The beautification of Medusa

While ancient Greek vase-painters and relief carvers of the Archaic Period imagined Medusa and her two immortal sisters as having monstrous form that is both male and female, human and animal, with  round faces, wide eyes, beards, and gaping mouths with extended tongues and gnashing, sharp teeth, sculptors and vase-painters of the fifth century BCE began to envisage her as being beautiful as well as terrifying and she loses the frightful teeth and beard but retains her wild hair and her uncompromising riveting gaze. In an ode written in 490 BCE, Pindar already speaks of "fair-cheeked Medusa".  Art historians attribute this to the emergence of a new artistic emphasis on the ideal form that codified standards of perfection and beauty.

In fact, the depiction of a snake-haired Medusa does not become widespread until much later in the 1st century BCE, further perpetuated by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses (4.794–803), who explains that Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, but when Poseidon had sex with her in "Minerva's (i.e. Athena's) temple, Athena punished Medusa by transforming her beautiful hair into horrible snakes.

I found this an interesting side note: a number of early classics scholars interpreted the myth of Medusa and her beheading by the hero Perseus as quasi-historical, a sublimated memory of an actual invasion.  Comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell proposed that in the early thirteenth century BCE, a historic rupture or sociological trauma actually occurred in which the Hellenes overran Athena's chief shrines and stripped her priestesses of their apotropaic Gorgon masks.

Read more about it in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's article, "Medusa in Ancient Greek Art."  https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/medu/hd_medu.htm

Image: Gilded silver roundel thought to have been a bridle ornament, Roman, 150-235 CE, now in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum.  Image courtesy of the museum.

 

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Marsyas: The Price of Hubris

One of the most moving sculptures I have ever photographed is a depiction of the satyr Marsyas who has been flayed alive by Apollo for his hubris of challenging Apollo, the god of music (among other things), to a music contest.  The large statue of Marsyas bound and hanging by his hands with his skin already partially removed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome is a Roman Imperial Period copy of a 2nd century BCE Greek original. 

In antiquity, literary sources often emphasize the hubris of Marsyas and the justice of his punishment. Hubris has been described as a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. Hubris, arrogance and pretension are related to the need for victory (even if it doesn't always mean winning). Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to may suffer collateral consequences from wrongful acts. Hubris was thought to indicate a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities. In ancient Greece, hubris referred to “outrage” - actions that violated natural order, or which shamed and humiliated the victim, sometimes for the pleasure or gratification of the abuser.

Aristotle defined hubris as shaming the victim, not because of anything that happened to the committer or might happen to the committer, but merely for that committer's own gratification: 

"Hubris is not the requital of past injuries. This is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this - naive men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater."

As hubris was considered a transgression against the gods, it was rarely left unpunished in Greek mythology.  Marsyas was ordered flayed.  Arachne, a talented young weaver, was transformed into a spider when she said that her skills exceeded those of the goddess Athena. Niobe boasted of her fourteen children, seven male and seven female (the Niobids), to Leto who only had two children, the twin gods, Apollo and Artemis. Using arrows, Artemis killed Niobe's daughters and Apollo killed Niobe's sons.  So, the consequences of hubris were severe.

These events were not limited to myth, and certain figures in history were considered to have been punished for committing hubris through their arrogance. In Aeschylus' play, "The Persians," King Xerxes is said to have suffered his defeat at Salamis because he arrogantly lashed the waters of the Hellespont with chains after his fleet was destroyed by a storm.

Full length view of of Marsyas hanging on the tree as he is going to be flayed by Apollo. Marble, Roman copy of the 1st-2nd century after a Hellenistic original. Found in Rome, Italy, part of the Borghese Collection at The Louvre, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carole Raddato.

Head of Maryas found in the Baths of Caracalla, Roman copy of Greek original from 150-100 BCE, now in the Antikensammlung inf Berlin courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko.

