AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE FIGURE OF SKYLLA

細節

AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE FIGURE OF SKYLLA
CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

The fish-tailed monster about to hurl a rock which she grasps in her raised right hand, depicted with a flabby body wearing a short skirt or apron, each end of her forked fish tail angled up on either side, her head angled and turned to the left, her cap-like hair and tail enhanced by stippling, her body crossed with stippled bands which pass over the shoulders
2 1/8in. (5.4cm.) high

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Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ in conjunction with the exhibition "The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilization," March-June 1993.

拍品專文

In Book XII of the Odyssey, Circe warns Odysseus about the terrible six-headed monster Skylla who will take six of his men as their ship passes her lair. Representations of Skylla are comparatively rare in ancient art, her first appearance being on an Etruscan ivory box from Chiusi of circa 600 B.C. She appears in Greek art in the mid 5th century, but her image (upper body of a woman, lower body fish-like) differs considerably from Homer's description. Skylla holding a rock can be found on the helmet of Athena on coins minted at Thurii and elsewhere. For a recent discussion by Buitron see pp. 136-153 in The Odyssey and Ancient Art, An Epic in Word and Image.