Book contents
- Choral Constructions in Greek Culture
- Choral Constructions in Greek Culture
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Choreia at the Forge: Tripod Cauldrons, Golden Maidens and the Choral Dancers on Achilles’ Shield in Iliad 18
- 2 From the Demonic to the Divine: Gorgons, Cauldrons and Choral Dance
- 3 Flying with the Birds: Avian Choreia and Bird Choruses in Art and Text
- 4 The Carnival of the Animals: Dancing in Herds
- 5 Water Music: Nymphs, Ships and Choral Aquatics
- 6 A Chorus of Columns: Pindar’s Agalmata and the Architectural Chorus
- 7 Choral Fabrications: Weaving, Cloth-Making and Choral Song and Dance
- 8 Choreo-graphy: Choreia and Alphabetic Writing
- 9 Girls in Lines: Catalogues and Choruses
- 10 Choral Envisioning: Archaic and Early Classical Choral Lyric and Post-Classical Accounts of Enargeia
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Subject Index
2 - From the Demonic to the Divine: Gorgons, Cauldrons and Choral Dance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2021
- Choral Constructions in Greek Culture
- Choral Constructions in Greek Culture
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Choreia at the Forge: Tripod Cauldrons, Golden Maidens and the Choral Dancers on Achilles’ Shield in Iliad 18
- 2 From the Demonic to the Divine: Gorgons, Cauldrons and Choral Dance
- 3 Flying with the Birds: Avian Choreia and Bird Choruses in Art and Text
- 4 The Carnival of the Animals: Dancing in Herds
- 5 Water Music: Nymphs, Ships and Choral Aquatics
- 6 A Chorus of Columns: Pindar’s Agalmata and the Architectural Chorus
- 7 Choral Fabrications: Weaving, Cloth-Making and Choral Song and Dance
- 8 Choreo-graphy: Choreia and Alphabetic Writing
- 9 Girls in Lines: Catalogues and Choruses
- 10 Choral Envisioning: Archaic and Early Classical Choral Lyric and Post-Classical Accounts of Enargeia
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Subject Index
Summary
A well-known Protoattic neck amphora from Eleusis by the Polyphemus Painter dated to ca. 670–650 preserves the largest extant vase painting (fig. 2.0). On its central field, two Gorgons, presented frontally as they move away from the headless body of their sister who seemingly floats horizontal in mid-air, pursue Perseus fleeing around the damaged curve of the vase. The vessel fascinates scholars for any number of reasons: not only do its dimensions outstrip those of other amphoras for the period (it measures some 1.42 m in height), while its decoration offers ‘the most complete example known of the Black and White style’; it also features our earliest visual representation of Perseus’ flight and among the first depictions of the Polyphemus episode on its neck. On this pot too Athena makes her début in Attic vase painting.
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- Information
- Choral Constructions in Greek CultureThe Idea of the Chorus in the Poetry, Art and Social Practices of the Archaic and Early Classical Period, pp. 76 - 114Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021