Roman fresco of the Myth of Marsyas in continuous narration, found in Pompeii in the House of Paccia (V, 2, 10, cubicle q), now on display in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (inv. 120626). Marsyas observes from the top of a rock the continuation of his story: below Minerva, while playing the double flute, is reflected in the circular mirror held by a nymph who has emerged from the water. A little above the nymph is Marsyas who is fleeing with the double flute that the goddess had thrown away. Still further on, we see the satyr from behind playing the double flute and approaching the procession of Muses led by Apollo, whom he will soon challenge in a musical contest. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko.

Ceiling panel depicting Marsyas in chains by Raphael, 1509-1511, at the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in Vatican City courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Closeup of inscription on bronze thymiaterion (incense burner) with Marsyas, late 4th century BCE, Etruscan, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Bronze thymiaterion (incense burner) with Marsyas, late 4th century BCE, Etruscan, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Roman mosaic depicting Apollo's sentence of Marsyas found near Cap d'Agde, France courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor inharecherche.

Apollo and Marsyas mosaic at the House of Aion, Paphos Archaeological Park, Cyprus courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jules Verne Times Two.

Right corner of a sarcophagus depicting the myth of the musical contest between the satyr Marsyas and the god Apollo Roman Severan 210-230 CE that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The Satyr Marsyas Roman about 200 CE Marble that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Closeup of Marsyas hanging on the tree as he is going to be flayed by Apollo. Marble, Roman copy of the 1st-2nd century after a Hellenistic original. Found in Rome, Italy, part of the Borghese Collection at The Louvre, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.

This statuette fragment, now in the Louvre, represents the flaying of the satyr Marsyas. The original statue is known to us from many other replicas (see Ma 542 in the same room) and was part of a lost bronze statue group known mainly from a Roman bas-relief found in the theatre of Hierapolis (an ancient city of Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey). The god Apollo watched the scene while a Scythian slave whetted his knife (see the modern copy in the Michelangelo gallery). The air of pathos that hangs over the preparations for the ordeal suggest the original work should be dated to the late 3rd century BC and was linked to the Pergamum school. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor, Carole Raddato.

Marble statue of Marsyas from Tarsus, Roman copy of a 3rd BCE original. Istanbul Archaeological Museums courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sandstein (digitally enhanced)

Marsyas the satyr who was flayed alive 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.

Marsyas the satyr who was flayed alive 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.

Marsyas the satyr who was flayed alive 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.

 

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Minerva or Bellona?

Despite the Roman association between Minerva and Athena and the frequent depiction of both goddesses with armor, unlike Athena, Minerva was not considered a war goddess in the Roman pantheon. The Romans had their own war goddess Bellona, originally an ancient Sabine goddess of war identified with Nerio, the consort of the war god Mars, and later with the Greek war goddess Enyo. 

Bellona's main attribute is the military helmet that was worn on her head much like Athena.  Bellona  is often depcicted holding a sword, spear, or shield, and brandishing a torch or whip as she rides into battle in a four-horse chariot. 

Bellona had a temple near the Theatre of Marcellus dedicated in 296 BCE near the Circus Flaminius by Appius Claudius Caecus, during the war with the Etruscans and Samnites. The Roman Campus Martius area, in which Bellona’s temple was situated, had extraterritorial status. Ambassadors from foreign states, who were not allowed to enter the city proper, stayed in this complex. Since the area of the temple was outside the pomerium, the Senate met there with ambassadors and received victorious generals prior to their triumphs. Beside the temple was the war column (columna bellica), which represented non-Roman territory. To declare war on a distant state, a javelin was thrown over the column by one of the priests concerned with diplomacy (fetiales) toward the direction of the enemy land. This symbolic attack was considered the opening of war.

Bellona's festival was celebrated on June 3, and her priests were known as Bellonarii and used to wound their own arms or legs as a blood sacrifice to her. These rites took place on March 24, called the day of blood (dies sanguinis), after the ceremony. In consequence of this practice, which was similar to the rites of Cybele in Asia Minor, both Enyo and Bellona became identified with her Cappadocian aspect, Ma.

