Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque
Several fragmentary elegies of Callimachus’ Aitia were meant to explain the origins of a given cult or of a strange iconography whose meaning had been obscured by the passing of time. The Aitia are thus a very important source on archaic sculpture and on its reception in Hellenistic times. This pape...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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ENS Éditions
2011-07-01
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| Series: | Aitia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/aitia/74 |
| _version_ | 1818531415336157184 |
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| author | Évelyne Prioux |
| author_facet | Évelyne Prioux |
| author_sort | Évelyne Prioux |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several fragmentary elegies of Callimachus’ Aitia were meant to explain the origins of a given cult or of a strange iconography whose meaning had been obscured by the passing of time. The Aitia are thus a very important source on archaic sculpture and on its reception in Hellenistic times. This paper attempts to explain how Callimachus selected the statues that he describes : his ecphraseis were apparently meant to illustrate his political and aesthetic views. For instance, he proposes an allegorical reading of the Delian Apollo by Tectaios and Angelion and of one of the cult statues of the Samian Hera ; the details that Callimachus highlights in both descriptions encourage the reader to compare these archaic representations of the gods with the new king and the new queen of Alexandria. The poet thus leads his readers to believe that the political and cultural innovations of the Ptolemaic dynasty were in fact based on well-known models provided by Greek cultural and religious artifacts of the Archaic period. In order to fulfill this tour de force, Callimachus applies to the reading of statues and of visual artifacts a set of techniques that he perhaps borrowed from the allegorical readings of the Homeric poems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:32:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57818102c48347dab584a55779ced573 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1775-4275 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:32:11Z |
| publishDate | 2011-07-01 |
| publisher | ENS Éditions |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aitia |
| spelling | doaj.art-57818102c48347dab584a55779ced5732022-12-22T00:56:46ZengENS ÉditionsAitia1775-42752011-07-01110.4000/aitia.74Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de CallimaqueÉvelyne PriouxSeveral fragmentary elegies of Callimachus’ Aitia were meant to explain the origins of a given cult or of a strange iconography whose meaning had been obscured by the passing of time. The Aitia are thus a very important source on archaic sculpture and on its reception in Hellenistic times. This paper attempts to explain how Callimachus selected the statues that he describes : his ecphraseis were apparently meant to illustrate his political and aesthetic views. For instance, he proposes an allegorical reading of the Delian Apollo by Tectaios and Angelion and of one of the cult statues of the Samian Hera ; the details that Callimachus highlights in both descriptions encourage the reader to compare these archaic representations of the gods with the new king and the new queen of Alexandria. The poet thus leads his readers to believe that the political and cultural innovations of the Ptolemaic dynasty were in fact based on well-known models provided by Greek cultural and religious artifacts of the Archaic period. In order to fulfill this tour de force, Callimachus applies to the reading of statues and of visual artifacts a set of techniques that he perhaps borrowed from the allegorical readings of the Homeric poems.http://journals.openedition.org/aitia/74allegorical readingallegoryarchaic sculptureCallimachusDelian ApolloSamian Hera |
| spellingShingle | Évelyne Prioux Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque Aitia allegorical reading allegory archaic sculpture Callimachus Delian Apollo Samian Hera |
| title | Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque |
| title_full | Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque |
| title_fullStr | Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque |
| title_full_unstemmed | Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque |
| title_short | Images de la statuaire archaïque dans les Aitia de Callimaque |
| title_sort | images de la statuaire archaique dans les aitia de callimaque |
| topic | allegorical reading allegory archaic sculpture Callimachus Delian Apollo Samian Hera |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/aitia/74 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT evelyneprioux imagesdelastatuairearchaiquedanslesaitiadecallimaque |