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

animals and have the softest hair; the lion and wild boar are the bravest and have
very stiff hair. (Phgn. 806b) [167]
It is also interesting to see that the author of the treatise considers stiff hair a
characteristic of the brave man and soft hair of the coward. 210 Such evidence matches his
belief that the lion is among animals what a male is among humans. His view of stiff hair
as a bodily sign of bravery fits well with the stiffness of the hair of the Kerameikos lion;
it suggests that a trait that has been considered stylistic was instead iconographic, and
was determined by a specific view of a leonine anatomical feature, and also by what this
feature was thought to reveal about the character of the animal. Similarly, that the statue
has its mane extending down the back, and that it seems to lack a neck, as asserted by
Willemsen—or more accurately, that its neck is invisible because it is completely
covered with stiff, curly hair that also extends around its face—are all specific aspects of
a lion’s hair that were thought to stand for the animal’s shamelessness, generosity, and a
general sense of freedom. As the Physiognomics states:
Those with a hairy back are excessively shameless; witness the wild beasts.
Those whose neck is hairy behind are generous; witness the lions.
(Phgn. 812b) [180]
Hair which curls at the ends tends towards stout-heartedness; witness the lion
among others. Those in whom the hair on the face near the head curls backwards
are liberal; witness the lions. (Phgn. 812b) [181]
On the basis of this evidence, it appears that the characteristics of stiff, curly hair that
characterize the style in which the Kerameikos lion was executed were themselves
closely linked to the way the animal was viewed and also thought to be in real life. Such
evidence, in turn, shows that style in Classical Greek animal sculpture is shaped by both
vision and thought.
210 Aristotle, Physiognomics 807a and 807b respectively.
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