 48 b/w ills. Cloth $75.00 (0521831652)
Ellen Perry offers a clear and forthright, if sometimes oversimplified, account of the complex, highly sophisticated
discourses that characterized the Roman “aesthetics of emulation.” In so doing, she seeks to transform the debate
on Roman copying, with a particular focus on Roman statues of gods and heroes, so-called ideal sculpture.
This debate has important repercussions for Romanists, and indeed for the field of art history as a whole. After all,
Roman ideal sculptures are familiar to most art historians–but not as Roman works of art. Instead, statues that
appear stylistically Greek, such as the Apollo Belvedere and the Laocoön, have commonly been identified as
“Roman copies of lost Greek originals.” Perry’s aim is to demonstrate instead that these works are a
quintessentially Roman phenomenon, driven by Roman patrons and involving the creative transformation of Greek
models rather than servile copying.
Many ancient art historians, myself included, find this a plausible and sympathetic argument; others will be more
skeptical, and will not find all of their legitimate concerns addressed here. In particular, skeptics might question
Perry’s focus on literary texts concerning emulation, while images are accorded only a secondary role. As a
specialist in visual rather than literary culture, Perry addresses issues of interest to art historians, yet she
sometimes slights the monuments. At the same time, her analyses of written sources can appear perfunctory in
comparison to earlier treatments of the same topic by literary critics such as Thomas Greene (The Light in Troy:
Imitation and Discovery in Renaissance Poetry, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982). The book is consequently
best read as a provocative rejoinder to earlier scholarship on Roman copying, rather than as the definitive
statement on the issue.
The scholarship on Roman copying has a lengthy and problematic history, and Perry rightly questions many of the
assumptions on which it is based (1-7). From the Renaissance onwards, scholars have interpreted Roman ideal
sculptures–Greek in style, representing characters from Greek myth and history, and created in multiples–as
copies of the famous Greek statues described in literary texts. This was true not only for Renaissance antiquarians
and philologists but also for later, more art-historically minded scholars. So, for example, Johann Joachim
Wincklemann considered the Apollo Belvedere (found in Rome, and currently dated to the early second century AD)
the epitome of Classical Greek art.
This reliance on literary texts and Roman “copies” continued even after scholars had access to genuine works of
Greek art. The late nineteenth-century scholar Adolf Furtwängler, for example, examined actual Greek sculptures
such as the Venus de Milo, but focused his discussion on Roman works of art known in multiple versions, such as
the Discus Thrower; his aim was to reconstruct their models through the method known in German as Kopienkritik
(comparison of copies). He then correlated these reconstructions with ancient literary texts describing statues by
celebrated artists–e.g., a Discus Thrower by the early Classical sculptor Myron–to produce a historical account of
Greek art based on a succession of masterpieces.
As Perry notes, Furtwängler’s account was not universally accepted even in his own day, and it has been
increasingly challenged over the past thirty years. Scholars such as Brunilde Ridgway and Miranda Marvin have
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questioned his methodological premises; others, for instance Paul Zanker and Tonio Hölscher, have sought to
elucidate the Roman character of the sculptures and to highlight Roman motivations for the appropriation of Greek
artistic styles. Due to these and other scholars, the debate over the “Roman-ness” of Roman ideal sculpture has by
now become central to the field. Much of the scholarship, however, has come in the form of narrowly focused
articles on particular sculptures (e.g., many of the essays collected in Elaine Gazda, ed., The Ancient Art of
Emulation: Studies in Artistic Originality and Tradition from the Present to Classical Antiquity, Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 2002), while analyses of the debate’s broader implications have been lacking. Perry’s
book provides a rare monographic treatment of the topic for an Anglophone audience; her wide-ranging argument-with its stress on creative emulation rather than derivative copying–offers a useful overview of an important topic.
Perry’s discussion centers on three concepts she sees as central to Roman aesthetics. The first is decorum
(appropriateness, chapters 1-2). Her contention is that Greek master sculptors were valued by Roman patrons “not
so much because they produced works that the Romans wanted to copy outright, but in great part because they
discovered suitable, socially sanctioned representations of particular subjects” (44). The second concept she
covers is eclecticism (chapter 4), defined here as the use of multiple models for the creation of new works of art.
