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

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form a group <strong>of</strong> discussants on the subject <strong>of</strong> laws <strong>and</strong> constitutions <strong>of</strong> the ideal state.<br />

<strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> zw|~on occurs twice <strong>in</strong> the context <strong>of</strong> a discussion between the Athenian <strong>and</strong><br />

Kle<strong>in</strong>ias on the criticism <strong>of</strong> the arts:<br />

ATHENIAN. <strong>The</strong>re are <strong>of</strong> course myriad images (a)peikasi/ai) which are visible<br />

to our eye.<br />

KLEINIAS. Yes.<br />

ATHENIAN. What then, if someone doesn’t know what each <strong>of</strong> the bodies <strong>of</strong> the<br />

memimhme/nwn is? Would he ever know what is correctly executed <strong>in</strong> them? What<br />

I mean is someth<strong>in</strong>g like this: doesn’t he have to know whether the imitation<br />

captures the number <strong>and</strong> the arrangement <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> the parts, how many there are<br />

<strong>and</strong> how they fit next to one another <strong>in</strong> the appropriate order, <strong>and</strong> also the colors<br />

<strong>and</strong> shapes, or whether all these th<strong>in</strong>gs have been put together <strong>in</strong> a confused way?<br />

Do you th<strong>in</strong>k someone can ever know these th<strong>in</strong>gs if he is completely ignorant <strong>of</strong><br />

what is the memimhme/non zw|~on?<br />

KLEINIAS. How could he?<br />

ATHENIAN. What if we were to know that the gegramme/non <strong>and</strong> peplasme/non<br />

is a human be<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> that all his own parts, colors, <strong>and</strong> shapes have been<br />

captured by the art? Does it follow necessarily that whoever knows about these<br />

th<strong>in</strong>gs also readily knows whether the work is beautiful or just where it is<br />

deficient <strong>in</strong> beauty?<br />

KLEINIAS. That would mean, stranger, that all <strong>of</strong> us, so to speak, know what is<br />

beautiful <strong>in</strong> any zw|&wn.<br />

ATHENIAN. What you say is very correct. Isn’t it the case, then, that with<br />

regard to each image (ei0ko&na), <strong>in</strong> grafikh|~ <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> music <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> all the rest, the<br />

person who is go<strong>in</strong>g to be a prudent judge must have three k<strong>in</strong>ds <strong>of</strong> knowledge?<br />

He must know first what the th<strong>in</strong>g is, <strong>and</strong> then know how correctly, <strong>and</strong> then—the<br />

third th<strong>in</strong>g—how well, any <strong>of</strong> the images (ei0ko&nwn) <strong>of</strong> it <strong>in</strong> words, tunes, <strong>and</strong><br />

rhythms are produced. (Leg. 668c-669b) [144]<br />

By mark<strong>in</strong>g the abundance <strong>of</strong> images <strong>in</strong> the surround<strong>in</strong>g culture, the open<strong>in</strong>g statement <strong>of</strong><br />

the Athenian expresses a concern with the visual arts. This concern is reiterated next <strong>in</strong><br />

the description <strong>of</strong> a hypothetical viewer, who is confronted with each <strong>of</strong> the bodies <strong>of</strong> the<br />

memimhme/nwn, yet ignorance <strong>of</strong> specific aspects <strong>of</strong> their composition <strong>and</strong> appearance<br />

305

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