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

The passage is instructive for the sense in which it uses zw|~a. As Herodotus
explains these zw|~a were representations of three specific things: the bridge built over the
Bosporus, Darius sitting on a throne, and the Persian army crossing the bridge. This
description equates zw|~a with the representational subjects of Mandrocles’ painting.
More precisely, the bridge—a physical structure, 495 the throne of Darius—an item of
furniture, Darius himself—a human figure, and the Persian army crossing—additional
human figures in action, all suggest a combination of both animate and inanimate
subjects. The fact that all these subjects were taken directly out of a contemporary
historical achievement—the construction of a bridge marking the Persian advancing into
foreign territories—indicates that Herodotus perceived zw|~a as historically existing
subjects, taken from real life. In this sense, these zw|~a are reminiscent of the zw|~on of the
rider commemorating the historical ascension of Darius to the throne of the Persian
Empire. In addition, the equation of these zw|~a with both animate and inanimate subjects
taken from real life is instructive, for it allows an insight into how the etymology of
zw|~on should be perceived when the term is used in a context directly involved with the
arts. Within such a context, zw|~on does not necessarily denote a living or breathing
being, but rather both animate and inanimate subjects that exist in the real world. Thus,
zw|~on can be both a representation of a human figure and a chair in a work of art insofar
as they are both directly borrowed from the surrounding environment. It is important to
495 Grene, The History. Herodotus 313, n. 42, suggests that this was “a bridge of boats constructed of a
combination of boats or rafts tied together; [therefore, it can be also understood as] a raft.” Herodotus does
not provide the details of the construction of this bridge, and this treatment runs counter to the one he offers
for the construction of Xerxes’ bridge over the Hellespont (7.36). For a modern commentary on the
technical aspects of this bridge, see N. G. L. Hammond and L. J. Roseman, “The Construction of Xerxes’
Bridge over the Hellespont,” JHS 116 (1996) 88-107. Both descriptions have been interpreted as instances
of Herodotus’ belief in a predominantly Persian characteristic: the use of technology to dominate the
natural world, and, consequently, create a powerful empire. For a discussion of this concept, see J. Romm,
“Herodotus and the Natural World,” in C. Dewald and J. Marincola, eds., The Cambridge Companion to
Herodotus (Cambridge, 2006) 189-190.
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