The Ancient Art of Transformation

Case Studies from Mediterranean Contexts

Renee M. Gondek, Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781789251050
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

The Ancient Art of Transformation: Case Studies from Mediterranean Contexts examines instances of human transformation in the ancient and early Christian Mediterranean world by exploring the ways in which art impacts, aids, or provides evidence for physical, spiritual, personal, and social transitions. Building on Arnold van Gennep's notion of universal rites of passage, papers in this volume expand the definition of "transformation" to include widespread transitions such as shifts in political establishments and changes in cultural identity. In considering these broadly defined "passages, " authors have observed particular changes in the visual record, whether they be manifest, enigmatic, or symbolic. While several papers address transitions that are incomplete, resulting in intermediary, hybrid states, others suggest that the medium itself can be integral to interpreting a transition, and in some cases, be itself transformed. Together, the volume covers not only a broad chronological span (c. 5th century BC to 4th century AD), but also an expansive geographical range (Egypt, Greece, and Italy). Reflecting upon issues central to a variety of Mediterranean cultures (Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, and early Christians), The Ancient Art of Transformation documents how personal, societal, and historical changes become permanently fixed in the material record.? The Ancient Art of Transformation examines the visual manifestation of human transformation in the ancient and early medieval Mediterranean world, exploring the role of art and visual culture in enabling, hindering, or documenting physical, spiritual, personal, and social transitions such as pregnancy and birth, initiations, marriage, death and funerals. The definition of "transformation" is also expanded to address instances of less personal and more widespread transitions such as shifts in political establishments and changes in cultural identity in geographic locations. Additionally, although the ancient material record documents certain rites of passage such as marriage and death extensively, artifacts and their accompanying images are often studied simply to reconstruct these social processes. Authors here suggest that material evidence itself can be integral to interpreting a transition, and in some cases, be itself transformed. Further, several papers address transitions that are incomplete, resulting in intermediary, hybrid states that are very often reflected in the visual record such as Athenian vase-painting imagery forecasting the bride as a mother, displays of nudity that reflect intermediate life stages in Etruscan art and Octavian's visual transformation into Pharaoh and Augustus in Egyptian architecture and material culture. At its core the volume establishes current methods for understanding how ancient visual culture shaped, informed, and was affected by processes of transformation. Together, these papers offer a close examination of various types of visual evidence from several cultures and periods (e.g., Etruscan, Greek, Roman, early Christian), and document how personal, societal, and historical changes become permanently fixed in the material record.

Chapter 1

On the threshold of old age: perceptions of the elderly in Athenian red-figure vase-painting

Nicholas A. Harokopos

To M. Zafeiratou, εὐγνωμόνως

Introduction

“Γῆρας λυγρὸν” (mournful old age; Odyssey 24.250) and “γέρας γερόντων” (prerogative of the elders; Iliad 4.323). These diametrically opposed descriptions exemplify the most common ancient Greek attitudes on aging. On the one hand, they reveal a basic clash between physical decay and its incumbent restrictions, and on the other hand, they express unfulfilled desires, aspirations, and plans – in essence, a tension “between self and body” (Cole and Gadow 1986, 5, cited by Falkner 1995, xi).

Representations of the elderly are also perceptible in the visual record. On Greek vases, the earliest known depiction of an aged figure is a bald, bearded man on a sherd from a Naxian relief pithos dating to the second quarter of the 7th century BC (Simantoni-Bournia 2004, 100). Elderly figures, however, begin to appear with greater frequency after the advent of Attic black-figure vase-painting in the early 6th century BC. Although they are represented initially in mythological scenes (e.g. Nereus, Priam, and Peleus), the increase in the production of so-called “daily-life scenes” after the middle of the 6th century prompted the elderly to be featured in a wider variety of settings.1 They are mostly depicted alongside departing warriors, but also are visible in other contexts, such as scenes of weddings, mourning, and commerce. The appearance of old men and women in these quotidian compositions further increases after the invention of the red-figure technique in the late 6th century.

