This paper will focus on the Rape of Proserpina as depicted on the Roman Sarcophagus at the Roma Capitoline Museum. It will mainly focus on Proserpina’s transformation throughout the story depicted on the sarcophagus by comparing it to the Ovid Metamorphoses version of the story. The sarcophagus relief shows one scene with Proserpina leaning into Dis – almost as if she is willing to be taken by him. The Rape of Proserpina as told by Ovid depicts Proserpina as unwilling and petrified to go with Dis. This paper will go into further detail how the Rape of Proserpina could be seen as an illustration for the unexpected death of a woman.
The marble sarcophagus was made in the Severan period around 230-240 AD. Although there is no exact find-spot
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recorded, it was typical for Roman sarcophagi to be placed in family burial chambers with other sarcophagi. This specific depiction of the Rape of Proserpina on a sarcophagus would be seen as an allegory for a sudden and premature death – usually for dead women. The sarcophagus sculptors were mainly interested in the precise moment when Dis surprises the unsuspecting Proserpina and swoops her off to the underworld to be his bride, also known as a ‘surprise scene’. Unfortunately, the sarcophagus doesn’t have an inscription naming the deceased or the patron(s). With the use of marble, the depiction of the Rape of Proserpina, and the richness of narrative detail, it could be seen that this sarcophagus was intended to be for individuals – specifically women of all ages – in the Roman social elite who have passed away unexpectedly. The Rape of Proserpina is discussed within Ovid Metamorphoses Book V.
Calliope sings a story of how Venus and Cupid make Dis fall in love with Proserpina by shooting him with an arrow of love. As she picks flowers in a field, Dis snatches her away and takes her to the underworld as his wife. Cyane, a nymph, sees the crime but all she can do is weep. Proserpina’s mother, Ceres, searches everywhere for her but can’t seem to find her. Finally, when she comes to Cyane’s spring, she finds out the truth. At this point, the land feels the anger of Ceres, as she is the goddess of harvest. Arethusa, a sacred spring, explains that Dis is the one to blame, not the earth. After grieving, Ceres goes to Jupiter. At first, Jupiter says Dis “raped” Proserpina out of love, and that she married well. In fact, Jupiter is the brother of Dis. However, Jupiter decides that if Ceres really wants Proserpina back, she can return as long as Proserpina hasn’t eaten anything from the underworld. Unfortunately, Proserpina was tricked by Dis to eat the seeds from the underworld, but luckily Jupiter was able to make a compromise. Proserpina will have to divide her time equally between Dis and Ceres. This myth is widely known as an explanation of how the seasons of the earth came …show more content…
about. The Proserpina sarcophagus shows a depiction on the far left of Ceres in her snake-drawn chariot seeking her abducted daughter. In between this scene and the abduction scene located in the center, one will find Dis, recognizable by his scepter as ruler of the underworld, surprising Proserpina while she is picking flowers. Proserpina shrinks back in horror while she is kneeling down, raising her right hand while turning toward the danger approaching her from behind. There are two women on either side of Proserpina – Venus and Diana. Venus is seen to have her right hand raised, speaking encouragingly to Proserpina. Diana is hesitant, holding her bow, ready to defend Proserpina. Proserpina is in utter shock and doesn’t know what is going to happen next. The abduction scene located in the center shows Proserpina being carried off by Dis. This portrays the deceased occupant of the tomb becoming a bride of Dis. Here, Proserpina is putting up no resistance to Dis, her abductor, only to be concerned to hold onto her robe. She is not to be in shock unlike the prior scene on the sarcophagus. Proserpina is leaning into Dis confidently, while the cupids flutter around them demonstrating the aspect of love. The two figures on the far right in the sarcophagus, Hercules and Victoria, have been added. Victoria holds a palm branch in her left hand and in her right a wreath as she moves towards Dis’ chariot. These two symbols of victory are usually