Laocoon : $b An essay upon the limits of painting and poetry. With remarks illustrative of various points in the history of ancient art.Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim
Philosophy
Laocoon : $b An essay upon the limits of painting and poetry. With remarks illustrative of various points in the history of ancient art.
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim
Aesthetics -- Early works to 1800; Agesander. Laocoön group
So, also, various errors in the “History of Art” have arisen solely from
Winkelmann’s haste in accepting Junius instead of consulting the
original authors. When, for instance, he is citing examples to show that
excellence in all departments of art and labor was so highly prized by
the Greeks, that the best workman, even on an insignificant thing, might
immortalize his name, he brings forward this among others:[194] “We know
the name of a maker of very exact balances or scales; he was called
Parthenius.” Winkelmann must have read the words of Juvenal, “lances
Parthenio factas,” which he here appeals to, only in Junius’s catalogue.
Had he looked up the original passage in Juvenal, he would not have been
misled by the double meaning of the word “lanx,” but would at once have
seen from the connection that the poet was not speaking of balances or
scales, but of plates and dishes. Juvenal is praising Catullus for
throwing overboard his treasures during a violent storm at sea, in order
to save the ship and himself. In his description of these treasures, he
says:—
Ille nec argentum dubitabat mittere, lances
Parthenio factas, urnæ cratera capacem
Et dignum sitiente Pholo, vel conjuge Fusci.
Adde et bascaudas et mille escaria, multum
Cælati, biberet quo callidus emtor Olynthi.
What can the “lances” be which are here standing among drinking-cups and
bowls, but plates and dishes? And what does Juvenal mean, except that
Catullus threw overboard his whole silver table-service, including
plates made by Parthenius. “Parthenius,” says the old scholiast,
“cœlatoris nomen” (the name of the engraver). But when Grangäus, in his
annotations, appends to this name, “sculptor, de quo Plinius” (sculptor
spoken of by Pliny), he must have been writing at random, for Pliny
speaks of no artist of that name.
“Yes,” continues Winkelmann, “even the name of the saddler, as we should
call him, has been preserved, who made the leather shield of Ajax.” This
he cannot have derived from the source to which he refers his
readers,—the life of Homer, by Herodotus. Here, indeed, the lines from
the Iliad are quoted wherein the poet applies to this worker in leather
the name Tychius. But it is at the same time expressly stated that this
was the name of a worker in leather of Homer’s acquaintance, whose name
he thus introduced in token of his friendship and gratitude.[195]
Ἀπέδωκε δὲ χάριν καὶ Τυχίῳ τῷ σκύτει. ὃς ἐδέξατο αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ Νέῳ τείχει,
προσελθόντα πρὸς τὸ σκύτειον, ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσι καταζεύξας ἐν τῇ Ἰλιάδι
τοῖσδε:
Αἴας δ’ ἐγγύθεν ἦλθε, φέρων σάκος ἠΰτε πύργον,
χάλκεον, ἑπταβόειον· ὅ οἱ Τύχιος κάμε τεύχων
σκυτοτόμων ὄχ’ ἄριστος, Ὕλῃ ἔνι οἰκία ναίων·[196]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account