BMCR 2009.07.19: Papalexandrou on Kunze-Goette, Myrte als Attribut und Ornament auf attischen Vasen. Akanthiskos, 1

Erika Kunze-Goette, Myrte als Attribut und Ornament auf attischen
Vasen. Akanthiskos, 1.  Kilchberg, Switzerland:  Akanthus, 2006.  Pp.
104; 55 black and white ills., 4 line drawings.  ISBN 978-905083-23-X.
EUR 31.00; $43.00.

Reviewed by Nassos Papalexandrou, The University of Texas at Austin
([email protected])
Word count:  1539 words
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This book is aptly dedicated to the memory of Semni Karouzou, whose
fecund scholarship provided the initial inspiration for its
undertaking. Its quality is commensurate with Karouzou's trail-blazing
insights and emic readings of Greek iconography. This is a specialized
study. Nevertheless, the very fact of its publication bespeaks the
continuous vitality and relevance of Classical studies in Europe or at
least in its German-speaking areas. In the preface the author explains
that this volume inaugurates a small series planned to include
monographs on ivy, vine, laurel, and olive as ornaments and symbols in
Greek art of the Archaic and Classical periods. One presumes that the
intended audience of this and similar books is wider than the strictly
academic one. If this is true, both specialists and laymen alike are
well served by this individualized study of myrtle (myrtus communis,
<greek>mu/rtos</greek> or <greek>mursi/nh</greek> (Att. Gr.
<greek>murri/nh</greek>) and its iconographic function as attribute,
symbol, and ornament on Attic vases of the Archaic and Classical
periods. Most commonly represented in the form of carefully woven
wreaths or branches, myrtle subtly alerted the ancient viewers'
attention to a wide array of roles, relations, moods, situations,
references, and values which are often elusive today. Kunze-Goette's
analysis shows that the study of both internal (e.g., strictly
iconographic) and external criteria (e.g., context and function of
vase, when known) can help us unravel the rich referential capacities
of this evergreen and fragrant plant. In this way, we enrich our
understanding of the role myrtle played in everyday Athenian life.
Likewise, Kunze-Goette points out, the correct identification of myrtle
in certain narrative scenes may affect our deciphering of their
intended meanings and messages.

The introduction lays out the objectives and methodology of this book.
Kunze-Goette first stresses its role as the most frequently used plant
in cultic contexts and festivals. Myrtle was the most widely used plant
for wreaths, and its usage encompassed a wide gamut of public or
private rites, civic ceremonies, sacrifices etc. Matrimonial or
funereal in its implications and functions, myrtle was closely
associated with Aphrodite and her cult while it had special
connotations in the context of the Eleusinian mysteries and beliefs
(e.g. the bandles of <greek>bakxoi</greek>). Despite this multivalence,
Kunze-Goette argues that myrtle is often misidentified, mainly because
ancient artists never really sought naturalistic verisimilitude. It is
of primary importance, therefore, ". . .den Blick fuer ihre
Darstellungsweise zu schaerfen" (p. 9) by carefully looking for primal
means of its pictorial rendering such as the shape of its leaves (often
confused with those of laurel) and berries. It is worth studying the
vase painters' conventions and special efforts to make myrtle
recognizable, albeit often with rudimentary or cursorily applied
brushstrokes--quite understandably they were trying to imbue their
subject with indispensable semantic clues. It is precisely the semantic
role of myrtle in various iconographic contexts that Kunze-Goette seeks
to elucidate in the reminder of her book.

The second chapter focuses on myrtle wreaths worn by gods and heroes.
The earliest pictorial formulation of myrtle wreaths can be traced back
to Exekias and his followers, who used them either as attributes of
death (e.g. on the dead Achilles' helmet in scenes showing his dead
body carried away from the fray of battle by Ajax such as on the neck
amphora Berlin F 1718) or as veritable elements of funereal costume
(e.g the prothesis pinax Berlin F 1811). Equally precise and clear in
their implications are Exekias' renderings that showcase myrtle wreaths
as elements of festive costume and/or atmosphere. A good example of
this is the Vatican amphora 16757 which shows the return of the
Dioskouroi, who are welcomed warmly by Tyndareos and Leda. All figures
are crowned with myrtle wreaths and Leda holds a pair of well-defined
myrtle sprigs.

