The myth of Kallisto and lesbianism in the Classical World

According to Greco-Roman myth, the mortal virgin Kallisto (also spelled Callisto), according to Hesiod the daughter of King Lycaon of Arcadia, spent her time in the Arcadian Mountains of Greece as a favorite hunting companion of Artemis, goddess of the hunt and childbirth. Like all of Artemis' nymph companions, Kallisto had vowed to remain chaste. The king of the Greek gods, Zeus, was attracted to Kallisto (when was Zeus never attracted to all of the voluptuous females cavorting around him?) and seduced her by disguising himself as Artemis, which resulted in the birth of a son, Arkas, who gave his name to the area of Greece known as Arcadia. Artemis, angered at Kallisto's betrayal, (or, according to another version, Zeus's wife Hera, enraged with jealousy) changed Kallisto into a bear. (Yes, it's another example of the rape victim being punished for male misbehavior!)

Sixteen years later, her now almost grown son, Arcas, encountered the transformed Kallisto while hunting in the forest.  Just as Arcas was about to kill his own mother with his javelin, Zeus (Jupiter) averted the tragedy by placing mother and son amongst the stars as Ursa Major (called Arktos, the "Bear", by Greeks),and Ursa Minor, respectively.

Artemis Kalliste was worshiped in Athens in a shrine which lay outside the Dipylon gate, by the side of the road to the Academy but no inscriptions dated earlier than the 3rd century BCE have been found.  Her worship is a little surprising since her story is essentially based on acknowledgement of female homosexuality which itself is hardly mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Only two poets, Sappho and Alcman, a 7th century BCE male Spartan poet,  discuss attraction between young women in rather ambiguous language.  Despite Sappho's notoriety as a lesbian, only one fragment of Sappho's poetry, Sappho 94, contains a clear mention of female homosexual acts and Sappho herself was said to have been a lover of Alcaeus of Mytilene, a male lyric poet from Lesbos. 

In the rigidly patriarchal world of Roman society the mention of female homoeroticism was even more rare. Although homoerotic themes are introduced to Latin literature during a period of increasing Greek influence on Roman culture in the 2nd century BCE, the Romans did not idealize "eros" between freeborn male citizens of equal social status, whether there was a difference of age or not.  Such female relations, according to the Roman poet Ovid, were "unheard-of" and "a desire known to no one." 

Ovid recounted the tale of Kallisto in Book 2 of "Metamorphoses" but focused clearly on the disguised male-female aspect, vividly describing her violent rape and subsequent "punishment." Wall paintings from a Pompeian brothel next to the Suburban Baths are the only known examples of Roman art depicting sexual congress between women and maybe simply used to emphasize the "forbidden" nature of activities promoted within. 

Although references to sex between women are infrequent in the Roman literature of the Republic and early Principate, scholars point to a couple of spells in the Greek Magical Papyri as well as love spells, medical writing, texts on astrology and the interpretation of dreams, that attest to the existence of individual women in Roman-ruled provinces in the later Imperial period who fell in love with members of the same sex as evidence the practice was not socially or legally expunged, though.

In my research for this post, I also came across an interesting analysis of Ovid's version of the Kalissto myth as an example of female censorship.  You can read it here:

http://web.colby.edu/ovid-censorship/censorship-in-ovids-myths/callisto-and-censorship-voice-as-power/

Like Daphne's transformation into a laurel tree to escape Apollo's embrace, Kalissto's moment of transformation into a bear was a popular theme in classical art.  We see that on this small chous or wine jug in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum.  On the front of the jug, Kallisto sits on a rock covered with animal skins. Willowy trees surround her, creating a woodland setting. Kallisto already has the bear's pointed ears, hairy arms, and paws. She wears hunting boots and her hunting spears are propped against the rock at the left. A male hunter is shown to the left of Kallisto, perhaps drawing back in surprise. On the right, Hermes appears to lift Kallisto's child Arkas from the ground. The messenger god wears his traditional costume of a traveling hat and cloak. His special wand, the kerykeion, rests against a stone marker behind him. Hermes is going to transport the soon-to-be-orphaned baby to his own mother, Maia, who will raise Arkas on Mount Kyllene in Arcadia.

