Drawing Literature Themes from Ancient Civilizations
Art is one of the impeccable techniques of conserving history and retelling it to the later generations. In the ancient Roman and Greek civilizations, art was an essential element of telling the story of the people. The two provided materials contain ancient art with a deeply rooted history and lifestyle. Catullus poem 64: ‘On the Occasion of the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis displays an ancient royal wedding characterized by royal gifts and authority. There is a suspension of all community activities in Thessaly due to the wedding symbolizing the importance of royalty. However, the wedding does not lead to a happy marriage as the bride ends up dumped on a lonely island pleading for shreds of tenderness from her husband, but no a veil. On the other hand, the Sarcophagus and Lid; 19th Century Crouching Lion Supports is an ancient Roman art portraying senatorial family. The art tracing its origin from Maconiana Severiana, a senatorial family, and representing an ancient royal lifestyle.
Similarities between the Two Arts
Both pieces of art portray a royalty lifestyle. The Catullus poem 64 portrays a royal wedding held in the palace, and marked by several expensive gifts including silver, ivory, gold and so on… “They bring gifts with them, declaring their joy in their looks…But the palace gleams bright with gold and silver through all the rich receding halls. The ivory chairs shine, cups glisten on tables, the whole palace gladdened with the splendor of royal wealth”. The Sarcophagus and Lid portray a senatorial lifestyle characterized by expensive ornaments.
Another similarity between the two pieces of art is the representation of the plight of women. In the Catullus poem 64, there is a betrayal of the girl by her lover, causing extreme sadness…False Theseus, is this why you take me from my father’s land, faithless man, to abandon me on a desert shore. Is this how you vanish, heedless of the god’s power, ah, uncaring, bearing home your accursed perjuries? Nothing could alter the measure of your cruel mind. No mercy was near to you, inexorable man, that you might take pity on my heart?” The Sarcophagus and Lid present a sad girl with blank eyes… The blank face of Ariadne should have been carved as a portrait of Maconiana Severina.” Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Another similarity between the two pieces of art concerns loves and war. Both statues have highly focused on the theme of love between the characters. In the Sarcophagus and lid with husband and wife, the two seem to enjoy their passion. “Sculpted stone sarcophagi, which came into use in the 200s A.D., soon became symbols of wealth and status”. They are sharing a standard bed and covering themselves with the same large sheet. The man holds the wife by her hand to signify the romantic support of each other. The wife, on the other hand, keeps her man by the neck, meaning assurance of security provided by the man. The two are facing each other with their faces placed carefully. The sculpture also depicts comfort between the husband and wife. The two seem unperturbed by the ongoing fighting that is taking place at their feet. Their love is portrayed as being more prominent than the wars and the battles (Bridget 43). They take a larger space of the sculpture due to the love within them.
On the other hand, Ariadne’s poem also portrays love, although in two dimensions. The lonely woman fell in love with whom she considered her hero. “The girl, abandoning her father’s kingdom, her sisters’ embraces, and lastly her mother’s, she wretched at her lost daughter’s joy in preferring the sweet love of Theseus to all this…” However, Theseus does not replicate the love accorded to him by Ariadne. Love almost led to the death of Ariadne when Theseus left her alone on the shore. There is rekindling of love when god Dionysus found Ariadne at the beach, admired her, and chose to marry her. The love led Ariadne to feast with gods of Olympus after the betrayal of Theseus. Minos, who loved both her daughter and Minotaur, who was a beast, also portrays the theme of love in this art. Ariadne, on the other hand, did not like Minotaur and willingly helped Theseus to escape after killing the beast.
War is also illustrated as a leading theme of these arts. In the Sarcophagus and lid with husband and wife, there is a frieze showing four pairs of Greeks and Amazons in combat. The war seems to be a distraction to the lovers who, however, continue to share their love. The conflict shows the several external forces that various people in love have to encounter while in quest of finding true love. It also shows how focusing on each other and ignoring the immediate environment can help people to stick in love. On the sculpture, two lions bring down a bull. The determination of the lions helps to achieve what could have possibly been impossible if one lion tried to bring down the bull. It signifies the power of unity among people who are together as it can help to achieve what is usually thought to be impossible. On the same Sarcophagus, two griffins are seen feeding on a dead horse. The horse was a part of the war and perished as a result. It signifies the impacts of war, where some of the losses come at a win at other parties that were never involved in the war.
War in Ariadne’s poem is also portrayed in several dimensions as love. It was a war between Theseus and Minotaur that led to the escape of Ariadne. She helped Theseus escape after he killed Minotaur, who had been kept by King Minos. She was at war with her feelings on whether to follow Theseus after the act or remain behind and face her father. She chose to escape with her hero. War and conflict are also witnessed when Theseus had to decide between abandoning her by the shore. He made sure that he left when she was sleeping to avoid her, noticing that he was escaping without her. There was also the issue of war and conflict in the same mythology of Ariadne, where she was not welcomed warmly by the goddess Artemis.
Despite the striking similarities between the two pieces of art, some differences set each one apart from the other. The significant differences revolve around love and the characters too. In the case of the Sarcophagus and lid, the woman and the husband have enjoyed their love and are seen resting together. The two seem to be in comfort in the presence of each other. Their love is undisturbed by the ongoing conflicts in the outside world. They have taken their large sheet to cover themselves from the interference of social disturbances. Their love seems unending despite being surrounded by many distractors. The two lovers look at each other, assuring love to the other partner.
On the other hand, the mythology on Ariadne is surrounded by many mistrust and abandonment. There seem to be not so many distractors, as in the case of the Sarcophagus and lid, but the love still fails to work out. Ariadne and Theseus could have loved each other without having to kill Minotaur or escaping the Labyrinth. The only solvable difference was that Ariadne was Cretan, and Theseus was Athenian. They conspired to kill Minotaur and escape together. Theseus was not fully decided to love Ariadne as she had. Their relationship did not have a strong as it was merely based on Ariadne idolizing Theseus and thinking that he was a hero. She followed him as he escaped and felt that they were in love (Dworakowska 41). The love did not have many external forces that could break, but the lack of foundation and commitment from the two partners causes the downfall.
The other key difference between the Sarcophagus and lid and the Ariadne mythology is the involvement of superhuman beings. The Sarcophagus and the lid of a husband and wife are purely based on human characters. Their affection for each other does not get interference from gods and other supernatural beings. They seem to enjoy a healthy life despite interference from human activities such as conflict. Maintaining their love allows the couple to have a long life together and die together as well. The fight that ensues beyond the large sheet covering the lovers also involves human beings, the Greeks, and Amazons. The normalcy of the setting of this sculpture shows the free-flowing lives of people without any external interference.
On the other hand, Ariadne mythology involves several supernatural beings, which could have affected the love and life of princess Ariadne. The father, King Minos, had kept a half-bull and half-human in the Labyrinth, which he considered being a warrior. Ariadne did not like the giant and therefore helped her hero, Theseus, to kill Minotaur. Theseus was typically not a normal human being as he is portrayed as a giant slayer. Ariadne’s affection for Theseus could thus not be replicated, as they are not the same breed. The difference hence explains why Theseus left her on the shore while she was fast asleep. She was rescued from this point by the god of wine-Dionysus. She switched her hero from Theseus to Dionysus. Dionysus had similar affections to her and thus allowed their love to prosper (Stein 196). The fact that she was human and Dionysus was a god also created some challenges as she tried to fit in and blend with supernatural beings.
In conclusion, this article has identified that the ancient Roman and Greek civilizations used sculpture and poetry as a way of preserving and retelling their stories. The antiquities had deep hidden meanings and themes. The Sarcophagus and the lid of a wife and husband sculpture and Ariadne’s poem have some striking similarities and differences. The similar themes in these pieces of art are love, romance, and conflicts. Both have clearly defined illustrations of these themes are achieved. They are, however, some striking differences too between them. Sarcophagus and the lid shows undisturbed love and perfection, while that of Ariadne shows the aspects of betrayal and abandonment by lovers. Another contrast is the involvement of supernatural beings in Ariadne mythology, unlike the Sarcophagus, which has human beings alone.
Work Cited
Andrew Laird, ‘Sounding out Ecphrasis: Art and Text in Catullus 64’. The Journal of Roman Studies 83 (1993): 18-30. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/300976
Dworakowska, K., 2018, May. Nietzsche’s Riddle: Between Dionysus and Ariadne. In Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy (Vol. 47, pp. 39-43). Retrieved from https://www.pdcnet.org/wcp23/content/wcp23_2018_0047_0039_0043
Sandhoff, Bridget. “The Art of Etruscan Love.” Fluid Gender, Fluid Love. Brill Rodopi, 2018. 32-60. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004380233_004
Stein, Deborah. “The heart of the poet at the heart of his poem: the manner and purpose of Catullus’ identification with Ariadne in poem 64.” Criterion 63.1 (2018): 185-213. Retrieved from https://journals.co.za/content/journal/10520/EJC-146e1a3d80