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

shoulders, a characteristic which, later on, in his discussion of the male character, both
human and animal, he considers a mark of strong disposition. As he says: “those whose
shoulders and shoulder-blades are well articulated have strong characters; witness the
male” (810b) [176]. On the basis of this evidence, it is reasonable to suggest that the
pronounced shoulder of the Kerameikos lion is the sculptor’s attempt to convey
accurately how such an anatomical detail was viewed or was known to exist, and what it
was thought to reveal about the character of the animal. In other words, style emerges
here as the combination of a visual and a mental process.
Regarding the hair of the Kerameikos lion, Willemsen notes its peculiar thickness
and stiffness. 209 His characterizations are correct, but his view of them as peculiar does
not even agree with modern discussions of the lion, which note both the stiffness and
thickness of the animal’s hair. In the Kerameikos lion, the mane is composed by thick
locks of hair that are flame-like and curly in appearance; they cover its head, are quite
curly around its face, and hide completely its neck, while extending down its chest, and
over its back. Patches of hair also appear on its flank, abdomen, and under its foreleg.
As a whole, the hair of the Kerameikos lion sticks firmly out and away from its skin, thus
appearing stiff and unmoving.
Such a treatment, however, is consistent with the physiognomic idea that
considered the appearance of a lion’s hair an important clue to five specific aspects of its
character: bravery, shamelessness, generosity, courage, and a sense of freedom. In regard
to the lion’s stiff hair, the author of the Physiognomics, for example, says:
Soft hair shows timidity and stiff hair courage. This is based on observation of all
the animal kingdom. For the deer the hare and sheep are the most timid of all
209 Willemsen, Die Löwenkopf-Wasserspeier 54.
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