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

indicates that animals did not only serve as lifelike subjects of works of art, but also as
judges of the lifelikeness of art.
The Deception of a Bull
A calf is not the only example of an animal deceived by the lifelikeness of
Myron’s cow. The epigrams also refer to a bull, an adult animal, as being fooled into
thinking that this is a real cow. In an epigram by Dioscorides, who was active in the third
century B.C., a bull is told that it has been deceived; its behavior towards the statue,
(called here a heifer), as if it were alive is pointless, for this is a work of art:
In vain, bull, thou rushest up to this heifer, for it
is lifeless. The sculptor of cows, Myron, deceived thee.
(Dioscorides, Anth. Pal. 9.734) [83]
It is interesting that, in this epigram, a bull reacts to Myron’s heifer as if it were alive. It
seems that the poet wants to stress the exceptional lifelikeness of the statue by pointing
out that even a mature animal with thorough knowledge of a heifer could mistake the
statue for a real animal. This evidence indicates an underlying perception of animals on
the side of the poet: as guides to lifelikeness in art. Thus, if an animal like a bull can be
deceived into believing a lifeless heifer to be real, then the exceptional lifelikeness of
Myron’s statue is established beyond doubt.
In another epigram, by Demetrius of Bithynia, who may have lived in the second
century B.C., a bull again features as an animal deceived by the lifelikeness of Myron’s
statue. The later speaks directly to the viewer:
If a calf sees me, it will low; a bull will mount
me, and the herdsman drive me to the herd.
(Demetrius of Bithynia, Anth. Pal. 9.730) [80]
84