The aim of this book has been to introduce some of the best specimens of mythologic sculpture to those who wish to become acquainted with things that add to the resources of a happy imagination, but who find it impracticable to study set treatises on "fossil theology," or to consider the historical development of art. An unpretentious exposition of the myths has been given together with their popular interpretations. The poets, ever the best commentators on mythology and sculpture, are freely quoted. These metrical lines, relating either to the statues or the stories, may serve to stamp indelibly on the mind facts otherwise effaceable.
This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. We have represented this book in the same form as it was first published. Hence any marks seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 edition. Excerpt: ...Polycleitos represented twice, --once as a leader (Hagctcr) seizing his weapons, and, again, as fighting the Hydra.?26 Of his statue of an Amazon we know somewhat more. The story is, that statues of the Amazons were required for the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, that spot where the conquered heroines had taken refuge in mythic ages, when hard pressed by Dionysos.?2? The most celebrated artists came together with their statues, to select from among them the best. According to Pliny's anecdote, each gave the preference to his own work; but, after that, all agreed first upon the Amazon by Polycleitos, --the one by Pheidias taking the second, that of Cresilas the third, and that of Phradmon the fourth place. Whatever credence may be given to this tradition, it may contain a kernel of truth, indicating the superiority of Polycleitos' representation of these masculine females. Several types of wounded and fatigued Amazons, incorrectly restored, exist, which doubtless go back to celebrated originals of the time of Pheidias and Polycleitos.?28 Among them three distinct types are evident, illustrated in statues in Rome, Berlin, and Paris. One represents an Amazon, who wears a large mantle, and seems to be staying the blood trickling from her wounded breast, with one end of her chiton caught up in the left hand. Her head is dropped slightly; and the arm, restored as raised, should, according to a gem now in Paris, be resting on a long spear, which supports the unhappy, conquered woman. The second type shows us, not a wounded, but a wearied, Amazon. She stands resting, with the right hand on some object, now gone, possibly her battle-axe; while her left is placed on her head, in the attitude so often employed to express repose in Greek art. This type...
It not only shows that ancient viewers conceived of images as more operative than aesthetic, but additionally reveals how poets and philosophers found in sculpture a practice "good to think with."".
Excerpt from A History of Greek Sculpture: From the Earliest Times Down to the Age of Pheidias A Narrative of the rise and progress of Greek sculpture involves many questions on which there are now differences of opinion, and, much as a continuous statement of results would have been preferable, it has at times been necessary to enter into argument. Where the argument is based on less important details, I have endeavoured to confine it to foot-notes. But there are also questions on which the opinion commonly received has seemed to me erroneous, and here again some degree of discussion has been unavoidable, the details being as far as possible consigned to smaller type. In a history of Greek sculpture notes and references are indispensable, and may be said to need no apology. What I wish to defend is the extensive use I have made of them, partly, as has just been said, to relieve the narrative, and partly also to show my constant indebtedness to writers who have worked out one or other of the numerous problems of Greek art. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Images of episodes from Greek mythology are widespread in Roman art, appearing in sculptural groups, mosaics, paintings and reliefs. They attest to Rome's enduring fascination with Greek culture, and its desire to absorb and reframe that culture for new ends. This book provides a comprehensive account of the meanings of Greek myth across the spectrum of Roman art, including public, domestic and funerary contexts. It argues that myths, in addition to functioning as signifiers of a patron's education or paideia, played an important role as rhetorical and didactic exempla. The changing use of mythological imagery in domestic and funerary art in particular reveals an important shift in Roman values and senses of identity across the period of the first two centuries AD, and in the ways that Greek culture was turned to serve Roman values.
This richly illustrated book examines the legacy of Greek mythology in Western art from the classical era to the present. Tracing the emergence, survival, and transformation of key mythological figures and motifs from ancient Greece through the modern era, it explores the enduring importance of such myths for artists and viewers in their own time and over the millennia that followed.
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