Kallisto sits on a rock covered with animal skins. Willowy trees surround her, creating a woodland setting. Kallisto already has the bear's pointed ears, hairy arms, and paws. She wears hunting boots and her hunting spears are propped against the rock at the left. A male hunter is shown to the left of Kallisto, perhaps drawing back in surprise. On the right, Hermes appears to lift Kallisto's child Arkas from the ground. The messenger god wears his traditional costume of a traveling hat and cloak. His special wand, the kerykeion, rests against a stone marker behind him. Hermes is going to transport the soon-to-be-orphaned baby to his own mother, Maia, who will raise Arkas on Mount Kyllene in Arcadia. Image courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum. 

Apulian Red-Figure Chous (Shape 3), about 360 BCE Terracotta, attributed to Near the Black Fury Group (Greek (Apulian) active in the early 300s BCE. A male hunter is shown to the left of Kallisto, perhaps drawing back in surprise. Image courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum. 

Apulian Red-Figure Chous (Shape 3), about 360 BCE Terracotta, attributed to Near the Black Fury Group (Greek (Apulian) active in the early 300s BCE. Hermes appears to lift Kallisto's child Arkas from the ground. The messenger god wears his traditional costume of a traveling hat and cloak. His special wand, the kerykeion, rests against a stone marker behind him. Hermes is going to transport the soon-to-be-orphaned baby to his own mother, Maia, who will raise Arkas on Mount Kyllene in Arcadia. Image courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum. 

 

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Apollo of Piombino, not just a Roman copy of an older Greek original but, attempt at Roman forgery of ancient Greek art

When I posted the image of a lampholder depicted as Apollo in the archaic style which is part of the new exhibit, Tota Italia, a couple of days ago, another Facebook member asked me for an image of the complete statue.  The exhibit did not provide a full length image of it so I checked the website for the National Archaeological Museum in Naples and could not find it there either. I also checked Wikimedia Commons and didn't have any luck there. I found a small side view of the full statue just in a general image search then found a full length image of the Apollo of Piombino which is another archaic-style sculpture of Apollo that is said to be very similar to the one in the exhibit that was found in Pompeii in the House of C. Julius Polybius.  Found in 1832 at Piombino (Roman Populonia), in Etruria, Apollo of Piombino depicts either the god Apollo as a kouros or youth or it may be a worshipper bringing an offering.   The bronze is inlaid with copper for the boy's lips, eyebrows, and nipples. The eyes, which are missing, unlike the statue found in Pompeii, were of another material, perhaps bone or ivory.

The Apollo of Piombino  was originally dated to the 5th century BCE by various scholars and was purchased for the Musée du Louvre in 1834.  The two sculptors responsible for the piece could not resist secreting inside the sculpture a lead tag inscribed with their names, though, which was found when the sculpture was conserved in 1842. In 1967, classicist B. S. Ridgeway, stated it to be not simply an archaizing sculpture of the 1st century BCE, of the kind designed to appeal to a Roman with refined tastes, but a consciously fabricated Roman forgery, with a false inlaid inscription of silver in archaic lettering on the left leg. He pointed out the inscription dedicated this Apollo to Athena, an anomaly as well.  When the similar sculpture of Apollo was found in 1977 in the villa of C. Julius Polybius in Pompeii, this corroborated Rideway's theory.  

Apollo of Piombino now in the collections of The Louvre, Paris.

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Tota Italia : At the Origins of a Nation

Tota Italia : At the Origins of a Nation is now open at The Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome. The presentation examines the process of Romanization beginning with exhibits from Pre-Roman Italy of the 4th century BCE then continues through the Julio-Claudian period to the ultimate unification of territories under the banner of Rome. More than thirty Italian museums have loaned objects to the exhibition to illustrate the diversity that made up the Empire and how the extraordinary differences were blended to form the cultural identity of the Italian people.

Looking through images of some of the artifacts on exhibit, I was pleased to see once more the Parian marble table support depicting two griffins attacking a doe from the 4th century BCE that I had photographed years ago at the Getty Villa. Apparently, it is thought to have originated from a tomb in Foggia, originally part of the ancient Greek colony known as Argos Hippium in southern Italy. It is truly a magnificent piece!

One of my other favorite pieces included in the exhibit is the Boxer Resting, a 1st century BCE bronze Roman copy of a 3rd century CE Greek original by Apollonius that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo back in 2009.

The exhibit will be on display until July 25, 2021.

