Etruscan stamnos of man (Arimaspian?) fighting griffin 360-350 BCE
"Aristeas was supposed to have authored a poem called the Arimaspea, giving an account of travels in the far North. There he encountered a tribe called the Issedones, who told him of still more fantastic and northerly peoples: the one-eyed Arimaspi who battle gold-guarding griffins, and the Hyperboreans among whom Apollo lives during the winter.
Longinus excerpts a portion of the poem (Longinus, On the Sublime, tr. W. Rhys Roberts. Chapter 10):
A marvel exceeding great is this withal to my soul—
Men dwell on the water afar from the land, where deep seas roll.
Wretches are they, for they reap but a harvest of travail and pain,
Their eyes on the stars ever dwell, while their hearts abide in the main.
Often, I ween, to the Gods are their hands upraised on high,
And with hearts in misery heavenward-lifted in prayer do they cry.
Similarly, the Chiliades of Ioannes Tzetzes quotes the Arimaspea. These two accounts form our entire knowledge of the poem, which is otherwise lost."
-taken from wikipedia
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| Etruscan stamnos of man (Arimaspian?) fighting griffin 360-350 BCE. Ceramic, top. cm 29.8; diam. opening cm 17; diam. foot cm 12.3. Inv. 39568. On the other side a figure of a winged woman, seated on a small column, crowned, wears a simple peplum and her belt. (Unfortunately, I couldn't find an image of the other side). This stámnos is the replica of the eponymous vase from the Vatican group G 113, which arrived at the museum with the first batch of the Guglielmi collection. The fight between Arimaspes and griffin appears in Attic production and in Kerthsch ceramics, but it is quite rare in Italiote ceramics. On the other hand, it is often found on the clay sconces of Taranto. In Greek iconography, this legendary people of northern Scythia is represented in perpetual struggle against the griffins guarding a golden treasure. In Etruria, we see it on vases, urns, sarcophagi and also symbolically associated with the funerary world, evoked here by the presence of the female demon. (taken from museivaticani link below). |
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