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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Uses of Symbolism in Greek Art

The Uses of Symbolism in Greek Art

MacDonald, Janet M.

Paperback

Fiction AnthologiesGeneral World History

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1151337129
ISBN13: 9781151337122
Publisher: General Books
Pages: 54
Weight: 0.20
Height: 0.12 Width: 9.01 Depth: 5.98
Language: English
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1922 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER m THE USES OF SYMBOLISM In the preceding chapter we have taken cognizance of the various classes of symbols; we must now carry the investigation further in order to discover the uses to which these symbols were put and the purpose which they served.1 i. identification One of the most frequent and important functions of symbolism is identification. This is to be found employed in connection with (i) gods, (2) heroes, (3) various occupations of daily life, and (4) indications of time and place of action. 1. of deities The symbols which serve to identify deities are the most easily recognized and the most frequent in occurrence. As we stated above (p. 5), there were practically only two anthropomorphic types available for the primitive Greek artist--the nude male and the draped female. The artist was therefore compelled to resort to symbolism in order to differentiate his divine figures. That attributes do actually serve to identify the gods may be readily proved by the consideration of one or two instances. The bronze figurines of Zeus found at Olympia (Olymp. Pub., IV, PI. VIII, 44, and VII, 45) are merely variants on the ordinary nude male type, common throughout Greek art of the sixth and fifth centuries. That these statuettes represent the Father of Gods and Men is indicated, not by supernatural beauty of form or visage, nor by supernal dignity, but by the presence of the thunderbolt which once and for all settles the question of identity. At a much more advanced period of art, the Pergamene frieze (B.B., PI. 483) shows Zeus identified by the same symbol. True, art by this period had established an artistic conception for the representation of Zeus (Gardner, Principles, p. 92), yet religious conservatism often caused the retention of symbols when ...

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