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

Again the line between reality and image is blurred, while the viewer is aware of his
viewing an inanimate work of art.
Written as though it came from the base of the statue, the fifth epigram, an
anonymous, has Myron’s statue saying:
I am Myron’s little heifer, set up on a base. Goad
me, herdsman, and drive me off to the herd.
(Anonymous, Anth. Pal. 9.713) [16]
The statue speaks to the viewer, a herdsman, directly by declaring its identity, creator,
and status as a lifeless object. By using the voice of the viewer, as was the case earlier,
the statue establishes itself neither as a lifeless object nor as a speechless animal, but,
instead, as if it were alive. The impression of aliveness is further reinforced by the use of
the first person, which blurs the line between image and reality, and also by the fact that
the statue addresses the viewer in the imperative and urges him to perform two specific
acts: goad it and drive it off to the herd. In this way, the viewer is invited to interact with
Myron’s statue as if it were a living heifer. This is evidence of a play between the viewer
and the statue. At the same time, the fact that the statue identifies its placement as “on a
base” serves to demonstrate that the viewer is aware of its motionless status as a work of
sculpture. This evidence indicates that animals were lifelike subjects of works of art,
which viewers experienced as living, while maintaining awareness of the fact that they
were viewing art.
The Statue Acts Naturally
Unlike the epigrams in which Myron’s statue acts fantastically by speaking, some
other epigrams preserve instances, in which the statue acts “naturally,” that is to say, how
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