Stag Hunt Mosaic
The Stag Hunt mosaic (c. 300 BC) is a
Composition
The
It is often wondered if Gnosis, whose signature ("Gnosis epoesen", i.e. Gnosis created) is the first known signature of a
The figures
The figure on the right is possibly
Deer in Greek mythology
In Greek mythology, the stag is associated with Artemis who was the virginal huntress. The myth goes when Actaeon saw Artemis naked, out of anger she turned him into a stag and he was torn to pieces by his own. In other accounts it is thought that Actaeon tried to rape Artemis. In this image we see the same concept of a stag being torn apart by a dog just as in the myth as well as by Alexander the Great on the right. It is speculated who is on the left. The theme here is the "hunter being hunted". It is a quite fitting mosaic for The House of The Abduction Of Helen, who was raped.
The stag also represents the Persians that Alexander would later conquer. He had stated his motives for battling the Persians as to get vengeance for them sacking Athens and destroying temples there such as the Parthenon.[11] This would again represent the idea of the hunter being hunted.
References
- ISBN 978-1-4116-9960-1, pp 78-79.
- ^ a b Kleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art through the Ages. the Western Perspective. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. pg. 135
- ^ "The history of mosaic art". Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
- ^ a b c Kleiner and Gardner, pg. 136
- ^ Mosaics of the Greek and Roman world By Katherine M. D. Dunbabin pg. 14
- ^ Mertens, Joan R. . How to Read Greek Vases. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale UP, 2010. pg. 13
- ^ Cohen, Ada. Art in the Era of Alexander the Great: Paradigms of Manhood and Their Cultural Traditions. New York: Cambridge UP, 2010. pg. 32
- ^ Paolo Moreno thinks it was intended to be read as "Apelles's Knowledge Made It".
- ^ a b Chugg, Andrew. Alexander's Lovers. Raleigh, N.C.: Lulu, 2006. pg. 78
- ^ Chugg, Andrew. Alexander's Lovers. Raleigh, N.C.: Lulu, 2006. pg. 79
- ^ Ros, Karen. “The Late Classical Period of Ancient Greece.” Lecture, Ancient Greek Art and Archaeology UIC, Chicago, Nov 2017.