The aim of this essay is to present an iconographic overview of the elderly in “daily-life,” or “genre,” scenes on late Archaic to Classical (c. 520–400 BC) Athenian red-figure vases through the examination of the various traits of their age-related “transformation.” Although a dark-haired, bearded person could represent a senior, as demonstrated by the rare depictions of the aged Priam and Nereus in this manner, this essay will focus on persons who bear clear signs of old age, such as baldness, white, sparse or thinning hair, wrinkles, or those that have a stooped posture.2 Such traits correspond not only to the physiology of old age, but also were described as attributes of the elderly in Classical literature.3

In order to understand how the elderly were viewed in a contemporary context, the essay begins with a survey of perceptions of old age garnered from ancient literary sources. It is followed by a presentation of the iconographical evidence, which is separated into three parts. The first part will examine symposion (drinking party) and komos (revelry) scenes, which constitute a significant portion of the late Archaic red-figure production (c. 520–480 BC) and often include aged partygoers and, in some cases, aged hetairai (courtesans). The focus of the second part will shift to depictions of departing warriors, since old men are a basic element of the scenes of this extensive iconographic corpus. Finally, the third section will look at some idiosyncratic depictions of aged artisans and craftsmen and their possible connotations. Supplemented by related references to the elderly in ancient Greek literature, the concluding analysis reveals not only the social and political status of the elderly, but also the perception of their aged forms in contemporary society.

Literary perceptions of old age

Since the beginning of the Greek literary tradition, the complicated perceptions of old age were treated by almost every major ancient Greek poet and author who reflected on the often-vexed circumstances of the elderly from various points of view. In Homeric epics, the negative perception of old age is denoted through epithets that characterise this phase of life as difficult (Iliad 8.103, 23.623; Odyssey 11.196), sorrowful (Iliad 8.53, 10.79, 18.434; Odyssey 24.249–50), and destructive (Iliad 14.487). Its infirmity is expressed in a direct, or arguably indirect, manner through the inability of the elders to participate in battle or athletic contests (e.g. Iliad 3.150–1, 4.318–9, 9.670–1, 13.629–30). For example, Nestor himself, the elderly figure par excellence in Homer, is insufficient in battle, despite his praiseworthy youthful spirit (Iliad 8.102–3). In other instances, the misfortunes and plights of elders, such as those of Priam, Chryses, and Laertes, evoke feelings of pity or even contempt among the younger leaders (e.g. Iliad 1.26–33, 22.419–23, 24.468–551).

The tendency to denigrate the elderly continues in Archaic poetry as well, where the loss of physical strength and other consequences of old age are a recurring theme. In this respect, Mimnermus of Colophon (c. mid-7th century BC) stands out with his sharp tone, lamenting the loss of his erotic vigour and wishing death upon himself when he reaches his 60th year (1 D = 1 W, 1–5).

Fragile old men and women are also a standard component of Attic drama in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Euripides especially is known for his predilection for the sufferings of wretched old men and women, who can also be engaged in bitter generational conflicts, like Pheres in Alcestis. Through his comic lens, Aristophanes likewise portrays the various problems associated with old age, especially in the erotic sphere. Indeed, he even wrote a lost play entitled Old Age (frgs. 128–55 Κ/Α).

From a different point of view, it is interesting to note that in medical and other scientific texts, old age was often viewed as a pathological condition.4 In the 5th century BC, Democritus sees old age as a complete mutilation of the human body (frg. 296 D/K). According to Aristotle, old age is a natural disease (Generation of Animals 784b.32–5) which, in contrast to other diseases, is unavoidable, non-reversible, and finally fatal. In the Corpus Hippocraticum, the majority of authors utilise the then-popular medical and philosophical theory of imbalanced opposites to describe the onset and consequences of old age – hot and cold, wet and dry. For example, the author of Nature of Man explains old age as a process in which the human body becomes colder and drier (12.30–40); likewise, a similar approach is found in one of the Aphorisms (1.14).

