Dolphins in Greco-Roman Art

Dolphins have a rich background in Greek and Roman mythology. Not only are they frequently the companions of Venus serving as symbols of romance and reminders of the  myth that Venus was born from the sea, but in the Homeric Hymns, they play a key role when Dionysus (Roman Bacchus) was kidnapped by pirates. The god of wine turned himself into a lion to punish the kidnappers and, terrified, they jumped overboard whereupon Dionysus turned them into dolphins.  The also describe instances where the god Apollo transformed into a dolphin to guide a ship into harbor.  nother myth tells that Apollo’s son, Eikadios, was shipwrecked and carried to shore by a dolphin. This is one of many myths about dolphins rescuing drowming men, or bringing bodies back to shore for burial.

The Roman author Statius tells us in his 1st century CE work, "Achilleid" that the sea-nymph Thetis rode a chariot through the sea that was pulled by two dolphins. Philostratus’ ‘Imagines’ also describes a scene in which the one-eyed cyclops Polyphemus falls in love with the sea-nymph Galatea while she is riding four dolphins.

"Many dolphin stories can also be found in Greek and Roman folklore from small coastal towns, observes Emily Tilley, University of Leicester,  "In the first century A.D. Pliny the Elder recorded in his ‘Natural History’ the story of a young Roman boy who befriended a dolphin. Every day when the boy needed to cross the bay to get to school, he would call on his dolphin friend to carry him across the water. A second century A.D. story tells the tale of an elderly couple who rescued a young, injured dolphin and trained it to catch fish for them."

Statue of Venus (the Mazarin Venus), Roman, 2nd century CE, now on view at the Getty Villa in Gallery 106 Basilica. Image courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum

Early Imperial Portrait Roman 27 BCE-68 CE from the Farnese Collection in Naples that I photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington.

Roman mosaic frieze depicting dolphins from Halicarnassus 4th century CE that I photographed at The British Museum.

Ovoid ceramic rhyton depicting a dolphin Pseira Crete Late Minoan 1B that I photographed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Frescoes of Marine Life including a dolphin found on a wall along the via La Portuense in the river port of San Paolo that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome 125-150 CE

Mosaic pavement depicting a dolphin that I photographed in the Piazzale delle Corporazioni in Ostia Antica 1st century BCE-4th century CE.

Basilica of Neptune, Rome (Dolphin Frieze) Detail of Dolphins, a shell, and an upright trident from the frieze course of the entablature of the Basilica of Neptune, Rome, Hadrianic. (Hadrian r. 117-138 CE). The motif was popular for public buildings in Rome of the late first century (and the maritime theme is not necessarily associated with the function of the structure, such as a bath building). Image courtesy of Roger Ulrich (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Detail of mosaic on the podium wall in the water sanctuary showing marine fauna, including a dolphin and urchins, Roman Ruins of Milreu, a luxurious rural villa transformed into a prosperous farm in the 3rd century, Portugal, courtesy of Carole Raddato.

Roman mosaic depicting the mask of Oceanus with lobster claws protruding from the head and dolphins and fish escaping from his beard, 2nd - 3rd century CE, found in 1959 at the Plaza de la Corredera, Salón de los Mosaicos (Hall of Mosaics) Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs, Cordoba, courtesy of Carole Raddato.

The Oceanus Mosaic from Bad Vilbel, it originally belonged to a Roman thermal bath facility, end of 2nd century AD, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany. The mosaic was found in 1849 during construction work of the Southern Railway Station in the remains of a Roman thermal spa. This bath complex was probably part of an estate (Villa rustica). Image courtesy of Carole Raddato.

Thalassa (spirit of the sea) with crab-claw horns, holding a ship's oar and a dolphin, late 5th century AD, found in the village of Yakto near Daphne, Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya, Turkey courtesy of Carole Raddato (perspective adjusted)

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The Flight of Aeneas

While browsing the Getty's collections today I saw yet another intricately sculpted Roman cornelian gemstone from the 1st century BCE.

