Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art by Walter Woodburn Hyde
Chapter VI gives a stylistic analysis of what are conceived to be
1376 words | Chapter 3
two original marble heads from lost victor statues, one of which is
ascribed to Lysippos, the great bronze-founder and art-reformer of
the fourth century B. C., while the other is regarded as an early
Hellenistic work of eclectic tendencies. The publication of these
marble heads and of the oldest-dated victor statue, which is also of
marble and which is discussed in Chapter VII, reinforced by other
evidence adduced in the latter chapter, overthrows the belief that all
victor statues were uniformly made of bronze. The publication of the
Olympia head also controverts the usual assumption of archæologists
that Lysippos worked only in metal. The last chapter is concerned with
a topographical study of the original positions in the Altis of the
various athlete monuments discussed, and with a list of all the victor
monuments known to have been erected outside Olympia in various cities
of the ancient world. These last three chapters are based on papers
which have already appeared in the _American Journal of Archæology_
(Chapters VI, VII, and the first half of VIII) and in the _Transactions
of the American Philological Association_ (the last half of Chapter
VIII). Permission to use them in the present book has been kindly
granted to the author by Dr. James A. Paton, former editor-in-chief
of the _American Journal of Archæology_, and by Professor Clarence P.
Bill, the secretary of the American Philological Association.
Although it has been my aim throughout to present my own views in
regard to the various works of art under discussion, I must, of
course, acknowledge that the book is largely based upon the work and
conclusions of preceding scholars who have treated various phases of
the same subject. It would, however, be unnecessary and even impossible
here to acknowledge all the works laid directly or indirectly under
contribution in the composition of the book. Most of these have been
recorded in the footnotes.
But I wish here to express, in a more general way, my indebtedness
to the standard histories of Greek sculpture, by Brunn, Collignon,
Gardiner, Lechat, Murray, Overbeck, Richardson, and others, which must
form the foundation of the knowledge of any one who writes on any phase
of the subject. Among these, two have been found especially valuable:
Bulle’s _Der schoene Mensch im Altertum_, which is justly noted for
its comprehensive views and sound judgments; and Furtwaengler’s _Die
Meisterwerke der griechischen Plastik_, which, although it has been
known to English readers in its enlarged edition by Miss Eugénie
Sellers for over a quarter of a century, is still prized for its
extensive firsthand knowledge of the monuments and for its brilliant
inductions, even if the latter at times are carried too far.
Perhaps my greatest debt has been to the excellent volume entitled
_Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals_, by E. Norman Gardiner, M. A.,
a scholar whose practical knowledge of modern athletic sports and
wide familiarity with the ancient source material, both literary and
monumental, has well fitted him to deal afresh with the subject treated
so learnedly over three quarters of a century ago in Krause’s _Die
Gymnastik und Agonistik der Hellenen_. I have also constantly drawn
upon Gardiner’s collection of vase-paintings which illustrate athletic
scenes.
I should also note here several other works which have been of great
assistance in writing this book, such as Juethner’s _Ueber antike
Turngeraethe_ and edition of Philostratos’ _de Arte gymnastica_,
Reisch’s _Griechische Weihgeschenke_, Rouse’s _Greek Votive Offerings_,
and Foerster’s _Die Sieger in den Olympischen Spielen_. The
chronological list of victors in the latter compilation was, in large
part, the foundation of my earlier work _de olympionicarum Statuis_.
I have also received most valuable help from the standard catalogues of
modern museums, _e. g._, those by Amelung, Dickins, Helbig, Kabbadias,
Lechat, Richter, de Ridder, Staïs, Svoronos, and especially the
admirable ones of the classical collections in the British Museum. I
regret that, owing to the recent war, some of the latest catalogues,
those especially of the smaller foreign museums, have not been
available.
