Discus-Thrower: The Idea Behind The Man Analysis

Brandon Shaffer

Professor Backer

ARTS-1303

Research Project

Discus-thrower: The Idea behind the Man.

Perfection is a much sought-after quality, yet is completely impossible to obtain. So why does man strive for it everyday? Even during the times of ancient Greece, people wondered what it was like to be perfect being. This “perfection” that they strived for was reflected in their art. The piece that is in question is Discobolus of Myron also know as the “discus thrower” (fig. 1). The “discus-thrower” by Myron, is a representation of the ideal greeks of the time, and has all the attributes that they looked for in perfection.The Discobolus image lives-on today as one of the most famous sculptures from ancient times.

Discobolus (fig. 1), is

a early classical piece by Myron, who almost exclusively worked in bronze. The original bronze statue was completed towards the end of the Severe period, circa 460-450 BC (Oxford Art Online). However the original was lost, and only marble statues copies that were made in roman times still survive. The subject of the piece is best described as, “..this marble copy of Myron’s lost bronze statue captures how the sculptor froze the action of discus throwing and arranged the nude athlete’s body and limbs so that they formed two intersecting arcs ” (Gardner's 123) (fig. 1). The way that Myron is able to put such little detail into his piece, such as the toes burying into the dirt and the way if looked at for a while, looks like he is about to throw the disc, is astonishing and would be something easily missed. He was the first to master this life-like representation in his sculptures. While there is no recorded archive of why this statue was made, many experts believe it was made purely for Myron’s freewill or another vocal majority, believe it was for a acriscrot with love for the sport of disc throw (Freeman). The style of Discobolus is that of Greek Early Classical, this statue meets many attributes that other pieces of the times had, such as frown instead of smile in the past Archaic times. The body itself becoming more unified with the piece focusing on a more single body part, such as the arms in this case (fig. 1), as well as the hair becoming simple strands or flat curls (Foat).
Beauty to the Greeks was perfection; The civilization that had Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. When something was beautiful, it became an icon and a goal for people to come that object. During this time, the Greek’s, used art and sculpture to glorify this entire human achievement, with the celebration of beauty of the ideal human form, they also used this way to represent the gods (Foat). When relating to Discobolus, its form and final goal is what made the piece beautiful in its own sense. Another image which existed along with the world of gods and their beauty was the one of heroes. With side by side with beauty was courage and heroic capabilities in Greek ideals. “Honor was as the same as courage whether at war or sports activities (Freeman)”. Such as Discobolus, many statues of brave soldiers and almost superhuman athletes were being erected and in return they would display the happiness of their victories with various dedicated offerings. The ideals of the greeks was best represented in art where everyone could see the stories told in iron or canvas, and where everyone could strive to be the man on the stand being adored by all.

When the idea of athleticism and competitive sports come to mind, one would think the Olympics.

Instead of movie stars and singers, the greeks role models were Warriors with battle stories against mythical monsters and Athletes, who appeared to be straight from the gods. While athletics was easier to become from the two. Through athletics, it was believed, perfection could be achieved. The ancient Greeks valued physical conditioning as greatly as they did mental exercises, and viewed the two as equally important in a person’s life. Ancient Greeks would compete in various sporting events for individual honor, community respect, and reverence to the gods. From this tradition grew the modern day Olympics, where athletes compete with one another in order to bring victory to their nation, honor to themselves, and strive for the classical ideal of perfection through sport. Discobolus, is a good representation of the perfect athlete with his form and strength, most obviously in the Grecian profile which unites forehead and nose in a continuous straight line and in the inguinal ligament which supports the belly and marks the trunk off from the legs. Even though in modern times his stance would be ineffective, but we do not know how the rules were set up way back. With an epigram celebrating a throw of 30 metres comes as a surprise in the modern world, where the current world record is just over 70

metres.
The Greeks were on to the idea of beauty and perfection before many others.

When Myron decided to make Discobolus, he wanted to create not just a statue but a following. Myron mastered his craft and was gifted in his ability to create movement, harmony and naturalism. With his life-like features and small but powerful details of the one his greatest Early Classical piece, Discobolus changes the way realism and perfection appears in art. The “discus-thrower” by Myron, is a representation of the ideal greeks of the time, and has all the attributes that they looked for in perfection.

Figures

Figure 1. ( Discobolus, Myron, 460-450 BC)

Works Cited

Charles M. Edwards. "Myron of Eleutherai." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Jun. 2015. .

Freeman, Charles. The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World. New York: Viking, 1999. Print.

Foat, F. W. G. "Anthropometry of Greek Statues." The Journal of Hellenic Studies 35 (1915): 225-59. JSTOR. Web. 25 June 2015.

Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. "Chapter 5: Ancient Greece."Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2009. N. pag. Print.

Miller, Stella G. "Book Review." The Art Bulletin 71.3 (1989): 510-15. Web.

Strahan, Edward. “Some Masterpieces of Art.” The Art Amateur 1.4 (1879): 72-73. JSTOR. Web. 25 June

2015