hnp:’ www gib.nev gtbib.php ?aplicacton=sod&tipo=consultata reso MM Pedido por: Centro: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Geografia e Historia (Biblioteca) Mail:buepighi@bue.uem.es Codigo:SUCMGH Direceion Cy Profesor Aranguren s/n . CP Ciudad: 28040 - Madrid. ES centro: : Departamento: Usuario: Codigo Datos bibliograficos: Publicacion: Studies in honour of Arthur Dale Trendall [Testo impreso] Articulo: The Dance of the Amazons / Schneider-Hermann, G. Issn/Isbn: Autores: Cambitoglou, Alexander Lugar de publicaci cop. 19 + Volumen: Namero: Paginas: 171-175 Notas: 9/112181 MCB Tipo de documento: Préstamo: —-N Soporte solicitado: Medio servido: E Datos del I curso: Pedido az IBNEA - Biblioteca Nacional de Espafa. Alcala Pedido el: 2013-12-17 13:39:17 Respuesta el: 0000-00-00 00:00:00 Respuesta: Notas: Datos del préstam Prestado por: - 1712/2013 13:39STUDIES IN HONOUR OF ARTHUR DALE TRENDALL Editor ALEXANDER CAMBITOGLOU ICAN T= 3s] SYDNEY UNIVERSITY PRESS‘THE DANCE OF THE AMAZONS G. Schneider-Herrmann Plate 43, ‘Two red-figured Apulian vases, decorated by two different painters, show figures which may be interpreted as dancing Amazons. The first vase, a footed alabastron in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (PL. 43. Figs. 1 and 2). can be dated in the third quarter of the fourth century B.C.! The second, a knob-handled dish. in a private collection in Kiel (PI. 43, Figs. 3 and 4), is some- what carlier. about the middle of the fourth century.? The Alabastron Rising above a flower and surrounded by floral tendrils, a female figuse moves towards the left in three quarter view, head in profile, stepping lightly on her toes and apparently performing a dance step (P1.43, Fig. 1) She appears in the Oriental costume of sn Amazon, as known from Attic vases of the fifth century B.C Under a short-sleeved tunic of almost knee length, of pattemed material, she wears a closeitting undergarment decorated with white circles which is visible on her arms and legs; she also wears a white belt, studded straps, across her chest, and white shoes. Her head is covered by a white Phrygian cap with Maps falling down over her shoulders: a corkscrew hangs down her cheek. The figure is armed as an Amazon; she brandishes a battle axe in her right hand and holds in her left two spears, partly concealed behind her shield, the typical pelta, which has a ‘white rim and bears a small Medusa head in the centre, flanked by a scroll ornament, At first sight we visualize wings rising from her back and framing her head, with a rosette in between. However, the undulating or curving lines give the impression of a billowing cloak. At the same time a cloak billowing high up does not seem to go with the conception of the figure’s restrained movement. The dance step stirs the folds of the tunic only slightly, causing some inconformity. The knob-handled Dish ‘Surrounded by a bersied laurel wreath in added white, a female figure, dressed rather similarly to the one the Oxford alabastron, seems also to perform a dance.4 She wears a sleeveless, somewhat longer tunic of, ipatterned material, which billows out in a wide curve, and a narrow white studded belt from which several ribbons with white beads tal down over her tunic. Her undergarment is decorated with alternating black and. white zigzag bands encircling arms and legs; her Phrygian cap has a spiked crest. Large wings in profile, one partly visible behind the other, project from her back. Whereas the Oxford figure is equipped with the weapons of an Amazon, the other has in her right hand a thymiaterion, held at arm’s length, while a tambourine dangles by a ribbon from her left hand. In view of her stance the Oxford figure is likely to perform a war dance, while the other, more relaxed, her hand bent slightly down and her left arm swinging, may be performing a cult dance, In addition to the archaeological considerations which induce us to suggest the two figures to be Amazons, the literary tradition which connects them with Artemis and Dionysos, also confirms our presumption. In this context the statues of Amazons should be mentioned which Pliny says were made by Pheidias, Polykleitos, Kresilas, Kydon and Phradmon for the temple of Artemis at Ephesos.