The absence of religious imagery in funerary art, where one might expect to find it, is particularly notable. Some of the earliest representations of human figures in Greek art, on Attic geometric vases, ca. 750 BC, show mourners in ritual funerary contexts, and there is a continuous tradition of such representations on through the fifth century. Most often the figures mourn beside a body that lies in state (prothesis) or they accompany the body as it is conveyed to the tomb (ekphora). What is lacking, from the beginning to the end of the series, is any reference to deities or to hope of an afterlife. The same is true of sculpted grave reliefs, which become particularly numerous after about 430 BC. The focus is on the importance of the deceased and the perpetuation of his or her memory in this world.
In this context another type of Attic vase that came to be used explicitly as funerary ware should be mentioned. As early as 500 BC, Attic potters were experimenting with a technique called ‘‘white ground’’ in which the surface of the vase was covered with a white slip on which figures were painted, early on in black-figure, then in outline, and later still with colors added: reds, browns, yellows, and later greens, blues, and mauves. Some vase-painters experimented with the technique on cups and kraters, but by the middle of the fifth century it was restricted primarily to lekythoi, oil jars that were buried in graves with the body or later placed on the tomb as dedications. Almost all of these white-figure funerary llkythoi have been found in Attica or in Eretria on the nearby island of Euboea; they were rarely an export item, and thus their imagery and function can be seen as distinctly Attic. The white slip and added colors are delicate and easily damaged, and it has been suggested that such an impermanent technique is appropriate for tombs, where they would have been seen only briefly (Boardman 1989:130). After about 400 BC they ceased to be produced.
Figure 26.13 Hermes leading a woman to Charon on a white-ground lekythos from Athens, ca. 450 BC. Athens, NM 1926. After Riezler 1914: fig. 44a
On the white-ground le:kythoi the vast majority of the scenes show mourners visiting the tomb or at home preparing for such a visit. Prothesis appears on a few, and on a few a new mythology of death is developed. The boatman, Charon, who ferries souls across a river (Acheron) or a lake (Acherousia) into the realm of Hades, first appears on two black-figure vases of about 500 BC, but it is only after the middle of the fifth century that images of him become at all common. Images of Charon in Greek art are limited almost entirely to white-ground lekythoi. On a lekythos from Athens (Figure 26.13), ca. 430 BC, Hermes, as guide to the souls (psychopompos) leads a veiled woman to a boat in which Charon, dressed as a laborer, stands with his ferryman’s pole. Around them five tiny winged figures flutter; these are souls of the dead (eidela). There is nothing frightening or disturbing about the scene; it is little more than a gentle metaphor for death.
Another scene that appears less often shows Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos) lifting a body off the ground. The earliest depiction of this on Attic vases, from before the end of the sixth century, show the two as twins, as described by Homer (Iliad 16.667-83) with the body of Sarpedon. On white-ground vases the scene has become generic, the body can be male or female, and Hypnos as been changed into a beautiful youth while Thanatos become a disheveled older man, itself a statement of sorts. Here too we have a comforting metaphor for death rather than a statement of belief (Figure 26.14).
Clearly the modern term ‘‘religious art’’ with its connotations that an image expresses or encourages piety or spirituality would have made little sense to fifth-century Athenians. That being said, it is probably true that artisans in fifth-century Athens - vase-painters, sculptors, builders, goldsmiths, carpenters, and the like - spent their careers creating objects that had religious functions as cult statues and temples, sacrificial vessels, and, above all, votive offerings. Virtually every building
Figure 26.14 Sleep and Death lifting the body of a dead warrior on a white-ground lekythos from Athens, ca. 450 BC. London D 58. After Robert 1879: pl. 2
And each of the thousands of objects placed on the Acropolis was put there with one god or another in mind. Thus these products of the Attic artisans’ labor were part of the marvelously complex interweaving of economic, artistic, and political motivations that shaped Athenians’ responses to their gods.
GUIDE TO FURTHER READING
The new Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA) is a useful compendium of images related to Greek (and Roman) religion. While virtually any study of Greek art or archaeology will include, to one degree or another, material manifestations of religion, Robertson 1975 continues to be an invaluable source of artistic contexts for material remains. Whitley 2001 provides archaeological contexts for a broad range of sanctuaries and festivals, while Simon 1983 specifically treats the archaeology of Attic festivals.
Neils 1992 is a reliable and richly illustrated source for on overview of the Panathenaic festival. Vos 1981 discusses use of the amphoras; Bentz 1998 gives a catalog of the surviving vases; A. Johnston 1987 presents the epigraphical evidence. For the Panathenaic frieze from the Parthenon, Jenkins 1994 and Neils 2001 both provide sensible discussions and good images. Boardman 1985 includes a well-illustrated overview of the Parthenon sculpture. For reconstructions of the east metopes, see Prashniker 1928. Carpenter 1997b discusses the metope with Apollo and that god’s changing role in the Gigantomachy. For evidence for the lost statue of Athena Parthenos see Herrington 1955 and Leipen 1971. Hurwit 1999 gives a comprehensive survey of the history and archaeology of the Acropolis. Raubitschek 1949 remains the standard work on dedicatory inscriptions from the Acropolis, but see now Keesling 2003 and, for offerings in the Parthenon, Harris 1995. See Van Straten 1981 and 1990 for a useful discussion of votive offerings. For a thorough and well-illustrated discussion of the stages of sacrifice and the implements used see Van Straten 1995.
Frontisi-Ducroux 1991 and Carpenter 1997a give differing interpretations of the ‘‘Lenaia vases.’’ For studies of funerary imagery on Attic vases, see Oakley 2004 and Shapiro 1991.
World History
