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Barbarians in Greek Art?

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JCaesar44

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Mar 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/2/99
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Can I ask a rather simple question? How were Barbarians represented in Greek
art? Can you name a few examples? All the books I have on art and Greek
history do not give any examples of Barbarians in Greek art. Who did they
consider Barbarians?

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JCaesar
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stephanie guilliams

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Mar 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/2/99
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The Greeks considered everyone who didn't speak Greek a "barbarian"

Steph

JCaesar44 wrote in message <19990302074726...@ng-cc1.aol.com>...

Joe Phat Momma

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Mar 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/2/99
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sounds like the French

luvya!

cdo...@my-dejanews.com

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Mar 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/2/99
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In article <7bgujf$r...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>,

"stephanie guilliams" <sl...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> The Greeks considered everyone who didn't speak Greek a "barbarian"

The literal meaning of barbarian is "babbler" -- or a nonGreek speaker.


>
> Steph
>
> JCaesar44 wrote in message <19990302074726...@ng-cc1.aol.com>...
> >Can I ask a rather simple question? How were Barbarians represented in
> Greek
> >art? Can you name a few examples? All the books I have on art and Greek
> >history do not give any examples of Barbarians in Greek art. Who did they
> >consider Barbarians?
> >
> >Please respond to JCaesar44 as well as the newsgroup. Thank you!
> >
> >JCaesar
> >NOTE: Please Remove B.C. from my name to respond. It has been added to
> help
> >filter out junk posts.
> >"I came, I saw, I conquered."
>
>

Best regards,
Charles dowis

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Behemoth

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Mar 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/2/99
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JCaesar44 wrote:

> Can I ask a rather simple question? How were Barbarians represented in Greek
> art? Can you name a few examples? All the books I have on art and Greek
> history do not give any examples of Barbarians in Greek art. Who did they
> consider Barbarians?

The cannonical first great piece of art portraying a barbarian in the Greek
tradition is Dying Gaul a Roman commemorative to the barbarian enemies of the
Empire. The Dying Gaul shows pain and suffering, and at the same time is very
noble.
The nobility of the human form is the heart of the greek tradition-- But
for a suffering man to be noble was never seen in Greek art, nor were their
enemies commemorated to the extant that-- the only warrior worth portaying was a
victorious one, the man worth portraying was the Ideal one, and a barabarian
lacks much that would make a man ideal to a Greek, firstly that he is not Greek--
the Ideal man is the Center of Greek beauty, the barbarian is on the periphery.
I think one could only hope to find barbarian elements contributing to a whole.
I'm a little vague. Not an expert.
As for the neighbors the Greeks were likely to contact and what these
encounters involved? different scene. Hope I helped.


--Russell


Pamela Maddison

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Mar 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/4/99
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Greeks defined Barbarians as anyone who didn't speak Greek - just made
noises like animals or birds instead of talking properly. This included
Egyptians, Persians, Scythians, Thracians, Celts and (later) Romans. Bottom
of the heap were people who wore trousers, like the Persians, Scythians,
Thracians and Celts.
On the whole, they didn't represent them in art: it was bad enough that
barbarians existed in the world; who would want to spend good money to buy
something with a picture of them?
The main exceptions were that sometimes Amazons were shown in Scythian
costume, and in Pergamon they made a number of statues showing Celts eg the
so-called "Dying Gaul", typical Celt with moustache and torc - these were
the Celts who settled in Asia Minor in Galatia.
So I don't think you're likely to have much luck.


Weng-Kit Tan

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Mar 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/6/99
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The Chinese consider all non-chinese barbarians. Ha.

JCaesar44

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Mar 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/7/99
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<< : >So here are a few "barbarians" for whom there are illustrations
: >on pottery; wall painting and or in sculpture:
: >Etruscans,
: >Romans,
: >Phyrgians,
: >Persians,
: >Gauls,
: >Amazons,
: >Trojans.
: >Spartans (a very Athenian perspective) >>


I suspect Maenads, Satyrs and Centaurs wouldn't count towards a description of
a barbarian, for those were mythological creatures. Even if the someone then
believed in these critters, they were still not human beings (ala Persians,
Gauls, etc.) and can't truly be classified as Barbarians. Thank you everyone
for your comments.

Mush

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Mar 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM3/7/99
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What about Romans.

They do did follow they Chinese footstep??

Weng-Kit Tan wrote in message <36e01...@news.tm.net.my>...

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