Power and Pathos

The Hellenistic period (323 to 31 BCE) was the culmination of the steady advance of Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean, reaching as far to the east as Pakistan. Greek mystery religions became increasingly popular during this time and paved the way for the spread of Christianity during the later Roman period. This was also a time in which Greek art underwent a metamorphosis from a relatively formal mode of expression into an impassioned international style. Despite the continuing popularity of many of the subjects of classical Greek sculpture in this period, Hellenistic figures have a more personalized and affecting appeal—a kind of super-realism meant to arrest viewers rather than reassure them about the enduring nature of their aesthetic values.This has never been more evident than in the recent traveling exhibition of Hellenistic Sculpture Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World. Displaying works from archaeological museums in Austria, Denmark, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Vatican, the exhibit over the past year has visited the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (March 14th to June 21st, 2015), the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (July 21st to November 1st, 2015) and, finally, the last stop on the exhibition tour, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (December 13th, 2015 to March 20th, 2016).The National Gallery scheduled an impressive, and unprecedented, series of events surrounding the exhibition that focused not on the sculptures, which eloquently spoke for themselves but on the latest scholarship on the Hellenistic period. The various planned lectures, with topics ranging from “What Makes a Statue?” to “From Olympus to the Streets of Constantinople: The Byzantine Retirement of the Ancient Gods” covered virtually all aspects of scholarship on Hellenistic economics, politics, society, culture, and, of course, art and symbolism. Any one of these 50 or so bronzes, dating from the fourth century BCE to the first century CE, would, in itself, merit showcasing as a masterwork but, taken all together, the effect of this presentation is almost overwhelming—which is clearly the intent of the curators.The “power” of the Hellenistic world is well represented but the “pathos” is less evident to viewers. This may be due, in part, to the withdrawal of one very famous sculpture, “The Boxer at Rest,” also known as “The Terme Boxer,” which was sent back to Rome for the Papal Jubilee. This is a deeply expressive work, and it was unfortunate that museum goers in Washington, DC, were not able to see it as part of this exhibit. Nevertheless, the meaning of “pathos” as described by Aristotle, that is, a mode of artistic persuasion that achieves its goals by awakening emotion, is well represented here.The “Weary Herakles” (Fig. 1), a Hellenistic copy of a lost marble statue by the preferred artist of Alexander the Great, Lysippos, conveys less of a sense of spent force than “The Terme Boxer” but is undoubtedly more touching than classical depictions of the hero engaged in feats of strength. More moving still is the statuette of an artisan (Fig. 2), which is missing a few limbs, a condition that somehow only draws attention to the careworn facial expression and the protective gesture of the figure's left arm, clutching a pair of wax tablets. Some scholars have suggested that this is a portrait of a fabled craftsman, such as Epeios, who fashioned the Trojan horse, but there seems to be nothing of the legendary hero to be found in this work, portraying a muscular man of short stature seemingly walking along deep in thought about his current or next project.That athletes were popular subjects for Hellenistic sculptures is amply attested by a number of pieces. The most remarkable among these is the Ephesian Apoxyomenos (Fig. 3), another subject made popular by Lysippos. Shown arrested in the act of scraping dust and sweat from his body, the otherwise ideally handsome young man displays a slightly furrowed brow, with a bowed head, and a look of resigned exhaustion—undoubtedly, a Hellenistic departure from the classical Greek depiction known from Roman copies. Similarly, “The Runner” (Fig. 4) seems fixed on the finish line, moving toward it with his expression of intense concentration, as well as his body. Other athletes are depicted in victorious poses, such as the graceful figure, missing its feet, of a young man with a superior expression and a right hand extended upward (Fig. 5).The portrait busts showing both godlike and human qualities ranging from youthful fervor to experienced introspection