DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0306
28G
PRINCIPLES OF GREEK ART
CHAP.
and prevent us from quickly accepting a new hypothesis which
may be based, like the previous one, on the mere absence of
evidence.
As to the third kind of influence, which shows itself merely
in tone and treatment, one cannot speak positively. It is Otto
Jahn who laid stress on the lyric tone or background some-
times to be observed in works of Greek art. He speaks of the
sculptors of -pathos — Scopas, Praxiteles, and the like — as offer-
ing us something parallel to lyric poetry. But these artists
were not contemporary with the great lyric age of Greece,
and the parallelism is by no means clear. In any case, we can
scarcely carry the view further, to include works of so unam-
bitious a class as vase-paintings.
Tragedy. — We come finally to the dramatic writings of the
great Athenian poets of the fifth century. How far did Aeschy-
lus or Euripides influence vase-painting ?
Subjects. — It can easily be shown that the choice of subjects
by vase-painters is often determined by the existence of well-
known tragedies which dealt with particular myths. We have
reason to think that the Orestes trilogy of Aeschylus and the
tragedies of Euripides were especially popular and often acted
in the Hellenistic age. The subject of the fate of Orestes, and
myths dealt with in many of the plays of Euripides are de-
cidedly common on the late vases of Lower Italy, but not on
the Athenian vases of the fifth century. Thus it would seem
that the Greek drama exercised this kind of influence much
more one or two centuries after the great age of the drama
than it did at the time. We shall find examples as we go on.
But the influence is more often to be observed in the mere
choice of theme than in the way in which the theme is worked
out.
Manner of Treatment. — How far the manner of tragedy
influenced art is a question which has been a good deal dis-
cussed. In my opinion, if the elements of Greek art had been
PRINCIPLES OF GREEK ART
CHAP.
and prevent us from quickly accepting a new hypothesis which
may be based, like the previous one, on the mere absence of
evidence.
As to the third kind of influence, which shows itself merely
in tone and treatment, one cannot speak positively. It is Otto
Jahn who laid stress on the lyric tone or background some-
times to be observed in works of Greek art. He speaks of the
sculptors of -pathos — Scopas, Praxiteles, and the like — as offer-
ing us something parallel to lyric poetry. But these artists
were not contemporary with the great lyric age of Greece,
and the parallelism is by no means clear. In any case, we can
scarcely carry the view further, to include works of so unam-
bitious a class as vase-paintings.
Tragedy. — We come finally to the dramatic writings of the
great Athenian poets of the fifth century. How far did Aeschy-
lus or Euripides influence vase-painting ?
Subjects. — It can easily be shown that the choice of subjects
by vase-painters is often determined by the existence of well-
known tragedies which dealt with particular myths. We have
reason to think that the Orestes trilogy of Aeschylus and the
tragedies of Euripides were especially popular and often acted
in the Hellenistic age. The subject of the fate of Orestes, and
myths dealt with in many of the plays of Euripides are de-
cidedly common on the late vases of Lower Italy, but not on
the Athenian vases of the fifth century. Thus it would seem
that the Greek drama exercised this kind of influence much
more one or two centuries after the great age of the drama
than it did at the time. We shall find examples as we go on.
But the influence is more often to be observed in the mere
choice of theme than in the way in which the theme is worked
out.
Manner of Treatment. — How far the manner of tragedy
influenced art is a question which has been a good deal dis-
cussed. In my opinion, if the elements of Greek art had been