used on sarcophagus reliefs to characterize successful athletes. In this case, these symbols are used to make clear of Dis’ ‘victory’ over Proserpina. Hercules could be depicted as marking the border between the upper world and the under world. He is wearing his cloak around his head as well as the figure of Cerebus looking out from under his knee. This indicates an allusion to the underworld. The depiction of the sarcophagus differs particularly to the Metamorphoses version of the story. The story of Proserpina in Metamorphoses makes it seem that she was petrified to be taken away by Dis. “Dis saw her, loved her, carried her away – love left in such a hurry! Terrified, in tears, the goddess called her mother, called her comrades too, but oftenest her mother; and, as she’d torn the shoulder of her dress, the folds slipped down and out the flowers fell, and she, in innocent simplicity, grieved in her girlish heart for their loss too” (Lines 398-405). However as explained above, Proserpina is seen to be putting up no resistance to her abductor and even looking confident by leaning into him in the sarcophagus depiction. One would conclude that the deceased being personified by Proserpina is accepting her fate to die, allowing Dis to take her down to the underworld as his own. The illustration of Victoria holding gifts could be seen as Dis’ victory of the actual deceased being mourned. The viewers of this particular sarcophagus would most likely be close relatives of the deceased. The sudden loss of said relative is explained through the story of the Rape of Proserpina. The deceased within the Proserpina sarcophagus would probably have been a dead woman. Mostly, women within sarcophagi with Proserpina depictions were young and unmarried, however it could be seen that the occupants of the sarcophagi could be older women. Considering the use of marble on the sarcophagus and the high quality of details, this woman would be seen as part of the Roman elite. The relatives of the deceased would find this sarcophagus to be somewhat relieving in a way.
The story of Proserpina as shown on the sarcophagus details her at first terrified and in disbelief when Dis comes to take her as his wife, yet when she is finally with him she looks comfortable and confident by the way she is leaning in. This could translate as that even though the death of this woman was premature, she is in a better place and is comfortable with her surroundings. Proserpina being carried away by Dis is shown in the center, and she is given portrait-like features, her torso is bare showing all of her beauty, along with looking to the right in the way of travel. She is anticipating the underworld at this point. This might suggest that the deceased is no longer afraid of death or that she is looking forward to being reunited with her loved ones in the
underworld. The myth of the Rape of Proserpina had mostly a funeral tone to it. The story of a beautiful virgin getting unexpectedly snatched away by “Dis” or death, made a perfect illustration to explain the sudden death of a loved one on a sarcophagus. Proserpina’s transformation through the Metamorphoses version of the story might have differed from the depiction on the roman sarcophagus featured at the Roma Capitoline Museum, however the point of this sarcophagus was to show the unexplainable death of a woman. The Rape of Proserpina sarcophagus helped roman elite family members cope with the sudden loss of a loved one by showing that she is ready to face death head on.
In this analysis, an examination will be provided on how sources from Pompeii and Herculaneum can be interpreted to make known the role and status that women of first century AD possessed. Specifically, reference will be made to the Fresco from the triclinium of the Villa of the Mysteries, Inscription of the Eumachia Building and the tablets of Poppaea Note. Nevertheless, prior to analysing the evidence that these sources reveal; it should be noted that the women of Pompeii are not to be placed in a homogenous grouping. This is a result of the diversified roles and status that women occupied in Pompeii and Herculaneum. To provide a comprehensive analysis of the roles and status women possessed, the report will be categorised into a domestic, professional and slave context; to ensure the dichotomy in the grouping of women is made explicit.