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe, Greek, made in South Italy and found in a tomb near Foggia, 325-300 BCE that I originally photographed at the Getty Villa just before its repatriation to Italy in 2006

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe, Greek, made in South Italy and found in a tomb near Foggia, 325-300 BCE that I originally photographed at the Getty Villa just before its repatriation to Italy in 2006

Table Support in the Shape of Griffins Attacking a Doe, Greek, made in South Italy and found in a tomb near Foggia, 325-300 BCE that I originally photographed at the Getty Villa just before its repatriation to Italy in 2006

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

A Boxer Resting 1st century BCE Roman copy of 3rd century BCE Greek original by Apollonius, Bronze, that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in 2009.

Decoration from a shield depicting Taras, 4th century BCE from the National Archaeological Museum of Basilicata. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

Roman relief with battle scene, 3rd century BCE from the Archaeological Museum of Taranto. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

Bronze lamp holder depicting Apollo, 1st century BCE from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

The Capitoline Triad 2nd century CE from the Archaeological Museum of Guidonia-Montecelio. Image courtesy of the exhibit.

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Roman athletics (as opposed to spectator sports)

Depictions of athletes were popular on gems of the late 500s BCE and thereafter.  Not only Greek but Etruscan artisans produced these miniature works of art and the collection of these gems became popular among the Roman elite. As I've mentioned previously, both Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great collected them.

One such artist, Epimenes, from the Cyclades, produced scenes of nude youths with meticulously defined musculature in complex twisted poses. His youths sported locks of hair radiating from the crown of the head with clusters of curls on the forehead. He adopted these features from innovations in sculpture and vase-painting at the time.

"It is clear that some form of amateur athletics must have taken place simulta­neously with the real business at hand, which was, naturally enough from the bias of Republican Rome, training for war," observes classicist Donald White, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. "Special ludi in­cluding sports that may be assumed to have stressed physical endur­ance, team work, and courage were part of the routine conduct of the Juventus, an ancient Italic institu­tion for the training of young males eventually revived by Augustus."

White points out that even Marcus Cato the Censor (234-149 BCE), who constantly reminded Rome's senate that Carthage must be destroyed, took pains to instruct how own son in “his grammer, law, and his gymnastic exercises. Nor did he only show him, too, how to throw a dart, to fight in armor, and to ride, but to box also and to endure both heat and cold, and to swim over the most rapid and rough rivers” (Plut. Vit. Cat. Mai., Clough trans., p. 251).  The Campus Martius served Roman youth as an exercize ground. Cato also scorned overweight men saying  ‘What use can the state turn a man’s body to, when all between the throat and groin is taken up by the belly?” 

Boxing (pugilatio) was imported from Greece and Livy (i, 35) records that  Tarquinius Priscus imported boxers from outlying areas for his inaugural celebration as early as the 6th century BCE including Etruria where pugilism flourished. One famous Roman-era boxer, Melankomas, from Caria and victor in the 207th Olympiad in 49 CE  supposedly gained fame because he avoided the punches of other boxers and never threw any punches himself. Dio says he never lost a match, hit an opponent, or was struck by an opponent.  (I wonder how he managed that while maintaining the goodwill of the crowd?)

Foot races and even races on mule-back were also conducted and scholars suggest there were at least some amateur participation. The festival of the Ro­bigalia on April 25, featured foot races in honor of Robigus, the god who averted mildew, and the Consualia on August 21, with its races on foot and on mule-back were conducted in honor of the ancient Italic deity Consus, who presided over secret plans and counsels.

"A number of prominent Republican figures attempted to introduce Greek style athletic games to Rome, says White.  "The earliest of these were staged in 186 BCE by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who imported large numbers of Greeks to per­form in Rome. A century later the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla managed to clean out nearly all of Greece to provide athletes to help celebrate in Horne his victory over Mithridates, which meant that in 81 BCE the best that Olympia could put on for its games was the foot race. Similar efforts were re­peated by Pompey, Julius Caesar and Augustus."

Both Caligula and Claudius staged gymnastic competitions for the Roman people but participation was limited to foreign athletes. Nero, however, encouraged Roman aristocrats to compete with the lower classes in a variety of athletic events at his "Youth Games" in 59 CE. He constructed a Greek style gym­nasium complex in 62 CE in the vicinity of the Pantheon to facilitate athletic training, that was the first such structure to he erected in Rome.

