Pausanias_Travel_Writing_in_Ancient Greece [Maria_Pretzler]

Pausanias: Travel Writing in Ancient Greece
dom of expression, and therefore find it easier to represent character, let
alone actions and movement. In fact, the statue is such a success,
Pheidias/Dio argues, because it tries to depict the image already created
by Homer. 58 Philostratos, however, had a higher opinion of the power of
art, rating the powers of poets and painters as equal:
Anyone who does not appreciate painting does injustice to the truth and to
all the wisdom of poets, for both contribute equally to our knowledge of the
deeds and the look of heroes. He also fails to praise the harmony of proportions
(symmetria) through which art approaches reason. 59
(Philostratos
Eikones 1.1)
The idea is that painters, just like poets, are able to express their insights
about characters and stories in unique ways and that through their
creativity they can, paradoxically, produce a new interpretation of an
ancient tradition that is at the same time closer to the truth. The description
of art can cross the boundary between literature and visual arts and
allows a writer to combine insights gained through both media. Pausanias
would probably have approved of Philostratos’ emphasis on the value of
paintings and poetry as sources for mythical stories. As we have seen,
Pausanias investigates monuments to discover local traditions and unique
interpretations of mythical stories: the visual arts often allow him to
explore new aspects of the Greek past. As sources works of art can be
scrutinised in similar ways to texts, often using alternative evidence to
assess the value of the information. 60
Inscriptions and local informants
could supply names of depicted characters, which often allows Pausanias
to expand the cast of a story beyond a few widely known individuals. He
also saw iconography as a crucial means for an artist to represent ideas
and interpretations, and he often focused on such details, for example the
attributes of gods and heroes. 61
In order to accommodate works of art and associated traditions within
his memorial landscapes Pausanias had to pay some attention to chronology.
The actual date of an art work and the period it is used to illustrate
are often not identical, for many monuments commemorated events long
before their own creation. Pausanias does not, therefore, always provide a
date for the work itself, preferring to explore significant historical associations
rather than the history of the actual monument. Nevertheless, he is
interested in the chronology and development of Greek art, and he handles
art history in a way similar to his treatment of mythical and political
history: dates are rarely discussed directly, but they are often implicit in
the information provided in the description. Again Pausanias depends on
a system of generations, in this case teacher-pupil relationships between
artists that can form a kind of genealogy. Additionally, points of contact
between artists and historical characters or references to historical events
provide links to a wider chronological framework. 62
The development of
114