Archaic Period Horse Sculptures

 Horses, with or without riders, were favorite subjects for Boeotian artisans. The figurines were frequently left as burial offerings in graves. Horses were a sign of wealth for the Greeks of this period, and the terracotta horses were probably left to symbolize and to reinforce the high status of the deceased. Thousands of clay figurines like this one survive from the Archaic period (600 to 480 BCE).

"Horses played a central role in the great civic festivals in the ancient world, such as the Panathenaic Games in Athens and the Olympic games at Olympos, where they took part in chariot races and single horse races. The horse’s long affiliation with gods and heroes in Greek mythology no doubt also fostered a special respect and admiration for this remarkable creature in the minds of “ordinary” Greeks. In Homer’s Iliad, horses drive the chariots of the heroes and are praised for their swiftness and beautiful coats. They are often depicted as having special relationships with their owners, like Achilles and his immortal horses, Balius and Xanthus.  In the Iliad, it is told how, when Patroclus was killed in battle, Xanthus and Balius stood motionless on the field of battle, and wept, yet when Achilles rebuked Xanthus for letting Patroklus get slain, Hera granted the horse human speech to deliver to Achilles a warning about his own fate." - Stasahatzoglou, The significance of the horse in ancient Greece.

Terracotta horse and rider, Greek, Boeotian, about 550 BCE, courtesy of the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Archaeic Period Horse and Rider from Cyprus, 700 BCE 

Pyxis Lid with Three Horses Greek made in Boeotia 760-750 BCE Terracotta that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California

Terracotta horse with warrior rider Cypriot Cypro-Archaic I-II 600 BCE said to be from the temple of Apollo Hylates at Kourion that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Terracotta wheeled horse thought to be a toy Cypriot Cypro-Archaic 6th century BCE that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

A BOEOTIAN TERRACOTTA HORSE AND RIDER, 575-550 BCE,  courtesy of Christies

Greek Horse and Rider 6th century BCE Terracotta with slip decoration courtesy of The Barnes Foundation

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Phrixus and the origin of the golden fleece

 In Greek mythology Phrixus was the son of Athamas, king of Boeotia, and Nephele, a goddess of clouds  He had a twin sister named Helle.  The twins were hated by their stepmother, Ino, who plotted to get rid of them.  She roasted all of  Boeotia's crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle. Before they were killed, though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying, or swimming, ram with golden wool sent by Nephele, their natural mother. Sadly, while crossing the strait between Europe and Asia, Helle fell off the ram and drowned (hence, the name Hellespont, sea of Helle).

Phrixus survived all the way to Colchis, where King Aeëtes, the son of the sun god Helios, took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Poseidon and gave the king the Golden Fleece of the ram, which Aeëtes hung in a tree in the holy grove of Ares in his kingdom, guarded by a dragon that never slept. Phrixus and Chalciope had four sons, who later joined forces with Jason and the Argonauts. 

Image: Terracotta plaque depicting Phrixos holding the horns of the ram, who carries him over the waves as fish cavort in the sea below, ca. 450 BCE, Greek, Melian, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, courtesy of the museum.

Fresco of Phrixus trying to save his twin sister Helle in a Roman wall painting from Pompeii now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, 1st century BCE - 1st century CE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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The Duality of Aphroditus

Youth or Aphroditus statuette from Boeotia,
Greece 4th century BCE photographed at the
British Museum.

While looking through my images of artifacts in the British Museum this morning, I came across this terracotta figurine from Boeotia dated to around 400 BCE.  It is identified as merely a youth crowned with a wreath holding a puppy while another dog stands beside him.  As I studied the image, though, I wondered about the identification of it as just a youth.  The broad hips and thighs are reflective of a female form although it is clearly male.  I wondered if it may be a type of Aphroditus statue.  The deity is thought to have arrived in Athens from Cyprus in the 4th century BCE although there have been some Aphroditus herms dated to the 5th century BCE.  Aphroditus was later renamed  Hermaphroditos to reflect its parentage from Aphrodite and Hermes. The deity makes an appearance in the work, On Moral Characters, penned by Theophrastus.  A native of the island of Lesbos, Theophrastus succeeded Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. His given name was Tyrtamus, but Aristotle nicknamed him Theophrastus because of his "divine style of expression." 

Theophrastus came to Athens at a young age and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death, he attached himself to Aristotle until Aristotle fled Athens then Theophrastus took over as head of the Lyceum and served in that role for 36 years. His wide-ranging interests ranged from biology, physics, philosophy, and ethics to metaphysics and he is often considered the father of botany. Perhaps he found the unique biology of Aphroditus, which does occur in nature, particularly interesting.

The British Museum points out Boeotians had their own artistic traditions and were especially prolific in the production of terracotta statuettes.  These were mostly made for dedication at shrines, another factor, along with the almost diadem-like wreath, pointing to the figurine being a divinity rather than a normal youth. Aphroditus is more commonly represented as a female lifting her skirt to reveal her male attributes.  But, as the museum points out, the Boeotians prided themselves on their difference from their hostile maritime neighbor.  

I also think the presence of the mother dog and puppy point to a reference to fertility associated with this deity.  Early 20th century scholars thought the combination of male and female in one divinity and its association with the moon, were both regarded as fertilizing powers, having an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation process. But, these are just my own speculations. Perhaps I've studied too many treatises on Amarna art!

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