PICTORIAL NARRATIVE IN ANCIENT GREEK ART. (Cambridge studies in classical art and iconography). Mark D. Stansbury-O'Donnell

The article is devoted to the analysis of images on the bone comb from the Haymanova Mohyla mound (IV century BC). The images on it quite fully represent the myth of a Hero fighting a dragon, which is not known from narrative sources. The first large plate (the «male» side of the comb) depicts a battle scene with a consistently developing plot: the defeat of one hero — the triumph of the dragon — revenge and the victory of the second hero. It can be assumed that the characters in this scene are Targitaos and Kolaxais, known from the story of Herodotus. These Scythian heroes relate to Iranian Yima (Jamshid) and Θraētaona (Fereydun). The goddess is reproduced on the second large plate (the «female» side of the comb). Her iconographic image was borrowed from the ancient Greek Art, but it was perceived by the Scythians, probably as the goddess Api (Άπί), equivalent to the Iranian goddess Aredvi Sura Anahita. The general context of the images suggests that the Scythians were familiar with the Iranian prayers to this goddess with a request to bestow good luck in the fight against hostile creatures. The comb was certainly an important ritual and status attribute.

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Material Evidence

The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Slaveries ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199575251.013.8 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah P. Morris

Keyword(s):

Ancient Greek ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Greek Art ◽

Material Evidence ◽

Material Record

Unlike in the study of Roman slavery (Joshel and Peterson 2014), the analysis of archaeological evidence for Greek slavery is far more challenging (I. Morris 2011), if we hope to be able to identify slaves, their labour, and their living spaces, in the ancient material record. Rather than trying to identify figures in Greek art as unfree in status, locating their place of work and living quarters in excavated structures, or distinguishing slave burials in ancient Greek necropoleis, this essay proposes that we should look rather for the wider effects of their labour on changes in health, wealth, settlement and landscapes.

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Seeing the Dog: Naturalistic Canine Representations from Greek Art

Arts ◽

10.3390/arts9010014 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 14

Author(s):

Kenneth F. Kitchell

Keyword(s):

Real Life ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Seminal Work ◽

Greek Art ◽

The Many ◽

Animal World

This study attempts to demonstrate that ancient Greek authors and vase painters (mostly of the late sixth and early fifth centuries) were well attuned to the many bodily gestures and positions exhibited by dogs in real life and utilized this knowledge in producing their works. Once this is clear, it becomes evident that the Greek public at large was equally aware of such canine bodily gestures and positions. This extends the seminal work on gestures of Boegehold and Lateiner to the animal world and seeks also to serve as a call for further study of similar animals throughout ancient Greek times.

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Ancient Greek Art and Iconography

Phoenix ◽

10.2307/1088873 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 83

Author(s):

Gerald P. Schaus ◽

Warren G. Moon

Keyword(s):

Ancient Greek ◽

Greek Art

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Odysseus on the Niobid Krater

The Journal of Hellenic Studies ◽

10.2307/632051 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 109 ◽

pp. 191-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Timothy J. McNiven

Keyword(s):

Classical Period ◽

Mural Painting ◽

Vase Painting ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

New Developments ◽

History Of ◽

Greek Art

The Niobid krater in Paris (Louvre G341) is not one of the masterpieces of Greek vase painting. The vase is not even one of the best works of the artist, who receives his name, the Niobid Painter, from the rare depiction of Apollo and Artemis killing the children of Niobe on the reverse. The vase is, however, one of the touchstones of the history of ancient Greek art. The Niobid krater has this distinction because it is the earliest contemporaneous witness to the new developments in mural painting in the Early Classical Period, developments best understood from the descriptions of the traveler Pausanias six centuries later. The actual quality of the Niobid krater is therefore secondary to its documentary value.Since the krater's discovery in 1881, most discussion has focused on the iconography of the scene on the obverse, showing a group of warriors with Athena (PLATE IIa). The ambiguity of the scene comes from the large number of figures and the lack of action or iconographical evidence to help in their identification. Of the 11 figures, only Herakles (figure 6 on PLATE IIb), with his club and lionskin and Athena (4) in her aegis and helmet are clearly identifiable.

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