Friday, December 9, 2016
"The Odyssey" In Vase Art?
In viewing the following black and red figure vase art, Odyssey In Art; Odyssey In Art Part II, what do you notice about the artists' message concerning The Odyssey? What symbols, manifestations, heroic elements, and other ideas we discussed can you critique and comment upon. Your response is due during class today.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
20 comments:
In viewing the following black and red figure vase art, Odyssey In Art; Odyssey In Art Part II, what do you notice about the artists' message concerning The Odyssey? What symbols, manifestations, heroic elements, and other ideas we discussed can you critique and comment upon.
In the case it shows the people and it looks like they are fighting like in a battle or they are heroes there are a bunch of men and they all just look so tired and worn out probably from battle. or traveling for a long time. part 2 there is a picture of Odysseus and he is in a robe and almost looks like he is on a throne.
In one of the photos, it shows Odysseus facing the right, towards the more divine side of the spectrum. This symbolizes how Odysseus, and many others, want to become more than a mere mortal, but be viewed as a God. A symbol that I notice occurred often in the works of art is a red figure cup, which represents Athena and how she wanted to help Odysseus get home, rather than prevent him from doing so like Poseidon. In one of the works of art, Athena is facing towards the mortal side of the spectrum because she likes to help mortals achieve their highest potential, rather than looking down or away from them.
Within all of the art pieces and vases, all of the gods and heroic characters and people are viewed very strong and they tend to stand up right and stronger than humans, or those with less power. It's very evident within the art pieces which people or gods have more power than the other in my opinion. Odysseus, tends to look more neglected and less like his powerful, heroic self when he first returns to Ithaca but is still recognizable. The artists' message throughout the different pieces evidently display the different times and scenes throughout Odysseus' journey and his return home, reuniting with his family and Ithaca.
The Odyssey in this art is very cool!! I love seeing how this was played out and the amazing ways it was crafted. These pieces of art give me an idea of how the scenes were played out within the book. These pieces of art are however, broken down and old, which shows how significant they really are. It shows the symbolism of the book and how Homer wanted the book to be shown. I think these pieces of art are very relevant and make the reader really question the meaning of the book/art.
The vase labeled "Odysseus and Circe" shows Odysseus holding a sword towards Circe and him getting very close to her. This looks like him bribing her to turn his friends and shipmates back to normal. The Athena vase shows how lavish and looked up to she is. The Student learning Homer vase shows readers like us learning from Homers writing of the Odyssey. Victorious charioteer and Panathenaic prize amphora shows life in Greece and how violence was actually accepted in their culture. The tablets and stone writing shows you how everything was harder to do back then and how the journeys Odysseus took didn't have modern technology.
The vases show parts of the story, instead of having to read the text and interpret what you think is happening, the artwork shows a more visual piece on the story. I get to see emotions instead of just words on paper which can make me feel like I'm there. Also the vases and artwork seems really old and possibly from a time that this was more popular which shows how old this is and what the times were like. Also how Penelopeia is shown in these works to look like a feeble maiden awaiting a man and just moping around all day until her husband returns and how Odysseus is made to look very heroic like he saves the day is only one view on the story. The symbols of each character is shown with them (mostly) to represent who they are so you can see the artwork in its full potential.
I think that the vase demonstrates a couple different scenes from Odyssey. There were a couple carvings that looked like Odysseus kneeling to Penelope like when he got back from his great journey. Also, there was a carving that looked like a scene from when Odysseus and his crew went past the sirens and the island the sirens were on. One other scene I noticed was a scene from the witches house, there were a bunch of horses standing on their hind legs, like men drinking soup.
In quite a few of the image feature Odysseus and the people he encounters on his journey home. The show him as heroic and display actions that both challenged his journey and also helped him. A few of the images feature Penelope and what he did as he got home the meet her. I think the artists are trying to convey a message of bravery, and intellect, as all of the images display some sort of intelligent looking conversation or battle.
The artists’ messages about Odysseus in Part I seem to be that he is a hero and that he deserves the best. For example, there is one art piece that shows Kalypso giving Odysseus a box. It seems as though most of the gods pictured in the art are willing to help Odysseus. They seem as though they are almost scared of him and want to do as he says so as not to cause any trouble. In Part II, the artists’ messages change. The art shows more of Odysseus’ powerful side and what he does to keep his power.
