Antikythera Ephebe

The bronze Antikythera Ephebe is a statue of a young man of languorous grace that was found by sponge-divers in the area of an ancient shipwreck [The wreck itself is dated about 70-60 BC.] off the island of Antikythera [The island, about halfway between Cythera and Crete, was "Aegilia" in Antiquity.] in 1900, the first of the series of Greek bronze sculptures that the Aegean and Mediterranean yielded up in the twentieth century, [Other well-known underwater bronze finds have been retrieved, generally from shipwreck sites: the Mahdia shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia, 1907; the "Marathon Boy" off the coast of Marathon, 1925; the standing "Poseidon of Cape Artemision" found off Cape Artemision in northern Euboea, 1926; the "horse" and "Rider" found off Cape Artemision, 1928 and 1937; the "Getty Victorious Youth found off Fano, Italy, in 1964; the Riace Warriors, found in 1972; the Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo, near Brindisi, 1992; and the "Apoxyomenos' recovered from the sea off the Croatian island of Lošinj in 1999.] which have fundamentally altered the modern view of Ancient Greek sculpture. By the end of 1902 the same wreck site also yielded the Antikythera Mechanism, an astronomical calculating device, and a characterful head of a Stoic philosopher. The hoard of coins found in the wreck included a disproportionate quantity of Pergamene cistophoric tetradrachms and Ephesian coins, leading scholars to surmise that it had begun its journey on the Ionian coast, perhaps at Ephesus; none of its recovered cargo has been identified as from mainland Greece (Myers 1999).

The slightly over lifesize [1.94 meters] "Ephebe" was retrieved in numerous fragments; its first restoration was revised in the 1950s, under the direction of Christos Karouzos, changing the focus of the eyes, the configuration of the abdomen, the connection between the torso and the right upper thigh and the position of the right arm; the re-restoration is universally considered a success (Myers 1999).The "Ephebe" does not correspond to any familiar iconographic model, and there are no known copies of the type. He held a spherical object in his right hand, [Minute fragments of bronze adhere to the fingers (Myers 1999).] and possibly may have represented Paris presenting the Apple of Discord to Aphrodite; however, since Paris is consistently depicted cloaked and with the distinctive Phrygian cap, other scholars have suggested a beardless, youthful Heracles with the Apple of the Hesperides. The loss of the context of the "Antikythera Ephebe" has stripped it of its original cultural meaning. It has also been suggested that the youth is a depiction of Perseus holding the head of the slain Gorgon.

The "Ephebe", dated by its style to about 340 BC, is one of the most brilliant products of Peloponnesan bronze sculpture; the individuality and character it displays have encouraged speculation on its possible sculptor: perhaps it is the work of the famous sculptor Euphranor, trained in the Polyclitan tradition, who did make a sculpture of Paris, according to Pliny::"By Euphranor is an Alexander [Paris] . This work is specially admired, because the eye can detect in it at once the judge of the goddesses, the lover of Helen, and yet the slayer of Achilles." ["Natural Histories", 34.77: "Euphranoris Alexander Paris est in quo laudatur quod omnia simul intelliguntur, iudex dearum, amator Helenae et tamen Achillis interfector."]

The "Antikythera Ephebe" is conserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. [ Inv. no. 13396.]

Notes

References

*Bol, P. C. 1972. "Die Skulpturen des Schiffsfundes von Antikythera." (Berlin: Mann).
* Fraser,A. D. 1928."The Antikythera Bronze Youth and a Herm-Replica", "American Journal of Archaeology" 32.3 (July-September 1928), pp. 298-308. A Roman therm head of similar type; bibliography of early publications.
* Karouzou, S. 1968. "National Archaeological Museum Collection of Sculpture: A Catalogue" (Athens).
*Myers, Elisabeth Susan, 1999. "The Antikythera Youth in its context" Masters thesis, Louisiana State University ( [http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04012006-020209/unrestricted/Myers_thesis.pdf. On-line text; pdf format] ).

External links

* [http://www.culture.gr/2/21/214/21405m/00/lm05m047.jpgIllustration of the "Ephebe"]
* [http://www.culture.gr/2/21/214/21405m/e21405m4.html (Hellenic Ministry of Culture) Bronzes at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens]