middle helladic to the late helladic i shaft graves 9 страница

of black/brown outline and silhouette, but the heads of the Gorgons are imagined like cauldrons with snake handles, similar to the griffin protome we shall see below (see Figure 6.16, page 145).

On the neck is Odysseus and two of his sailors blinding Polyphemos, one of the Cyclops. The scene is described in Odyssey 9 and is found on several seventh-century vases from different regions, but each imagines the story in its own way. Here the giant Cyclops sits to fit into the panel; he holds a drinking cup, alluding to his drunkenness. His inebriation allows Odysseus to run a stake into his eye to blind him, later enabling Odysseus’s eventual escape from the cave where he and his sailors were trapped. We presume that Odysseus is the lead figure, distinguished by added white and sketches of black line that give him a more three-dimensional appear­ance to our eye, but if so, this differs from his position and action in the Odyssey, reminding us that artists were not illus­trating poems but telling stories in their own right.

metalwork and terracotta

the Geometric type. There was a new type of figural-shaped handle called a protome, consisting of creatures like griffins, sirens, and lions that were attached to the bowl with rivets. One example is a griffin’s head and neck from Samos (Figure 6.16). A raptor’s head is perched on a snake-like neck, with two ears and a knob on the head that reflect its hybrid nature (bird, lion) as a mythical beast. The S-curve of the figure, the sharp beak, and bulging eye give it a vigorous attack posture like a rearing snake. The surface is incised with overlapping U-shaped lines that recreate scale-like tips of feathers. Riveted onto the bowl of the tripod, we have a new subject and more refined style used on an important ceremonial object of Greek culture, giving it a new vitality.

We can also see the appearance of the Daedalic style and form in sculpture in a miniature version with goldwork produced in eastern Greece during this period. The plaques, found on Rhodes, formed part of a necklace and were made by stamping the gold sheet from behind with a raised relief form (Figure 6.17). Surface details were made by granulation to cre­ate patterns on the clothing and spots on the animals. In terms of style, the heads are typically Daedalic, but the subject matter is derived from images of the Mistress of Animals, or Potnia Theron, that have a long history in Levantine and Mesopo­tamian art. The image can serve as an apotropaic device, like a Gorgon’s head, and the figure is later associated with the god­dess Artemis. Small pomegranates hang as pendants from the plaques, and rosettes also feature among the motifs.

The Orientalizing style is found in terracotta figures and relief plaques as well as large terra­cotta storage vessels that were found in many storage areas and were usually undecorated and functional. During the seventh century there were experiments with putting figural reliefs rather than paint on the surface of these large pithoi, some of which feature the earliest representations of specific mythological stories in Greek art. Usually called the Tenian-Boeotian group, these were produced in the northern Cycladic islands. Of particular interest is a pithos found on the island of Mykonos. This vessel has a large panel on the neck and three registers on the body, subdivided into twenty individual panels; the other side of the vessel is blank and would have faced the wall (Figure 6.18). When it was found, it had been used as a coffin, but it is thought that it had earlier been used as a storage vessel and repurposed, perhaps like the Eleusis amphora discussed earlier (see Figure 6.15).

The scene on the neck is instantly recognizable as the Trojan horse, as the horse is on wheels and small windows reveal the heads of warriors inside. One warrior reaches out of the window to hand a helmet to one of the standing warriors outside the horse. These must be Greeks who have already disembarked, ready to attack the citizens of Troy. Scenes of the subsequent attacks on the men, women, and children of Troy follow in the panels below, with Greek warriors stabbing or violently flinging their victims to the ground. One panel shows a warrior confronting a woman who opens her mantle toward him, and is probably Menelaos confronting Helen, whose anger at his wife will subside when he glimpses her beauty once again. The meaning of the scenes has been much debated, ranging from Greek triumph to a recent theory that the scenes show the devastation that results from the death of a city’s protectors (Ebbinghaus 2005). Whatever the intention, the simple and rubbery figures convey the action very graphically and constitute a strong narrative experiment with the grand theme of the fall of Troy.

architecture and its decoration

Experimentation with materials, design, and subject matter is also found in architecture of the seventh century bce. We will examine the planning and architecture of sanctuaries in more detail in the next chapter, but for now will look at the developments in the sanctuary of Hera on the island of Samos, where the bronze figure of Mut discussed earlier was dedicated (see Figure 6.6, page 137). According to foundation accounts for the site, Hera was born under a lygos tree on Samos. Cult activity there goes back at least to the tenth century. There is no evidence of a temple at that time, but evidence for an altar and votive offerings dating to the ninth century have been found.