Despite the general pessimism towards this “liminal” stage of life (Falkner 1995, xix, 29), the perception of old age and the elderly in ancient literature was not always negative. In spite of the unavoidable physical limitations, the “threshold of old age” (as Homer calls it) marks the passage to a different, respected role: from an “active mastery” to a “passive” one (Iliad 22.59–65, 24.486–9; Falkner 1995, 6–7).5 Indeed, throughout antiquity, advanced age was connected to an increase in knowledge and experience, and the elderly were often considered to be potentially wise, prudent persons – qualities for which they could be revered.

Some of the earliest and most striking examples of revered elders are found in Homer. Nestor, in particular, receives recognition and special honours for his prudence and eloquence (e.g. Iliad 2.370–2, 2.405, 13.618–30). When Agamemnon reminds him of the infirmity of old age, the Pylian king replies that gods do not give to men all things at the same time (Iliad 4.321–4). He distinguishes himself by his ability to counsel, which is the privilege of the elders (γέρας γερόντων), and thus embodies the etymological and semasiological connection between γῆρας (old age) and γέρας (honour).

In the socio-political sphere, apart from the early Homeric references to the then-frequent councils of the elders (Iliad 2.21, 11.627, 23.24), Sparta and its Gerousia (Γερωχία in the Dorian dialect) is the most prominent example of rule by the aged. Twenty-eight men older than 59 years of age were elected for life (Ephraim 1991, 15–26; Wagner-Hasel 2012, 51–3). Together with the two kings, the elders exercised general administrative and judicial power over Spartan citizens, a practice that continued well into the Classical era. Beyond Sparta, there were laws regulating the well-being and care of the elderly in Athens and other cities. These laws not only protected the elderly from possible filial maltreatment, but also decreed that the provision of shelter, food, and overall care to aged parents (γηροκομία) was obligatory.

When we consider old men and women in Greek antiquity, was there a particular age that was considered “old”? If one is strictly defining an age in human years, the answer is negative. For the ancient Greeks, human life was divided into generic stages, typically three for men (ἔφηβος – ephebe, ἀνήρ – mature man, γέρων – old man: e.g. Pindar Nemean 3.72–5; cf. Euripides Melannipe frg. 508; Aristotle Rhetoric 1389a–90b) and three for women (παρθένος – maiden, γυνή – woman, γραῦς – old woman). A concept of middle age is also evidenced in the literary record (μεσαιπόλιος – half-grey: Iliad 15.361; cf. Pollux Onomasticon s.v. μεσῆλιξ). These stages naturally bore age connotations, but they were not defined in any strict manner. Mainly, these terms denoted changes in physiology that are accompanied by changes in personal, familial, or political status.

If we seek to establish a relative number for the onset of old age in Graeco-Roman antiquity, the sixth decade of a man’s life and the fifth of a woman’s seems to be reasonable, given that the average life span has been estimated to be between 30–40 years for men and 25–30 for women (Hansen 1986, 91–2; Baltrusch 2003, 59–60; Parkin 2003, 51; Hübner 2005, 45–6; Gentile 2009, 12). Indeed, these age markers are even suggested in ancient literature, and can be found in the aforementioned poem o...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Abbreviations
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Approaching Transformation Renee M. Gondek and Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver
• 1. On the Threshold of Old Age: Perceptions of the Elderly in Athenian Red-Figure Vase-Painting Nicholas A. Harokopos
• 2. The Transformation of the Bride in Attic Vase-Painting Victoria Sabetai
• 3. Transitory Nudity: Life Changes in Etruscan Art Bridget Sandhoff
• 4. Cultural Manoeuvring in the Elite Tombs of Ptolemaic Egypt Sara E. Cole
• 5. Octavian Transformed as Pharaoh and as Emperor Augustus Erin A. Peters
• 6. Ethnic Identity, Social Identity, and the Aesthetics of Sameness in the Funerary Monuments of Roman Freedmen Devon Stewart
• 7. Greater in Death: The Transformative Effect of Convivial Iconography on Roman Cineraria Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver
• 8. A Viewer Walks into a Tomb: Transformation in the Cubiculum Leonis Ethan Gannaway
• 9. Protoplasts and Prophets: The Stucco Reliefs in the Orthodox Baptistery in Ravenna Rachel Danford