Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

"The ancient Greek god Hephaestus frequently appears as a processional figure accompanied by Dionysus and his thiasos on vases dating to the Archaic and Classical periods, depicted in such a manner on no fewer than sixty-three vases attributed to the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.1 The earliest surviving appearance of this procession occurs on the iconic François Vase2 and most likely represents Hephaestus’s return to Mount Olympus. Although examination of the sixty-three vases published in the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) fails to yield individual schemas dominating specific time periods, it does reveal certain styles cycling through over the two hundred year period. As the theme rises in popularity, artists choose to incorporate or omit specific elements originally presented on the François vase, setting it as the prototype of the myth’s appearance in art. Contemporary trends then influence the nuances of the depiction, resulting in differences in the manners of procession, attitudes toward satyrs, and emphases on deformity."--Author's introduction. The PDF includes the author's entry submission essay for the 2013 Undergraduate Research Awards.

Comments

Winner, First-Year/Sophomore category, 2013

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