quick Facts
Name: sleep and death sista handle
What is this: Bronze decoration on lid box
Where is it from: Italy
When was it created: 400 to 375 BC
Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey” have inspired countless books, films and works of art in the nearly three millennia since the epic tales were first written. This small, bronze statue, once attached to an ancient box, shows how Greek epics influenced the aesthetics of the mysterious Etruscans.
Sleep and Death Sista Handle, which is in the collection of cleveland museum of artFeatures a set of bronze figurines welded to form a decorative handle for a sistah – a small, cylindrical, lidded box used for a variety of purposes in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Etruria, an ancient region of central Italy.
The handle is approximately 7.3 inches long and 7.2 inches tall (18.5 by 18.3 centimeters). These statues represent Hypnos (the Greek god of sleep) and Thanatos (the Greek god of non-violent death) bending over to pick up the body of Sarpedon, one of Zeus’s sons who fought in the mythological battle. Trojan War.
According to this, Sarpedon fought on behalf of Troy and led his men into battle against the formidable Greeks Book XVI “The Iliad.” The Greek hero Patroclus entered the fray wearing the armor of Achilles to trick the Trojans into thinking that the greatest Greek warrior had joined the battle and intimidate the Trojans. Sarpedon met Patroclus on the battlefield, and even though Zeus wanted to save his son, Sarpedon was mortally wounded. The Greeks stripped Sarpedon of his armor, but Zeus ordered Apollo to retrieve the body and deliver it to the twin brothers Hypnos and Thanatos, “who swiftly carry away men” (translation by A.S. Kline).
The ancient sculptor of this piece “succeeded brilliantly in capturing the pathos and emotions in a scene from Homer’s ‘Iliad,'” said Michael Bennett, former curator of Greek and Roman art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. said in a video. And on a technical level, this piece is far more elaborate than a typical Etruscan handle; According to Bennett, it appears to be almost ergonomically designed, as Sarpedon’s lightly drooping hairs can be used as finger grips.
But the reason why the Etruscans adapted the visual aesthetic of Homeric epic for many of their artworks, such as sculptures and wall paintings, is still unclear.
Because Etruscan language Only partially understood, most information about this civilization, which arose around 900 BC, comes from outside sources, such as the Greek historian Herodotus, writing several centuries later. Herodotus believed that the Etruscans came from Lydia in Asia Minor, not far south of Troy. Coupled with the later legend that Aeneas, a Trojan hero, wandered into Italy after the war and helped found RomeSome experts, such as linguists robert bekesThere is belief that the Etruscans may have derived from the Trojans or from groups that fought on the Trojan side. However, a 2021 genetic study It was found that the Etruscans may have been local.
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The Etruscans may have used scenes from the Trojan War to decorate their vases and bronze boxes because they felt a kinship with the opponents in the “Iliad.” But they may also have adopted the aesthetics because the Trojan War was a popular subject in Greek art at the time, and vases and other works decorated in this style reached the Etruscans through extensive trade networks. The Etruscans then turned their attention to stories of the Trojan War, particularly focusing on scenes of death and cruelty, with classical archaeologist Larissa Bonfante arguing “Etruscan myth(2006, British Museum Press).
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