are a revelation. Some are more formal, such as the idealized portrayal of a woman (Fig. 6), who may be Arsinoë II, queen of Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedonia and, later, co-ruler of Egypt; and the heads of a beautiful young boy (Fig. 7) and a flawlessly handsome athlete (Fig. 8). Others (Figs. 9–11) are unsparing depictions of real human beings, with furrowed brows, weak chins, ignoble noses, and less than intelligent expressions. Gods and legendary figures are represented as their characters dictate—showing Apollo with flowing locks (Fig. 12) or another god (or poet) with flowing beard (Fig. 13).Familiar mythological subjects known from classical Greek art are rendered in a new way here. The infant Eros proudly sits astride a lion (Fig. 14) or is shown asleep (Fig. 15), displaying a body that combines elements of youth (the limbs) and middle age (a paunch). The example of the ubiquitous “Herm” sports an elaborate headdress, a stylized beard, and a lascivious look atop his pillar (Fig. 16). The youthful Artemis (Fig. 17) is caught running with skirts flying in a decidedly awkward manner beside a young deer, while a fully human hoofless “faun” prances gracefully (Fig. 18). The goddess Athena is shown on an unusual medallion (Fig. 19) that purportedly once adorned a ceremonial chariot. She is shown in warrior dress but a pacific pose; however, unusually, her elegantly coiffed curls are topped by the head of the hapless Medusa (Fig. 20), the woman she doomed to turn men to stone with a look. This bronze Medusa, usually of fearsome aspect, is far less intimidating, in death at least, in this relief than her divine tormentor.Though it was a time of frequent warfare, the prosperity of the Hellenistic period fostered a number of interesting artistic traditions, some commendable, others perhaps not so much. Skillfully crafted portraits of individuals, including boys and women, showed great ingenuity in this period. These were commissioned by ordinary citizens (Figs. 21–22) whose new-found wealth enabled them to buy things once reserved for the wealthy and powerful.A somewhat less innovative practice, one that survived well into the Roman period, was the copying of famous works of previous eras to grace the collections of wealthy patrons. Several statues modeled from the neck down in various naturalistic interpretations of the stiffly posed kouroi of the Greek Archaic period (800 BCE–480 BCE) are shown in the exhibit. One of these, the Apollo of Piombino (Fig. 23) was originally taken for an actual statue of this early period but later proven to be a consciously fabricated Roman forgery, with a false inlaid inscription of silver in archaic lettering on the left leg. The origins of the Pompeii Apollo (Fig. 24) were less controversial. It appears to have actually been a rather opulent piece of household furniture—having once held a tray to serve food and drink to guests.The overarching impression of the exhibit as containing a plethora of larger-than-life human forms is balanced, on closer inspection, by the fact that they are frozen for posterity in the midst of performing both ordinary and extraordinary movements. These heroic depictions, combined with the solemn portraits of everyday people and even the nostalgic renderings of statues created hundreds of years before, give us a sense of a society that was both chaotic and controlled—an impression that was reinforced by the highly informative lectures. This was a time of affluence, conflict, prodigious artistic production, ubiquitous emulation of past styles, internationalism, a burgeoning of local schools, and, most of all, pure inventiveness. This exhibit not only captures this unique moment in art history, it encapsulates it. Its popularity, considering that so few people know anything about the Hellenistic period beyond Alexander the Great, is a testimony to this

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Bronze · Emperor · Exhibition · Hellenistic Period · Literature · Pathos · Period (music · Power (physics · Scholarship · Sculpture · Style (visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeological Research and Protection · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History · Law

• Rodolfo Lanciani and the Southwest Quirinal

  Open Access•Brian Brennan•Papers of the British School at…•2023

  Add to list

• A Gymnasion Assemblage Lost at Sea? The Statues From the Antikythera Shipwreck Reconsidered

  Open Access•Brian Martens•The Annual of the British School…•2025

  Add to list

• The Kausia Boy Figurines From Demetrias

  Open Access•Stelios Ieremias•The Annual of the British School…•2021

  Add to list