CHAPTER II

THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK TRAGEDY ON VASE PAINTING.

§ 1. THEORIES ADVANCED FOR THE EARLIEST POINT OF CONTACT.

The question as to when the tragic drama first began to influence the vase painters has been in late years a much mooted one. When our knowledge of vase chronology was far more fragmentary than it is now, and the black figured fabric was dated as largely a fifth-century B.C. product, the attempt was made to point out the dependence on the drama of certain paintings of this style[98]. Later, when the improbability of this theory became more and more plain, and an earlier date was fixed for the black figured vases, other scholars endeavoured to show that the painters of Euphronios’ set—the masters of the severe red figured kylikes—stood under the influence of the three tragedians[99]. No one would venture, however, to speak now of the influence of any of the dramatists upon the vase painters of this style that flourished at the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth century. More nearly correct was the principle laid down by Robert, in his famous book _Bild und Lied_, that no vase painting of the fifth century B.C. shows the influence of heroic legends as recast by the tragedians and produced in the theatre. Before the year 400 B.C. one should not expect to find scenes upon the vases that are the direct outcome of the tragic drama. This, however, is going too far to the other extreme. There is a mean that may be struck, and this is, as will appear, more in accord with the present knowledge of Greek ceramics.

§ 2. EARLIEST EVIDENCE.

There is one point on which there seems to be little difference of opinion, and that is, that the lusty choruses of satyrs that abound on the early red figured vases were largely popularized through the Dionysiac trains. These groups of dancing, springing satyrs along with Dionysos are direct reflexions of the scenes that actually took place, and as these celebrations were the simple beginnings of the tragic drama there is in this class of pictures a remote echo of the theatre. Yet one must not understand that the artists were conscious of following any particular performance[100]. These scenes border more on what we should imagine a satyric drama to have been. It was a long way from this comical, kick-about dance of the satyrs around Dionysos and his altar to the time when the actual performance of the theatre, such as is seen on the Andromeda krater, occurs on the vases. Still these were beginnings. Another exceedingly instructive bit of evidence for the development of tragic influences (or rather it is better to speak still of Dionysiac influences) is found on a black figured vase in Bologna[101]. The painting represents the epiphany of the god who rides in a ship borne on wheels and drawn by two satyrs before whom march two others leading a steer. The god who sits enthroned upon the ship is being entertained by flute music furnished by two satyrs riding with him. Such sights we have reason to believe were not uncommon in Attica, and it may have been in such a _carrus navalis_ that Thespis travelled the country and established the beginnings of the later drama. These πομπαί and the satyr-trains appear therefore to be a very significant inheritance which the earlier vase painters have left us for the disentangling of the all too bare literary records touching the origin of the tragic drama.

§ 3. FIFTH CENTURY.

Long before one can distinguish definite plays reflected in the vase paintings, certain marks of interest in tragedy may be detected. There are, for example, representations of the ceremony connected with the dedication of the tripod-prize. The painters of _cir._ 460 B.C. have already taken up this part of the dramatic performances and have indicated thereby the growing interest in the theatrical exhibitions[102]. About the same time also the personification of tragedy and comedy makes its appearance on the vases[103]. These are not in themselves points of so great weight, but they help to clear the way for understanding the tremendous influence which the drama had upon artists of the succeeding generations.

Down to the middle of the fifth century the predominating force in the legendary scenes on the vases was Homer and the other epic writers. At this point the latter began to share their popularity with the tragedians, and gradually but surely passed into the second place. That Robert’s position is not a correct one seems to me highly probable, and nevertheless one finds his words so often quoted that there is need of placing the evidence together and inquiring anew into the question. For my own part I am unable to understand why the theatre did not exert an influence upon the smaller art of vase industry as well as it did upon the more important art of painting. When one notes in the fifth century that great artists like Timanthes and Parrhasios were drawn under the spell of tragedy it is but natural to suppose that the same was true also in the case of the less famous vase painters. Why should the influence have been more pronounced in one instance than in the other? If Aischylos and Euripides were popular enough to warrant the support of the illustrious artists, one may correctly assume that the vase painter grasped this point likewise. The latter was primarily concerned in producing something saleable, and the pictures that were popular and saleable for the first class were no less so for the second class. This so far has, however, no further weight than one’s personal opinion. Let us turn to the monuments and see what there is to bear out this view.

The Berlin Andromeda krater may be referred to first[104]. This is one of the most brilliant examples ascribable to tragedy. The profusely decorated costumes induce one to believe that the artist really reproduced the dress of the actors in Euripides’ play. The theatrical air about the work is quite unmistakable, and its Attic origin leads one to connect it directly with the immense success won by the _Andromeda_ in 412 B.C. The Kyklops vase, published and discussed below, also dates from the last quarter of the fifth century[105]. A vase in Naples representing Diomedes’ rape of the Palladium has been referred to Sophokles’ Λάκαιναι, and its date is _cir._ 420 B.C.[106] The painting on the Lower Italy vase published below is also from about this same time and follows the _Eumenides_[107]. I refer lastly to the celebrated satyr-play vase in Naples as belonging to this period, and furnishing at the same time the most palpable evidence of theatrical influence upon the artist[108]. The picture shows a recital of a satyr chorus in the presence of Dionysos and Ariadne, and is, as it were, a snap-shot of this peculiar institution. The painting has long been the keystone of the ancient testimony concerning the nature of the satyric drama. The richness of the costume worn by Dionysos and Ariadne gives an invaluable illustration of the actors’ dress. In this regard the work is in direct accord with Pollux’s καὶ ἐσθῆτες μὲν τραγικαὶ ποικίλον ... ὁ δὲ κροκωτὸς ἱμάτιον· Διόνυσος δὲ αὐτῷ ἐχρῆτο, καὶ μασχαλιστῆρι ἀνθινῷ καὶ θύρσῳ[109].