White points out, though, that the more conservative element in Roman society disapproved of the resulting activity.  Tacitus remarks “Birth age, official career did not prevent people from acting in Greek or Latin style—or from accompanying their perfor­mances with effeminate gestures and songs. Eminent women, too re­hearsed indecent parts. . . Places of assignation and taverns were built, and every stimulus to vice was displayed for sale. . . Promiscuity and degradation throve. Roman morals had long become impure, hut never was there so favorable an environment for debauchery as among this filthy crowd” (Ann. pp. 310-11, M. Grant trans.).

"Perhaps the insinuations of sexual miscon­duct arose in large measure from merely the sight of athletes competing naked in front of both sexes, but we do hear of one Palfitrius Sura, son of a consul, wrestling naked with a girl from Sparta," White says.

Donald White's article goes on to discuss wrestling (both male and female) and the often bloody pankration (A 3rd century CE Roman army recruit named Lucius Septimius Flavianus Favillianus gained fame as a champion wrestler and pankrationist) as well as palestra games using balls such as harpastum (a game featured in Anthony Riches, "Betrayal", Book 1 of his Centurions trilogy), pila pagancia, and trigon. His article includes images of mosaics depicting various athletic competitors that I found really interesting as well.

You can read it here: 

https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/roman-athletics/

Engraved Obsidian Scaraboid with Athlete attributed to Epimenes, Greek, Cyclades, about 500 BCE now in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Standing in left profile with one leg raised, a nude athlete bends forward to scrape his shin with a curved blade called a strigil. His upper body is shown in three-quarter view, and his hair is detailed with a row of pellets representing curls. After training, Greek athletes coated themselves in oil and used a strigil to scrape off the sweat and dirt. Depictions of athletes were popular on gems of the late 500s B.C., reflecting the interests of the men who owned them. The pose of this figure, shown standing but leaning forward while engaged in some activity, was also a favorite for gems in this period, in part because it fills the oval space well. The difficult three-quarter view of the youth, the rendering of the musculature, and details such as the duck's head decorating the end of the strigil, however, display this artist's unique skills. Another four gems have been attributed to the same engraver, Epimenes (including 81.AN.76.22), all of which show nude youths engaged in similar activities with the same careful depiction of the body. Only one of these gems is signed: the letter forms of the signature suggest that the artist was from one of the Cycladic Islands, where there was a long tradition of gem engraving. - J. Paul Getty Museum

Swivel ring with a scarab showing an athlete pouring sand on his thigh, Italic, Etruscan, Late Archaeic Period about 500–475 B.C.E. now in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Image courtesy of the museum. Brownish orange carnelian. Scarab with a flat, oval base engraved in intaglio; pierced lengthwise; set in a swivel ring made of gold sheet and decorated with faux twisted wire on either ends of the swiveling part. Athlete with right knee on the ground, frontal with head in profile to right. He pours sand on his right knee with his left hand. Pellet border. Back carved as a beetle with a hatched border around the thorax, two raised lines dividing the elytra, winglets in relief and dotted head. Detailed legs with spined front legs. Plinth with tongues. - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

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Virtus

Although originally the ancient Roman virtue of virtus was used to describe specifically martial courage, it eventually came to represent a host of qualities including valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths.  Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics divided these cardinal virtues into prudentia (prudence), iustitia (justice), temperantia (temperance, self-control), and fortitudo (courage).  But as the goals and ideals of the empire changed, the meaning of the word also shifted. No longer did virtus mean that a person was a brave warrior but it could also mean that he was a good man, someone who did the right thing. Especially during the later Empire the Roman upper class no longer thought of themselves as unmanly if they did not serve in the military as long as they complied with the appropriate tradition of public conduct in their navigation of the cursus honorum. The term did not apply in the private sphere but only in the pursuit of gloria for the benefit of the res publica.

For the nobility, virtus lies not only in one's personal "acta" but also that of one's ancestors. However Cicero, a novus homo, asserted that virtus was a virtue particularly suited to the new man just as nobilitas was suited to the noble. Cicero argued that just as young men from noble families won the favor of the people so too should the novus homo earn the favor of the people with his virtus. He even extended the argument that virtus and not one's family history should decide a man's worthiness. Virtus is something that a man earns himself, not something that is given to him by his family, thus it is a better measure of a man's ability. Cicero's goal was not to impugn the noble class but widen it to include men who had earned their positions by merit.

