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

simply “animal,” and less often “living being” and “plant” extend(s) well beyond these
notions. By examining literary and epigraphical evidence of the fifth and fourth centuries
B.C. this study has demonstrated that when used in an artistic context, as defined by
paintings, sculpture, bronze-work and textiles, zw|~on carries the additional meanings of
“image,” “subject of representation taken from real life,” “decorative element,” “figural
image,” “finished product of an artistic process,” and also “image held by memory.” In
some cases, the use of zw|~on in specialized discussions of the arts suggests that the term
deserves to be considered part of the professional vocabulary of the arts in Classical
Greece. From a conceptual point of view, therefore, the dual attitude toward animals that
the literary record reveals is not far removed from the semantic split in the meaning of
zw|~on, or even the split into various types and degrees of deviation from naturalism that
form the conceptual foundation of the style of animals in Classical Greek sculpture. To
turn it around, for Classical Greek society, the inconsistent, incongruous, and
contradictory style of contemporary works of art that depicted animals was as logical as
its dual attitude toward animals or even the duality characterizing the meaning of the term
zw|~on. Like the combination of differing, that is, naturalistic and non-naturalistic
elements in artistic representations of animals, everyday thought, language, and life with
animals were characterized by a combination of equally differing—in some cases,
explicitly identified as positive and negative—ideas about these non-human creatures.
Animals, therefore, prove useful guides to the Classical Greek conception of naturalistic
style as not necessarily reflective of absolute naturalism, but rather of conceptual patterns
governing contemporary mentality and language about animals.
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