The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

markers of both sexes.” 138 He calls this lion “a Mischwesen—not because it is a
combination of different beasts, but because it is a combination of different genders. It is
a hermaphrodite—a lion/lioness.” 139 These comments clearly show that Hurwit
conceives of naturalism mainly as anatomical accuracy. That he finds, however, the pose
of the animal convincing also bespeaks a behavioral component to his understanding of
the concept. Additional examples of hermaphroditic lions are found, he notes, on Middle
Corinthian vases, such as those by the Chimaera Painter (ca. 600-575 B.C.) that depict
lionesses without teats or have them in the wrong place—choices that have been
interpreted as mistakes stemming from the artist’s ignorance of leonine anatomy. 140
The motif of a lioness with both mane and teats is also found on Late Bronze Age
Aegean seals; in fact, it has been considered an Aegean invention. 141 Apart from
favoring the idea of artistic mistake as an interpretation, it has also been noted that
supplying the animal with such an androgynous look does not necessarily mean that
Bronze Age Aegean artists were unfamiliar with its anatomy, but “it is quite possible that
138 J. M. Hurwit, “Lizards, Lions, and the Uncanny in Early Greek Art,” Hesperia 75 (2006) 133; this lion
(Acropolis Museum 4) is joined on the left by another one, which does not take part in attacking the bull;
for a discussion of the Hekatompedon and its sculpture, see Hurwit, The Athenian Acropolis: History,
Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present (Cambridge, 1999) 106-112. For a
discussion of the motif of the lion attacking an animal, such as a bull, stag, goat, and boar in ancient Greek
art with emphasis on Archaic painting, sculpture, and metal objects, see G. E. Markoe, “The ‘Lion Attack’
in Archaic Greek Art: Heroic Triumph,” ClAnt 8 (1989) 86-115.
139 Hurwit, “Lizards, Lions” 133.
140 Hurwit, “Lizards, Lions” 134, n. 55. The vases by the Chimaera Painter to which Hurwit refers are
mentioned in D. A. Amyx, Corinthian Vase Painting of the Archaic Period (Berkeley, 1988) 168, nos. A-
14, A-15, and 663. The first is a plate (Louvre S 1679) depicting a lioness without teats. For a discussion
and a picture of it, see P. Lawrence, “The Corinthian Chimaera Painter,” AJA 63 (1959) 350, no. 3, pl. 87,
fig. 3. The second (Swiss Market. D. 0.285) is also a plate depicting a seated lioness with her four teats
placed incorrectly all along her belly. For a short description and an illustration of this plate, see André
Emmerich Gallery Inc., Classical Antiquity: An Exhibition Organized in Cooperation with Münzen and
Medaillen AG, Basle, Switzerland November 22, 1975-January 10, 1976 (Zurich and New York, 1975) 3,
no. 4, cover illustration.
141 For specific examples of seals depicting this motif, such as one from Knossos (Late Helladic IIIAI
context), see M. Ballintijn, “Lions Depicted on Aegean Seals—How Realistic Are They?” in W. Muller,
ed., Sceaux minoens et mycéniens: IVe symposium international, 10-12 Septembre 1992, Clermont-Ferrand
(CMS 5 Beiheft 5; Berlin, 1995) 26, n. 15, where she also points out that “the lioness with mane and teats is
an Aegean invention and, as far as I know, no parallels are to be found in the Near East or Egypt.”
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