Syncretistic religions of the Roman Imperial Period

Many religions of the ancient world were syncretistic, meaning that as they grew and came into contact with other religions, they adopted new beliefs and modified their practices to reflect their changing environment. Both Greek and Roman religious beliefs were deeply influenced by the so-called mystery religions of the East, including the Egyptian cult of Isis, which revealed beliefs and practices to the initiated that remained unexplained, or mysterious, to the uninitiated. Most popular Roman cults had associations with these mystery religions and included the prospect of an afterlife. Zeus Labraundos was a local version of Zeus from Mylasa in Caria (southwestern Asia Minor), of whom very few representations exist except on Roman coins. The front of his apron-like garment is decorated with images of divinities and astral symbols. On his head, he wears a tall headdress with lotus elements reflecting Egyptian influences and the eagle of Zeus at the front. - Walters Art Museum

Remains of the sanctuary of Zeus Labraundos still exist today.  The site in Mylasa was rediscovered in the 19th century.  Frenchman A. Laumonier carried out initial surveys in 1932 but the first archaeological excavations did not begin until 1948, under the direction of the Swedish archaeologist A.W. Persson.  Dedications inscribed on the architraves of the monuments reveal the structure was built by Mausolus (of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus fame) and his brother Idrieus.  Although the building was organized like a typical Greek sanctuary, it also contained banquet halls in the Persian fashion.  These banquet halls, by their size, location and use were central to the political and religious functioning of Labraunda. The satraps held council and received ambassadors from foreign cities there.  An Achaemenid sphinx and the head of a second were found nearby and thought to have symbolized the authority and protection of the Persian Empire.  

The ancient geographer Strabo described the sanctuary as "connected to the city by a causeway of nearly 60 stadia, which is called the sacred way and which is used for pumps or processions. The High Priest is invariably chosen from among the most illustrious citizens of Mylasa and always appointed for life." 

Image: Zeus Labraundos, bronze, 1st century CE Roman Imperial Period that I photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.  

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Sirens in ancient mythology and beyond

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures who lured nearby sailors to their deaths by enchanting them with music and singing voices which resulted in their shipwreck on the rocky coast of the sirens' island. Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. Later, their "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa, was considered to be  Cape Pelorum or the Sirenuse, near Paestum.  Plato said there were three kinds of Sirens: the celestial, creatures of Zeus,  the generative of Poseidon, and the cathartic of Hades. Originally, Sirens were shown to be male or female, but the male Siren disappeared from art around the fifth century BCE.

In addition to their role in menacing seamen, sirens were also thought to accompany souls on the journey to the afterlife, hence their portrayal on funerary art.  Sirens were first believed to look like a combination of women and birds in various  forms in ancient Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art. With their legendary male attraction, sirens were a popular motif for perfume vessels where they were often depicted as birds with large women's heads, wings, feathers and scaly feet. Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings, playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps and lyres. By the Middle Ages, however, they began to take on the attributes of mermaids.

Some of my favorite portrayals of sirens are on display at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.  Dating to 350-300 BCE, these almost life-sized sculptures  were found in a funerary context in Tarentum in southern Italy along with a musician thought to be Orpheus. In another funerary context, sirens are portrayed on a relief that once adorned a Lycian sepulchral tower now in the collections of the British Museum.  Of course I find the smaller perfume vessels and other objects depicting sirens endearing as well.

Images: Some of the images I have taken of sirens at the Getty Villa, British Museum, and the Walters Art Museum as well as other images from the British Museum, National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Perfume bottle in the form of a siren Greek mid-4th century BCE photographed at the British Museum

Terracotta flask in the form of a siren, Greek, made in Kythera, Crete 600 BCE photographed at the British Museum

Funerary sculpture of a siren from Tarentum in southern Italy 350-300 BCE photographed at the Getty Villa

Funerary sculpture of a siren from Tarentum in southern Italy 350-300 BCE photographed at the Getty Villa

Funerary sculpture group of two sirens and a musician thought to be Orpheus from Tarentum in southern Italy 350-300 BCE courtesy of the Getty Villa

Funerary sculpture of a siren's feet from Tarentum in southern Italy 350-300 BCE photographed at the Getty Villa

Attic Black figure plate with Gorgon's head and bands of animals and sirens ceramic 600 BCE photographed at the Walters Art Museum

Ceramic Vase in the form of a siren Greek 540 BCE photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Etruscan bronze weight in the form of a siren with loop 475BC-425BCE courtesy of the British Museum

Marble Siren found in the Necropolis of Ceramics in Athens beside the stele of Athenian warrior Dexileo who fell in combat in 394 or 393 BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens

Gold earring in the form of a siren, Greek, mid-4th century BCE courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Harpy tomb originally part of a Lycian sepulchral tower 480-470 BCE courtesy of the British Museum

Oil Jar (Askos) in the shape of a Siren Greek from South Italy 480-450 BCE Bronze photographed at the Getty Villa

The Siren of Canosa, south Italy, Greek, 4th century BCE courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Luis Garcia.

