The Hope Athena - Essay Example

The Hope Athena For many artists, the inspiration for their works stems from the things that they know or have experience with. This is not only true for modern-day artists but was true for the ancients as well. The Italian Renaissance was spurred by a renewed interest in the sculptural achievements of ancient Rome just as the ancient Romans learned many of their techniques and ideas of expression from the Greeks. An example of this type of copying can be found in the Hope Athena, a Roman sculpture dating from the 2nd century AD. This statue is marble, more than 7 feet tall and has experienced some damage, but still provides us with a great deal of information about the society that produced it. Although Athena was a Greek goddess, the Romans adopted her as one of their own, renaming her Minerva and adopting many of the legends regarding her and her abilities. Her importance to her new society can be seen in the intricate detail of the copyist to remain true to the Greek original. Athena was a very powerful Greek goddess who epitomized everything the Greeks admired, intellect, wisdom, strength, courage, strategy and more. "With a battle cry that resounded through the kingdom of heaven and earth, she springs from the head of Zeus. She is one of the most powerful forces on Mount Olympus, representing war and the immortal spirit of wisdom. Athena embodies the matriarchal goddess, a complex figure of internal strength and reflection. She is a powerful source of interpretation for the idea of the goddess as a balance between nature and humanity” (Ortengren, 1998). As a goddess of military strength and protection, she is often depicted in battle, such as in the scenes featured on the Parthenon, or ready for battle. The statue the Hope Athena is believed to be modeled after is believed to have once held a spear in her one hand and a Nike, “a winged personification of victory”, in the other (Lansberry, 2005). Experiencing the statue in person does little to solve the mystery of her handheld iconography. The details of what the Hope Athena might have held can only be conjecture as one of the first things noticed about her is the fact that she is missing her arms. The scars marking where they once were do suggest that one hand was held out in front of her, as if holding something in the palm of her hand, and one arm might have been stretched to the side somewhat, as it would have been if holding a long spear. There is another evident damage to the statue as well. The tip of her nose has broken off, marring the otherwise perfect face and there has also been some damage to her toes. Other damage to the ridges of the drapery is also evident but do not detract significantly from the understanding of the piece. Despite this damage, the 86 inch marble statue is awe-inspiring as that cold face peers down with a look of purpose and frank assessment. She seems to be quite capable of sizing up each and every visitor and know whether she would need to defend herself, defend the viewer or not be required to act at all. Her clothing is draped very realistically around her body, pulling slightly around her left side as the side in motion and falling gracefully on her stationary, weight-bearing right side. It is draped so delicately that drapes within drapes can be found. There is a strange, large collar apparent around her chest area, carefully detailed with snakes. This is explained by Lansberry (2005) to be an aegis, which is "a goatskin shield which had a fringe of snakes. When Perseus killed the Gorgon Medusa, whose face turned men to stone, he gave the Gorgon head to Athena, and the goddess placed it under her aegis. This is a protective measure, for the Medusa's head retained its petrifying power even after her death" (Lansberry, 2005). Understanding this explains the strange face-like oval design that was observed in the center of this shield as Medusa’s head. With a close analysis of her clothing, Furtwangler (1895) comes to the conclusion that the Hope Athena probably carried something more welcoming than the Nike, suggesting she probably carried a kylix. “Her drapery is softer and richer than in the other statues; she wears not the peplos of the severe maiden, but the old Ionic costume, which at that time, as we see from vases, was still in great vogue in Athens” (Furtwangler, 1895: 78). Thus, Athena is depicted as someone who is friendly and approachable, yet still ready for whatever might arise. While Athena’s clothing has helped to identify her relationship with the society that produced her and to provide probable dates and sculptors, there are other features that experts have used to identify her and provide some suggestion as to why she might have been made. For example, she is also wearing a very decorative helmet featuring a small statue of the Sphinx sitting on top, which was the Greek's way of symbolizing her wisdom. On either side of the Sphinx are other animals, which Furtwangler (1895) reveals to have been griffins. Lethaby (1915) discusses the details of the hair that curls in ringlets out from under the helmet and slightly over the front of the aegis as establishing a connection between this statue and the one that was then at the British Museum. "The Hope Athena is clothed differently from the [British Museum] Athena, but