University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2015 The Greek Youthening: Assessing the Iconographic Changes within Courtship during the Late Archaic Period Jared Alan Johnson University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, Jared Alan, "The Greek Youthening: Assessing the Iconographic Changes within Courtship during the Late Archaic Period. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2015. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/3334 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Jared Alan Johnson entitled "The Greek Youthening: Assessing the Iconographic Changes within Courtship during the Late Archaic Period." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Merle K. Langdon, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gregor A. Kalas, David G. Anderson Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) The Greek Youthening: Assessing the Iconographic Changes within Courtship during the Late Archaic Period A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jared Alan Johnson May 2015 ii Acknowledgements I am pleased to thank several individuals who helped me with this thesis. I want to thank David Anderson and Gregor Kalas for their many contributions, and their insight regarding my methodology and theory. Thank you to Merle Langdon, my advisor and committee chair, for your keen insight regarding my topic, and your patience during the entire process. Thank you to Aleydis Van de Moortel for allowing me to further my academic career at the University of Tennessee, and your guidance with my course work. Thank you to Stephen Collins-Elliott for providing some crucial manuscripts about the Etruscans. Thank you to the University of Tennessee’s Classics Department for helping me develop professionally and academically. Lastly, I want to thank my beloved companion, Hope Smith, who has always given me support and motivation throughout the entire process. iii Abstract During the late sixth century and early fifth century B.C., Athenian vase painters started experimenting with a new medium (i.e. red figure). Black figure was still the predominant medium by the early fifth century B.C., and its pederastic scenes on some of the vases belonged to a coherently consistent presentation or a conventional set of images. However, the conventional pederastic motifs of black figure, such as the differentiation in height between figures, the variation among lovers (e.g. bearded erastes and unbearded eromenos), and the appearance of courtship gifts all started to disappear in red figure throughout the fifth century B.C. Sir John Beazley, arguably one of the most preeminent Attic vase experts of the 20th century, noticed that the erastai (i.e. lovers) were depicted more often as youths throughout the fifth century B.C. He labeled this phenomenon as the “youthening” (Beazley 1950:321). Over the last few decades, several scholars (e.g. Shapiro 1981, 2000; Stewart 1997; Kilmer 1993; Lear and Cantarella 2008) have put forth many hypotheses regarding this “youthening”. However, their arguments have either given too much weight to social/political change (e.g. Shapiro 1981), or did not adequately take into consideration much of the extant literature (e.g. Lear and Cantarella 2008). (1) I will analyze this synchronic phenomenon by synthesizing evidence from both Attic vase materials and the extant literature; furthermore, (2) I will utilize elements of both Foucault’s (1985) “problematization” theory and Anthony Giddens’s (1986) theory of structuration as a theoretical framework for my analysis. (3) Lastly, I will demonstrate that the youthening happened as early as the late fifth century B.C., and that the addition of the cane or walking stick of the erastai was instrumental to this stylistic change because it replaced the beard as the signifier for the adult male; moreover, the “youthening” did in fact mirror certain aspects of social reality, and reflect the various forms of erotic alliances between age groups. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………... 1 Outline of Thesis ……………………………………………………………………………... 11 Chapter 2 Literature Review …………………………………………………………………… 13 History of Greek Pederasty …………………………………………………………………... 13 A Symposium of Libertines, Philosophers, Historians, and Sir Kenneth Dover …………….. 13 Social Constructionists and the Isomorphic Model ………………………………………….. 18 Second-Wave Social Constructionism ……………………………………………………….. 