Some things that I noticed are Odysseus in most of the art is standing up and looks like he is more powerful than others. He seems to be holding his pole and looking very strong and powerful. Another thing that I notice in all of these art forms are all the different animals in each of the vases. For example their are many eagles I see and there are also many snakes. These animals I think represent different things or sometimes even different people that are represented in the Odyssey. The outfits of the people in these vases are also very interesting. They all seem to be wearing long decorated robes and these robes seem to have patterns or decorations on them which might represent what type of person or what role they play in the Odyssey. This art also seems to be very violent and filled with weapons. In all of the vases i notice there is always a weapon or even a scene played out where someone is hurt or getting hurt. The last thing that I notice from all of the different vases is all of the different patterns used on the vases and what the patterns represent.
I noticed that many of the gods including Circe and Athena face to the left looking at Odysseus. I also realize that the majority of the time Odysseus is looking to the right indicating that he wants to be more divine. But, there are some artworks where the gods are looking to the left at Odysseus, and Odysseus's body is facing to the left and looking down. This is indicating him being more mortal than divine. Anther, thought that crossed my mind while looking through these vases is that Odysseus in most of them has a god either to the right or left of him. Only in a few does he have mortals.
In the first picture titled: ¨Melian relief with Penelope and Eurycleia¨, Eurycleia is trying to convince Penelope that her husband has returned in disguise. Penelope is facing away from Eurycleia as if she doesn't want to hear what she is telling her. She looks as if she doesn't know what to believe and she looks as if she is frustrated because this is so sudden and it's hard to believe her husband who left 20 years ago has all of a sudden return. In another image titled: ¨Penelope at her loom with Telemachos¨, Telemachos is trying to convince Penelope that he is in fact, her husband. He tells her a bunch of secrets that only the two of them would know in order to convince her. She is again, turned away as if she again doesn't know what to think and is questioning everything.
The art says that the Odyssey is very hiving and somewhat tragic, but in the end it got better. When the one of the vases called Odysseus, Athena, and Nausicaä. Odysseus looks weak and begging for Athenas satisfaction. Athena looks tall and important and Odysseus is holding what is looks like two olive braches and giving gen to Athena. Another peice of art that's called student learning homer, homer is standing tall looking like he's about to leave, and what looks like a younger man bowing down to homer. The art shows the Odysseus very well.
The message that comes from the vase are that Odysseus goes on adventures and experience new things and new people.the symbols shown are the troubles he goes through and the experiences. The vases also show that others stand up strong and with passion and Odysseus is kinda shunned from.
These art pieces show the Greek characters fighting or helping on other person. In the “helping” pieces, the character who is helping is standing on the left looking to the right. They are looking to the divine. The character who is being helped is found sitting on the right looking to left. They are looking to the mortal. In most of the “helping” pieces, the main characters used are Penelope and Telemachus. Telemachus is telling his mother, Penelope, that they will find the right man for her or get their father back.
In the “fighting” pieces, it usually shows more than two people in the piece. Each person is holding a spear or a weapon looking at each other. Their weapons and the direction they face show how they are feeling and what they are doing.
Looking at some of the art pieces, I noticed many symbols and heroic elements within each vase concerning “The Odyssey”. One heroic element I noticed was that, Athena, was dressed up very nicely and had a spear/shield showing her strength. Also, one picture shows Odysseus looking at Athena. However, she is standing on the right and Odysseus is on the left. This symbolizes the speculation of how mortals (Odysseus) are trying to be more divine (like Athena). One last thing I noticed was that most of the vases had the same color scheme of gold and black and the same art design. I don’t know if it’s just the way the it was back then, or if it’s actually symbolizing something but it was definitely made with a purpose. Overall, I think the artist’s messages are just showing how much power “The Odyssey” holds and viewing these vases makes a theme out of it.
In majority of the paintings, penelope and odysseus face the mortal way as well as looking morose and hopeless. In these same scenes there is usually a godly figure facing the divine way in hopes of changing Penelope or Odysseus' mind. Symbols I notice include spears, helmets, athena's olive tree twig, all representing battle and wisdom in decisions. In one particular picture where Odysseus has his feet cleansed by Eurykleia, Odysseus faces west to the divine where Eurykleia faces east to mortality because her slaving stature hints at mortality. Mortality sometimes can be represented as being lesser in greek myths because in most tasks the maid or nanny looks down while helping odysseus.
After looking through the artwork, I notice that most show Penelope sitting morally and depressed with a divine godly looking figure in front her. I feel like this symbolizes that it was really hard for Odysseus's wife but he didn't seem to consider how she felt and cared more about that accomplished making in home to her after many years. The godly figure seems to be trying to help or change Odysseus's and Penelope's mind. Also in the art I noticed armor, gear, weapons, olive tree branches godly clothes and designs which all show the idea representing a hard fight in battle that Odysseus achieved and wisdom in his strategies. Overall, the art brought a message of power and significance that showed how hard The Odyssey was to many people and not to forget how big it was.
Post a Comment