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Demeter’s grief is demonstrated through the concepts of divinity and humanity being symbolically contrasted with a woman’s purpose and social status as a mother or daughter. While “terrible” is a word we would expect to describe grief, “brutal” is interesting due to its violent connotations (Hymn to Demeter, 90). As a “brutal grief that seized the heart” it lends itself to a comparison with the violent seizing of Persephone, echoed here in Demeter’s emotions about her daughters’ capture, and perhaps denoting that the nature of what causes grief may be reflected in how it is felt (Hymn to Demeter, 90). The words “brutal” and “seized” also portrays grief itself as uncontrollable and forceful, even to the non-human Being described as “like four goddesses” while Demeter herself is divine and yet, unrecognisable as such seems to hark back to their youth and beauty as a divine gift, while Demeter, in her grief, appears to lose divine status (Hymn to Demeter,108, 94-95, 108).
‘Demeter’ is a poem about the story of Demeter. "Demeter was the goddess of harvest and Persephone was the goddess of springtime. Hades, the lord of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone. Hades fell in love with Persephone and asked Zeus to help him kidnap her so she could become his bride. The crops started to wilt and humans couldn't grow crops anymore. However Zeus told Hermes to bring back Persephone and to make sure she didn't eat any food from the Underworld. Hermes fetched Persephone. But before she left, Hades convinced her to eat 6 pomegranate seeds. Hermes made a compromise and said Persephone had to stay in the Underworld as Hades wife for six months. That's why there are seasons. In the fall and winter, Persephone goes down into the Underworld and Demeter mourns. In the summer and spring, she comes back and Demeter rejoices. " (1)
Similar to the rape of Io, Ovid describes Callisto as a “girl” (Ovid 16) in order to provoke the characterization of innocence within the readers. Furthermore, much like Io tried to flee Jupiter, Callisto “fought him” (Ovid 16), which means that she was unwilling, and the victim of this crime. Additionally, after she is raped, when Diana gathers her and all the nymphs, Callisto feels severely isolated from her own friends and family caused by the “guilt” (Ovid 16) of no longer being a pure virgin, which makes the readers sympathize with her because being lonely is depressing and harmful. Ovid conveys disdain towards Jupiter that is very similar to Book I as well. Again, Jupiter knew acting upon his lust was wrong, but he still accomplished it by disguising himself with “the face and dress of Diana” in order to hide the crime from the rest of the Gods and Earth. In addition, Jupiter states that “my wife will not see my cunning” (Ovid 16), which further characterizes the God as manipulative and dishonest. Overall, Ovid conveys sympathy of the victims of rape by using common insecurities and social problems among humans in order to invoke empathy from the readers. On the same note, Ovid conveys disdain towards the rapists by obviously characterizing them as manipulative, dishonest, and immoral, which is very distasteful among the Roman
Another woman who was also affected negtively by the will of the gods was the lovely Dido, queen and founder of Carthage. Upon the arrival of Aeneas and the beginning of their love affair, she is consumed by a love brought on by Cupid that was “...inward fire eating her away” and sh...
This paper will discuss the well published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomerory uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomerory uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses. She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomerory enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomerory’s focus on women portrays the era in a new light.
Over the course of time, the roles of men and women have changed dramatically. As women have increasingly gained more social recognition, they have also earned more significant roles in society. This change is clearly reflected in many works of literature, one of the most representative of which is Plautus's 191 B.C. drama Pseudolus, in which we meet the prostitute Phoenicium. Although the motivation behind nearly every action in the play, she is glimpsed only briefly, never speaks directly, and earns little respect from the male characters surrounding her, a situation that roughly parallels a woman's role in Roman society of that period. Women of the time, in other words, were to be seen and not heard. Their sole purpose was to please or to benefit men. As time passed, though, women earned more responsibility, allowing them to become stronger and hold more influence. The women who inspired Lope de Vega's early seventeenth-century drama Fuente Ovejuna, for instance, rose up against not only the male officials of their tiny village, but the cruel (male) dictator busy oppressing so much of Spain as a whole. The roles women play in literature have evolved correspondingly, and, by comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and The Wife of Bath's Prologue, we can see that fictional women have just as increasingly as their real-word counterparts used gender differences as weapons against men.