The historian Sallust, a contemporary of Cicero, asserted that it did not rightfully belong to the nobilitas as a result of their family background, but specifically to the novus homo through the exercise of ingenium (talent - sharpness of mind, sagacity, foresight and character). For Sallust and Cicero alike, virtus was defined as the winning of glory by the execution of illustrious deeds (egregia facinora) and the observance of right conduct through bonae artes.

Surprisingly, virtus could be attributed to foreigners, though, if they fought bravely in battle. Virtus could even be a cause to gain citizenship as in the case of Spanish cavalry men granted citizenship by Cn. Pompeius Strabo in 89 BCE for their virtus in battle.

Although Roman women could not possess virtus, the personification of virtus in art was that of a female with one breast bared resembling an Amazon from the Greek Classical tradition. In 65 BCE, Mn. Aquillius issued a coin to celebrate his ancestor's conquests in Sicily depicting Virtus wearing a helmet with an olive branch crest. Septimius Severus, Trajan and Caracalla used her image on their coinage as well.  

"Sometimes Virtue waves an olive twig. She sometimes holds a statuette of another personification, Victory. She often brandishes a spear and leans on a shield. But her most distinctive accoutrement is a parazonium or long, phallic triangular dagger, held at waist level," explains classicist Edith Hall.  "Sometimes she puts her foot on her helmet or sits on a cuirass. Philip I went furthest and simply has her as world-conqueror, one foot on a globe, her spear pointing downwards because His Virtue Has Triumphed Everywhere!"

"The humourless and amoral Caracalla began by putting a girlish Virtus in ankle boots on the obverse of his portrait coins but later cut to the chase and simply posed as Virtue himself," she concludes.

Hall points out that if a battle wasn't going well, generals like M. Claudius Marcellus built temples to Virtus like he did in 222 BCE.

Read her interestings blog post about signalling virtue like a Roman here:

https://edithorial.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-to-virtue-signal-like-roman.html

Bronze statuette of Roma or Virtus, 50-75 CE, in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum (Getty Villa location). Wearing a helmet and a short tunic, this figure probably depicts a goddess. The figure's striding pose and costume, which displays her right breast, show the strong influence of the Greek Classical tradition, drawing especially on depictions of Amazons. The figure is now missing her attributes, which would have securely identified her, but the position of her left hand clearly indicates that she held a spear. Her costume associates her with Roma, the personification of the city of Rome and the Roman Empire, but she might also be Virtus, the personification of valor. If she is Roma, her right hand would have held a statue of Victory, if Virtus, it would have been a sword. A hole on the back of this figure shows where it originally was attached to another object. This goddess was reportedly found with the Appliqué with Two Men, and the Statuette of a Goddess, Probably Ceres. Together these pieces probably formed a group of relief sculpture, which may have served as appliqué decorating the same object, perhaps a chariot or a piece of furniture.

Helmeted VIRTUS of M. Aquillius courtesy of Edith Hall

Caracalla Poses as the Goddess VIRTUS courtesy of Edith Hal

Septimius Severus' VIRTUS courtesy of Edith Hall

Trajan's VIRTUS plus parazonium courtesy of Edith Hall

Third century CE Sacrificial altar of the dea Virtus, Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Hannibal21.

Virtus, Bronze, 1-3rd century CE, at the Archaeological Museum of Milan, Italy, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Dall'Orto.

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The Aulos

An aulos or tibia (Latin) was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology. Though aulos is often translated as "flute" or "double flute", it was usually a double-reeded instrument like the modern oboe, but with a larger mouthpiece, and its sound—described as "penetrating, insisting and exciting"was more akin to that of the bagpipes. Although used for martial music, the aulos is more frequently depicted in other social settings. It was the standard accompaniment of the passionate elegiac poetry. It also accompanied physical activities such as wrestling matches, the broad jump, the discus throw and to mark the rowing cadence on triremes, as well as sacrifices and dramas. Plato also associates it with the ecstatic cults of Dionysus and the Korybantes.