In the military cult of Bellona, she was associated with Virtus, the personification of valour. Her worship by the legions extended her cult into the provinces. Temples to Bellona have been recorded in France, Germany, Britain, and North Africa.

In art, Bellona and Minerva have been frequently confused.  French artist Augustin Pajou created a sculpture between 1775-1785 that he dubbed Minerva but bearing the attributes of Bellona.  I was surprised on reading the J. Paul Getty Museum's entry for the sculpture stating Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom (a shared attribute with Athena) and war (??), striding forward to protect Painting, Sculpture, Music, Justice, and Medicine, the attributes of which lie at her feet.  But she wears the helmet and carries the torch of Bellona. A beautiful ancient Roman relief in the Carthage National Museum, however, clearly illustrates the difference between the two deities.  In this relief, Minerva stands beside a collection of a warrior's armor (although not the goddess of war, Minerva was considered a patron of warriors) but does not wear a helmet or brandish a weapon or torch.

Roman relief of Minerva at the Carthage National Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Mourad Ben Abdallah (digitally enhanced).

"Minerva" by Augustin Pajou at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California courtesy of the museum. 

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The Minoan snake goddess and other "mistresses of animals"

 The iconic figurine of a woman holding a snake in either hand with a cat sitting on top of her head discovered by Arthur Evans in the "Pillar Shrine" within the Minoan palace of Knossus, Crete is probably one of the most instantly recognized artifacts from the Minoan world.  The original faience sculpture is displayed today at the Herakleion Archaeological Museum on Crete.  But a less well known delicate figurine composed of ivory and gold, dating from 1750 to 1580 BCE, can be seen in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

In the ancient world, snakes were symbolically associated with the renewal of life because the reptile was known for sheddding its skin periodically.  This belief was shared not only by the Minoans and Pelasgians, indigenous inhabitants of the Aegean Sea region and their cultures, but by the ancient Mesopotamians and Semites as well. Within the Greek Dionysiac cult, the serpent signified wisdom and was a symbol of fertility.  Other scholars relate  the snake goddess with the Phoenician Astarte (virgin daughter) because her temples were decorated with serpentine motifs. 

Sir Arthur Evans thought the goddess may be linked to the Egyptian snake goddess Wadjet, especially since the figurine he discovered was constructed of faience, a well-known technology using a fired quartz paste that he thought the Minoans probably acquired from the Egyptians. The figurines have also been interpreted as depicting  a mistress of animals-type goddess, a widespread motif in ancient art from the Mediterranean world and the ancient Near East, showing a central human, or human-like, female figure who grasps two animals, one to each side.  Art historians frequently refer to such images using the Greek term Potnia Theron regardless of culture of origin.  The term was first used by Homer as a descriptor of Artemis because of her association with animals and was since used to describe other female divinities associated with animals. The word Potnia, meaning mistress or lady, was a Mycenaean Greek word inherited by Classical Greeks, with the same meaning.  

The snake goddess was also thought to be a precursor to Athena Parthenos, who was associated with snakes.  According to the Bibliotheca, Athena visited the smith-god Hephaestus to request some weapons, but Hephaestus was so overcome by desire that he tried to seduce her in his workshop. Determined to maintain her virginity, Athena fled, pursued by Hephaestus. He caught Athena and tried to rape her, but she fought him off. During the struggle, his semen fell on her thigh, and Athena, in disgust, wiped it away with a scrap of wool and flung it to the earth. As she fled, Erichthonius was born from the semen that fell to the earth. Athena could not abandon the infant but did not wish anyone to find out what happened so placed the infant in a box and gave the box to the three daughters (Herse, Aglaurus and Pandrosus) of Cecrops, the king of Athens, and warned them never to look inside. Pandrosus obeyed, but Herse and Aglaurus were overcome with curiosity and opened the box, which contained the infant and future-king, Erichthonius ("troubles born from the earth,"). The sisters were terrified by what they saw in the box: either a snake coiled around an infant, or an infant that was half-human and half-serpent. They went insane and threw themselves off the Acropolis. 

