Drama on the Urban Stage: Architecture, Spectacles and Power in Hellenistic Pergamon
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Copyright by Ufuk Soyöz 2010 The Dissertation Committee for Ufuk Soyöz Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Drama on the Urban Stage: Architecture, Spectacles and Power in Hellenistic Pergamon Committee: Penelope J.E. Davies, Co-Supervisor John R. Clarke, Co-Supervisor Athanasio Papalexandrou Timothy J. Moore Danilo F. Udovicki Drama on the Urban Stage: Architecture, Spectacles and Power in Hellenistic Pergamon by Ufuk Soyöz, B.Arch, M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2010 Dedication To the memory of my father Acknowledgements I would like to thank my dissertation supervisors, Professor Penelope J.E. Davies and Professor John R. Clarke, for their patience, enthusiasm and support. I would also like to thank the members of the dissertation committee, Professors Athanasio Papalexandrou, Timothy J. Moore and Danilo F. Udovicki, for their participation and invaluable comments. This dissertation was realized at various points through the generosity of the Kress Foundation, the College of Fine Arts and the Department of Art History at the University of Texas at Austin. I would like to particularly thank a number of friends, who listened my ideas, read my drafts, offered advice and gave encouragement, including Daniel M. Olsen, Ruken Şengül and Carrie Kaplan. I also thank to numerous other friends who made my life bearable during the writing process. Finally, I thank to my family for their love and support. v Drama on the Urban Stage: Architecture, Spectacles and Power in Hellenistic Pergamon Publication No._____________ Ufuk Soyöz, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2010 Supervisors: Penelope J.E. Davies and John R. Clarke My dissertation investigates the production, representation and experience of space in Hellenistic urbanism, architecture, artworks. Considering festivals as spatialized practices, I argue that the Hellenistic urban setting was carefully designed as stages or arenas for the celebration and performance of state ceremonials. To this end, architects used symbolically charged design technologies, such as skēnographia which was deeply informed by ancient optical science. I demonstrate that the perspectival developments in architecture, painting and sculpture were closely allied through application of skēnographia, forming a unified visual discourse that was highly attentive to the eye of the spectator. I reconstruct the spatial practices in three major sites of Hellenistic Pergamon, namely, the sanctuary of Athena Nikephoros (bringer of Victory), the famous Altar of Zeus, and the sanctuary complex of the theater of Dionysus. Through these reconstructions, I demonstrate that the spatial order of the Hellenistic urban sanctuary facilitated Attalid kings’ appropriation of Pergamene urban setting as a constituent of their sovereign power. vi Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................ ix List of Illustrations ............................................................................................... xiii Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Pergamon: The City and the Book .................................................................1 The Hellenistic Sanctuary: Problematics and Methodology ..........................6 Chapter 1 Framing Theatricality as a Visual Discourse .......................................16 Theatricality as Mimesis ...............................................................................20 Skēnographia as an Architectural Representation ......................26 Theatricality: A way of Seeing .....................................................................31 Spatial Theory .............................................................................36 Proportional Design ....................................................................39 Chapter 2 Theatricality and Narrative...................................................................58 Axial design and Urban Drama.....................................................................61 Hellenistic Pictorial Perspective Reconsidered ............................................76 Sculptural Narrative ......................................................................................88 Optical Theory and the Euclidian Sanctuary ................................................96 Chapter 3 On the Politics of Urban Order ..........................................................102 On the Order of the Hellenistic Scenic Space .............................................109 On the Order of the Classical Scenic Space................................................111 On the Order of the Proskēnion Stage ........................................................118 Political Significance of the Proskēnion Stage ...........................................123 The Theater of Dionysus at Pergamon: The Stage of Attalid Power ..........129 Chapter 4 On the Spatial Order of the Theatre Precinct .....................................141 Political Ideology of the Hellenistic Ruler Cult ..........................................146 "Dionysism" of Attalids ..............................................................................155 vii The Mystery of Mortal King .......................................................................165 The King on the Dionysiac Stage ...............................................................176 Chapter 5 Nikephoria on the Pergamene Stage ..................................................183 Panathenaia, Nikephoria and the Sanctuary of Athena at Pergamon ..........185 Staging the Sacrifice: The Great Altar at Pergamon ...................................192 The Narrative of Sacrifice: Gigantomachy ...............................193 Great Altar as a Performative Monument .................................199 The Pyrrhic Dance ....................................................................204 Sacrifice for the Hero-King ......................................................211 Staging the Sacrifice: The Sanctuary of Athena .........................................217 Conclusion On Looking into Hellenistic Pergamon ...........................................222 Illustrations ..........................................................................................................229 Bibliography ........................................................................................................277 Vita .....................................................................................................................295 viii List of Figures Figure 1: Greek vase; detail of a banquet scene (5th century BC) ..................229 Figure 2: The vase painting from Tarentum ...................................................229 Figure 3: Orestes and Pylades in Tauris .........................................................230 Figure 4: Red figure crater .........................................................................230 Figure 5: Hellenistic stage at Sicyon, Greece .................................................231 Figure 6: Stele of Hediste. ..............................................................................231 Figure 7: Parthenon, Athens .......................................................................232 Figure 8: Perspectival view of the Sanctuary of Athena Nikephoros, Pergamon .........................................................................................................232 Figure 9: Temple of Hera I ("Basilica"), Paestum .....................................233 Figure 10: Temple of Hephaistos, Athens ........................................................233 Figure 11: Propylaia, Athens ........................................................................234 Figure 12: Plan of the Temple of Athena, Priene .............................................234 Figure 13: Remains of the Temple of Athena, Priene .....................................235 Figure 14: Temple of Artemis, Magnesia .........................................................235 Figure 15: Capital detail, Temple of Artemis, Magnesia ................................236 Figure 16: Temple of Dionysus, Pergamon ......................................................236 Figure 17: Roman sundial, after Hellenistic type ............................................237 Figure 18: Reconstruction of the map of the world by Eratosthenes ..............237 Figure 19: Dionysiac procession with Silenus, satyrs and maenads ...............238 Figure 20: Priene, model .................................................................................238 Figure 21: Plan of the Agora, Priene ................................................................239 Figure 22: View of the Temple of Athena from the Agora ..............................239 ix Figure 23: Axonometric drawing of the Pergamene Acropolis........................240 Figure 24: Pergamene Acropolis, model ..........................................................241 Figure 25: Plan of the Athena Precinct, Pergamon ..........................................241 Figure 26: Panoramic view of the Sanctuary of Athena terrace .......................242 Figure 27: Plan of the theater terrace ...............................................................242