"The gem captures the moment when Aeneas, son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the goddess Venus, escapes with his family from Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Aeneas climbs up the steps to a waiting ship, with his father over his right arm and his son, Ascanius, holding his left hand. Aeneas wears a corselet but no other armor. His father wears robes with a mantle pulled over his head. Ascanius, shown just at the moment of leaving the gates of the city, wears a Phrygian cap, a chiton, and cloak while holding a pedum (a hunter's throwing stick) over his left shoulder. Anchises holds a cylindrical box with an X pattern on the side. Behind them, the walls of Troy rise up, and a Greek solider in a crested helmets looks towards them from the battlements while holding a lit torch aloft in his raised right arm, a spear upright in his left. Three Trojans await them on the ship, all wearing Phrygian caps: one works the rudder, another the still-furled rigging of the ship, and the third raises a trumpet or other horn-shaped object. Above them, a single star." - J. Paul Getty Museum

I noticed the similarities between the scene on the gem and a 1st century CE sculpture of the flight of Aeneas from the Sebasteion, an imperial cult temple of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and Aphrodite (Venus) in ancient Aphrodisias.  The three-storey complex was embellished with richly carved panels depicting mythological scenes, heroes, and gods surrounded by the emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero and their spouses, children and  a series of personified ethne or 'nations' of Augustus' world empire, from the Ethiopians of eastern Africa to the Callaeci of western Spain. The temple was excavated beginning in 1979.  Of the original 200 reliefs, 80 were recovererd.

Read more about the excavations and see more images of the temple here:

https://aphrodisias.classics.ox.ac.uk/sebasteion.html

 

Intaglio with Scene of Aeneas and his Family Escaping from Troy, Carnelian, Roman, 20 BCE now in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Pacific Palisades, California

Roman relief of the Flight of Aeneas with his father Anchises and son Ascanius helped by Aphrodite, 20 - 60 CE. The Trojan hero, Aeneas was the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy (with help from Aphrodite), which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. The 1st century CE relief is now in the Aphrodisias Museum in Turkey, image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Dick Osseman.

 

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The Wonders of the Horti Lamiani

 The Horti Lamiani (Lamian Gardens) was a luxurious complex of an ancient Roman villa with large gardens and outdoor rooms located on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, in the area around the present Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. They were created by the consul Lucius Aelius Lamia, a friend of Emperor Tiberius, and they soon became imperial property.  Along with other ancient Roman horti on the Quirinal, Viminal and Esquiline hills, they were discovered during the construction work for the expansion of Rome at the end of 1800s.

The villa and gardens were scenically divided into pavillions and terraces adapted to the landscape, on a model of Hellenistic tradition. They were eventually filled with exceptional works of art, from original ancient Greek sculptures to exquisite frescoes and marble floors. A museum of the nymphaeum excavations is planned to open in 2021.

The land for the horti Lamiani was originally a cemetery just outside the ancient Servian Wall but was purchased by Lucius Aelius Lamia, the Roman consul in 3 CE, who developed the property. He seems to have bequeathed the property to the emperor probably during the reign of Tiberius, and it became imperial state property. Emperor Caligula loved the place so much he established his residence there and further developed the property. In an evocative eyewitness account, the philosopher Philo visited the gardens in 40 CE and accompanied Caligula inspecting the elaborate residence ordering them to be made more sumptuous. After his assassination, Caligula was briefly buried at the site.

The Horti Lamiani adjoined the Gardens of Maecenas and the Gardens of Maiani. Under Claudius (41-54 CE) the Horti Lamiani and Maiani were united and administered by a special superintendent (procurator hortorum Lamianorum et Maianorum).

The property survived until at least the Severan dynasty (193-235 CE) when it became the emperor's private property as shown by a stamped lead water pipe. By the 4th c. the gardens were no longer in use as evidenced by the statuary found broken in pieces and used in the foundations of a number of spas.

Emperor Commodus as Hercules recovered from the Horti Lamiani at the Musei Capitolini in Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Ricardo André Frantz

Spectacular closeups of Emperor Commodus as Hercules at the Musei Capitolini in Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

Spectacular closeups of Emperor Commodus as Hercules at the Musei Capitolini in Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

Discobolus, 140 CE, recovered from the Horti Lamiani at the Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme in Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Livioandronico2013

My own closeups of Discobolus at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome

My own closeups of Discobolus at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome

My own closeups of Discobolus at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome

Genius of Emperor Domitianus, with the aegis and a cornucopia recovered from the area around the Horti Lamiani, at the Capitoline Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen

Triton or sea centaur, part of a group representing Commodus' apotheosis as Hercules recovered from the Horti Lamiani, Luni marble, Roman artwork, 191-192 CE, at the Capitoline Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Sculpture of a woman in a chiton recovered from the Horti Lamiani, now in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Burkhard Mücke (white balance adjusted, digitally enhanced and recomposed)

Head of Dionysos recovered from the Horti Lamiani, now in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen

Bottom of a statue of a Roman soldier, he wears a military tunic and caligae, the typical footwear worn by Roman soldiers, early Imperial period, from the Horti Lamiani, Musei Capitolini, Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carole Raddato

Head of Priapus recovered from the Horti Lamiani, now in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carole Raddato

Faun with grapes from the Horti Lamiani at the Capitoline Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko.