Although aristocrats with sufficient leisure sometimes practiced aulos-playing as they did the lyre, after the later fifth century BCE the aulos became chiefly associated with professional musicians, often slaves. Nevertheless, such musicians could achieve fame. The Romano-Greek writer Lucian discusses aulos playing in his dialogue Harmonides, in which Alexander the Great's aulete Timotheus discusses fame with his pupil Harmonides. Timotheus advises him to impress the experts within his profession rather than seek popular approval in big public venues. If leading musicians admire him, popular approval will follow. However, Lucian reports that Harmonides died from excessive blowing during practicing.  

Some variants of the instrument were loud, shrill, and therefore very hard to blow. A leather strap, called a phorbeiá in Greek or capistrum in Latin, was worn horizontally around the head with a hole for the mouth by the auletai to help support the lips and avoid excessive strain on the cheeks due to continuous blowing. Sometimes a second strap was used over the top of the head to prevent the phorbeiá from slipping down. 

An aulos discarded by Athena then picked up by Marsyas the satyr was the instrument that resulted in Marsyas being flayed alive for his hubris after losing a musical contest with Apollo. A sculpture of the flayed Marsyas at the Capitoline Museum in Rome is one of the most poignant sculptures I have photographed in my travels.

Youth playing the aulos, detail of a banquet scene, tondo of an Attic red-figure cup, ca. 460 BC–450 BCE. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Coffin floorboard depicting Isis being served wine by the deceased, Egypt, Roman Period, 30 BCE-324 CE at the Royal Ontario Museum In Toronto, Canada courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Daderot.

Competition between Apollo and Marsyas, panel of a sarcophagus, ca. 290–300 CE, found in 1853 on the Chiarone river banks (Tuscany, Italy), on the former Emilia-Aurelia road. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Statuette of a Young Satyr Playing the Double Aulos, silver with gilding, Roman 150-200 CE, courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum and photographer Bruce White. This rustic looking youth strides forward playing a double aulos or flute. The instrument is unusual in that it has one straight pipe and one with a flaring, upward-curving end. The youth is nude except for a gilded panther skin draped across his torso. The panther skin, impish facial features, and stiff, tousled hair characterize the young figure as a satyr, a semi-human follower of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine. Nevertheless, he lacks the expected animal ears of most satyr portrayals, and the place where a tail should be is covered by the panther skin. This confusion of traditional iconography, as well as his round face and bulging eyes, suggest that this statuette was made during the Antonine dynasty in the 100s CE. This time period also saw the production of many other solid-cast silver statuettes given by the wealthy as offerings to the gods either in a temple treasury or in a household shrine.

Choregos and actors including a musician playing the aulos, Roman mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet (VI, 8, 3) in Pompeii courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Roman mosaic depicting a comedy scene depicting a musician playing the aulos from the so-called Villa of Cicero in Pompeii 1st century CE that I photographed at the Museo Archaeologico Nazionale di Napoli in Naples, Italy.

Marsyas the satyr who was flayed alive for his hubris by Apollo for challenging him to a music contest Roman imperial period copy of 2nd century BCE Greek original that I photographed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome, Italy.

Closeup of the agony of Maryas the satyr who was flayed alive for his hubris by Apollo for challenging him to a music contest Roman imperial period copy of 2nd century BCE Greek original that I photographed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome, Italy.

 

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Dolphins in Greco-Roman Art

Dolphins have a rich background in Greek and Roman mythology. Not only are they frequently the companions of Venus serving as symbols of romance and reminders of the  myth that Venus was born from the sea, but in the Homeric Hymns, they play a key role when Dionysus (Roman Bacchus) was kidnapped by pirates. The god of wine turned himself into a lion to punish the kidnappers and, terrified, they jumped overboard whereupon Dionysus turned them into dolphins.  The also describe instances where the god Apollo transformed into a dolphin to guide a ship into harbor.  nother myth tells that Apollo’s son, Eikadios, was shipwrecked and carried to shore by a dolphin. This is one of many myths about dolphins rescuing drowming men, or bringing bodies back to shore for burial.

The Roman author Statius tells us in his 1st century CE work, "Achilleid" that the sea-nymph Thetis rode a chariot through the sea that was pulled by two dolphins. Philostratus’ ‘Imagines’ also describes a scene in which the one-eyed cyclops Polyphemus falls in love with the sea-nymph Galatea while she is riding four dolphins.

