Theseus By Greek Penny Small Summary

In abstraction, Artists during the classical era portrayed events in their art and narratives out of their sequential order. In this article, Jocelyn identifies two common patterns of narrative: hierarchy and spatial time. In classical art, figures are arranged according to their significance and role in the narrative, which is their social hierarchy. Later in classical art, placement of figures and events is solely based on where it took place because time in classical antiquity art was not measured in duration, but thought to be a movement through space. Therefore, to show that time had elapsed, classical artists had to change the setting or the location of the scene. The author, Jocelyn Penny Small, supports her argument about time sequencing in classical art by incorporating the discussion of stories and how they’re portrayed in the works of art. The story of Theseus is heavily discussed in the article. Instead of ordering events chronologically, artists ordered events as they were related by Bacchylides. Considering this, Jocelyn argues that the first event in the story must be the one that occurs in the farthest southerlyn location, so that Theseus can make
his way north up the coast of Greece and eventually to Athens. The majority of these events are portrayed on red-figure kylikes and each of them would portray a differing selection of the seven episodes of Theseus’ journey. One would then, have to tune into the specific geological location to determine their intended chronological order. In terms of hierarchical time, the author proves her argument while explaining some black-figure kylikes, friezes and pediments.
To focus on one example used, the black figure-kylikes, to keep in contrast with the above example of the red-figure, the events were organized at random by their importance to the artist. Therefore, in the Circle cup, Attic black-figure cup by the Painter of the Boston Polyphemoas, there are many inconsistencies in the sequence of events. Circe is placed in the center/ left of the piece and she has just taken form of a boar. True events are portrayed but no matter what Circe is doing she stakes the center “stage” because she is the protagonist and the most significant to the artist. Therefore, all the events revolve around her as the center, whether she was victorious or
not. This idea of hierarchical time and placement is highly demonstrated in classical pediments. “In particular, the Greek or Roman would wonder how one could know which deeds and which figures were most important if all were given equal weight in their placement.” They believed that time marching evenly and in perfect order doesn’t correctly tell the whole story unless the significance of each character is displayed. Considering the triangular shape of the pediment, the most important figure is in the center, much like the kylikes. Another strategy in classical art is the use of a solid background: “In most cases, all action takes place against a solid, undifferentiated background. The effect is one of timelessness, with only the style in which the object was made, the dress, and the accoutrements giving any indication of date, as the archaic ballplayer base and almost any segment from the Parthenon frieze demonstrate.” At a first glance of the Hellenistic votive relief, it seems like the figures are standing on a landscape but actually, the figures are ordered from right to left according to size, in their order of importance. Overall, Jocelyn’s argument is convincing due to her substantial pictorial evidence, supported with analytical text. The author included examples of kylikes and cups, pediments, reliefs and wall paintings, which all signified the hierarchical viewpoint. In every piece of art displayed, a progression of time is not displayed but the figures are placed in order and size to significance and in some cases, the most important figure is placed in the center. The author conveys that in classical art, the artists cared more about making it clear to the viewer which characters are the most important during the time and more importantly, to the artist. Since the author made it specifically clear that classical art is being discussed and supported the thesis that in classical art, there is no concept of consequential time, only a concept of importance in figures and events. This thesis was supported with multitudes of art examples and of all different kinds; the main factor they had in common was the placement and size of the figures involved. In conclusion, the author believes it is “a grave error to fasten on one theme and maintain that it explains everything, I want to make it clear that I am very well aware that exceptions do exist. However, the overall trends I discuss are remarkably consistent throughout antiquity.” So therefore, the author’s main point is that time has no sequence in classical art but they follow an idea of “hierarchical” and “spatial” time instead.