21 The Essentialists ……………………………………………………………………………… 25 Beazley’s Youthening Period ………………………………………………………………... 39 Conclusion ………..………………………………………………………………………….. 48 Chapter 3 Theoretical Approaches ……………………………………………………………... 50 Qualitative Approaches …….……………………………………………………………….... 50 Methodology …………………………………………………………………………………. 51 Social Constructionist Perspective …………………………………………………………… 55 Problematization ……………………………………………………………………………... 59 Structuration …………………………………………………………………………………. 65 Chapter 4 Pederasty and the Ancient Literature ……………………………………………….. 71 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………….. 71 Lyric Poetry ………………………………………………………………………………….. 71 Pindar and Aeschylus ………………………………………………………………………… 76 Philosophy …………………………………………………………………………………… 78 Plato’s Symposium …………………………………………………………………………... 84 Comedy ………………………………………………………………………………………. 91 Oratory ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 98 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 106 Chapter 5 A History and Contextualization of Attic Vase Painting ………………………….. 109 Vase Painting as a Medium …………………………………………………………………. 109 History of Vase Painting ……………………………………………………………………. 110 Peisistratids of the Sixth Century …………………………………………………………… 114 Harmodios and Aristogeiton ………………………………………………………………... 115 Sir John Beazley’s Analysis of Courtship ………………………………………………….. 118 Iconographic Terminology ………………………………………………………………….. 120 Symbolism and Meaning …………………………………………………………………… 122 Questions of Context: Etruria ………………………………………………………………. 124 Chapter 6 Material Evidence for Black Figure ……………………………………………….. 134 A Representation of Pederasty ……………………………………………………………… 134 Analysis of Black Figured Scenes ………………………………………………………….. 136 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 150 Chapter 7 Material Evidence for Red Figure …………………………………………………. 154 Youthening during the Fifth Century ……………………………………………………….. 154 Beazley’s Terse Analysis …………………………………………………………………… 156 Stylistic Changes and Their Implications in Red Figure …………………………………… 157 Analysis of Illustrations …………………………………………………………………….. 161 Chapter 8 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………. 188 Raison D’Etre For Youthening ……………………………………………………………... 188 v Decline in Pedagogical Elements …………………………………………………………… 188 Youthening as a Result of the Social and Political Environment …………………………... 190 The Beautification of Pederastic Scenes ……………………………………………………. 192 Youthening as Mutual Knowledge …………………………………………………………. 193 List of References …………………………………………………………………………….. 200 Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………… 207 Vita ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 260 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Vatican City, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco Vaticano, 352 (b-f amphora, Group E, BA 301064) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 209 Figure 2: London, British Museum, B 153 (b-f amphora, Affecter, BA 301333) …………... 210 Figure 3: Private Collection (b-f kalpis, BA 9029242) ……………………………………... 211 Figure 4: Malibu, The J. Paul Getty Museum, 82 AE 53 (r-f psykter, attributed to Smikros, BA 30685) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 212 Figure 5: Turin, Museo di Antichita, 3032 (r-f kylix, manner of Epeleios Painter, BA 201359) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 213 Figure 6: San Antonio Museum of Art 86.134.80 (r-f kylix, attributed to the Eretria Painter, BA 30962) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 214 Figure 7: San Antonio Museum of Art 86.134.80 (r-f kylix, attributed to the Eretria Painter, BA 30962) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 215 Figure 8: San Antonio Museum of Art 86.134.80 (r-f kylix, attributed to the Eretria Painter, BA 30962) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 216 Figure 9: London, British Museum, 1865.11-18.39 (b-f amphora, Berlin Painter, BA 320395) ………………………………………………………………………………………………..... 217 Figure 10: London, British Museum, F65 (r-f bell krater, Dinos Painter, BA 215288) ……... 218 Figure 11: Boston 13.94 (r-f fragment, Douris Painter, BA 9017565) ………………………. 219 Figure 12: Malibu 83.AE.321 (r-f cup, Tarquinia Painter, BA 44984) ……………………… 220 Figure 13: Berlin, Antikensammlung, F2412 (r-f oinochoe, Shuválov Painter, BA 216500) .. 221 Figure 14: University of Mississippi 1977.3.72, (b-f kotyle, BA 7285)