Water Jar Handle (Kalpis) with a Siren Greek 450-425 BCE Bronze photographed at the Getty Villa

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Romans, though disciplined, still tender towards their children

Another excerpt from the lecture series: THE ROMAN EMPIRE: FROM AUGUSTUS TO THE FALL OF ROME posted by The Great Courses.

https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/tombstones-a-source-to-different-facets-of-emotions-in-roman-society/

I am sometimes asked about Roman attitudes towards their families and children with the questioner assuming the disciplined Romans were less affectionate than we are and I point to Roman tombstone inscriptions like the one below illustrating how the Romans loved their children as much as we do.

‘Spirits who live in the underworld, lead innocent Magnilla through the groves and the Elysian Fields directly to your places of rest. She was snatched away in her eighth year by cruel fate while she was still enjoying the tender time of childhood. She was beautiful and sensitive, clever, elegant, sweet, and charming beyond her years. This poor child who was deprived of her life so quickly must be mourned with perpetual lament and tears.’

The Great Courses' article continues the discussion of Roman funerary inscriptions and attitudes toward the afterlife.

Here's a better image of the 2nd century Roman sarcophagus depicting the Triumph of Dionysus that I photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore Maryland back in 2004, though.

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Tanagra Figurines: From Elegant to Whimsical

Tanagra Figurines: From Elegant to Whimsical.

Note:  This is a crosspost from my blog "Antiquities Exhibits."

Tanagra figurines are mold-cast Greek terracotta figurines produced from the later fourth century BCE up to the 1st century BCE, primarily in the Boeotian town of Tanagra, which has given its name to the whole class but also in Alexandria, Tarentum in Magna Graecia, Centuripe in Sicily and Myrina in Mysia. The vast majority of the figures depict women in everyday apparel with acceessories like hats, wreaths, or fans. But men and boys, Eros, Aphrodite, and grotesques were also subjects. Some character pieces may have represented stock figures from the New Comedy of Menander and other writers. Others continued an earlier tradition of molded terracotta figures used as cult images or votive objects. Researchers think some Tanagra figurines were religious in purpose, but most seem to have been entirely decorative. However, those placed in tombs as grave goods are not thought to have served the deceased in the afterlife in any way unlike figurines in Egyptian funerary practice. The "coraplasters", or sculptors of the models that provided the molds, delighted in revealing the body under the folds of a himation thrown round the shoulders like a cloak and covering the head, over a chiton, and the movements of such drapery in action. They were coated with a liquid white slip before firing and were sometimes painted afterwards in naturalistic tints with watercolors and even accented with gilding in some cases. The figures appealed to 19th century middle-class ideals of realism so became wildly popular during the Victorian Period, so much so Tanagra figurines began to be faked.

Terracotta maiden from Tarentum, Italy 3rd century BCE. The willowy shape and draping of the fabric on top of the maiden's high, "melon" hairstyle are typical ly south Italian. Photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Closeup of Terracotta maiden from Tarentum, Italy 3rd century BCE. The willowy shape and draping of the fabric on top of the maiden's high, "melon" hairstyle are typical ly south Italian. Photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Female Figurine from a vessel Greek (Canosa in southern Italy) 3rd century BCE. This figure is from a type of vase that occasionally took the form of a female head. South Italian artists frequently applied spearately molded figurines to pottery and depicted faces with heavy jaws and prominently lidded eyes. Photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Aphrodite possibly a Roman copy after a Hellenistic type of the 2nd-1st century BCE. The elongated proportions, narrow torso, and high, close-set breasts are typical of the Hellenistic decorative statuary of the island of Rhodes. Photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Terracotta figurine of a seated maiden with "melon" hairstyle Greek 230 BCE photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Terracotta Standing Maiden with Kerchief Greek, 300-275 BCE photographed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Terracotta Boy with grapes and a predatory cockerel from Myrina, 1st century BCE photographed at the British Museum in London.

Terracotta Tanagra-style figurine of a woman with a child photographed at the British Museum in London.

Terracotta figure of a stooped old nurse holding a baby made in Athens about 300 BCE photographed at the British Museum in London.

Terracotta woman holding a now headless baby made in Kyme, Turkey 200-130 BCE. She wears a folded kerchief on her head of a type sometimes worn by nurses, although they are usually represented as elderly. Photographed at the British Museum in London.

Terracotta figure of a little girl carrying a bag of knucklebones made in Boeotia about 300-250 BCE photographed at the British Museum in London.

Tanagra figurine 325-150 BCE at the Altes Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Ophelia2.

Lady with blue and gilt garment, fan and sun hat, from Tanagra 325-300 BCE from the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Capillon.

Terracotta figure of a small boy wearing a long mantle and wreath made in Boeotia about 300-250 BCE photographed at the British Museum in London.

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