07-26-2010, 09:02 PM
Quote:Quote:I definitely think that Greek artists distorted some things and got other just plain wrong
I think this occurs more than we generally credit. The notion that the vase painters were hoplites or that their audience of hoplites provided strict feedback, correcting an artist's misconceptions does not hold true in every case. For example, the hilt on the sword of the "Persian" in the vase posted above is surely upsidedown. This is not uncommon in renaissance art. I have been told it resulted from the fact that artists had model swords which were often taken apart to switch features. Some got put back wrong. Here the hilt was probably one with the blade, so it might just be a complete mistake.
I think we must be careful when viewing the details of many vases, for even if the details are correct, the way the artist has men use them may not be. Witness The other thread I stared and the odd way the artist has a hoplite with his bicep through a loop as well as his forearm through the porpax and a grip in his hand- rendering his arm unbendable!
Maybe I'm just missing something, but I don't see anything "wrong" with that depiction. It looks like a fairly standard kopis, hilt and all, save perhaps for the fanciful curlicue guard. Can you point out in more detail what's wrong with it?
Ruben
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