"Many dolphin stories can also be found in Greek and Roman folklore from small coastal towns, observes Emily Tilley, University of Leicester,  "In the first century A.D. Pliny the Elder recorded in his ‘Natural History’ the story of a young Roman boy who befriended a dolphin. Every day when the boy needed to cross the bay to get to school, he would call on his dolphin friend to carry him across the water. A second century A.D. story tells the tale of an elderly couple who rescued a young, injured dolphin and trained it to catch fish for them."

Statue of Venus (the Mazarin Venus), Roman, 2nd century CE, now on view at the Getty Villa in Gallery 106 Basilica. Image courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum

Early Imperial Portrait Roman 27 BCE-68 CE from the Farnese Collection in Naples that I photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Roman mosaic frieze depicting dolphins from Halicarnassus 4th century CE that I photographed at The British Museum.

Ovoid ceramic rhyton depicting a dolphin Pseira Crete Late Minoan 1B that I photographed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Frescoes of Marine Life including a dolphin found on a wall along the via La Portuense in the river port of San Paolo that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome 125-150 CE

Mosaic pavement depicting a dolphin that I photographed in the Piazzale delle Corporazioni in Ostia Antica 1st century BCE-4th century CE.

Basilica of Neptune, Rome (Dolphin Frieze) Detail of Dolphins, a shell, and an upright trident from the frieze course of the entablature of the Basilica of Neptune, Rome, Hadrianic. (Hadrian r. 117-138 CE). The motif was popular for public buildings in Rome of the late first century (and the maritime theme is not necessarily associated with the function of the structure, such as a bath building). Image courtesy of Roger Ulrich (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Detail of mosaic on the podium wall in the water sanctuary showing marine fauna, including a dolphin and urchins, Roman Ruins of Milreu, a luxurious rural villa transformed into a prosperous farm in the 3rd century, Portugal, courtesy of Carole Raddato.

Roman mosaic depicting the mask of Oceanus with lobster claws protruding from the head and dolphins and fish escaping from his beard, 2nd - 3rd century CE, found in 1959 at the Plaza de la Corredera, Salón de los Mosaicos (Hall of Mosaics) Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs, Cordoba, courtesy of Carole Raddato.

The Oceanus Mosaic from Bad Vilbel, it originally belonged to a Roman thermal bath facility, end of 2nd century AD, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany. The mosaic was found in 1849 during construction work of the Southern Railway Station in the remains of a Roman thermal spa. This bath complex was probably part of an estate (Villa rustica). Image courtesy of Carole Raddato.

Thalassa (spirit of the sea) with crab-claw horns, holding a ship's oar and a dolphin, late 5th century AD, found in the village of Yakto near Daphne, Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya, Turkey courtesy of Carole Raddato (perspective adjusted)

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Forgeries of ancient engraved gems

The J. Paul Getty Museum has some spectacular ancient engraved gems in their collections and I have featured a number of them in my posts.  But, during the pandemic one of their curators, Kenneth Lapatin, researched one gem in their collection with a portrait of Marc Antony engraved upon it, and discovered, unfortunately, it was not ancient at all but a 19th century forgery produced by Giovanni Calandrelli for Prince Stanislas Poniatowski, nephew and heir to the King of Poland and Lithuania, and one of the richest men in Europe.

Alerted by a friend, the late Gertrud Platz from the Berlin Antikensammlung, who had  just published a study of Giovanni Calandrelli, Lapatin learned she had recently examined a plaster impression that was made of one of Calandrelli's forgeries featuring a portrait of Marc Antony.  Platz suspected the Getty gem was the same work.  So Lapatin sent an impression of the Getty gem to her and they were found to be virtually identical.

"There are three smoking guns," explains Lapatin. "There is the plaster impression in Berlin, and another sent to St. Petersburg, Russia, that show that the gem had been in the Poniatowski collection, which was full of forgeries. That doesn’t prove anything, because Poniatowski’s collection also contained some genuine antiquities, but puts the gem in very bad company. Then, there’s Calandrelli’s notebook, which says he made a Mark Antony with the signature of Gnaios. And then, the third is when we put our gem next to ones that we know are genuine ancient engravings by Gnaios, we can see stylistic discrepancies, especially in the way the skin and hair is rendered."

Mistakes such as this are certainly understandable since it is widely known Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, and the nephew of the Emperor Augustus, as well as other ancient aristocrats, all collected gems and donated their collections to the gods in temples.  This particular gem came to be widely known in 1968 when John Boardman (now Sir John), one of the foremost authorities on ancient gems, published and praised this gem very highly as one of the masterpieces of late Roman Republican, early Augustan gem carving. It is just unfortunate that some wealthy 19th century collectors sought to boost their prestige by clandestinely hiring talented gem engravers to simulate ancient works.