in pose and action, it is in very much a reversed replica of what that must have been" (Lethaby, 1915: 16). This suggests a possible paired entryway at some point in the past, the statues large enough to impress as people passed under the twined gaze to some sort of ceremonial space. As has been revealed through the discussion of Athena’s appearance, there are numerous elements of iconography included within the statue that had a great deal of meaning for the ancient Greeks and the strict repetition of the forms for Roman use suggests the close relationship the Greek and Roman mythologies had. From the symbolism included in Athena's statue, the Romans would have easily recognized the conception of their own goddess, Minerva. The aegis decorated with the snakes of Medusa's head is often depicted in images of Minerva as well, who was considered to be Roman's goddess of crafts and this demonstrates both an open ‘crafty’ mind and a willingness and ability to fashion the appropriate protective garment as well as the goddess of warriors, which matches the entire battle iconography that Athena represented with her original spear (Ogilvie, 1970: 14). In addition to crafts, Minerva is also associated with the introduction of music and thus, her offering of a kylix, or decorated drinking cup intended for celebrations, if Furtwangler is correct, as well as her more casual and comfortable dress, is completely in keeping with the Roman social understanding of her character. Her helmet also brings in symbolism that would have been as meaningful to the Romans as it was to the ancient Greeks. The Sphinx that takes the prominent position at the very crown of her head was recognized in both cultures with only slightly different meanings. As is evidenced in the Greek story of Oedipus, the Sphinx was a creature of both immense wisdom and knowledge and incredible destructive power (Switzer, 1988: 128-129). By Roman times, the Sphinx had lost some of its terrifying connotations and remained linked primarily with the sun and the concepts of wisdom and knowledge. The sphinx is flanked on either side by griffins, which would have been understood by the Romans to symbolize strength, vigilance, and power. "The Griffin, an Eastern conception, was symbolic of irresistible might or supernatural power … in Egypt the monster with hawk's head and lion's body was symbolic of the royal power … Then there is the well-known myth of the gold-guarding griffins… Finally, Newell mentions the symbolical significance of serpent and Griffin as emblems of longevity and eternity" (Hill, 1923: 156). Because Minerva was also associated with wisdom, mind, poetry, medicine, and commerce, these associations continued to be important and relevant to the Roman society that adopted Athena's image for their own. What is perhaps most interesting in this study is realizing the vast time difference that took place between the creation of the original Athena statue and the creation of the Hope Athena, a period of more than 500 years. In that time period, very little had changed in the imagery and symbolism of this female goddess other than her name and a few minor details. Athena, as Minerva, lost almost nothing when she changed her name and, indeed, seemed to gain in abilities. Rather than being as strongly associated with the destructive powers of war, she began to take on a more motherly, protective aspect as she became more associated with the work of the mind in the form of music, poetry, and medicine. The Hope Athena, with her large-scale and seeming perfect reversal of another Athena statue copied from the earlier Greek period, has been suggested to have been one half of paired entryway statuary to a ceremonial space. This is very believable as the depiction of her, larger than life and looking down in serene watchfulness, is more than a little daunting. Romans, completely familiar with the iconography depicted all about her person, would have only felt more inspired by her presence than visitors to the museum do today. However, even without her arms and the accouterments she once must have possessed, what remains of the Hope Athena continues to speak eloquently of the beliefs of her society to those who bother to take the time to learn of her. References Furtwangler, Adolf. (1895). Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essays on the History of Art. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Hill, G. F. (1923). “Alexander the Great and the Persian Lion-Gryphon.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies. Vol. 43, Part 2: 156-161. Lansberry, Joan. (July 16, 2005). “A Grecian Beauty.” Weighty Matters. Available November 17, 2007 from < http://www.aztriad.com/dl071105.html> Lethaby, W. R. (1915). “Sculptures of the Parthenon: The West Pediment.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. Vol. 27, N. 145, (April): 14-17, 21. Ogilvie, Robert Maxwell. (1969). Romans and their Gods in the Age of Augustus. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Ortengren, Annie. (Spring, 1998). “Athena.” Images of Women in the Ancient World: Issues of Interpretation and Identity. Sweet Briar, Virginia: Sweet Briar College. Switzer, Ellen. (1988). Greek Myths: Gods, Heroes, and Monsters: Their Sources, Their Stories, and Their Meanings. New York: Atheneum. Read More