MR6

• In what ways did Greeks and Romans seek to demonstrate their power?
• This topic explores the links between myth and portrayal of power in the Greek and Roman world
• Myths stood as symbols of power that was used to define a civilisation, city, family, or even an individual
• When combined with architecture and sculpture they could stand as statements of power for those exhibiting them
• Centauromachy


  Battle between the mythical race of Centaurs and the human Lapiths
• Centauromachy


  1. Lapiths invited Centaurs to the wedding of Pirithous

  2. Centaurs attacked the wedding party

  3. Theseus and Lapiths fought and killed/chased off the Centaurs
• Centaurs


  • Savage beings that lived in caves, hunted wild food and fought with rocks
  • Unskilled in the arts of men such as crafts, hospitality and religion
• Lapiths


  • Civilised tribe of men that lived in Thessaly
  • Sought to make up for the exploits of Ixion
• The Centauromachy story came to represent civilisation versus barbarism
• The Parthenon featured depictions of the Centauromachy

  
• The Bassae frieze featured depictions of the Amazonomachy
• The Prima Porta of Augustus and the Ara Pacis of Augustus featured Roman mythology and sculpture

  
• Augustus used these to promote his bid for power in Rome
• The prescribed sources for this topic are the Parthenon (metopes), Augustus of Prima Porta, and the Ara Pacis
• Deaths of Helops and Dictys

  • Helops killed by a javelin through his temples
  • Dictys slipping on a precipice and impaling himself on an ash tree
• Aphareus trying to lift a rock

  Theseus striking him with an oaken club, breaking his arm
• Theseus attacking the centaurs


  1. Leaping onto Bienor's back

  2. Striking Bienor, Nedymnus, Lycopes, Hippasus, Rhipheus, Thereus in the head with his club
• Demoleon trying to tear up a pine tree

  1. Failing, then breaking it off and hurling it

  2. Theseus avoiding the missile, which hits and kills Crantor
• Peleus killing centaurs


  1. Killing Myles, Phlegraeus, Iphinous, Clanis with spear and sword

  2. Killing Dorylas by piercing his hand and then striking his belly
• Cyllarus


  • His beauty, golden beard and hair, pleasing glance, perfect human and horse form
• Cyllarus and Hylonome


  Their equal love, wandering together, fighting side by side
• Cyllarus' death


  1. Pierced by a javelin

  2. Hylonome embracing his dying body and then killing herself on the same spear
• The Greeks were successful in defeating the Persians at Plataea in 479 BC. From that point forward the Persians were seen as an image of barbarism and the Greeks took price in depicting their victory over them. To do this they used the centauromachy on their temples as a symbol of Greek victory over barbarism.
• No doubt the centauromachy as a symbol of the Greek victory over the Persians held great significance to the Athenians. In 480 BC the Persians successfully sacked Athens and raised the city to the ground destroying an earlier temple to Athena on the Acropolis. When Pericles rebuild the Parthenon in 449 BC, the inclusion of the centauromachy on the metopes would have been a message to the world that Athens would never give up.
• In addition to the general symbolism of civilisation versus barbarism, the involvement of Theseus in the myth would lead to an even greater importance for the Athenians.
• Of the ninety-nine metopes that ran around the Parthenon, thirty-four depicted the Centauromachy. Although these are the best preserved, they are still heavily fragmented. The job of sculpturing the metopes did not fall to one man. A team of sculptors would have been employed to complete the work.
• Due to this there is a great deal of variation in the quality and finish of the sculptures.

  
• Objectives for the sculptor of a metope


  • Create a scene that could be easily recognisable
  • Create realism in this scene
  • Fill the space so as not to leave big blank areas
• The topic of the story makes this quite easy for the sculpture as the centaur dominates the scene. Although lost, the centaur may have been wielding a weapon. However, the scene of a battle can be easily seen through him standing triumphant over the Lapith. The metopes were positioned around ten metres up on the temple and so would have been viewed from beneath. This would have increased the drama as the centaur rears above the Lapith, which appears to be rolling off the metope.

  
• The sculptor has been very successful in depicting action in the scene. The left arm of the centaur is carved in low relief, while its body is carved in high relief. This technique helped make the carvings visible from beneath. The semi-circular mark above the right shoulder suggests the arm held a pot. This creates depth to the scene. The same can be said of the front legs of the centaur that are held above the fallen Lapith. When combined with the rear leg muscles and raised tail, the sculptor has successfully captured the centaur as he rears to trample the Lapith. Regarding the Lapith, he has been captured in the moment of defeat. The body lies awkwardly twisted, this is due to him landing on his arms which are missing from sight. The Right leg is raised with the left leg balancing on the leg of the centaur. Although it is missing you can imagine a look of anguish on the face of the Lapith.

  
• The rearing centaur with open arms successfully fills the upper space of the metope forming a 'z' shape with the Lapith. Additionally, the sculptor has used the wild animal skin draped over the arm of the centaur to fill the right-hand side of the metope. This also reflects the beastlike nature of the creature. The twisted body of the Lapith with bent knee is successful in filling the bottom part of the metope.
• Amazons


  A mythical race of women who came from Asia Minor. As a race they stayed clear of men, expect when they needed to repopulate. When this time came, they coupled with men from a neighbouring tribe. If the women gave birth to a son, the baby was killed. However, if the baby was a girl, she was raised by her mother and became an Amazon.
• Amazonomachy


  Used when discussing the mythical battles between Greeks and Amazons
• There were two great battles between the Greeks and Amazons. The first was between Hercules and the Amazon queen Hippolyte as his ninth labour. The second relates to the events after the labour, in which Hercules brought back an Amazonian bride for Theseus as a gift. Enraged that Hercules had done this, the Amazons declared war on Athens. This was called the Attic War. To defeat the Amazons, Theseus and Hercules led an army of Athenians against them.
• Like the Centauromachy, the Amazonomachy came to represent Greece's triumph over foreign people.
• The Amazonomachy was twinned with the Centauromachy and depicted on a frieze that ran around the inside of the temple's naos at Bassae. This is unique and allowed the viewer to take in the whole frieze standing in one place. This would make the narrative easier to follow. The choice of scene suited the space as battles provided a busy and interesting scene for viewers. The symbolism of Greek victory would also have been a suitable topic for the small town that wanted to celebrate its Greekness.
• The scene runs around the east and south-east end of the frieze and shows the Heraclean Amazonomachy, which was Hercules' battle with the Amazons for the belt of Hippolyte. Hercules can be seen on one of the south blocks; he can be identified wearing his lion-skin cloak.
• Objectives for the sculptor of a frieze


  • Create a scene that could be easily recognisable
  • Create realism in this scene
  • Fill the space so as not to leave big blank areas
• The sculptor has successfully created a scene in which a man fights two women. The Amazons were frequently depicted with one bare breast; this can be seen on the Amazon on horseback.
• The drapery on the right-hand Amazon correctly depicts the movement of the woman towards the left. The shallow relief on both the horseback Amazon and Greek suggest a snapshot mid-flight in which the horseback Amazon tries to flee away from the Greek. The horse, although clearly in action, is rather small in comparison to the human figure.