Read more about it:  https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/a-gem-of-a-mystery/  

Amethyst gem with engraved portrait of Marc Antony originally thought to be late Roman Republican to early Augustan work.  Actually, it is a forgery produced by 19th century gem carver, Giovanni Calandrelli.  It remains in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum due to its quality but has been moved from the Getty Villa to the Getty Center where it is now displayed with the works of other 19th century engravers.

 

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Plautus and Roman comedy in times of war

 The comedic plays of Titus Maccius Plautus are said to be mostly adapted from the works of established Greek playwrights like Menander, referred to as Greek New Comedy. The resulting plays, thought to be around 130 works, were written between 205 and 184 BCE. Only 20 have survived to modern times.  

Unlike the Old Comedy of such playwrights as Aristophances with its critical commentary on politics and societal values, New Comedy has been described as "devoid of a serious political, social or intellectual content" and "could be performed in any number of social and political settings without risk of giving offense." Instead, there is much more of a focus on the home and the family unit—something that the Romans, including Plautus, could easily understand and adopt for themselves later in history.

However, Plautus did not ignore the Roman Republic's expansion of power and influence that was taking place during this time.  A. F. West observed that Plautus inserted patriotic passages into his work Miles Gioriosus, composed during the Second Punic War.  At the time, the general Scipio Africanus wanted to confront Hannibal, a plan "strongly favored by the plebs". Plautus apparently pushes for the plan to be approved by the senate, working his audience up with the thought of an enemy in close proximity and a call to outmaneuver him. 

Later, though, when Rome was preparing  to move on Philip V in the Second Macedonian War and there was considerable debate beforehand about the course Rome should take in this conflict considering the recent struggles with Carthage, Plautus incorporates the Roman people's antiwar sentiments into his work, Stichus.   

W. M. Owens writes in his article "Plautus' Stichus and the Political Crisis of 200 B.C.", "There is evidence that antiwar feeling ran deep and persisted even after the war was approved." Owens contends that Plautus was attempting to match the complex mood of the Roman audience riding the victory of the Second Punic War but facing the beginning of a new conflict. For instance, the characters of the dutiful daughters and their father seem obsessed over the idea of officium, the duty one has to do what is right. Their speech is littered with words such as pietas and aequus, and they struggle to make their father fulfill his proper role. The stock parasite in this play, Gelasimus, has a patron-client relationship with this family and offers to do any job in order to make ends meet. Owens puts forward that Plautus is portraying the economic hardship many Roman citizens were experiencing due to the cost of war.

With repeated references to civic responsibility while portraying the desperation of the lower class, Plautus establishes himself firmly on the side of the average Roman citizen. While he makes no specific reference to the possible war with Greece or the struggles of the previous war, he does seem to push the message that the government should take care of its own people before attempting any other military actions.

Terracotta comic mask from Tarentum in South Italy, 300-200 BCE, now in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Image courtesy of the museum. The mask features a rounded skullcap with two holes for hanging in the upper section of the head. The oval face presents a convex forehead with a cleft at center, high arched eyebrows above half-closed eyes, a long thin nose, puffy cheeks, and a broad mouth with an ambiguous smile. Fleshy lips frame the wide-open mouth; the jaw is prominent and features a full, dimpled chin. The hair is painted red and forms a crown of radial striations around the forehead. These characteristics associate the mask with the New Comedy character Colax, an adulator (or vain flatterer).

Greek Terracotta Statuette of a Comic Actor made in Apulia South Italy 325-275 BCE that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Roman Terracotta Lamp with Reclining Comic Actor 100-200 CE that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Statuette of a Comic Actor Wearing an Animal Mask Roman 100 BCE-100 CE Bronze that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Incense Burner (Thymiaterion) shaped as a Comic Actor Seated on an Altar Roman 1-50 CE Bronze and Silver BCE that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Bronze Roman Lamp in the Shape of a Comic Mask 75-125 CE that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Mosaic depicting theater masks Roman 2nd century CE that I photographed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

Carved Marble Relief depicting tragic and comic masks Roman 2nd century CE that I photographed at "The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece" on display at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon.

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