In the middle of the seventh century the first tem­ple was reconstructed as a new building, Temple 2 (Figure 6.20). The core of the building remained a long rectangular hall, called the cella or naos, but the surviving portions of the wall now used ashlar masonry, that is, rectangular blocks carved with flat surfaces. This development in masonry coincides with the development of stone sculpture and created a more durable building material. Posts along the side of the interior walls allowed for the elimination of the interior columns on the central axis of the first temple, creating an open view to the cult statue at the west end of the naos. The wooden columns of the peristyle on the exterior were placed on circular stone bases and located further from the naos wall, making a more usable area for circulation. The west corner of the new, enlarged altar was placed on line with the central axis of the temple, and a new proces­sional avenue led from the south to the space between the temple and altar. Besides the processional ave­nue, the boundary or temenos of the sanctuary was defined by a wall and a stoa was built to the south (Figure 6.21). This building, a rectangular structure open on the long end with rows of supports in the middle and along the open end, was almost 70 meters long and divided into three sections. The stoa provided a sheltered area that could house dedica­tions and provide space for the activities of the large number of visitors to the sanctuary, away from the area for sacrifices at the altar.

It is thought that the roof of the structures at Samos were still using perishable materials such as thatch. A more durable roofing material, fired terracotta tiles, was developed during the seventh century, but the added weight that resulted from their use meant that the structure of the roof had to change, from the high pitch necessary for thatch (see Figure 4.20, page 91) to a lower profile with much thicker supporting walls, columns, and rafters. The effects of this can be seen in the reconstruction drawing of the Temple of Apollo at Thermon in mainland Greece (Figure 6.22). The naos of this temple is about the same hekatompedon size as the Heraion at Samos, but it has a porch at the back end. Whereas Temple 2 at Samos eliminated the central columns, these are retained at Thermon in order to support the heavier terracotta tile roof. The exterior colonnade was made of wooden columns like Samos, but their diameter was almost double (0.65 m to 0.35 m).

The wooden superstructure consisted of beams running across the columns and a frieze zone above it that had beams running perpendicular. This second zone was covered by painted terra­cotta metopes, which become standard in the Doric order of architecture that we will discuss in the next chapter (Figure 6.23). Several of these have been recovered and their style and fabric show similarities to Corinthian vase painting of the period, including the use of multiple colors and out­line drawing as on the Chigi olpe (see Figure 6.11, page 141). One of the metopes shows Perseus fleeing from the Gorgons, who were likely shown on one or two adjacent metopes. Perseus wears the cap of invisibility and winged boots provided to him by Hermes, and the head of the decapitated Medusa peeks out of the purse slung over his right shoulder. His arms and legs are drawn at sharp

6.19 Plan of the sanctuary of Hera at Samos and Temple 1b, c. 700 все. After H. Walter, Das Heraion von Samos (Munich, 1976), fig. 39, used with permission.

6.21 Reconstruction of the stoa and corner of the Hera Temple 2 at Samos, c. 650-625 bce. After H. Walter, Das Heraion von Samos (Munich, 1976), fig. 47, used with permission.

6.22 Reconstruction of the superstructure of the Temple of Apollo at Thermon, c. 630 bce. After G. Kawerau, AntDenk 2 (1908), pl. 49. Photo: D-DAI-ATH- Aetoloakarnanien-Neg. 0155. All rights reserved.

6.23 Metope from the Temple of Apollo at Thermon, c. 630 все. 34%6 in (87.8 cm). Perseus fleeing. Athens, National Archaeological Museum 13401. Photo: National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Klaus-Valtin von Eickstedt) © Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund.

6.24 Lintel from the Temple at Prinias, c. 620-600 все. Heraklion, Archaeological Museum 231-232. Height of seated woman: 32Й in (82 cm). Photo: Alison Frantz, courtesy of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

angles in a “whirligig” posture to indicate strong motion. Rosettes create a frame around the panel. The color palette is limited to the same range of reds, browns, and yellows found in pottery, but the figure is monumental in scale, about one-half meter in height and visible from a distance. The rich color, scale, and variety of subjects decorating the frieze would have further distinguished the tem­ple as a visual focal point and something quite different from ordinary Greek architecture.

Smaller temples with a naos and porch that are closer to their Geometric predecessors continued to be built, but the availability of stone transformed their appearance. The Temple A at Prinias on Crete dates to the end of the seventh century and was built with ashlar masonry even in the upper courses. The door and lintel that separated the porch from the naos were decorated with relief sculpture featuring female figures and a frieze of panthers that is more symmetrical and repetitive than the animal friezes in contemporary vase painting, but is otherwise very similar (Figure 6.24). The figural style is Daedalic, and its frequent use in stone architectural sculpture from Crete, where Daidalos is said to have created many innovative works, makes it an appropriate name for the style of this period. The figures are in low relief and share similarities with the kore figures of the period such as that of Nikandre (see Figure 6.3, page 134). Framing the entrance into the naos, these figures cre­ate a monumental gateway marking the boundary of the god’s enclosure and demonstrate the new possibilities for art that arose through developments in materials, techniques, and subject matter.

