CMA: Greek and Roman Art

Zeus, in the form of a bull, abducts Europa.

Trefoil-mounted Oinochoe: Europe Riding a Bull https://clevelandart.org/art/1929.978

Part man and part beast, satyrs were mythical woodland creatures. In art, they were depicted with the ears and tail of a goat or horse, sometimes with hooves, and in a high state of sexual arousal. Satyrs often accompanied Dionysus, the god of wine, in his drinking bouts and other escapades. These three probably once decorated the rim of a large punch-bowl-shaped vessel for serving wine.

Dancing Satyr https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.352.1

Half Drachm: Female Head (Artemis ?) (reverse)

Half Drachm: Female Head (Artemis ?) (reverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.983.b

Stater: Athena (obverse)

Stater: Athena (obverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1938.427.a

This figure may have decorated an ornate parade breastplate on a horse.

Barbarian https://clevelandart.org/art/1987.64

Tetradrachm

Tetradrachm https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.980

Ring

Ring https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.103

Cinerary Box

Cinerary Box https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.560

Head of Herakles

Head of Herakles https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.71

Gorgon Plaque

Gorgon Plaque https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.34

Garment Pin

Garment Pin https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.65

Aegineatan Drachm

Aegineatan Drachm https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.989

Since antiquity Praxiteles’s masterpiece has been known as “Sauroktonos” (Lizard-Slayer). Pliny the Elder almost certainly saw the bronze original in Rome in the first century AD. He described a young Apollo about to stab a lizard with an arrow. Roman marble copies seemed to support this identification because they included lizards clinging to thick tree trunks. Until the acquisition of the only known bronze version by the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2004, there was no reason to question Pliny’s epithet. <br><br>The Cleveland Apollo's “lizard,” which is probably original to the sculpture, is not a lizard at all. It combines the body of a snake with strangely formed limbs of varying sizes joined asymmetrically to the body. Its disordered anatomy identifies it as an agent of chaos from the world of myth. It is most likely the Python, son of Mother Earth, who Apollo must slay to become the presiding deity at the Delphi sanctuary. The Cleveland Apollo can therefore be called a Python-Slayer, and “Sauroktonos” was perhaps a popular nickname for the famous <br>bronze original.

Apollo the Python-Slayer https://clevelandart.org/art/2004.30.b

Lion's Head

Lion's Head https://clevelandart.org/art/1927.27

Fragment sent with "Dancing Lady": Fragment of a Proper Right Hand

Fragment sent with "Dancing Lady": Fragment of a Proper Right Hand https://clevelandart.org/art/1965.24.b

Tetradrachm: Head of Antiochus VIII (obverse)

Tetradrachm: Head of Antiochus VIII (obverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.974.a

Head of a Woman Holding a Sistrum

Head of a Woman Holding a Sistrum https://clevelandart.org/art/1929.980

A wealthy, educated man would have served wine from such a vessel at an all-male party (symposium) in his home. In addition to drinking, the men would recite poetry and argue politics or philosophy. A favorite poet was Homer, who lived about 850 BC, and is credited with having written the Iliad, the epic poem of the Trojan War, and the Odyssey, the book of Ulysses (Odysseus in Greek) travels after the war. When the dinos was filled to the rim, the ships painted on the inside appeared to float on the "wine-dark sea," one of Homer's most famous poetic descriptions. The decorations on the rim of this vessel include battle scenes, perhaps from the Trojan War, and scenes from mythology. Look at the rim as if it were a clock's face. In addition to the nine scenes of warrior combat, at 4:00 there is a scene of Herakles Fighting a Centaur; at 6:00, Theseus Slaying the Cretan Minotaur; and at 10:00, Herakles Wrestling the Nemean Lion. On the interior rim five warships with boar-head prows sail over a wavy sea.

Dinos https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.46

Figurine

Figurine https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.757

Fragment of a Reclining Male Figure, Perhaps a God

Fragment of a Reclining Male Figure, Perhaps a God https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.538

Tetradrachm: Lion Standing, Looking Back at Star (reverse)

Tetradrachm: Lion Standing, Looking Back at Star (reverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.993.b

Scenes of sacrifice are rare in Greek art before the late 4th century BC. The warrior may be sacrificing the ram as a magical act before battle to save his own and his company's lives.

Fragment of a Kylix https://clevelandart.org/art/1926.242

Stater: Ear of Corn (obverse)

Stater: Ear of Corn (obverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.986.a

Octodrachm

Octodrachm https://clevelandart.org/art/1965.552

Cameo: Head of a Woman

Cameo: Head of a Woman https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.92

Drachma: Flying Dove (reverse)

Drachma: Flying Dove (reverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.979.b

Stater: Free Horse (reverse)

Stater: Free Horse (reverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.990.b

Part man and part beast, satyrs were mythical woodland creatures. In art, they were depicted with the ears and tail of a goat or horse, sometimes with hooves, and in a high state of sexual arousal. Satyrs often accompanied Dionysus, the god of wine, in his drinking bouts and other escapades. These three probably once decorated the rim of a large punch-bowl-shaped vessel for serving wine.

Dancing Satyr https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.352.2

Ibis Eating a Lizard

Ibis Eating a Lizard https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.3

Apulian Frog Guttus

Apulian Frog Guttus https://clevelandart.org/art/1985.176