Asher.P4.T6: Greek/Roman Synthesis Question #2

The Roman Era established itself as a period of profound growth in man’s intellectual and creative levels. Looking back, this is especially tangible in the evolution of Roman pottery. Up until early late 400 BC, clay was simply a standard material used to hastily shape cups and bowls. However, pieces from that point on show a profound transition in the intent behind the art form – showing a desire to story tell. Around 480 BC, the Pistoxenos Painter, a significant artist of the Classical period, made his mark on Athens, becoming a prominent pottery artist. The work that we focused on was his painting on a bowl, called Apollo and his raven. The piece aimed to do what many of Pistoxenos’s did – to celebrate and portray Greek gods honorably as well as informatively, by portraying the stories and myths of their existences. Therefore, this piece depicts Apollo, with a rather expressionless demeanor – as he was known to be a rather calm god if not angered. In accordance with legend, he is depicted as young and handsome. And, he is painted wearing a wreath of laurel leaves (from the legend of Daphne), with his bows (he is a skilled archer), and with a black raven (from his story with Coronis). The style of this piece was very crisp and clean, the painting on a white-ground bowl, and Apollo depicted cleanly, gracefully, and with painstakingly correct detail. The aesthetics of this piece prove that painters put forth tremendous effort into portraying their Gods justly – perhaps in fear of being smited. And lastly, science isn’t utilized, but rather put into myths in this piece of art – as the raven, stemming from Apollo’s disappointment in Coronis’s fidelity, is turned from white to black. Given that viewers will have knowledge of Greek myth, this conveys that the stories of Greek gods like to play with science with their own fancy, connecting random myth with actual science such as animal genetics, in this case.

(By Erin, Atty, Grace, Mekayla)