DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0172
14-0 EARLIEST ART ON GREEK SOIL.
ready-made heroes, imported directly to Greece, whom the Greeks adopted.
These Aryan and Semitic elements were, however, in time purified and en-
nobled by the Greeks ; the Aphrodite (Astarte) of the Phoenicians became the
incorporation of all loveliness ; and the armed priestesses of the East were
transformed into the poetically attractive Amazons.
Around the beginnings of plastic art in Greece hang the clouds of legend-
ary obscurity. Even in Homeric song the earliest inhabitants of the land are
giants of an older day, and the sculptors and cunning artificers of the past are
the gods themselves, — a tradition prevalent among the Greeks down to later
times. Tradition tells us, that, before human shape was given to the gods,
an older era passed when symbols, such as a tree, an uncut stone, or an un-
hewn log, were set up and worshipped. Even long after Greek temples had
been peopled with beautiful forms, these sacred relics were regarded as pecul-
iarly holy. The thirty pillars at Pharai were regarded as statues of so many
gods. In a temple at Kyzicos was reverenced a triangular pillar, which
Athena herself had presented as the first work of art. Even at Delphi, Apol-
lo's most sacred shrine, a pointed column continued to be his holiest symbol.
At Samos, Hera was represented by a board; and Athena, at Lindos, by a
rough beam. The continuance of such primitive forms down to a late day,
alongside of more perfect ones, is an important means by which the stream
of art may be traced up to its sources.
About the personality and characteristics of the artists of those very remote
ages, the gay web of myth has been so closely spun, that it is well-nigh impos-
sible to trace any sure threads through its fantastic texture. Generic names
of strange demoniacal and superhuman beings, the Kyclops, the Dactyli, and
Telchines, seem, however, to point to Asia Minor and the islands as the earliest
seats of artistic activity and development. The Kyclops came from Lykia to
Argolis, there to build the massive walls of Tiryns and Mykene. The Dac-
tyli (skilful fingers) worked principally for Rhea Kybele, the great goddess of
Phrygia, that land whose mountains were rich in metal, and whose river-sands
glittered with gold.lSo They are met with on the coasts also, working on the
Trojan plain and at Miletos. They pass to the islands, appearing on Rhodes,
Cyprus, and Crete, as well as on the mainland of Europe. The Telchines,
those magician artists, so near of kin to the Dactyli that the names of some
are interchangeable, are fabled to have been the discoverers of iron, and seem
to have belonged to Crete, Rhodes, and Lykia.lSl They appear also in Sikyon
in Greece itself. They combined the character of sorcerers, priests, and artists,
who incurred the vengeance of Apollo, and were slain by that god. They are
even reported to have fashioned the forms of the gods, and their activity seems
to indicate some improvement in working in metal which may possibly be con-
nected with the first traditions received from the Orient.I§2
ready-made heroes, imported directly to Greece, whom the Greeks adopted.
These Aryan and Semitic elements were, however, in time purified and en-
nobled by the Greeks ; the Aphrodite (Astarte) of the Phoenicians became the
incorporation of all loveliness ; and the armed priestesses of the East were
transformed into the poetically attractive Amazons.
Around the beginnings of plastic art in Greece hang the clouds of legend-
ary obscurity. Even in Homeric song the earliest inhabitants of the land are
giants of an older day, and the sculptors and cunning artificers of the past are
the gods themselves, — a tradition prevalent among the Greeks down to later
times. Tradition tells us, that, before human shape was given to the gods,
an older era passed when symbols, such as a tree, an uncut stone, or an un-
hewn log, were set up and worshipped. Even long after Greek temples had
been peopled with beautiful forms, these sacred relics were regarded as pecul-
iarly holy. The thirty pillars at Pharai were regarded as statues of so many
gods. In a temple at Kyzicos was reverenced a triangular pillar, which
Athena herself had presented as the first work of art. Even at Delphi, Apol-
lo's most sacred shrine, a pointed column continued to be his holiest symbol.
At Samos, Hera was represented by a board; and Athena, at Lindos, by a
rough beam. The continuance of such primitive forms down to a late day,
alongside of more perfect ones, is an important means by which the stream
of art may be traced up to its sources.
About the personality and characteristics of the artists of those very remote
ages, the gay web of myth has been so closely spun, that it is well-nigh impos-
sible to trace any sure threads through its fantastic texture. Generic names
of strange demoniacal and superhuman beings, the Kyclops, the Dactyli, and
Telchines, seem, however, to point to Asia Minor and the islands as the earliest
seats of artistic activity and development. The Kyclops came from Lykia to
Argolis, there to build the massive walls of Tiryns and Mykene. The Dac-
tyli (skilful fingers) worked principally for Rhea Kybele, the great goddess of
Phrygia, that land whose mountains were rich in metal, and whose river-sands
glittered with gold.lSo They are met with on the coasts also, working on the
Trojan plain and at Miletos. They pass to the islands, appearing on Rhodes,
Cyprus, and Crete, as well as on the mainland of Europe. The Telchines,
those magician artists, so near of kin to the Dactyli that the names of some
are interchangeable, are fabled to have been the discoverers of iron, and seem
to have belonged to Crete, Rhodes, and Lykia.lSl They appear also in Sikyon
in Greece itself. They combined the character of sorcerers, priests, and artists,
who incurred the vengeance of Apollo, and were slain by that god. They are
even reported to have fashioned the forms of the gods, and their activity seems
to indicate some improvement in working in metal which may possibly be con-
nected with the first traditions received from the Orient.I§2