DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0107
VI
THE TYPES OP THE GODS
87
Olympia, no one doubted that it was Apollo, and not, as Pau-
sanias says, Peirithous. The Zeus and the Athena of Pheidias
were far above the level of ordinary life, and ancient critics
said of them that they not only embodied but raised the reli-
gious beliefs of the people. Of course to a modern eye, largely
influenced by Christian ideas of religion, they seem somewhat
fleshly. The Greeks stopped at a measure of moral and religious
idealism with which plastic art could fairly cope. But this is
not saying that their art was wanting in religion: they keenly
appreciated some sides of religion to which we perhaps are
indifferent, and indifferent to our loss.
Another thing which we must not forget is the close relation
of the deity to the community. Greece was made up of city-
states, of communities dwelling within boundary walls, and
united in themselves by all sorts of ties, of language, of race,
of history. They had common ancestors who were supposed
to be still anything but indifferent to the prosperity and happi-
ness of their descendants, and even sometimes came to their
aid in battle. And alike the city, and the clans and families
of which it was composed, united in common worship of ances-
tral deities, who represented the general life, and embodied the
ideal personality of the community. Hera at Argos and
Athena at Athens were especially representative of those cities.
All through the history of Greek art Athena retains her arms,
her helmet and spear, save in a few exceptional cases. Now an
armed woman is totally foreign to all Greek ideas. And there
is a curious inconsistency between the thoughtful face and
. rounded limbs of Athena and her martial equipment. We must
never lose sight of the fact that Athena had at Athens become
closely identified with the corporate personality of the city over
which she presided. She had to embody that city in all its
activities, in arms as goddess of victory, in arts as the mistress
of poets and sculptors, while as Athena Ergane she presided
over the industries of the town, and as Hygieia she bestowed
THE TYPES OP THE GODS
87
Olympia, no one doubted that it was Apollo, and not, as Pau-
sanias says, Peirithous. The Zeus and the Athena of Pheidias
were far above the level of ordinary life, and ancient critics
said of them that they not only embodied but raised the reli-
gious beliefs of the people. Of course to a modern eye, largely
influenced by Christian ideas of religion, they seem somewhat
fleshly. The Greeks stopped at a measure of moral and religious
idealism with which plastic art could fairly cope. But this is
not saying that their art was wanting in religion: they keenly
appreciated some sides of religion to which we perhaps are
indifferent, and indifferent to our loss.
Another thing which we must not forget is the close relation
of the deity to the community. Greece was made up of city-
states, of communities dwelling within boundary walls, and
united in themselves by all sorts of ties, of language, of race,
of history. They had common ancestors who were supposed
to be still anything but indifferent to the prosperity and happi-
ness of their descendants, and even sometimes came to their
aid in battle. And alike the city, and the clans and families
of which it was composed, united in common worship of ances-
tral deities, who represented the general life, and embodied the
ideal personality of the community. Hera at Argos and
Athena at Athens were especially representative of those cities.
All through the history of Greek art Athena retains her arms,
her helmet and spear, save in a few exceptional cases. Now an
armed woman is totally foreign to all Greek ideas. And there
is a curious inconsistency between the thoughtful face and
. rounded limbs of Athena and her martial equipment. We must
never lose sight of the fact that Athena had at Athens become
closely identified with the corporate personality of the city over
which she presided. She had to embody that city in all its
activities, in arms as goddess of victory, in arts as the mistress
of poets and sculptors, while as Athena Ergane she presided
over the industries of the town, and as Hygieia she bestowed