The time is the sixth century, the place is Rome and the person is Lucretia, a woman who contributed to one of the biggest parts of Roman history: the creation of the Roman republic. The rape of the virtuous Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of Tarquinius Superbus' (an Etruscan king) was the final straw for the Roman people and pushed them to want to change from a monarchy to a republic. From the accounts of the rape of Lucretia from ancient historians like Livy, Cicero and Dionysius, it is clear that Lucretias rape not only spurred the roman people to want to get rid of the Etruscan King and his family, but also revealed the important role of virtue in women in roman society.
GREECE & ROME. Archaeology [serial online]. November 1987;40(6):18. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 22, 2011.
The ancient Roman tale known as the “Rape (or seizure) of Sabine Women” depicts women, taken against their will by Roman captures and married to Roman men. These women later, intervene in a battle between their new husbands and their angry brothers and fathers. The ancient tale depicts Roman ideology and practices of marriage. It shows how a bride was transferred from living under her father’s jurisdiction to being ruled by her husband. The capture of the Sabine women, the war that follows, and the final truce brought upon the Sabine women themselves are direct relation to the separation of a young bride from her maternal family, the transfer of authority, and her beginning in her new family. The tale is told by two philosophical figures of Roman history. Livy, whom writes about the events in 30 B.C.E and Ovid whom rights about them nearly a generation later1. Both have different views on the event, its meaning, and its relevance. The two men also share the same thoughts in regards to their view masculinity and power.
If nothing else, this essay has proven the synthesis of Aristotelian and unconventional tragic elements, through the use of the tragic hero, the three unities and the support of a cathartic response from the audience. Also though, with disregard to many Aristotelian rules, to create perhaps not a dramatic success by Aristotle?s ideals, but undoubtedly an effective and challenging text which is Medea.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.
Here, we will be looking at a rendition of the high marble statue of Augustus Caesar known as “Augustus of Prima Porta.” Originating from 1st Century A.D., it is said that there is a possibility that the original sculpture could have been of greek descent. Upon a general overview of the sculpture, one can see that Augustus fulfils a millitarial role of some kind. From his very stance to the garments portrayed on him, Augustus is draped in a decorative cuirass and a tunic, accompanied by a figure of Cupid clutching on to his right calf. After taking the general themes of the work into account, one can then began to start unraveling the many symbolic elements embedded into the sculpture that allude to godly themes. Starting from the crown of his head, the very chiselment and structure of his face gives the work a youthful element to it, even though some say that Augustus was around 40 years old. A recurring theme within Greek and Roman culture is the matter of godliness and immortality amongst idolized figures themselves. This idea is usually depicted by displaying powerful human being in a younger light. This
In the plays female sexuality is not expressed variously through courtship, pregnancy, childbearing, and remarriage, as it is in the period. Instead it is narrowly defined and contained by the conventions of Petrarchan love and cuckoldry. The first idealizes women as a catalyst to male virtue, insisting on their absolute purity. The second fears and mistrusts them for their (usually fantasized) infidelity, an infidelity that requires their actual or temporary elimination from the world of men, which then re-forms [sic] itself around the certainty of men’s shared victimization (Neely 127).
Born from the remains of the castration of Uranus, Aphrodite arose from the foam in the sea and became known as the goddess of love to those who worshipped her, described by Hesoid. We see another version of her this goddess’s birth as well, from the gods Zeus and Dione, leaving a double tradition of Aphrodite’s birth and a basic duality in her character. Artemis, the Greek goddess of wild things, was born to Zeus and Leto, and remained a virgin goddess who roamed the forests with her female companions. These two goddesses disagreeing viewpoints on sexual relationships naturally set them up to have a conflicting relationship, yet their well-known trait of revenge in their myths bring a similarity to both the goddess of love and of hunting. Their personalities are compared through their primary functions in Greek mythology and physical characteristics, their behavior in myths that they are involved in, their portrayal in Greek art and literature, and if and how they are worshipped in Greek religion.