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

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general. Trevor Saunders attempts to capture this general sense by render<strong>in</strong>g the phrase<br />

“each <strong>of</strong> the zw|&wn” as “pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g a picture <strong>of</strong> anyth<strong>in</strong>g.” 605 His translation does not<br />

follow Plato’s text literally, <strong>and</strong> therefore, it qualifies as a paraphrase. Pangle, on the<br />

contrary, underst<strong>and</strong>s zw|&wn as “figures,” <strong>and</strong> Bury as “subjects.” Bury’s equation <strong>of</strong><br />

zw|&wn with “subjects” seems appropriate, especially when seen <strong>in</strong> light <strong>of</strong> earlier<br />

evidence that Plato perceived zw|~on as the subject <strong>of</strong> representation <strong>in</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>ted works <strong>of</strong><br />

art.<br />

<strong>The</strong> second zw|~on occurs <strong>in</strong> the part <strong>of</strong> the dialogue <strong>in</strong> which the Athenian asks<br />

Kle<strong>in</strong>ias to consider a hypothetical situation: “suppose someone once took it <strong>in</strong>to his head<br />

(e0p<strong>in</strong>oh&seie) to pa<strong>in</strong>t the most beautiful zw|~on possible.” <strong>The</strong> designation <strong>of</strong> zw|~on as<br />

ka&lliston (“most beautiful”) makes it a construction <strong>of</strong> f<strong>in</strong>e quality, a characteristic that<br />

accords well with previous evidence from the Laws, which discussed zw|~a <strong>in</strong> conjunction<br />

with the concept <strong>of</strong> beauty. As for the mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> this zw|~on it is not without difficulties.<br />

Pangle translates the term as “figure,” Bury as “object,” <strong>and</strong> Saunders as “picture.” 606<br />

<strong>The</strong> truth is that it is not possible to determ<strong>in</strong>e whether this zw|~on refers to the subject,<br />

image, or pa<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g as a physical object. Given the situation, Plato appears to be us<strong>in</strong>g the<br />

word <strong>in</strong> a similar manner as the earlier zw|&wn, which blurred the boundary between<br />

subject, image, <strong>and</strong> object. What is worth notic<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> this zw|~on, however, is that it is<br />

perceived as the outcome <strong>of</strong> a mental process: “suppose someone took it <strong>in</strong>to his head to<br />

pa<strong>in</strong>t the most beautiful zw|~on,” says the Athenian. This comment is <strong>in</strong>structive, for it<br />

l<strong>in</strong>ks zw|~on with the realm <strong>of</strong> fourth-century discourse <strong>of</strong> visual perception.<br />

605<br />

T. Saunders, tr., Laws, <strong>in</strong> J. M. Cooper, ed., Plato. <strong>The</strong> Complete Works (Indianapolis <strong>and</strong> Cambridge,<br />

1997) 1443.<br />

606<br />

Figure: Pangle, <strong>The</strong> Laws <strong>of</strong> Plato 156; Object: Bury, Plato. Laws I 451; Picture: Saunders, Laws, <strong>in</strong><br />

Cooper, ed., Plato. Complete Works 1443.<br />

311

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