> There is also literary tradition of legends, some versions of which are here discussed. The oldest is from a lost text by Pindar, mentioned by Pausanias who accuses him of being wrongly informed about the Amazons having established the cult of172 G, SCHNEIDER HERRMANN Artemis at Ephesos.6 In fact, according to Pausanias the Amazons had known and worshipped the goddess ever since the time when, pursued by Dionysos, they had sought refuge in her sanctuary.7 This version is followed by Tacitus who also mentions the surrender of the Amazons to Dionysos and the mercy shown by him to them.8 It is interesting to see that the legend of an Amazonomachy near the sanctuary of Artemis survived sporadically in art. A Pompeian wall painting shows the precinct of the goddess whose statue stands high on a pillar, while a Greek is attacking an Amazon on horseback and another Greek lies on the ground.9 Whereas this reminds us only in a general way of a battle involving Amazons at the sanctuary of Artemis, a relief on a Roman sarcophagus of the second century A.D. in Cortona (well known during the Renaissance), shows Dionysos on a chariot slaying the Amazons in a battle which takes place before a port, presumably the port of Ephesos. 10 In the third century B.C. Kallimachos described the Amazons’ worship of the Goddess at Ephesos in his Hymn to Artemis. The waroving female tribe is said to have dedicated a statue and @ shrine and to have bestowed offers as well as to have performed a war dance, as a chorus circling around the statue: “For thee Artemis, too, the Amazons, whose mind is set on war, in Ephesus beside the sea established an image beneath an oak trunk, and Hippo (queen of Amazons, no doubt identical with Hippolyte) performed a holy rite for thee, and they themselves, O Upis queen, around the image danced a war dance first in shields and in armour, and again in a circle arraying a spacious choir. And the loud pipes thereto piped shrill accompaniment, that they might foot the dance together (for not yet did they pierce the fawn, Athena's handiwork, a bane to the deer), And the echo reached unto Sardis and the Berecynthian range. And they with their feet beat loudly and therewith their quivers rattled . . And afterwards around that image was raised a shrine of broad found- ations.” It is of course tempting, in the light of this tradition, to interpret the Oxford figure as an Amazon who performs a dance similar to that described by Kallimachos, although her restrained movement does not match the frantic character of the dance in the hymn (Pl. 43, Fig. 1).12 The winged figure on the dish in a private collection in Kiel may also be linked to the Artemis cult, since the thymiaterion she carries may indicate a cult dance (PI. 43, Fig. 3). At any rate the two figures could be interpreted as dancing Amazons, possibly inspired by a common origin, a picture or more probably a drama. They could perhaps be imagined as members of a theatrical chorus, since there appears to have been more than one play with a subject relating to Amazons, although their contents are unknown.13, There seems to be no literary evidence for the unusual feature of wings worn by an Amazon. One can only point to archaeological evidence which sporadically reveals a close affiliation between representations of Artemis on the one hand, and those of worshipping females on the other.14 An Artemis figure provided with wings may account for the concept of a winged Amazon. To quote some examples, the Potnia Theron is occasionally represented with wings.15 One can also mention the winged Artemis shooting arrows on a mid-fifth century black- figured white ground lekythos from the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia,!6 The closest to our figure for instance is the Artemis on an Etruscan stamnos of the fourth century B.C. which shows a strong Italiote influence.17 She wears a similar close fitting undergarment. A head of the Thracian goddess on a Tarentine antefix datable around 400 B.C. is of some interest, as it has small wings between the curls just beneath the lion's scalp on her head,!8‘THE DANCE OF THE AMAZONS: 173 Wings do not usually belong to the image of this goddess, but there is a connection between Artemis and Bendis, both hunting divinities, in