Mythology and Modern Art

Currently on view at the Kemper Art Museum is an exhibition entitled The Persistence of Myth. This show displays ancient pottery depicting scenes from Greek mythology alongside 20th century artworks likewise displaying classical themes. Now, as a card-carrying member (and former Vice President) of Truman State's Eta Sigma Phi (Classics Honors Society), I have to release my inner geek and allow her to prate on about this show for a bit.

I would like to begin with the five ancient, painted pots we have on display. Hercules (or Herakles), who is a very popular figure in mythology, appears on two of the earthenware, black-figure pieces. On the Long-Nose Painter's amphora he subdues the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, Cerberus, with the aid of Hermes, while Hades and Persephone watch and protest. In a nearby case Hercules is seen battling again, this time across the face of the Athena Painter's lekythos, with another famous monster, the Nemean lion. In both of these images, Hercules is depicted as a mature and bearded man, though the figure depicted by the Long-Nose Painter is much older. His age is apparent by his slightly fatigued stoop and the fact that he is wearing the lion skin which he combats for on the lekythos. It is actually really interesting that these two images were chosen for this show, because in addition to displaying popular motifs and technique, they also display the very first and the very last of the famous Labors of Hercules.

On other pots the monsters and titans of myth dominate the scene. The lekythos of the Diosphos Painter depicts a battle between the Olympian gods and the giant offspring of the earth mother goddess, Gaia, who were sent forth to avenge the fallen Titans. This scene is referred to as a Gigantomachy, with the preceding battle with the Titans similarly called the Titanomachy. This was a popular theme where the gods represented the cosmic order and the giants personified the destructive forces of chaos. Essentially, one of the earliest forms of the struggle of good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell. A very popular theme in Greece, especially after the defeat of the invading Persian Empire in 449 BC. The other famous monster present in the show is the half-woman, half-lion who guards the gates of Thebes with her riddles. The sphinx, which was a popular image and considered protective, found its way into Greek mythology from the Ancient Near East. She appears as a decorative form in the company of some lions, a griffin, and a siren on the Lotus Cross Painter's pyxis.

The last pot is the Nolan Amphora of the Hermonax Painter. Here two red-figure images are caught in a popular chase motif, showing a mature, bearded man chasing an adolescent boy. Though it is not certain, this is possibly a depiction of Zeus's abduction of Ganymede, a beautiful young mortal that the king of the gods wished to have as his cupbearer on Mount Olympus. In the legend, though, Zeus comes down and scoops up the young man in the form of an eagle, so this could just be a reference to the customary Greek social relationship between older men and young boys known as the paiderastia.

What all these pots and ancient subjects have in common is the apparent desire of the artists to tell stories that represented the social mores, fears, and ideals of their time. Stories about good vs. evil, heroes that represent the ideal man, riddling monsters that harken from foreign lands, and scenes of edifying male relationships, are all attempts to explain, justify, and come to terms with the world around them. In this way, art has not changed in the last 7,000 years, and the contemporary pieces in the exhibition demonstrate this. The 20th century pieces in the show recount popular myths to represent modern ideals and anxieties, and thus create connections between the world of the ancient Greeks and our prevailing times.  

There are more modern artworks in the show than there are pots, so I will just focus on a couple. A very modern political and social application of the ancient myth of a certain Greek king from Ithaca sounds out from Fritz Scholder's The Odyssey #2. In this lithograph from 1981, a Native American is depicted with his back to the viewer, wearing a simple deerskin flap and leaning against a long staff. The man seems down-trodden and more weary than the mature Hercules on the nearby amphora. His hand is raised up to his brow to shield the sun from his eyes as he gazes across the Great Plains looking for what he has lost; his land and his home. Unlike Odysseus, whose bravery and persistence meant he would eventually find his way home, the viewer senses this red man will never pass across his threshold into the familiar ever again. Scholder entitled his artwork after the blind bard's famous epic king to draw connections between the long journey home of Greek heroes and the unending search for the lost lands of the Native Americans. The Odysseus figure thus becomes a sort of poster-child for all men who are searching for what has vanished.

On the wall just opposite of the red Odysseus there is a engraving by Andre Racz entitled Perseus Beheading Medusa VIII. This image, with a dull brown background enlivened by the figures' bold black lines, violent reds, and nimbus-like white highlights, shows a victorious Perseus holding up the head of the recently slain gorgon. With his artwork, Racz wanted to depict the conquest of good over evil following the end of the Second World War. So the triumph of Perseus becomes the triumph of the Allied Armies and the defeated gorgon the end of the domineering and threatening National Socialist Party in Germany. Very similar to the way the Greeks used the Gigantomachy to represent their victory in the Greco-Persian wars.

There are many more pieces in the show that all share equally relevant themes from our present and our past, which I am certain will remain relevant in the future. I really enjoy this particular exhibit, from both a Classics geek's perspective and from the vantage point of a young woman who admires resonance and modern art.

Can you think of any modern pieces that reference ancient myth? How do these artworks illustrate modern themes or events?

An acknowledgement to Heather Read, PhD student in the department of Art History and Archaeology, and Elizabeth Wolfson, MA student in the department of Art History and Archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis. I referenced the leaflet they jointly composed for both art and artists' information as well as modern views and interpretations throughout this post. This leaflet can be found in the Teaching Gallery where the exhibition is currently on display.