I think this article makes an interesting and positive case for addressing the misogyny and violence against women that’s frequently depicted in ancient art (the examples given being from Greece).[1] Abductions and rapes and attacks — how do we deal with the abusive treatment in an era when simply talking about the lines and forms or giving the briefest summary of what’s going on (“Oh, look, here’s yet another piece about the Lapith men fighting the Centaurs who have attacked the Lapith women”)?
I have no doubt that there are some who would say that the subject matter is such that we simply shouldn’t teach about it at all. And i can understand why some people (not just women) would rather not dwell on artwork that carries violence against women as central motif.
But I think it would be a mistake to do so, just as it was a mistake for earlier generations to gloss over (or mask, or even destroy) art that was deemed sexually improper and behaviorally immoral in a very different way.
Instead, why not confront it? We can’t understand Greek culture (and, thus, ultimately our own) without engaging in this stuff, so include examination of what’s going on with Persephone, or the Lapith women, or the Amazons. Don’t be afraid to talk about artistic form alongside problematic cultural practices. Ancient Greek art is valuable to understand, and part of that understanding is about what to us seems a very dark underside.
Don’t just glorify it. Don’t just ban it. Seek to understand it as a whole.
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[1] We actually got to see the “West Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia” this summer, which was very cool. And, actually, ended up seeing many renditions of the whole Lapiths-vs-Centaurs battle at different locations; the Greeks were kind of obsessed with the story, and it’s important to try to understand why, and how that informs us (among many other things) how women were viewed and treated in Ancient Greek culture.
How to Teach Ancient Art in the Age of #MeToo
Contending with misogynist imagery in ancient art raises a multitude of questions that demand addressing today.
Yep, you kinda need to discuss ancient art in the context of the time it was created.
Also, nice use of the Lapith men always inviting the stupid centaurs.
This is exactly right. We shouldn't pretend that cultures never existed. We shouldn't pretend that we can, by mere mental choice, nullify the momentum of history.
But then how to respond? The first all too easy answer is to say that everything that came before was wicked and evil and worthy of nothing more than condescension. The second all too easy answer is to say that we shouldn't make judgements about people who lived in other times and places, that we must understand them only as they understood themselves.
Neither is correct. Both are naive and dangerous. The correct answer, in my judgement, is to engage in conversation with the past. And conversation – real, authentic conversation – requires your judgement. You are not allowed to be a passive bystander. You are not allowed to keep your hands in your pockets and listen. Your job is to listen and speak.
Agreed. Blanket condemnation (and denial of relevance) is foolish. Engagement, discussion, comparison, understanding, and, yes, judgment are fine, but from an informed perspective.
Was watching a documentary about Athens, and the narrator made the comment that Athenian democracy was very different from ours today — the inclusion of only men (and only citizens, not slaves) strikes us as flawed and wrong.
Then he noted that the Athenians would look at our modern democracy and (putting aside the reflexive differences) would say, "But how can you have a democracy where so few people vote, where people are not required to engage, take a stance, and commit?" They, too, would find flaws and wrongness in the fundamentals of our system.
So, too, here — focusing cultural touchstones on the abduction / rape of women seems skeevy and wrong, but it gives us an opportunity to see where we do something similar or analogous, or to figure out what we're actually doing better, and to see where motivation in doing so informs some of our own motivations.
Or you can just say, "It's nekkid women, let's not show them," or "It's abused women, let's not show them," and then not learn anything from anyone.
+Dave Hill right, one of the most helpful things about this historical topic in particular, it seems to me, is how intense misogyny is woven into the fabric of a culture and reinterpreted as positive attributes like heroism. We can use that insight on our own culture for positive effect. That's part of what I mean by 'conversation'. And those insights are much less likely if we shun learning about ancient Greek culture or condemn it wholesale as evil or wall it off in some romantic way as immune to outside judgement.
+John Wehrle yep.
Another part of the conversation is that there are still extant works (mostly poetry) by women of the classical period. As well as other information and artifacts, letters, accounts, etc. So our understanding of the Classical Greeks doesn’t have to be entirely filtered through the male perspective. The women of the time can speak to us as well about their culture and its context.
+Donna Buckles True. And that material should be given particular attention for the insights they provide.
But there's a lot of very prominent art — as noted in the article — that's prominent for a reason (its quality, where it's from — like that pediment) that has these problematic elements. Engaging with it fully (and, where applicable, bringing in those women's voices) beats the tradition of ignoring regular rape motifs in favor of talking about all the other stuff.
Agreed. Also – maybe not as much from this period- but certainly from the Middle Ages onward there are surviving works of visual art by women. There were women painters and sculptors in the classical period too I just don’t know if any of their work has survived. Does anybody else know of any? Because that also offers perspective.
I’m thinking particularly of Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes for example. Where she’s looking straight at him while she saws off his head. In a sort of, okay now this has to get done sort of a way. That’s a very different voice heard from.