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

Regarding the inconsistent style of this lion, whose reconstruction has been based on a
fourth- and perhaps third-century counterpart from Chaeronea, 172 it has been noted that
certain anatomical details, such as its veins, rich mane, powerful muzzle, mouth turned
down at the side, and eyes set deep in their sockets are rendered naturalistically, whereas
its pose—sitting erect on its haunches like a dog—is unnatural and dictated perhaps by its
enormous size (5.30m tall). 173 Commenting on this set of stylistic incongruities, which
he considers a trademark of Greek monumental lions, Oscar Broneer says:
The strong trend toward realism, which is a fundamental characteristic of Greek
art, is evident in a much less degree in sculpture of this kind. Whether this is due
to the lack of opportunity on the part of the sculptors to observe living models, or
to a conscious striving toward greater effect in symbolism and monumentality at
For a slightly later date that extends into the third century (300-250 B.C.), see G. B. Waywell, “The Lion
from the Lion Tomb of Knidos,” in O. Palagia and W. Coulson, eds., Regional Schools in Hellenistic
Sculpture. Proceedings of an International Conference Held at the American Schools at Athens, March 15-
17 1996 (Oxford, 1998) 235-241. He also assigns (239, n. 26) a late fourth- or early third-century date to
the lion of Amphipolis; also for the assignment of a date around 200 B.C. to this lion, on the grounds of its
humanized face wearing “that Duce look first popularized by the Hellenistic monarchs,” see A. W.
Lawrence, rev. of O. Broneer, The Lion Monument at Amphipolis (Cambridge, Mass., 1941), in JHS 62
(1942) 102. For the existence of an engaged Doric order and a shield decoration in relief in association
with this monument, see S. G. Miller and S. Miller, “Architectural Blocks from the Strymon,” ADeltion 27
(Meletemata 1972) 140-169.
172 For a late fourth or early-third century date assigned to the lion of Chaeronea, see Waywell, “The lion
from the Lion Tomb at Knidos,” in Palagia and Coulson, Regional Schools 239, n. 26. For a summary of
its discovery at the edge of a rectangular enclosure in which 254 skeletons were found accompanied by
small vases and strigils, see W. R. Lethaby, “Greek Lion Monuments,” JHS 38 (1918) 39-41; The lion has
been thought to be have marked the grave of the Boeotians that fell in the battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C.
fighting against Philip II of Macedonia. Crucial to this identification have been the account of Pausanias
who says (9.40.10): “As you approach the city [Chaeroneia] you see a common grave of the Thebans who
were killed in the struggle against Philip. It has no inscription, but is surmounted by a lion, probably a
reference to the spirit of men. That there is no inscription is, in my opinion, because their courage was not
favored by appropriate good fortune”; translation: Jones, Pausanias. Description of Greece IV 361. Strabo
(9.2.37) mentions that one can see in Chaeronea the tombs of those who fell in the battle, but other authors,
such as D. Siculus (16.86.6), and Plutarch (Alexander 9.2) state respectively that after the battle Philip
raised a trophy of victory, and that there was a polyandrion of the Macedonians in Chaeronea. On the basis
of this evidence, Boardman, Greek Sculpture. The Late Classical Period 118, in his discussion of the lion
of Chaeronea states that: “it is not altogether clear whether it was for the victorious Macedonians or the
Theban Sacred Band, which was wiped out.”
173 For a discussion of the naturalistic rendering of the anatomical details of the lion of Amphipolis, see D.
Lazaridis, Amphipolis (Ministry of Culture. Archaeological Receipts Fund; Athens, 1997) 74, who
considers them impressive; for its unnatural pose, see Broneer, The Lion Monument at Amphipolis, 40, figs.
36-37, who actually juxtaposes this pose to illustrations of poses of real lions. For a discussion of colossal
statues in Greek sculpture, see J.-P. Vernant, “The Representation of the Invisible and the Psychological
Category of the Double: The Colossos,” in J.-P. Vernant, Myth and Thought among the Greeks (London
and Boston, 1983) 305-320.
116