so far as a figure called Artemis-Bendis which blends characteristics of both goddesses, occurs in South Italian art, 19 However, one cannot be sure of the origin of the wings of the Bendis head: they may or may not be derived from an ‘Artemis image. Hence it remains uncertain whether the figure of the Amazon on the dish shows traces of this ambiguous tradition (Fig. 3). It does not seem unlikely that iconographically four figure is influenced directly by a figure of a winged Artemis. Moreover there is no literary evidence for a dance connected with Bendis, whereas dancing is repeatedly mentioned with Artemis and her cult.20 ‘Artemis is not the only divinity whose influence can be detected in the two pictures we are discussing. One can also see in them some Dionysiac elements, indicated by the presence of the tambourine on the dish and of the floral ornament surrounding the figure on the alabastron, as ‘a symbol of eternal renewal of life.?! The literary background to this iconographic mixture may be the legend already mentioned above of the Amazons’ surrender and the mercy granted by Dionysos, marking the penetration of the god’s cult in Eastern Greece. Our alabastron and our dish show the consequences of the events recorded by Diodorus Siculus: the Amazons came under the spell of Dionysos and became his followers.2? Since the power of both Artemis and Dionysos dwells in these figures, one can postulate a merging of the cults of the two divinities, reflecting a syncretism which appears more than once in South Italy in the fourth century B.C.23 In the case of our two figures the cult of “Artemis prevails and Dionysos is recognisable only by his symbols In this respect one of the two outside pictures of our dish (PI. 43, Fig. 4) conveys a more explicit manifestation of Dionysiac influence than does the floral surround on the alabastron (PL. 43, Fig. 2). The scene with three women and an Eros carrying a bunch of grapes, another symbol of the god, represents one of many variations of this kind occurring on South Italian vases.24 As on other dishes of this type a correlation between the inside and the outside pictures may be assumed. Finally, not only the winged, but also the armed, Amazon appears as a delegate of both gods. Further evidence of such a cult syncretism is provided by two other dishes which show an Amazon fully armed driving a quadriga in association with Dionysiac symbols and an Eros scene as well as a satyr.25 In one form or another, it would appear that Amazons in contact with divinities belong to an Eastern tradition which seems to have by-passed the Greck mainland but to have found its way to the Western colonies, where it can still be traced on vase painting. NOTES 1 Inv. 1945.55. Published by courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Ashmolean Museum, Depart mene of Antiquities. Summary Guide, Oxford 1951, Pl. XXXIla; K, Schauenburg, ‘Untesitalische ‘Alabastra’, Jd! 87, 1972, Figs. 16 and 17; RVAp I, p. 429, no. 16/74, For alabastra used by women see T.B.L, Webster, Porter and Parron in Classical Athens, Oxford 1972, 102, Published by courtesy of the owner. K, Schauenburg, “Bendis in Unteritalien’” Ja 89, 1974, 177, Fig. 45 (described as a lekane); RVAP I, p-420, no. 16/39. 3 See for instance Arias Hirmer-Shefton, Pl. 191, and P.E. Arias, Enciclopedia Classica I, Vol. XI, V. PI. CXLVIIL 4G. Schneider-Herrmann, ‘Apulian Red-tigured Paterae with Flat or Knob Handles’, BICS Suppl. 34, 1977, Cat. no. 177.174 un 12 1B 4 " 18 G, SCHNEIDER HERRMANN Nat. Hist Ill, 4, 53:B.S, Ridgway, ‘A Story of Five Amazons’, AJA 78, 1974, 1-17. VIL, ji, 6-8, Strabo, XI, 5, $05, and XII, 3, $50, mentions the legends according to Which the Amazons hhad founded Ephesos and other cites. Plutarch, Quest. Gr. 56, gives, a different version: the Amazons persecuted by Dionysos fled from Ephesos to Samos, where agzeat many of them were killed. Further references in L. Preller, Griechische Mythologie, Berlin 1860, 1, 548, 0.3 Ann. TH, 61 am indebted to Professor K. Schefold for this reference; Pompeii IX 2, 16 (e), in K. Schefold, Ver. -gessenes Pompeji, Bem 1962, Pl. 58,3, and p. 76, n. 156; ee also K. Schauenburg, ‘Neue Darstellungen aus der Bellerophonsage’, Ad 1958, 24, n. 1 Cortona, Museo