tried to warn the Trojan leaders against bringing it into the city, fearing it was a trap. Athena, acting as helper and protector of the Greeks, punished Laocoön for his interference. She had him and his two sons attacked by giant snakes. In this famous sculpture group, probably a Roman copy of the Hellenistic original, one son breaks free of the snakes, looking back to see his father and brother being killed. The baroque style of the piece ties it to the Pergamon school. It exhibits the same drama, seen in the straining muscles and the faces contorted in pain. In fact, the pose of Laocoön seems to echo that of the giant who battle Athena on the Pergamon Altar (fig. 206).
203. Anonymous, Sleeping Hermaphrodite, Roman copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, 169 × 89 cm (the mattress was carved in 1619 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini). Musée du Louvre, Paris.
A young naked woman lying on a bed seems to be resting. But when seen from a different angle, she appears somewhat masculine. We are indeed facing the representation of Hermaphrodite. He was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, and found himself with both sexes after a nymph he had rejected asked Zeus to fuse them both in one single body. This ambiguous subject was strongly appreciated at the end of the Hellenistic period because of the surprise it created upon the viewer. This Roman copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BCE continued to fascinate the collectors among which the cardinal Scipione Borghese who commissioned Bernini to sculpt the mattress upon which the Hermaphrodite lays.
204. Anonymous, The Three Graces, Roman copy of a Greek original created during the 2nd century BCE restored in 1609. Ancient Greek. Marble, 119 × 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Graces, or Charities, were three goddesses named Beauty, Mirth, and Cheer. They oversaw happy events such as dances and banquets. They were companions to Aphrodite, providing the happiness that accompanies love. Like Aphrodite, they were often depicted in the nude, and often, as in this example, dancing in a circle. In each, we see the familiar shift in weight, or contrapposto, developed in the 5th century. However, the composition of this piece is far more elaborate than any High Classical sculpture. It was not until the Hellenistic period that complex groups of multiple figures were depicted in free-standing sculpture. The figures are tied together by their embrace, unifying the piece, yet they face different directions, so that the sculpture would be interesting from any angle from which it was viewed.
205. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Melos, called the Venus de Milo, c. 100 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 202 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Aphrodite of Melos, or Venus de Milo, is an original Greek sculpture dating to the Hellenistic period. It was discovered in a field along with other sculptural fragments, including a separate arm holding an apple, which belongs with this figure. The apple is probably a reference to the mythical “Judgment of Paris”. In that tale, the goddess of Discord tossed a golden apple inscribed “for the loveliest” towards the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. The young Trojan prince, Paris, was asked to decide which goddess should be awarded the apple. Each tried to bribe Paris but he chose Aphrodite, who offered him the love of the most beautiful mortal woman in the world. That woman, of course, was Helen of Sparta, already married to the Greek king. Her abduction by Paris started the Trojan War. While Aphrodite is criticised by Homer for her role in starting the conflict, she is celebrated here as the purveyor of true love.
206. Anonymous, Athena Fighting with the Son of Gaea the Earth Goddess, pedestal frieze, Great Altar of Zeus, Pergamon (Turkey), c. 180 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 230 cm. Pergamonmuseum, Berlin.
The greater-than-life-size figures of this relief adorned the Pergamon altar, a structure at the highest point of the city of Pergamon in Turkey, capital of one of the Hellenistic kingdoms. The sculpture filled the frieze, which wrapped around the outside of the building and along its great staircase. It depicted the battle between the gods and giants. The giants are shown with wings on their backs and snakes emerging from them, in contrast to the gods, shown in typical Greek-style robes. In this fragment, Athena, the central figure, battles with a giant, on the left. She is pulling back his head as he pulls in the opposite direction, trying to escape. At the same time, he struggles to hold onto the hand of his mother, Gaia, the earth and mother of all giants. She is shown at the bottom of the scene, as though emerging from the earth itself. Gaia was the source of all power for the giants, and as long as they touch her they cannot be killed. But this giant has lost his grip, and the winged victory figure already swoops in behind Athena, ready to crown her victor. For Athena, the battle is one. This dramatic battle plays out around the entire frieze, with the same kind of violent struggle seen here. The scene is in high relief, with deeply cut shadows accentuating the drama, and figures spilling off of the wall and onto the staircase.
207. Anonymous, Silhouette, around 1st century BCE. Ancient Celtic. Wood. Ralagan, County Cavan.
208. Anonymous, The Stone of Turo, 1st century BCE. Ancient Celtic. County Galway.
209. Anonymous, Mask of Male Deity, 1st century BCE. Ancient Celtic, Montsérié. Bronze. Massey Museum, Tarbes.
210. Anonymous, Portrait of Julius Caesar, c. 30–20 BCE. Ancient Roman. Marble, 56 × 19 × 26 cm. Musei Vaticani, Vatican City.
Julius Caesar began his political leadership as the head of the traditionally Republican government of Rome, but ended it as a murdered dictator. Caesar had taken control over the vast empire of Rome, eschewing the practice of sharing power with the Senate. He was both revered for his strong leadership and resented for his tyranny. It was that resentment that led to his assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BCE. This portrait expresses not only Caesar’s likeness, but also his character. We sense his strength, intelligence and nobility. The bust follows the Republican tradition of veristic portraiture.
211. Anonymous, Augustus Prima Porta, 50 BCE. Ancient Roman. Marble, height: 104 cm. Musei Vaticani, Vatican City.
Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, transformed the way art and image were used by the Romans. He rejected the “veristic” style of Roman portraiture, preferring instead to emulate the High Classical style of 5th-century Greece. In this portrait, found at the villa of his wife Livia at Prima Porta, Augustus is shown in a pose that directly quotes Polykleitos’ Doryphoros, the best-known statue of the 5th century. In doing so, Augustus called upon all the associations the High Classical period carried: empire and power, but also democracy. Augustus was trying to appease those who might resent his absolute rule and the end of the Republic. He was at once advertising his strength, and also his role as a fair, democratic leader who would represent the senate and the people of Rome.
212. Anonymous, The Horse Goddess Epona. Ancient Celtic. Limestone. Museum Alesia, Alise-Sainte-Reine.
213. Anonymous, Statuette of Seated Child, 1st century BCE–2nd century CE. Ancient Near East. Terracotta composed of separate parts, moulded, white coating and black, brown and pink painting, 31.5 × 25 × 24 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
214. Anonymous, Praying.