In conclusion, the seventh century is a period of great change and experimentation in Greek art, one in which Greek art is both influenced heavily by the art of other cultures, particularly the Levant and Egypt, and finds a much wider range of manufacture and distribution throughout the Mediterranean.

references

Carter, J. B. and L. J. Steinberg. 2010. “Kouroi and Statistics.” American Journal of Archaeology 114, 103-128. Ebbinghaus, S. 2005. “Protector of the City, or the Art of Storage in Early Greece.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 125, 51-72.

Malkin, I. 2011. A Small Greek World: Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Morris, S. B. 1992. Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Pollitt, J. J. 1990. The Art of Ancient Greece: Sources and Documents. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Rasmussen, T. 1991. “Corinth and the Orientalising Phenomenon.” In T. Rasmussen and N. Spivey, eds. Looking at Greek Vases, 57-78. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

further reading

Boardman, J. 1998. Early Greek Vase Painting: 11th-6th Centuries. A Handbook. London: Thames and Hudson. Boardman, J. 1999. The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade, 4th ed. London: Thames and Hudson. Burkert, W. 1992. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Period. M. E. Pinder and W. Burkert, tr. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Gunter, A. C. 2009. Greek Art and the Orient. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hurwit, J. M. 1985. The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100-480B.C. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 125-202.

Malkin, I. 2011. A Small Greek World: Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Morris, S. B. 1992. Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Timeline

Sanctuaries

Temples and the Architectural Orders

A Mini-History of the Greek Temple

Other Buildings of the Sanctuary

Rituals and Offerings

Textbox: Ritual Analysis and Theoria

References

Further Reading

A History of Greek Art, First Edition. Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell.

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

timeline

he sanctuary was a gathering point for Greeks, in both urban and rural areas. At least since the Geometric period, some sanctuaries served even larger groups from across Greece and its colonies, as attested by the offerings at Olympia that we have discussed in earlier chapters (see Figure 1.3, page 7; Figures 4.15-4.18, pages 86-89). Sacrifices at altars, contests, and other rituals made these areas the most public spaces in the Greek environment, places where individuals, by participating or witnessing the activities and by giving gifts to the gods, defined themselves as members of the community. Besides the altar and temple, additional structures like the stoa served to meet the needs of visitors to a sanctuary. Sanctuaries outside of a city helped connect the citizens of the polis to the chora, while Panhellenic sites like Olympia and Delphi connected them to the broader world.

In this chapter we will look at the components and organization of the sanctuary. In the previ­ous chapter we saw that during the seventh century the temple became a much more prominent structure in the city, much larger than other buildings and further distinguished by its use of dressed stone as a building material, its large-scale decoration, and the use of an exterior colon­nade to support the edge of the roof. We will, here, explore further the design of the temple, and in particular the architectural orders or systems used in their construction that created one of the most distinctive visual forms of Greek architecture. Finally, we will look at some of the other build­ings found in the sanctuary and examine some of the ritual activity and offerings performed at these sites that made them virtual museums.

sanctuaries

Sanctuaries exist in a variety of locations and sizes, but all can be said to be places that are set apart from ordinary life in which humans can connect with the divine. In Greece, this interaction took place at both a group and individual level. In festivals, the community collectively celebrated its rela­tionship with a god through ritual actions and offerings. Communal acts could include, especially at the most prominent sites and cults, processions, performances of choral songs or plays, dancing, sacrifices of animals or harvest followed by communal feasting, dedications of gifts, and competi­tions in both athletics and the arts, including music, poetry, drama, and dance. At a more personal level, an individual asked or thanked a god for well-being, healing, protection, or intervention, either at a local sanctuary or via a pilgrimage to a distant but potent place like Delphi or Epidauros. Individuals, too, left gifts and made sacrifices, but at a smaller scale. In addition, individuals could make demands on the resources and organization of a sanctuary if they had to wait there for a prophecy or a course of healing.

A sanctuary, therefore, had to be able to handle both small and large groups of people in activities that took both short and long periods of time to complete. It had to accommodate the performance of these activities, as well as provide space for spectators to watch. If someone were staying for a period, a sanctuary needed to provide shelter in addition to worship space. Finally, a sanctuary had to store and keep safe the gifts dedicated to the gods. Most communal activities took place in the open air, so that sanctuaries were generally defined precincts with paths for circulation and open areas for gathering, as well as a collection of support structures that additionally served as a stage setting for the activities.