Myrtle wreaths are also worn by various divinities on different
occasions. Most commonly they symbolize the explicit or implicit
efficacy of Aphrodite's power. In the Classical period, myrtle wreaths
crown the heads of the bride and the groom in representations of famous
mythological weddings (e.g. Peleus and Thetis). The myrtle wreath also
functions as an index of desire or lust that results in amorous
liaisons or weddings. In the late Archaic period Apollo, Artemis, Zeus,
Hera, Hermes, Herakles, Athena, Poseidon etc don a type of myrtle
wreath with long protruding branches ("Zweigkranz"), certainly a sign
of organic vitality and much more. Kunze-Goette briefly discusses many
examples that show a wide variability of narrative settings in the
context of which the subtler connotations of the plant are often
elusive. In a panathenaic-shape amphora in London (BM B 167), for
example, the setting is a sacrificial procession, presumably for
Dionysos, in which Hermes, Herakles and Iolaos, all myrtle-crowned,
ecstatically sing and play music. Is the myrtle crown here only an
element of sacrificial attire or it is somehow relevant to the music
and tone of the ritual occasion? Similar questions are raised by the
almost exclusive association of Apollo Kitharodos with the myrtle
wreath in the late Archaic period.. The Kitharodos points to Delos, and
he is often shown in the context of the Delian triad. Following
Shapiro, Kunze-Goette suggests that this iconographic predilection
reflects Athens' pro-Delian political leanings in this period. Yet,
Apollo is the god of the laurel from a very early age, and Kunze-Goette
wonders why in numerous representations of the struggle over the
Delphic tripod Apollo of Delphi is crowned with the myrtle. Did this
happen under the influence of the established Kitharodos type? Or, as
Kunze-Goette tentatively suggests, did the anti-Delphic political
climate enable visual narratives of the strife in which the god was
deprived not only of the tripod, the indispensable instrument of
divination, but also of the laurel, his standard Delphic attribute?
However this may be, it was not until the Classical period that
representations of Apollo with laurel wreath became more predominant.
But even in this period, myrtle wreaths continued to be used as visual
signifiers of the Delian character of the god in relevant narrative
settings (e.g. Apollo's punishment of Tityos) or in scenes of sacrifice
where this conservative element of sacrificial costume is worn by both
sacrificing priests and the Delphic god.

A more variegated and nuanced spectrum of meanings is encoded by myrtle
used as subsidiary ornament alongside (or instead of) the ubiquitus
friezes of palmette, anthemion and the like. Kunze-Goette shows that,
more often than not, special considerations motivated the choice of
myrtle. A well-known pinakion in Leuwen, for example, features the
epichoric nymphe Epidauros cradling the baby Asklepios in a tondo
framed by stylized myrtle. In this context the plant may be a visual
pun of a place-name, or it may have to do with its healing function in
Epidauros. Likewise, in the fourth century gender-specific funereal
vases, such as a category of globular lekythoi or the type C pyxides
feature Aphrodite and Eros visually punctuated by myrtle. In these
cases, the matrimonial connotations of myrtle subtly dovetail with its
funereal significance in ways that signal the prevalent
conceptualization of unwed deceased females as brides during
funeral--an ethos still surviving in rural areas of Greece to this day.
Matrimonial connotations also account for the ornamental use of myrtle
in votive or ritual vases specific to Artemis Brauronia or in vases
that represent Dionysos' wedding with Ariadne (e.g. the early fourth
century cup by the Meleager Painter in London [E 129] in which a myrtle
band on the exterior complements a vine full of juicy grapes in the
interior).

The semantic potential of myrtle sprigs, branches, and wreaths also is
patent when these are represented broken or bent in order to signify,
Kunze-Goette argues, the fragility or precariousness of an amorous
liaison (e.g in Aphrodite and Adonis scenes such as those of pyxis
Wuerzburg H 5333). The discussion here selectively focuses on numerous
vases, which Kunze-Goette analyses with sensitivity and insightfulness.
I mention, for example, her analysis of the tondo scene of a pinakion,
presumably from a funereal context, in Giessen (Universitaetssammlung K
III 55, ca 425 BCE), the rim of which is lined with myrtle branches. A
Nike, perhaps here a benevolent spirit, offers a broken myrtle wreath
to a kale, and Kunze-Goette sees the broken wreath as expressive of a
maiden's suddenly "broken," unfulfilled hopes for a wedded life. This
reading is, as Kunze-Goette herself admits, tentative but it provides
an interesting hypothesis, which is worthy of further study on the
basis of well excavated materials.

The book is well illustrated with black and white photos of most of the
artefacts discussed. Kunze-Goette has taken special care to alert her
readers to details which are hardly discernible in the illustrations
(e.g. flaked off color of added details). The copious referencing of
comparanda in the footnotes is cumbersome, but it provides a good
starting point for those who want to pursue Kunze-Goette's leads
further. An index would have been very useful.

The greatest value of the book lies, perhaps, in its making a solid
theme out of what at first sight seem to be iconographic minutiae.
These, however, very often turn out to hold significant clues for
understanding ancient viewers' dialogues with a wide array of
mythological or other scenes. Kunze-Goette's study of myrtle in
Classical Athenian iconography is a solid case in point.