Apotheosis of Homer: Difference between revisions
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'''The Apotheosis of Homer''' is a common scene in classical and [[Neoclassicism|neo-classical]] art, showing the poet [[Homer]]'s [[apotheosis]] or elevation to divine status. |
'''The Apotheosis of Homer''' is a common scene in classical and [[Neoclassicism|neo-classical]] art, showing the poet [[Homer]]'s [[apotheosis]] or elevation to divine status. |
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Homer was the subject of a number of formal [[hero cult]]s in classical antiquity. The earliest notable portrayal of the scene is a 3rd-century BC marble relief by [[Archelaus of Priene]], now in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Companion to Greek Studies|pages=317–8|publisher=CUP Archive}}</ref> It was found in Italy, probably in 1658,<ref>{{cite book|title=Bibliotheca classica|pages=355|publisher=J.B. Lippincott & Co.|year=1866|first=John|last=Lemprière|author2=Lorenzo Da Ponte |author3=John David Ogilby }}</ref> but is thought to have been sculpted in [[Egypt]]. It shows Ptolemy and his wife |
Homer was the subject of a number of formal [[hero cult]]s in classical antiquity. The earliest notable portrayal of the scene is a 3rd-century BC marble relief by [[Archelaus of Priene]], now in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Companion to Greek Studies|pages=317–8|publisher=CUP Archive}}</ref> It was found in Italy, probably in 1658,<ref>{{cite book|title=Bibliotheca classica|pages=355|publisher=J.B. Lippincott & Co.|year=1866|first=John|last=Lemprière|author2=Lorenzo Da Ponte |author3=John David Ogilby }}</ref> but is thought to have been sculpted in [[Egypt]]. It shows Ptolemy IV and his wife and sister [[Arsinoe III]] standing beside a seated poet, flanked by figures from the ''Odyssey'' and ''Iliad'', with the nine [[Muses]] standing above them and a procession of worshippers approaching an altar, believed to represent the Alexandrine Homereion. [[Apollo]], the god of music and poetry, also appears, along with a female figure tentatively identified as [[Mnemosyne]], the mother of the Muses. [[Zeus]], the king of the gods, presides over the proceedings. The relief demonstrates vividly that the Greeks considered Homer not merely a great poet but the divinely-inspired reservoir of all literature.<ref>Morgan, Llewelyn, 1999. ''Patterns of Redemption in Virgil's Georgics'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 30.</ref> |
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From the 19th and 20th centuries, treatments of the subject by [http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/html/P41613108e.html Wedgewood] (based on a [https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/c/calyx-krater_wine_bowl.aspx a 5th century BC vase] misidentified in the 18th century as showing this scene), [[The Apotheosis of Homer (Ingres)|Ingres]] and [[The Apotheosis of Homer (Dali)|Salvador Dalí]] survive. |
From the 19th and 20th centuries, treatments of the subject by [http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/html/P41613108e.html Wedgewood] (based on a [https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/c/calyx-krater_wine_bowl.aspx a 5th century BC vase] misidentified in the 18th century as showing this scene), [[The Apotheosis of Homer (Ingres)|Ingres]] and [[The Apotheosis of Homer (Dali)|Salvador Dalí]] survive. |
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Revision as of 15:41, 26 January 2019
The Apotheosis of Homer is a common scene in classical and neo-classical art, showing the poet Homer's apotheosis or elevation to divine status.
Homer was the subject of a number of formal hero cults in classical antiquity. The earliest notable portrayal of the scene is a 3rd-century BC marble relief by Archelaus of Priene, now in the British Museum.[1] It was found in Italy, probably in 1658,[2] but is thought to have been sculpted in Egypt. It shows Ptolemy IV and his wife and sister Arsinoe III standing beside a seated poet, flanked by figures from the Odyssey and Iliad, with the nine Muses standing above them and a procession of worshippers approaching an altar, believed to represent the Alexandrine Homereion. Apollo, the god of music and poetry, also appears, along with a female figure tentatively identified as Mnemosyne, the mother of the Muses. Zeus, the king of the gods, presides over the proceedings. The relief demonstrates vividly that the Greeks considered Homer not merely a great poet but the divinely-inspired reservoir of all literature.[3]
From the 19th and 20th centuries, treatments of the subject by Wedgewood (based on a a 5th century BC vase misidentified in the 18th century as showing this scene), Ingres and Salvador Dalí survive.
A literary treatment of this subject was given by the German poet Leopold Schefer, 1858: Homer’s Apotheose, his very last publication, itself a hexametric epos.