Over the course of time, sanctuaries become more complex spaces, as the success or wealth of a city or site led to an accumulation of gifts and structures that could crowd the limited space. Occasional events such as earthquakes or fires could reshape a site by reorganization and rebuilding, but this also created a vertical layering as destroyed material had to be buried or reused on the site since it belonged to the deity. In looking at a sanctuary, then, one has to con­sider it both diachronically, as it developed from one point in time to the next, and synchronically,

as a pastiche of works and buildings from different periods that existed concurrently with each other.

The sanctuary or temenos is usually defined by walls or boundary markers to distinguish the sacred space clearly. Entrances are limited and regulate the flow of traffic, which will be set on path­ways that provide an order to the visit or ritual. The most essential ritual feature of the sanctuary is its altar, where sacrifices take place outside before the assembled participants. The space around the altar is open to provide room for the congregation, while the altar itself is often elevated to provide a view of the sacrifice. The most prominent building of the temenos is the temple, which is typically located across an open space from the altar. Larger and taller than anything else, it housed the cult statue of the deity and served as a storehouse for many of the most valuable offerings. Together, the altar and temple are the primary focal points for a sanctuary and the stage for the most important activities.

As we shall see, sanctuaries contained many other buildings. Temples and altars for other gods can be found at some sanctuaries, but usually at a smaller scale and not as visually prominent as the main altar and temple. Gifts were also found in smaller buildings with porches called treasuries; most of these were built by poleis and served as markers of civic status and ambitions. Other build­ings can be found either inside the temenos or, more commonly, just outside of it. Stoas, dining halls, gymnasia, and hostels shelter the feasts and provide places for individual devotions and activities. The performance of drama, including both tragedy and comedy, in festivals dedicated to the deity took place at the theater, usually on the slope of a hill to provide the bank for seating. Athletic com­petitions were held at the stadion, usually just outside of the temenos boundary and featuring a long course for racing with sloped earthen sides to seat the spectators.

We can see most of these features at Delphi (Figure 7.1), one of the most important religious sites in ancient Greece. According to mythology, Delphi was the center of the earth, the omphalos, which was guarded by a serpent, Python, son of Gaia. He was killed by Apollo, who took over the sanctuary and, most important, its prophetic function. The priestess, called the Pythia, pronounced the ora­cles, which frequently had an obtuse and hard-to-decipher quality about them. These oracles were

held as sacred by cities throughout Greece, who often sent for a pronouncement from the Pythia before a major undertaking such as war or colonization. As a rural site that was not associated with a specific major city, the sanctuary became Panhellenic. The sanctuary at Delphi also hosted the Pythian festival, initially a contest of hymns called dithyrambs, performed by a singer with a chorus. After a reorganization around 582 bce, quadrennial athletic games took place midway between the Olympic Games. Additional athletic contests were organized in the sixth century at Isthmia and Nemea during the odd years between the Olympic and Pythian games, and the sites together constituted the four crown games of ancient Greece, referencing the crowns of olive, laurel, or celery awarded at each site.

Looking at the site today, one can see six re-erected columns of the fourth-century temple (upper right in Figure 7.1, 422 in Figure 7.2). This fourth-century temple was set on a terrace bounded by a wall with polygonal masonry (329), irregularly shaped stones that fit together closely and have some resistance to earthquakes. This temple was built after an earthquake in 373 bce destroyed the earlier sixth-century temple; the fourth-century building followed the siting and general plan of its predecessor but was not finished until about 320. The archaic temple itself had been built following the destruction by fire of a still earlier temple in 548 bce. The archaic temple, too, took a long time to construct and was not finished until sometime after 513, when the Alkmaionid clan of Athens undertook completion of the project and provided marble rather than limestone sculptures for its pediments. The temple before 548 was likely smaller and not made completely out of stone since it was severely damaged by the fire. Pausanias, our source for the date of the fire, also mentions three still earlier temples, including the first of laurel and the third of bronze, made by the god Hephaistos (Paus. 10.5.9-13). Like the founding of the Olympics, the earliest origin stories of sanctuaries are often mythological, but nevertheless the claims con­vey both the antiquity and importance of the site. Indeed, excavations at Delphi have found Geometric bronze figures and tripods like those at Olympia being left as offerings, so that by the eighth century the site had begun to function as a Panhellenic sanctuary. Although no traces of the oldest structures survive, it appears the physical spot where the oracle was induced had had some type of structure over it from very early on in the history of the site, and was rebuilt as events made it necessary.