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

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prom<strong>in</strong>ently <strong>in</strong> Plato’s discussion <strong>of</strong> criticism <strong>of</strong> the arts. 601 In this dialogue, their<br />

importance <strong>in</strong> form<strong>in</strong>g the first steps <strong>of</strong> the evaluat<strong>in</strong>g process for works <strong>of</strong> art culm<strong>in</strong>ates<br />

<strong>in</strong> the Athenian’s question to Kle<strong>in</strong>ias: “do you th<strong>in</strong>k that someone can ever know these<br />

th<strong>in</strong>gs (i.e., numbers, order, colors, <strong>and</strong> shapes), if he is completely ignorant <strong>of</strong> what is<br />

the memimhme/non zw|~on?” <strong>The</strong> question is <strong>in</strong>structive, for it establishes that previous<br />

knowledge <strong>of</strong> what is actually represented <strong>in</strong> a work <strong>of</strong> art is a prerequisite for effective<br />

judgment <strong>of</strong> the artistic value <strong>of</strong> this work. <strong>The</strong> s<strong>in</strong>gular zw|~on is called memimhme/non,<br />

thus establish<strong>in</strong>g the previously suggested connection between zw|~on <strong>and</strong> mi/mhsij<br />

(mimesis), that is, the notion <strong>of</strong> representation. Robert Bury suggests that this zw|~on<br />

means “animal” <strong>and</strong> Thomas Pangle, “liv<strong>in</strong>g be<strong>in</strong>g.” 602 Neither <strong>of</strong> these translations is<br />

satisfactory. On the basis <strong>of</strong> the above evidence, zw|~on appears to refer mostly to the<br />

subject be<strong>in</strong>g represented <strong>in</strong> a work <strong>of</strong> art, although the possibility <strong>of</strong> it referr<strong>in</strong>g to the<br />

artistic image produced cannot be ruled out. As can be seen, zw|~on aga<strong>in</strong> st<strong>and</strong>s for the<br />

absence <strong>of</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ction between the notions <strong>of</strong> subject <strong>and</strong> image <strong>in</strong> a work <strong>of</strong> art.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Athenian’s next hypothesis, that this subject could be a human be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong>fers<br />

some <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong>to the question <strong>of</strong> the identity <strong>of</strong> an artistic subject. Although the noun<br />

zw|~on is omitted from the Athenian’s sentence, the neuter adjectives gegramme/non<br />

(“pa<strong>in</strong>ted,” “sketched”) <strong>and</strong> peplasme/non (“sculptured”) agree with it <strong>in</strong> both gender<br />

<strong>and</strong> grammatical case, thus <strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g that their follow<strong>in</strong>g by zw|~on is certa<strong>in</strong> here. In this<br />

way, memimhme/non zw|~on is to be more closely def<strong>in</strong>ed as a representational subject <strong>in</strong><br />

601 Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Pollitt, Ancient View 16-17, Plato considers “numbers” carefully <strong>in</strong> connection with the<br />

concept <strong>of</strong> symmetria or commensurability <strong>of</strong> all parts <strong>of</strong> a work <strong>of</strong> art (Phil. 25d-e), <strong>and</strong> Aristotle (Metaph.<br />

1090a) states that, for the Pythagoreans, numbers constituted the first pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>of</strong> sensible physical bodies.<br />

For the use <strong>of</strong> “color” <strong>and</strong> “shape, design, or form” both for visual appearance <strong>and</strong> for the art <strong>of</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g<br />

<strong>in</strong> Plato, see Keuls, Plato <strong>and</strong> Greek Pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g 37-38; <strong>and</strong> Pollitt, Ancient View 258-262, for the second<br />

term.<br />

602 Bury, Plato. Laws I 143; T. L. Pangle, tr., <strong>The</strong> Laws <strong>of</strong> Plato (New York, 1980) 50.<br />

307

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