Such works were appreciated, she argues, because they referred back to an authoritative tradition while also
extending it (149). The third concept is phantasia (artistic vision/inspiration, chapter 5). Artists’ visions were
expected to be truthful and emotionally affecting, but not necessarily unique. This, in Perry’s view, helps to explain
the repetition seen in Roman ideal sculpture, which reflects consensus on how the gods “really” looked, rather than
lack of creativity. She also includes a critique of previous scholarship, focusing on the practice of Kopienkritik. This
is located rather curiously in chapter 3, while the introduction provides only a very brief review of the literature. And
Perry concludes with a discussion of Roman attitudes toward Greek art as expressed in literary sources.
Several of the book’s chapters are particularly strong, bringing new evidence and ideas to bear on issues of
copying and emulation. I would single out the compendium of literary texts dealing with decorum in chapter 1, as
well as the concluding treatments of phantasia and Roman attitudes toward Greek art. The first builds on previous
scholarship, for instance Miranda Marvin’s influential article “Copying in Roman Sculpture: The Replica Series”;
(Kathleen Preciado, ed., Retaining the Original: Multiple Originals, Copies, and Reproductions, in Studies in the
History of Art 20, Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1989, 29-46). But Perry has compiled a richer selection of
literary texts than previous scholars; taken together, these sources effectively illustrate the authoritative character
of decorum, which governed matters ranging from the morality of suicide to the scale and arrangement of rooms
within an aristocrat’s house (cf., Cicero, De Officiis 1.112; Vitruvius, De Architectura 6.5.1-;3). Perry also adds to the
discussion by highlighting the manner in which decorum was frequently defined via social consensus, particularly
that of the educated, powerful, and deeply conservative Roman elite (48). This is helpful in situating artistic
practices within a well-defined social context.
The religious context for Roman ideal sculpture is likewise critical. In chapter 5, Perry has assembled an
illuminating selection of texts dealing with phantasia, and has used them to show that–for images of the gods, at
least–Romans valued truth and emotional effect more than originality. As she argues, this helps to explain why a
particular god might be represented in the same way time and again, although this conclusion raises two further
questions: First, under what circumstances was innovation appropriate? And second, why were the forms chosen
so often Greek?
The discussion of literary sources on Greek masterpieces is likewise valuable, both for the evidence presented and
the questions it raises. Perry treats instances in which statues were copied for cultic reasons, for example, when
an oracle demanded the promulgation of an established cult like that of the Artemis of Ephesus in a new city. She
also discusses famous statues by unknown or obscure artists and Roman theories of copying. Perry highlights the
varied motives that drove Roman artists to copy or emulate Greek works, ranging from the need to promulgate a
cult and its cult statue (172-77) to the attempt to satisfy an aristocrat’s demands for elegant and storied objets
d’art (187). Her discussion should help us to move beyond the dichotomous view of Roman ideal sculptures–as
either derivative copies or original creations–still prevalent in the scholarship.
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Some of Perry’s arguments are likely to encounter objections, however. Particularly at issue are questions of
method, which come to the fore in her treatment of previous scholarship, her use of literary sources, and her
analysis of Greek art vis-á-vis Roman. As regards previous scholarship, she mounts a sustained attack in chapter 3
on Furtwüngler’s methods. But she is fighting a straw man. In his analyses of Roman replica series, Furtwüngler
often mentioned, but discounted, the evidence of “free copies,” that is, works which seemed indebted to particular
models but did not follow them exactly. Perry champions these works, seeing in them “the very aspects of Roman
art that patrons may have valued most” (78). This is possible, but was hardly Furtwüngler’s concern; his focus was
on Greek art. At the same time, her chosen comparison–between several Amazon statues that clearly copy
Classical types and a caryatid “free copy” from the villa of Herodes Atticus at Loukou–does not effectively prove
her point. The exact copies are top-quality works: monumental in scale, expertly crafted, visua…
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