The Sphinx on the Roof: The Meaning of the Greek Temple Acroteria

Abstract

In the Archaic period, from the end of the seventh and above all in the sixth century bc, sphinxes are ubiquitous in the figured decoration of Greek temples. They appear not only as acroteria, but also on antefixes and simas. As acroteria, they always occur as lateral versions, flanking the central acroterion at a distance. Although these figures have recently been the subject of several exhaustive studies, their significance remains a matter of debate. In the absence of explicit texts, the only means of comprehending their meaning is by examining the combinations of figures in which the sphinx makes an appearance. It is their association in three-part or heraldic compositions with a central vegetal or floral motif which provides the key to the explanation. This group is similar to that known in the Levant in which two sphinxes flank a ‘Tree of Life’, a group which the Old Testament texts allow us to identify as the cherubim guarding the Tree of Life of Genesis 3.24. This group was transmitted to Cyprus and to the Aegean world without losing its meaning. A series of documents allows us to verify that the ‘extended’ group of acroteria that we are concerned with has not lost its symbolic value by comparison with the ‘compact’ group known particularly from Archaic Greek vase-painting. An explanation in terms of eschatological ends and aspirations also permits us to interpret the other associations of the sphinx – with gorgons, with horsemen and with ‘Nike' figures.

CELEBRATING DEATH AT THE SANCTUARY OF ORTHIA: APROTHESISSCENE, THE IVORY CORPUS AND RITUAL LANDSCAPES IN THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

“…Echols (2020, 27) concludes his survey of the Tree of Life in Near Eastern literature by suggesting that the Tree and its equivalents functioned ‘as instruments of hope for immortality by people in most of the ancient Near East’. The sphinxes as guardians of the Tree marked them as guides to the afterlife: on the François Crater the Tree is signified by the vegetal ornaments that the sphinxes flank and raise a paw towards; on the Chigi Olpe this motif is represented in shorthand, with vegetation emerging from the head of the sphinx (Demisch 1977, 82; Petit 2013, 217–18; 2019, 441–2; cf. Fischer 2013).…”

“…My aim in this paper is to suggest that these prothesis plaques, while displaying imagery that is rare if not completely unknown in Archaic Laconia, nonetheless express ideologies very much in line with the semantic relationships encompassed in the ivory corpus as a whole. These relationships express heroic and eschatological ideals that have been recently emphasised in the iconographic programmes of a number of different media across the Archaic Greek world (Petit 2011; 2013; 2019), and the prothesis plaques are integral to this messaging in the ivory corpus.…”

“… 62 Petit 2013; Danner 1989; Demisch 1977. Laconian painters, such as the Naucratis Painter and the Hunt Painter, depict floral ornaments, often with volutes, flanked by waterfowl or roosters, as does Proto-Attic pottery (e.g., Moore 2003, figs 3 and 6).…”

“… 66 See also Hurwit 2002, 19; Giuliani 2016/17, 199; Petit 2013, 227–8; 2019, 444. Horse-and-rider figures often replace the Tree of Life motif on the roof ridges of temples in the western settlements, and may symbolise the Dioscouri (e.g., Euripides’ Electra 1233–7) (Marconi 2007, 46–8; Danner 1989, 152; but cf.…”

Ο Ρόλος Της Περιβαλλοντικής Παραμέτρου Στην Αρχιτεκτονική Σχεδιαστική Διαδικασία

“…(Goldberg, 1983). Κατά την εξέλιξή τους, όμως, τα ακροκέραμα εμπλουτίστηκαν με συμβολικό χαρακτήρα όπως φανερώνουν οι διαφορετικές διακοσμητικές τους εκφάνσεις 90 (Petit, 2013 (Dutton, 1984). Μέχρι τις αρχές του 20 ου αιώνα, οι υποψήφιοι αρχιτέκτονες μάθαιναν το επάγγελμα δουλεύοντας, ως μαθητευόμενοι, δίπλα σε εν ενεργεία αρχιτέκτονες (Forty, 2000…”