Diocesano; E. Gerhard, ‘Bacchus in Amazonenkampr, AZ, June 1845, 82 fF; A. Neppi Modona, Corrona Etrusea e Romana, Florence 1925, Pl. XI; F. Matz, Die Dionpsischen Sarkophage, UL, Berlin 1969, No. 237 (dated around 160 A.D.), pp. 426~28 and Pl. 258. Kallimachos, ymin IIL (To Artemis), trans. A.W. Mair, London (Loeb) 1921, lines 237-249. For a dancing Amazon, see also Hliad II, 814, where the epithet ‘polyskarthmos' applied to the Amazon. Myrina can be understood as running, jumping or dancing. There is, however, no relation between this Amazon and Artemis. Preller (supra n. 7) I, 234, n. 3. Seo for example the black-figuted lekythos Louvre CA2925 in L. Kahil, “Autour de I’Artémis attique’, AniK 8, 1965, Pl. 10, Figs. 3-5, on which the dancing figures with chiton and pointed cap are inter preted tentatively as worshippers of Bendis (p. 29); the litte gitls performing cult rites for Artemis Brauronia in bear costumes (arktoi),ibidem, p. 25; M.P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion, Munich 1967, 485; see also G. Schneider-Herrmann, ‘Das Geheimnis der Artemis in Etrurien’, Ant 13, 1970, Pl. 28, Figs. 1-2, and Pl. 29, Figs. 1-2, for a red-figured Etruscan stamnos with a female worshipper as Artemis herself, wearing tunic, undergarment and Phrygian cap; and Schefold, Ver _gessenes Pompeii, 50, Pl. 34, for a Pompeian wall-painting with Amazons in a short girdled chiton — the well known costume of Artemis — as caryatides, For the Potnia Theron represented with wings, see e.g. the Rhodian gold plaques, dated to the 7th c. B.C., in London (R.A. Higgins, Greek and Roman Jewellery, London 1961, Pls. 18 D, 19 D-E, 20) tnd in Berlin (EAA, I, 690, Fig. 886); the Kypselos Chest (W. v. Massow, “Die Kypseloslade™, AM 1916, Fig. 26: a bronze tripod relief of ¢.600 B.C. (Schefold op.cit., Fig. 28); the 6th century hydria from Grichwil in Bern (H. Jucker, AntK Betheft 9, 1973, 42 ff); the terracotta relief from Cimaise in the Louvre, dated around 600 B.C. (Catalogue Raisonné, B 344, Pl. XXXVI); the scarab in Hanover, dated to the second quarter of the 6th c. B.C. (Kestner Mus. Jalirber., 1968-70, No. 10); the marble stele from Dorylaion, 5S0—480 B.C., in the Istanbul Museum (Hdb.d Arch. VI, 2, 1950, 65 f., PL 18, Fig. 1 and EAA 1, Fig, 887) L. Kahil, "Quelques vasos du sanctuaire d'Artemis & Brauron” AntK Betheft 1, 1963, Pl. 6, Figs. 3-4; Kem. Antk 8, 1965, 32. For a winged Artemis see H. Walter, Griechisehe Gorter, Munich 1971, Fig. 190. See also Schauenburg, L.c., 179 (supra n. 2) and Moret, Hioupersis, PI. $6, 1 and p. 22. South Italian terracotta figurines (Metaponto): D. Adamasteanu, La Basilicata Antica, Cava dei Tirrenit 1974 59, Figs. 1,3,4 (6th €. B.C). G. Schneider-Herrmann, AntK 13, 1970, Pls. 28, 1-2 and 29, 1-2. P. Wuilleumier, Tarente, Paris 1939, 407 f, and 428 f. Pl. XXXIX, Figs. 5, 7; H. Herdejirgen, “Tarent- inische Terracotten der Sammlung Schwitter” AntK 16, 1973, 103, Pl. 20, Fig. 90, suggests the wings may represent the wandering nature of Bendis. For Bendis see CW. Lunsingh Scheurleer, ‘Die Gottin Bendis in Tarent’, AA 1932, 314~34; FAA, I, 49, ‘Bendis’ (Rocchetti), and K. Schauenburg, ‘Bendis in Unteritaien’”, Jaf 89, 1974, 137-186,THE DANCE OF THE AMAZONS 175 20 See, however, Professor Kahil’s comments on the dancing female figures with pointed cap and chiton on a Louvre lekythos, (supra n. 14) 21 For Dionysiac floral abundance, see Hom. Hymn 7, 3742. For Dionysos Antheios, see H. Jucker, ‘Das Bildnis im Bltterketch’, Lausanne 1961, 1, 201-202. K. Schauenburg, “Zur Symbolik unteritalischer Rankenmotive’, RM 64, 1957, 198-220. m,71,4, For an association of the Artemis and Dionysos cults see G. PI. 30, Fig. 2, and p. 68, Fig. 3. 24 G. Schneider-Herrmann, ‘Spuren eines Eroskultes in der italischen Vasenmalerei’, BABesch 48, 1970, 86-114 25 Naples 2541/822SS and Bari $929; G. Schneider-Heremann (supra n.4) Cat. Nos. 175 and 176, Pl. XVI Fig. 1. For an Amazon as charioteer, see Strabo XII, 8, $73, referring to llisd Il, 811 ff, where he understood the Amazon Myrina to be an accomplished charioteer. For Amazons on chariots on Attic black-figured vases, see D. von Bothmer, Amazons in Greek Art, Oxford 1957, 106 ff., Pl. LXIV, Webster (supra n. 1), 107, chneider-Herrmann (supra n. 14), $9