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

Considering that the context of the visual arts has been previously seen to dissociate
zw|~on from “animal,” these zw|~a, whose context is suggestive of the visual arts, do not
necessarily have to mean “animals” or “shapes of animals.” That they were made of
stone and wood and existed in the company of statues suggests that they were
representations of some kind in two different materials; therefore, their designation as
“shapes,” although inaccurate, deserves some merit. The phrase pantoi=a ei0rgasme/na,
that immediately follows, has been taken to mean that these zw|~a were made of “all other
materials” too, but “fashioned in all sorts of ways” is a more accurate translation. 592
Thus, apart from being images of some kind in stone and wood, these zw|~a were also the
products of various processes or techniques. This evidence indicates that the word was
not restricted with respect to the material or mode of manufacture of the pieces to which
it was applied.
One aspect that deserves further attention is the phrasing “a)ndria&ntaj kai\ a1lla
zw|~a.” The word “other,” which defines zw|~a, is important for it allows the latter to be
understood as a wider category or images to which a)ndria&ntej belonged. This evidence
qualifies zw|~a as a blanket term for images in sculpture, not necessarily for the subject of
representation in sculpture as held by the previous zw|~on in the company of a)ndria&j.
This nuance in the meaning of Plato’s zw|~on within the context of visual arts is crucial,
for it again reveals the Greek tendency not to distinguish between image and subject.
Additional evidence for this tendency in connection with zw|~on derives from a
passage of Plato’s Politicus (Statesman), whose topic is expert knowledge of the just
592 For the translation “all kinds of materials,” see Griffith, Plato. The Republic 220.
302