These are the most important examples that can be brought forward to show the influence of the drama on fifth-century vase painting, and although not to be compared with the vast number of paintings of a later period that indicate the development of tragic tendencies, they seem nevertheless to constitute a considerable array of evidence for the occurrence of definite tragic scenes borrowed from the drama. The vase paintings therefore of the last quarter of this century do furnish undoubted traces of the forms of the myths seen in the theatre[110].

§ 4. THE FOURTH CENTURY AND THE CONDITIONS IN LOWER ITALY.

Till the close of the fifth century, or at least till the time of the Peloponnesian War, the export of vases from Athens, Corinth, and other centres in Greece was a lively and paying industry. This traffic had been carried on with all the Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, but especially with the cities of Italy. By far the largest number of sixth- and fifth-century Attic vases now in the European museums and private collections have come from excavations in Etruria. This article of trade must have been highly prized by the Etruscans, and it is to their fondness for Greek vases that we owe a very large part of our knowledge in this important field of classical archaeology. With the founding of Greek colonies in Italy the Greek industries were likewise established, and it was but a question of time till Thurii (founded 445 B.C.), Tarentum, Herakleia, and other cities supplied the western demand for vases, and so destroyed the Attic trade. As a matter of fact, few Attic vases belonging to the fourth century have been discovered in Lower Italy, and this means that from about 400 B.C. the demand had fallen off, and the manufacture in Athens had become gradually less and less important.

It was to favourable soil that this industry was transplanted. The cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily were as Greek as were Athens and Corinth, and they were, besides, far more prosperous. The fourth century was one of great luxury in these western capitals and Athenian art and letters found a hearty welcome here. It is instructive to observe the clear traces of Athenian art that are at hand on the coins of these regions. The legends on the coins of Thurii, Herakleia, Terina, and Syracuse, dating from the latter half of the fifth century b.c., are as distinctly Pheidian in style as are those of the corresponding time at Athens[111], and this shows clearly the intimate intercourse that existed between the East and the West, and how rapidly the colonists took up and appropriated the artistic notions of Athens. Many other things point to the thoroughly Greek landscape of Southern Italy. Greek names of cities abounded everywhere, and the ancestral hero of most of the Apulian towns was Diomede—the Aeneas of the South[112]. Each town had its own mint and struck its own coin with, of course, a Greek legend and a Greek inscription. Tarentum soon became the largest and most influential city of Magna Graecia. The city founded by Taras was destined to be the Athens of the West for some time to come. Here was the centre from which Attic influences penetrated inland. The literature and art of Hellas were received here and handed on to the neighbouring cities. It is but natural that this flourishing capital should have become the seat of the vase industry for this part of Italy. The manufacture was not, however, confined to the limits of the city. We know that other towns in Apulia contributed to the vast number of vases that we know as ‘Tarentine’ fabric. There is every reason to believe that this thoroughly Greek industry continued without any interruption till the capture of Tarentum, 272 B.C.; but at this point the interest in vase manufacture no doubt began to abate somewhat. When the commercial independence and rank of Tarentum were gone the period of decline began, and the vases that belong to the third century B.C. are neither numerous nor of great worth artistically. The mysteries of Lower Italy vase chronology are, however, too great to be settled for some time to come, and it is best not to be rash in assigning hard and fast dates to a class of monuments, the investigation concerning which is quite in its infancy.

But what can be said about the drama at Tarentum? The remarks already made hardly render it necessary to emphasize the high esteem in which the Attic tragedy was held. That it was patronized extensively and that it was _the_ literature of the time was true in any Greek city of the fourth century, and here where a new Athens flourished it must have been doubly true. It is interesting, however, to learn something definite in this regard concerning the Tarentines. We learn from Plato that the people were inveterate theatre-goers, and that they did not stop short of drunkenness at the Dionysiac feast[113]. In another place one is told that when the Roman general Valerius sailed into the harbour in 282 B.C. the Tarentines were celebrating the Dionysia and paid no heed to the practical Roman[114]. Worse than this, Pyrrhus found it necessary to order the theatres to be closed that he might succeed in getting the men out for military service[115]. Such was the favourable soil in which the Attic drama took root in Lower Italy, and in this centre the influence of tragedy on the vase decorators was perhaps more far-reaching than in any ancient city.

The extent of the influence may be seen by an examination of the paintings on the Lower Italy vases. It has long since been noticed that many of the Apulian, Campanian, and Lucanian vase paintings have a marked theatrical composition. The costumes, posings, and gestures are often notoriously stage-like. In many cases one can observe the reminiscence of the stage setting; the scene often represents a temple or palace in or before which the action occurs[116], and even where one is not able to determine upon the literary source of the picture the dramatic handling is plain, and one is convinced that some tragedy furnished the suggestion for the work. The paintings are not to be considered by any means reliable copies of any particular scene in a theatre. They were abridged, extended or modified at the notion of the artist. When he took his ideas from the tragedian, he might turn the characters round to please his own fancy, putting in or omitting others. He never illustrated. The value of these paintings in helping one to reconstruct the lost plays is very considerable. They are generally certain to provide more valuable information regarding the lost literature than the few fragments that may have come down to us[117]. As the three tragedians of the fifth century B.C. were practically the only ones that were read and heard with pleasure in the fourth century, their work is the source of nearly all of the paintings based on tragedy. We may pass on therefore to our study of Aischylos, Sophokles, and Euripides in their influence upon the vase painters.