When he grew up, Erichthonius became king of Athens and Athena protected him. The snake was his symbol, and he was represented in the statue of Athena in the Parthenon as the snake hidden behind her shield. The most sacred building on the Acropolis of Athens, the Erechtheum, is dedicated to Erichthonius. 

The iconic figurine of a woman holding a snake in either hand with a cat sitting on top of her head discovered by Arthur Evans in the "Pillar Shrine" within the Minoan palace of Knossus, Crete in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum courtesy of Wikimeda Commons contributor Soverylittlehoneybee

Minoan snake goddess of ivory and gold dating from 1750 to 1580 that I photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Gold pin with a Mistress of the Animals (potnia theron). Gold with granulation, Greek, ca. 630 BCE at The Louvre, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Bronze sheet with embossed representation of the Mistress of animals, probably a decorative cover of an object from a Samian workshop, about 600 BCE recovered from the Sanctuary of Olympia at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde.

Winged goddess with a Gorgon's head wearing a split skirt and holding a bird in each hand, a type of the Potnia Theron. Probably made on Rhodes. From Kameiros, Rhodes at the British Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Ealdgyth.

Ivory representation of the goddess Artemis Orthia found in her sanctuary, now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marsyas (white balance adjusted).

Mistress of animals (Potnia theron) and nature on a Pithos with relief, from the years 625-600 BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde.

Snake-witch (Ormhäxan) stone from Gotland, Sweden. Now in Fornsalen Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Jürgen Howaldt.

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Owls: Symbols of Wisdom or Harbingers of Death

Those of us who study the ancient world are familiar with Athena's owl and its association with wisdom and vigilance but even in the ancient world owls were not always viewed in such a positive light.  Pliny the Elder tells us Rome had to undergo a lustration, a purification of the entire city normally performed at the conclusion of the taking of the census every five years, because an owl found its way into the Capitolia. Pliny describes the owl as a funereal bird, a monster of the night and the very abomination of human kind.  Virgil describes an owl's death-howl as a precursor to Dido's death and Ovid speaks of the bird's presence as an evil omen.

Surprisingly, the same viewpoint was held by the Aztecs and Maya who considered the owl a symbol of death and destruction.  The Aztec god of death, Mictlantecuhtli, was often depicted with owls.  The Popol Vuh, a Mayan religious text, describes owls as messengers of Xibalba (the Mayan "Place of Fright").  Later tribes of Native Americans also believed owls were messengers and represented supernatural forces.  Apache and Seminole people associated owls with the spirits of the dead and the bony circles around an owl's eyes are said to comprise the fingernails of apparitional humans.  The Hopi associated owls with sorcery and the Ojibwe used an owl as a symbol for both evil and death. Pueblo people associated owls with Skeleton Man, the god of death and spirit of fertility. Other tribes, though, had a less dire viewpoint.  Pawnee tribes viewed owls as the symbol of protection from any danger within their realms. Yakama tribes use an owl as a powerful totem, often to guide where and how forests and natural resources are useful with management.

Owl in a Roman mosaic in the Archaelogical Museum of El Jem, Tunisia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Effi Schweizer

Owl with the inscription from an Attic black-figure amphora, ca 500 BCE at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Bibi Saint-Pol

Owl from the Athenian Acropolis 5th century BCE at the Acropolis Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Wpopp.

Armed owl Attic red-figure Anthesteria oinochoe, ca 410–390 BCE at the Louvre courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen

Owl-shaped protocorinthian aryballos at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Bibi Saint-Pol

Large Native American owl shaped mortar from the Columbia Plateau region photographed at the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington.

Native American Stone Owl Effigies from the Columbia River region photographed at the Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, Washington.

Silver Vessel in the form of an owl found in the silver hoard of Hacienda Mocollope in the Chicama Valley of Peru 14th-15th century CE photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Painting of an owl in the Vienna Dioscoride manuscript dated to 512 CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Owl-shaped Zun wine vessel Shang Dynasty, 1600 - 1046 BCE courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art

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