Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Figure 13 – uploaded by Jesus Carruesco

See full PDFdownloadDownload figure
the representation of the arrival of Theseus and his companions to Delos on the Francois Vase). A kylix from Tarquinia (fig. 4.15) offers a very interesting example, with Heracles and Triton at the centre and a chorus of girls (which can also represent Nereids) surrounding them. The centre of the space is occupied by the clasped hands of Heracles imprisoning Triton in a wrestling hold, an &puxtos Seapdc (like that of Hephaestus’ web in the Odyssey) represented here as a labyrinthine meander which echoes the locked hands of the surrounding chorus. This becomes even more evident if compared to another Attic red- figure kylix with the battle of Thetis and Peleus (fig. 4.16). Here, the place of the chorus is occupied by a geometric band, a mepimAoxy exactly reproducing the central clasped hands motif, which in this mythical context is a nuptial as much as a wrestling motif.

Figure 4 the representation of the arrival of Theseus and his companions to Delos on the Francois Vase). A kylix from Tarquinia (fig. 4.15) offers a very interesting example, with Heracles and Triton at the centre and a chorus of girls (which can also represent Nereids) surrounding them. The centre of the space is occupied by the clasped hands of Heracles imprisoning Triton in a wrestling hold, an &puxtos Seapdc (like that of Hephaestus’ web in the Odyssey) represented here as a labyrinthine meander which echoes the locked hands of the surrounding chorus. This becomes even more evident if compared to another Attic red- figure kylix with the battle of Thetis and Peleus (fig. 4.16). Here, the place of the chorus is occupied by a geometric band, a mepimAoxy exactly reproducing the central clasped hands motif, which in this mythical context is a nuptial as much as a wrestling motif.

Related Figures (16)

oinochoe (the inscription even seems to have been left unfinished) would be at odds with the attachment of a conscious symbolic meaning to its spatial layout. On the contrary, I would argue that precisely because this is a pioneering effort, it would have been all too natural that the writer would have borne in mind a visual, not just textual, parallel, one familiar to him from the ‘reading’ of the geometric patterns he was accustomed to, namely a choral reading, as I will try to argue in what follows, particularly as it is naturally evoked here by the content of the inscription. The name Bovctpogy sev, applied to a particular (and particularly early) layout of an inscription, bears witness to a similar understanding of the visual aspect of writing through a metaphoric image, one which, as we have just seen, also provides a model for the reading of dance movements (dtvetw, atpégw). We could thus argue that the choral paradigm offered a mental frame that could make intelligible in the first place the possibility of visualizing speech in space and fixing it in time, in the same way as the abstract patterns the dancers make visible with their movement and even draw on a soft ground (cf. Od. 8.260: Aeinvav 5é yopdv, ‘smoothed a dancing space’). The last observation takes us back to our main argument in this paper, the relationship between epic descriptions of choral performance and Geometric iconography. The high frequency of representations of choral performances on Geometric pottery, which sets a trend that will continue in later periods, testifies to the
oinochoe (the inscription even seems to have been left unfinished) would be at odds with the attachment of a conscious symbolic meaning to its spatial layout. On the contrary, I would argue that precisely because this is a pioneering effort, it would have been all too natural that the writer would have borne in mind a visual, not just textual, parallel, one familiar to him from the ‘reading’ of the geometric patterns he was accustomed to, namely a choral reading, as I will try to argue in what follows, particularly as it is naturally evoked here by the content of the inscription. The name Bovctpogy sev, applied to a particular (and particularly early) layout of an inscription, bears witness to a similar understanding of the visual aspect of writing through a metaphoric image, one which, as we have just seen, also provides a model for the reading of dance movements (dtvetw, atpégw). We could thus argue that the choral paradigm offered a mental frame that could make intelligible in the first place the possibility of visualizing speech in space and fixing it in time, in the same way as the abstract patterns the dancers make visible with their movement and even draw on a soft ground (cf. Od. 8.260: Aeinvav 5é yopdv, ‘smoothed a dancing space’). The last observation takes us back to our main argument in this paper, the relationship between epic descriptions of choral performance and Geometric iconography. The high frequency of representations of choral performances on Geometric pottery, which sets a trend that will continue in later periods, testifies to the
the terms Sivw and otpégw can be applied to the movements of the eye, even combined in a single verb to express the moment o f Patroklos’ death (16.792: atpepedivy ev dé ol dace, ‘his eyes spun’; cf. Theseus’ eyes in Bacchy]. 17.18: dtvacev dpa). Similarly, the epithet éAtxoBAeqapos, also denoting beauty, attributes to the eye and the gaze a spiral movement that we find often in the movements of the chorus. Most significantly, the two terms for t he pupil are associated to female attractiveness leading to marriage or intercourse, a concept that in early Greek thought finds a ritualized expression in the c horus: (i) the word yAjvn, denoting brightness, reappears in a derived form in the expression tetyAnva épyata, three-eyed earrings, mentioned among other female attires, jewels or
the terms Sivw and otpégw can be applied to the movements of the eye, even combined in a single verb to express the moment o f Patroklos’ death (16.792: atpepedivy ev dé ol dace, ‘his eyes spun’; cf. Theseus’ eyes in Bacchy]. 17.18: dtvacev dpa). Similarly, the epithet éAtxoBAeqapos, also denoting beauty, attributes to the eye and the gaze a spiral movement that we find often in the movements of the chorus. Most significantly, the two terms for t he pupil are associated to female attractiveness leading to marriage or intercourse, a concept that in early Greek thought finds a ritualized expression in the c horus: (i) the word yAjvn, denoting brightness, reappears in a derived form in the expression tetyAnva épyata, three-eyed earrings, mentioned among other female attires, jewels or
e eseteee Be ee eer nere I have argued elsewhere that the epic passages I have just mentioned show that the epic poet needs to appropriate the chorus’ voice and its mimetic force so that he may be able to order the world through the catalogic and genealogic mode of the discourse.*” The three choruses that rhythmically scan the Home- ric Hymn to Apollo, for instance, are to be closely related to the prominence of the geographical catalogues in this work, just as it is the invocation to the cho- rus of the Muses in Jliad 2, as opposed to the single thea at the beginning of the rus of the Muses in Iliad 2, as opposed to the single thea at the beginning of the
e eseteee Be ee eer nere I have argued elsewhere that the epic passages I have just mentioned show that the epic poet needs to appropriate the chorus’ voice and its mimetic force so that he may be able to order the world through the catalogic and genealogic mode of the discourse.*” The three choruses that rhythmically scan the Home- ric Hymn to Apollo, for instance, are to be closely related to the prominence of the geographical catalogues in this work, just as it is the invocation to the cho- rus of the Muses in Jliad 2, as opposed to the single thea at the beginning of the rus of the Muses in Iliad 2, as opposed to the single thea at the beginning of the
Related topics:
ArtRepresentation Politics
580 California St., Suite 400
San Francisco, CA, 94104
© 2025 Academia. All rights reserved