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

of real bodies. When this meaning is applied to Philemon’s zw|~on, then the latter can be
also seen as a figural image. In sum, what this evidence suggests is that the term zw|~on
was a fundamental component of the vocabulary of the arts in the late fourth century
B.C., whose use was favored not only by prose writers, but comic poets as well.
Conclusion
The evidence for zw|~on in the fourth century indicates that authors such as Plato,
Alcidamas, Aristotle, and Philemon used it widely in their works and in connection with
the arts. Zw|~on in Plato can be understood as “the finished product of an artistic process,”
“image,” and “subject of representation” in painting and sculpture, thus suggesting no
clear distinction among object, image, and subject in the visual arts. Alcidamas’ zw|~on,
carries the meaning of “image” in general, but that of “figural image” too. Aristotle
provides the earliest explicit reference to the dual meaning of the term as “animal” when
used in a general context, and an “image” and/or “subject of representation” when in
connection with the visual arts. In addition to these meanings, Aristotle uses zw|~on as
“image held by memory,” thus expanding its use onto the contemporary discourse on
visual perception. Plato’s and Aristotle’s detailed discussions of painting and sculpture
in which zw|~on occurs suggest that this was a term of the professional vocabulary of the
arts. Finally, Philemon, like Alcidamas, uses the term to refer to “image,” most likely, a
figural one. That he is a comic poet using the term, unlike all other prose writers
mentioned above, suggests that, by the late fourth century, zw|~on was a standard
component of the terminology for the arts.
327