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

addition, the inscriptions provide instances, in which objects function as attributes of
human figures, and as such, they define the identity of these figures. A man is identified
as the one who holds a spear, and another as the one who holds a bridle (XVII, col. I,
lines 159, 175 respectively) [88]. The view that all objects, features, and figures enjoy
equal status as subjects of the sculpture of the frieze is also supported by the extant
fragments, which, as was mentioned earlier, depict human figures in various poses and in
the presence of various objects and features, such as chairs, helmets, and tree trunks, and
also animal figures, such as horses.
In light of this combined evidence, the zw~ia of the Chandler stele should be
understood as representations of both human and animal figures, objects, and natural and
man-made features, or, more generally, of both animate and inanimate subjects. It may
be more accurate to suggest that zw~ia referred generally to all figural sculpture that
decorated the frieze of the Erechtheion. This general sense is reinforced by the fact that
the Chandler stele does not yield any information about the appearance of zw~ia. In this
way, the term is used in a way similar to that seen in the texts of Empedocles and
Herodotus. Another similarity with these texts is also witnessed in the fact that by
equating zw~ia with the figural sculpture of the frieze of a temple, such as the
Erechtheion, the inscription establishes a context for zw~ia that is directly involved with
the arts and sits in a religious setting.
In addition, and also in compliance with previous treatment, if one is to consider
here the centrality of the notion of living as seen in the previously discussed etymology
of zw|~on, then it may be suggested that these zw~ia were perceived as representations of
both animate and inanimate subjects borrowed from the surrounding (sensible) world.
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