For illustrative matter, I have made no effort to reproduce merely
striking works of art, but have, for the most part, presented
well-known works which readily illustrate the problems treated in the
text. I have availed myself of collections of photographs kindly placed
at my disposal by Professors Herbert E. Everett of the School of Fine
Arts of the University of Pennsylvania, D. M. Robinson of the Johns
Hopkins University, A. S. Cooley of the Moravian College at Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, and Dr. Mary H. Swindler of Bryn Mawr College. The
various collections of plates and the books and journals from which I
have taken illustrations are duly noted in the List of Illustrations.
In addition, I wish to thank the following corporations and individuals
for permission to reproduce plates and text-cuts from the works cited:
the Council of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies,
of London, for the use of four plates appearing in the _Journal of
Hellenic Studies_ (Figs. 44, 54, 55, and 59); the Trustees of the
British Museum in London for seven plates from _Marbles and Bronzes
in the British Museum_ (Pls. 7A, 17, 19; Figs. 14, 28, 31, and 35);
Professor E. A. Gardiner and his publishers, Duckworth and Co., of
London, for two plates from _Six Greek Sculptors_ (Pl. 30; Fig. 71);
Mr. H. R. Hall, of the British Museum, and his publisher, Philip Lee
Warner, of London, for one from _Aegean Archæology_ (Fig. 1); Professor
Allan Marquand, of Princeton University, for one text-cut from the
_American Journal of Archæology_ (Fig. 49), and Dr. J. M. Paton,
former editor-in-chief, for three other text-cuts from the same journal
(Figs. 70, 72, 79).
To the following I am also indebted for individual photographs: Dr. J.
N. Svoronos, Director of the Numismatic Museum, Athens, Greece, for
one of the oldest-dated statues of an Olympic victor (Fig. 79), which
has already appeared in the _American Journal of Archæology_; Dr. A.
Fairbanks, of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for those of the statue
of a Charioteer (?) and of the fragmentary head of the _Oil-pourer_ (Pl.
27; Fig. 23); Dr. Edward Robinson, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, for those of the fine Kresilæan and Praxitelian heads (Pls.
15, 20), and of the bronze statuette of a diskobolos (Fig. 46); Prof.
Alice Walton, of Wellesley College, for one of the Polykleitan athlete
(Pl. 13); the Director of the Fogg Art Museum of Cambridge, Mass., for
that of the so-called _Meleager_ (Fig. 77); Dr. S. B. Luce, recently of
the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, for photographs of two
vase-paintings showing athletic scenes (Figs. 50, 56), and Dr. Eleanor
F. Rambo, formerly of the same Museum, for a copy of the Knossos
wall-painting (Pl. 1).
A word might be added as to the spelling of Greek proper names. Since
consistency in this matter seems unattainable, I have adopted the
method outlined in the _British School Annual_ (XV, 1908-09, p. 402),
whereby the names of persons, places, buildings, festivals, etc., are
transliterated from the Greek forms, except those which have become a
part of the English language. But even here I have sometimes deviated
from the practice of using familiar English forms.
In abbreviations of the names of journals (see pages XVI-XIX) I have
largely conformed with the usage long recommended by the _American
Journal of Archæology._
For convenience in identifying the many works of art, discussed or
mentioned in the text and foot-notes, I have constantly referred to
well-known collections of plates, such as those of Brunn-Bruckmann,
Bulle, Rayet, and von Mach. For further convenience, I have also in
most cases referred to the outline drawings of statues in Reinach’s
_Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine_, and in some cases
to the older ones found in Clarac’s _Musée de sculpture antique et
moderne_, and in Mueller and Wieseler’s _Denkmaeler der alten Kunst_.
In closing, I have the pleasant duty of thanking generally the many
friends who have given me valuable suggestions and assistance,
especially Professor Lane Cooper, of Cornell University, for reading
the proof-sheets of the entire work, and Professor Alfred Emerson, now
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, my former teacher, for revising the list
of _Corrigenda_.
WALTER WOODBURN HYDE.
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
_Philadelphia, October, 1921._
CONTENTS.
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