Download Hester Bonnie Hester Elena Bianchelli CLAS 1020H 20 November

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Bonnie Hester
Elena Bianchelli
CLAS 1020H
20 November 2014
Response to Artistic Representations from “The Abduction of Antiope”
For this project, I signed up to find artistic sources numbers 21-30, which are all part of
the section in Ch. 9 of Early Greek Myth called “The Abduction of Antiope.” As I researched
these fragments of Greek art, I found myself particularly interested in representations of what
scholars call the “Amazonomachy,” or the triumph of Theseus and his warriors in battle over
invading Amazon warriors.
While all of my sources concerned Theseus’ dealings with Amazon women, most focus
on his abduction of the warrior queen Antiope. However, three of these sources were sculptures
found on buildings that specifically depicted the defeat of the Amazon tribe as a whole. The first
of these is the west pediment of the temple of Apollo in Eretria, a temple that was destroyed in
490 BC by the invading Persians. Though little of its statuary survives, some of the best pieces
are of the Amazonomachy scene of this pediment. The second building to feature this scene is
the Athenian treasury, when the people of Athens built in Delphi to house their votive offerings
to the god Apollo’s oracle in Delphi. It is decorated by 30 carved metopes that depict Theseus
and Heracles and their fight against the Amazons. Of interest about these sculptures is that it
appears they were done by two different artists, one working in the Archaic style (stiff postures,
awkward half-smiles, etc.) and the other using the new style called Severe, which served as the
transition between Archaic classical art and the High Classical works that came behind it
(ancient-greece.org, “Treasury of the Athenians”). Lastly, the west façade of the famous
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Parthenon in Athens (the entirety of which included 92 highly-detailed carvings on metopes)
featured an Amazonomachy notable for its sophistication, since after all the Parthenon was one
of Athens’ biggest undertakings and greatest triumphs. Physical details like tension in muscles
and veins standing out beneath skin were included even in small sculpture, for which chances
were poor that any citizen would really ever be close enough to notice and appreciate (ancientgreece.org, “Parthenon Metopes”).
As just these three examples have proved, the Amazonomachy was an extremely popular
story among Greeks when they designed and decorated their temples to the gods. But why were
they so fond of this particular scene? In the story of this encounter, Theseus (a well-loved Greek
hero everywhere and especially in Athens, where he was considered the founder of the city as
well as its first king, battles and defeats the Amazon women warriors that are attacking
Theseus’s home. Many historians propose that the reason for this scene’s popularity with Greeks
came from their hard-won victory over the troublesome Persians, who had recently invaded the
Greeks before being routed and driven out (Tarbell). Others suggest that the Athenians wanted to
represent the triumph of civilization over barbarism, which barbarism here being the lifestyles of
the Amazon women who had broken away from traditional gender roles of the age to become
aggressive and independent from male control (which at the time would have been seen as quite
troublesome and undesirable). This theme of civilization over barbarism is seen in other Attic
work especially, and came about as a result of the Athenians’ belief in their own innate belief in
their own superiority over others.
However, not all historians subscribe to those theories. Some, such as former University
of Chicago classic studies professor F. B. Tarbell points out, do not believe that the Greeks saw
any special relations between representations of Amazonomachies and their repulsion of the
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Persian army. Tarbell claims instead that as a major event in Attic history, the routing of the
Amazons would be included in many different art forms regardless of whether or not any ties to
the Persians existed. Tarbell also noted that the only extant discussion of this scene is given in
some of Pausanias’ writings, and in them Pausanias does not mention anything about the
Persians or symbolism about civilization either (Tarbell). Finally, Tarbell mentions that an
Amazonomachy is seen adorning the funeral monument of a Lycian chieftain who was also a
Persian, making it seem quite strange if the scene does indeed refer to the defeat of the Persians.
Tarbell suggests an alternate solution to the question, stating the Amazonomachy gained
popularity in the fifth and fourth centuries BC because it offered an inexhaustible supply of
artistic themes about a famous and noble exploit, a combination which sculptors at the time felt
drawn toward.
Besides the issue of whether or not the Amazonomachy is a response to the Persian
invasion of Attica, there is also the issue of gender relations involved here. As I viewed these
scenes of male Greeks wrestling with and defeating female Amazons, it seemed quite clear to me
that one interpretation here is that the Amazonomachy is a manifestation of the fears of Greek
men of the time of losing the absolute control that they usually exercised over women in their
culture. Being accustomed to making every important decision for women and keeping women’s
freedoms restricted, the idea of strong female warriors who had no need or desire for men (after
they had used them sexually) would have been one that would have both frightened and incensed
them. This makes it very logical that they would reinforce on many different buildings on a large
scale how men conquered the Amazon women in the end, as an unconscious warning to the
women of their time and an assurance to themselves that they could remain in charge by virtue of
their supposed superior strength and masterfulness.
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Overall, I believe I found these representations of the Amazonomachy interesting because
of their prevalence on major temples and buildings, since this meant the Greeks obviously
attached a special significance to this event and I wanted to research why that was. I also find the
idea of a race of powerful female warriors who reject men a fascinating concept to exist within
the scope of a society whose stories and traditions were heavily male-dominated and malecontrolled. Also, while my research revealed differing opinions on whether or not this battle was
related to the Persian invasion, it still seems to me to be a plausible explanation and a very
interesting one, if indeed the Greeks celebrated the image over and over again as a reminder to
each other of their own strength. Lastly, I felt there was merit in the idea that the victory of the
Greeks in the battle was symbolism for the triumph of civilization over barbarism, something
which the Athenians especially delighted in expressing, indicating they may have held quite a
high opinion of their own learning and sophistication in comparison to other cultures.
Works Cited
f“Parthenon Metopes.” Ancient-Greece.org. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. http://ancientgreece.org/museum/muse-delphi-athenians.html
Tarbell, F. B. “Centauromachy and Amazonomachy in Greek Art: The Reasons for their
Popularity.” American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1920), pp.
226-231.
“Treasury of the Athenians.” Ancient-Greece.org. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. http://ancientgreece.org/museum/muse-delphi-athenians.html