Skip to main content

Abstract: Pickled Tritons: The Bodily Display of (Divine) Cryptids in the Roman Empire

 Dr Ryan Denson - University of Exeter

Pickled Tritons: The Bodily Display of (Divine) Cryptids in the Roman Empire

 

Tritons, the mermen of the antiquity, could be imagined as inhabiting the natural world and as creatures one may even encounter, similar to modern notions of cryptid sightings. Pliny the Elder, for instance, reports that a Triton was seen playing a shell-trumpet in a cave during the reign of Tiberius (Natural History, 9.4). As with ordinary marine life, their bodies were occasionally found and preserved as physical proof of their supposed existence. Thus, Aelian, in his History of Animals, discusses a Triton corpse on display at Tanagra (13.21), describing how a local man once suffered divine vengeance for profaning its body by cutting off some of the scales. Pausanias, viewing the same corpse a century earlier, presents two starkly different versions of how it came to reside in Tanagra (Description of Greece, 9.20). He further tells of another Triton that he personally saw exhibited in Rome (9.21), describing a grotesque form remarkably different from the mermen figures seen in Roman art.

This paper explores how the narratives and associations that Aelian and Pausanias attached to Triton corpses reflect on differing attitudes towards the bodily display of such creatures in Roman culture. As I argue, Tritons in such contexts enable us to discern two divergent patterns of thought. The first occurs where the Triton body is interpreted as that of a divinely-associated supernatural creature, retaining, even in death, a sacral aura. The second is precisely the inverse, a desacralized perspective wherein the displayed corpse is regarded as a mere natural curiosity of nature’s generative capabilities. These patterns of thought can, then, also be found with regard to other instances of Roman bodily display of mythological figures, such as a phoenix and a satyr.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conference Programme

Programme 09:00 - 09:15 Welcome and intro Dr Jane Draycott, University of Glasgow 09:15-10:15 Keynote Prof Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University 10:15-11:15 Panel 1: Metamorphosis of Bodies Dr Tanika Koosmen, University of Newcastle, Australia [Dis]Playing Changing Bodies: Metamorphic Greco-Roman Myths as “Display” of Form Dr Ryan Denson, University of Exeter: Pickled Tritons: The Bodily Display of (Divine) Cryptids in the Roman Empire COFFEE BREAK 11:15 – 11:30 11:30 - 12:30 Panel 2: First Impressions/Judgement of Bodies Jasmine Sahu-Hough, PhD candidate - Yale University: “The Sort of Man You All See Me To Be”: Visible Disability and Citizenship in Classical Athens Dr Dan Mills, Georgia Institute of Technology: Physiognomic Disability in Literary, Statuarial, and Numismatic Depictions of Claudius 12:30 - 13:30 Panel 3: Bodies of Servants Dr Anastasia Meintani, Universität Wien: Bodily Display in the Context of the Banquet Shreya Sharma, Independent Scholar: Visual Arts and British Impe
Post a Comment
Read more

Abstract (keynote speaker): Mythic Creatures and Captive Amazons

  Prof. Adrienne Mayor. Stanford University. Mythic Creatures and Captive Amazons  Motives for and responses to displays of extraordinary bodies in antiquity trace a continuum.   Bodily otherness could elicit negative feelings of disgust and superiority, at one end of the spectrum, and at the other end a sense of wonder and compassion. Motivations could include sensational entertainment, curiosity, domination, and scientific interest. To illustrate the complex diversity of intentions and reactions, my talk looks at how artistic images, literary descriptions, and public exhibits of mythic creatures (Centaurs, Griffins, and the Minotaur); wild animals captured for the Roman arena; anomalous and enslaved humans; and Amazons and female warriors in captivity aroused a range of emotions in viewers. Ancient Greek and Roman artists evoked empathy for hybrid monsters by focusing on their human features and/or their familiar, endearing animal behaviors. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans prefer
Post a Comment
Read more

Abstract: DISPLAYING, HIDING: NARRATIVES AND IMAGES OF SARCOMA

  Natalia Fernández Díaz-Cabal, Ph.D. Autonomous University of Barcelona and University of Shanghai DISPLAYING, HIDING: NARRATIVES AND IMAGES OF SARCOMA   Despite its "insignificance" from the point of view of its social and cultural impact, sarcoma, throughout its history as an identified and identifiable clinical entity, shows some curiosities that we would like to deal with: its visibility from the monstrous (the dimensions of a sarcoma can be of a remarkable enormity compared to other malignant tumors) to the invisibility of the term itself (sarcoma evokes bitter destinies and especially since the irruption of AIDS - Kaposi's sarcoma - gives it a definitive deadly connotation). This displaying or exhibiting objectifies the patient - the principle that the patient is only his/her illness applies. The human subject is not of interest; only his/her exceptionality and stigma do. In order to understand the meaning of what is displayed, it is necessary to delve into
Post a Comment
Read more