The visual poetics of power : warriors, youths, and tripods in early Greece / Nassos Papalexandrou.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Papalexandrou, Athanasios Christou, 1965-

Series:

Greek studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tripods--Greece.

Tripods.

Bronzes, Greek--Expertising.

Bronzes, Greek.

Relief (Sculpture), Greek--Expertising.

Relief (Sculpture), Greek.

Symbolism in art.

Greece.

Physical Description:

xviii, 293 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Lexington Books, [2005]

Summary:

This book is a focused study on the Greek tripod cauldron, the most revered religious symbol in Greek culture, and its multiple dimensions. At the core of its analysis is the visual apparatus of the early bronze tripods, which, as early as the eighth century BCE, take the form of spear-brandishing warriors and, later in the seventh century BCE, as handle-holding youths. Traditional interpretations of these bronze images have neglected their original function on top of tripods. This study examines for the first time the iconography of these attachments in light of two considerations: first, the function of the tripod as a symbol of authoritative discourse and political power in Early Greek culture, and, second, the communicative role of images in the preliterate contexts of Early Greek sanctuaries, the specification of which informs the analysis in the last three chapters.

The Visual Poetics of Power: Warriors, Youths, and Tripods in Early Greece has far-reaching implications for contemporary scholarship of Early Greek culture: the performative contexts of epic poetry, the social function of Early Greek works of art, and the communicative function of figurative art in preliterate contexts.

Contents:

Semantics of the tripod in early Greek culture

Figural labels: the attachments of tripods in context

Warriors: Aichmetai

Youths: Kouroi

The appropriation of the tripod by Apollon.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [271]-285) and index.

ISBN:

073910733X

0739107348

OCLC:

56517489