Esquiline Venus, recovered from the Horti Lamiani, at the Capitoline Museum in Rome courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Miguel Hermoso Cuesta.

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"Emerging" Aphrodite

This morning while searching for additional information about rare Roman funerary cippi recovered on Cyprus, I stumbled across this little figurine of "emerging" Aphrodite in the collections of the Museum of Cycladic Art. The reason it caught my attention is the pose is strikingly similar to the fresco of Venus in the triclinium of the House of the Prince of Naples that I studied earlier this year.  At the time, I was  wondering why the fresco was identified as Venus (Aphrodite) when the other main fresco in the room was identified as Bacchus (Dionysus), since Ariadne was the consort of Dionysus, not Venus.  Dr. Wallace-Hadrill had patiently explained to me that the goddess in the triclinium was identified as Venus because she is depicted wringing the sea water from her hair as described in Greek mythology (Hesiod's "Theogony" to be exact) but up until now I had never seen other ancient artwork with Venus in that particular pose.

According to the museum, the emerging Aphrodite was a common theme up to about the 1st century BCE, corresponding with the period leading up to Pompeii's destruction. The museum points out that, although Aphrodite was represented in Greek art as early as the 5th century BCE, the "emerging" Aphrodite was a creation of the Hellenistic period rather than the Classical period.

 "Some scholars believe that the type derives its origin from a famous painting of the emerging Aphrodite by the painter Apellis in the Asclepieion of Kos (second half of the 4th century BCE), which, like the pragmatic statue of Cnidia Aphrodite, is mentioned in innumerable ancient sources and seems to have contributed to the formation of a new model of female beauty in Hellenistic times. It is, after all, clear that the erotic dimension of Aphrodite emerges only during the Hellenistic period, when the naked depictions of the goddess increase and the word "Aphrodite" becomes synonymous with the erotic encounter. This fact is probably connected with an improvement of the social position of the woman and her release from the conservatism of the strictly male-dominated cities of the Classical era but also of classical art, which based its aesthetics on the worship of the male body." - Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, Greece.

So the depiction of "emerging" Venus in the House of the Prince of Naples was not a questionable mismatch of consorts that I initially perceived as the less educated choice of art made by a merchant class resident seeking to project a more elite status, but simply a reflection of Pompeii's earlier Greek influence.  Sigh...so much to learn about ancient art and so little time!! 

 

Fresco of Emerging Venus (Aphrodite) in the summer triclinium of the House of the Prince of Naples in Pompeii.

Terracotta  Figurine of "Emerging" Aphrodite, Hellenistic 200 BCE - 1 BCE courtesy of the Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, Greece.

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Aphrodite of the East - A warrior love goddess

The cult of Aphrodite in Greece was imported from, or at least influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia, which, in turn, was influenced by the cult of the Mesopotamian goddess known as "Ishtar" to the East Semitic peoples and as "Inanna" to the Sumerians. Pausanias states that the first to establish a cult of Aphrodite were the Assyrians, followed by the Paphians of Cyprus and then the Phoenicians at Ascalon. The Phoenicians, in turn, taught her worship to the people of Cythera.

Aphrodite took on Inanna-Ishtar's associations with sexuality and procreation. Furthermore, she was known as Ourania, which means "heavenly", a title corresponding to Inanna's role as the Queen of Heaven. Early artistic and literary portrayals of Aphrodite are extremely similar on Inanna-Ishtar. Like Inanna-Ishtar, Aphrodite was also a warrior goddess. The second-century CE Greek geographer Pausanias records that, in Sparta, Aphrodite was worshipped as Aphrodite Areia, which means "warlike". He also mentions that Aphrodite's most ancient cult statues in Sparta and on Cythera showed her bearing arms. Modern scholars note that Aphrodite's warrior-goddess aspects appear in the oldest strata of her worship and see it as an indication of her Near Eastern origins. 

Nineteenth century classical scholars had a general aversion to the idea that ancient Greek religion was at all influenced by the cultures of the Near East, but, even Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker, who argued that Near Eastern influence on Greek culture was largely confined to material culture, admitted that Aphrodite was clearly of Phoenician origin. The significant influence of Near Eastern culture on early Greek religion in general, and on the cult of Aphrodite in particular, is now widely recognized as dating to a period of orientalization during the eighth century BCE, when archaic Greece was on the fringes of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Image: A sensuous bronze figurine of Aphrodite from a mirror or oil lamp thought to be from Roman Syria, 4th-6th century CE.  that I photographed at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri in 2016.

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