The Sea Of Gods, Heroes and Men in Ancient Greek Art (parallel text, English/Greek)

This book was published to coincide with an exhibition mounted in both France and Greece, dedicated to marine representations on vases, and particularly those inspired by mythology. Large numbers of vases - both Attic and Corinthian - were channelled to the markets of the West, particularly to Etruria, where they were found in their thousands during excavations in the 19th century, arousing the admiration of archaeologists. Thanks to the variety of shapes and decorated surfaces found in vases, the art of pottery developed a more extensive repertoire of subjects related to the sea than any other art form. The first part of this book examines forty-two characteristic examples of marine iconography, which come mainly from the collections of the Louvre, though also from those of other museums. These are divided into four groups: marine fauna and seafaring, the deities of the deep, the voyages of gods and heroes who crisscrossed the ocean, and, finally, the miraculous birth of the goddess who emerged from the waves, Aphrodite, born from the foam. The variety and aesthetic quality of marine scenes in vase-painting reveal once more the importance of the sea to Greek civilization. The second part of the book contains more specialist articles on the iconography of the sea, and on various aspects of marine archaeology, contributed by both French and Greek experts in the field. 100 col. Illus.