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

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temple.” Now the statue [a1galma] is the work <strong>of</strong> Ctesicles, as Adaeus <strong>of</strong><br />

Mytilene says <strong>in</strong> his work On Sculptors [ 1Agalma-Makers].<br />

(Deipn. 13.606a13.606b) [77]<br />

<strong>The</strong> fragment gives the impression that the genitive s<strong>in</strong>gular zw|&ou refers to an image <strong>of</strong><br />

some k<strong>in</strong>d. <strong>The</strong> fact that this zw|~on was li/q<strong>in</strong>on (“made <strong>of</strong> stone”) <strong>in</strong>dicates that it was<br />

an image <strong>of</strong> some k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>in</strong> sculpture. In agreement with this suggestion is Charles Gulick,<br />

who translates Philemon’s liqi&nou zw|&ou as “stone image.” 625 In view <strong>of</strong> the previous<br />

def<strong>in</strong>ition <strong>of</strong> zw|~on as an “object <strong>of</strong> speculation <strong>in</strong> its own right” this render<strong>in</strong>g seems<br />

appropriate. As for the position <strong>of</strong> the term with<strong>in</strong> the general spectrum <strong>of</strong> its <strong>Classical</strong><br />

usage, we see that once aga<strong>in</strong> zw|~on is used <strong>in</strong> a general sense <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> connection with the<br />

language <strong>of</strong> the arts. What is new <strong>in</strong> this case is the use <strong>of</strong> the term <strong>in</strong> comedy. <strong>The</strong><br />

fragment also shows that the context <strong>in</strong> which this zw|~on existed was a temple <strong>in</strong> Samos,<br />

which <strong>in</strong>dicates a religious sett<strong>in</strong>g. This evidence along with the above reference to stone<br />

as the material <strong>of</strong> manufacture br<strong>in</strong>g immediately to m<strong>in</strong>d Herodotus’ assertion that<br />

temples <strong>and</strong> zw|~a carved on stones were, along with altars <strong>and</strong> a)ga&lmata, the primary<br />

components <strong>of</strong> religious activity first set by the Egyptians [100]. In this sense, the term<br />

zw|~on aga<strong>in</strong> appears to be connected with religion. Unlike Herodotus, who, <strong>in</strong> that case,<br />

dist<strong>in</strong>guished between zw|~a <strong>and</strong> a)ga&lmata, <strong>in</strong> this passage, Athenaeus refers to<br />

Philemon’s stone zw|&ou as a1galma, that is, “statue.” This evidence suggests a second-<br />

century A.D. l<strong>in</strong>guistic treatment, which is not distant, however, from that <strong>of</strong> Plato’s <strong>in</strong><br />

the Republic, who, as seen earlier, perceived <strong>of</strong> an a)ndria&v as a zw|~on [148]. <strong>The</strong><br />

similarity between the two authors h<strong>in</strong>ts at a consistent usage <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the<br />

term zw|~on, which apparently permeated chronological boundaries. This impression is<br />

625<br />

C. B. Gulick, ed., tr., Athenaeus VI. <strong>The</strong> Deipnosophists (Cambridge, Mass. <strong>and</strong> London, 1937; repr.<br />

1959) 267.<br />

325

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