TIDBITS 11/01/09
Benjamin Mark
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A Beautifully Ugly Gorgoneion
From the time Perseus lopped off Medusa's head--
she's the one who could never be bothered to use a
little conditioning in her hair to tame those wild locks
--well ... from that time on the gorgoneion became functional
as an apotropaic device. Use evil to ward off evil I always say.
As an aside ... the Gorgon is always alluded to as a head. No arms.
No legs. No body in fact. And almost always ugly as ugly can be.
Except for this dichotomy. When ugly is only ugly ... then it's
pretty much ugly. But when ugly gets really ugly ... when it
descends into the muck and mire of ugliness ... when it transcends
all boundaries of ugliness and begins to border on the edge of
grotesqueness ... why then ... it abruptly transforms ... and suddenly
it's beautiful. Still ugly mind you. But also quite beautiful.
There is however an exception to the ugliness of the Medusa. There
is a Hellenistic marble known as the Medusa Rondanini which is in
fact quite beautiful in the traditional sense. I guess if viewed from
the right angle one can see beauty in all things. I believe this
surely holds true for all living creatures except for that anomaly
called a politician. No beating me over the head on this one folks.
I'm Benjy the setting man ... I yam what I yam what I yam ... I fights
to the finish when I see a winger ... don't matter left or right.
For what it's worth ... Gorgons are all over the place. Dress. Dishes.
Weapons. Coins. Mosaic floors. Doors. And even ... for all you
jewelers ... kilns.
So ... there's this Gorgoneion I have ... appliqu�: gold foil ...
dating to late 6th century B.C. ... probably used for funerary
purposes ... no value given ... but quite stunning. Wanna see?
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits ... and you will see represented on our pages a
Gogoneion of beautifully ugliness.
And there ya have it.
That's it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
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