"By Means of Performance": Western Greek Mythological Vase-Paintings, Tragic "Enrichment," and the Early Reception of Fifth-century Athenian Tragedy

Abstract

"ByMeans ofPerformance55: Western GreekMythological Vase-Paintings, Tragic"Enrichment,55 andtheEarly Reception ofFifth-century Athenian Tragedy1 ISMENE LADA-RICHARDS ΛΥ/ When classics students areaskedtoplacethe whenandwhere ofGreek tragedy, their answers invariably focus onAthens inthefifth century bc. Despite theundeniableprimacy ofthat time andplace, there isanunderexplored corpus ofmaterial evidence that posesa significant challenge toanyclaimofAthens' exclusivity intragic entertainment in thepre-Hellenistic world - hundreds of ornate, exquisitely crafted vases,someimpressively large,and decorated with elaborate mythological scenes. Theseclassy andconspicuous objectsare securely datedto thefourth century bc, their provenance isregions ofsouthern Italy andSicily (best known bythecollective terms MegaleHellasorMagnaGraecia), and alltheitems with known find-spots havebeendiscovered in tombs. Buttheextent andnature oftheir possible relation to theworldoftragedy and,morespecifically, totheAthenian center offifth-century theatrical production havebecomea realbattleground forsomeofthemostacrimonious disciplinary disputes andterritorial anxieties. A landmark publication, A. D. Trendall andT. B. L. Webster 's Illustrations ofGreek Drama(1971),catapulted tofame allsuchvasesas were known atthetime: they were gateways through which wecouldstroll straight into theworld offifthcentury Athenian drama,in thehope of recapturing the evanescent realities ofancient stageperformance orevenreARION I7.2 FALL 2OO9 ioo "BY MEANSOF PERFORMANCE" constructing tragicnarratives whosetextualtraceshave been lost.Scholarship ofthelastthirty years, ontheother hand,has belligerently rejectedanypossibleconnection betweenvisual art and the tragicmedium,maintaining thatsuch artifacts could have nothing to do withthestage.Since 1971 many moreexamplesof figure-decorated pottery fromthe Greek Westhavebeenpublished, and increased awarenesshas come at thepriceofevenfiercer contests, withbothauthority and ownership at stake.Who can laythestrongest claimon "the monopoly oflegitimate discourse"2 aboutthesevases?Who is thebestqualifiedownerand custodianofthearchaeological and cultural"capital"theyrepresent? Do theyfallwithin the remit ofthearthistorian? thephilologist and/or literary critic? thetheater and/or cultural historian? The fieldis ruledbythe appropriative ordefensive movesofsidesresolutely disinclined tomaketruce. A radicalreassessment ofthisuniquecorpusof evidencewas badlyoverdue - untiltherecentpublicationof OliverTaplin'sPotsand Plays:Interactions betweenTragedy and GreekVase-painting oftheFourthCentury bc* Engagingly written witha broadaudienceinmindand lavishly illustratedwith picturesof 109 mythologicalpots paintedalmostexclusively in theGreekWest(especiallybetween 350 and 320 bc), thisis a paradigm-shifting work breathing new lifeintoa long-ossified disputeand undertakinga revisionist departure fromthecurrent termsofthedebate . An exemplary piece of genuinely exploratory scholarship, thebook laysitscardsopen fromtheoutset:its territory is "unchartable," "a landofpossibilities and probabilities , notcertainties" (2). Although itenters thefray witha trenchant skepticism ofprevailing critical orthodoxies, exposingthena ïvetéofanysimplepolarizedmodelthatwouldpositiontheseartifacts incontrovertibly within either thevisual, iconographie economy ofthepainter's worldorwithin theor- *Oliver Taplin, PotsandPlays:Interactions between Tragedy and Greek Vase-painting oftheFourth Century B.C. (LosAngeles: The J.PaulGetty Museum, 2007),χ + 309 pages,$75.00.Henceforth abbreviated as P&P. Ismene Lada-Richards ιοί bitofthestage, itdoesnotpurport topreach, convert, orprovideveridical answers. Rather, infull recognition of"theunavoidable inconclusiveness ofthematerial" itisdealing with, it"deliberately leavesitopento readers to drawtheir own conclusions" (4) onthecontroversial issues atstake. Inthemany years this workhasbeeningestation,3 Taplin hasbeenrepeatedly accusedoflaunching bigarguments unwarranted bythestateoftheextant evidence - patchy and fragmentary atbest. Yetthefascinating story oftheearly and profuse dissemination ofperformed, dramatic storytelling in theWest istheonly narrative which canplausibly accommodateas manypiecesofthepuzzleas we currently holdin hand, eventhough theoverall picture remains incomplete. It isalsothehypothesis mostlikely toreceive incremental corroboration byfresh evidence, astheambitious "wider project of'decentring' Athens intheatrical terms" gathers paceunder theskilful guidance ofscholars likePeter Wilsonand Eric Csapo.4 Taplin's central proposition concerning tragedy's vigorous "spreading outthrough performances from thecity of itsorigin" (vi)isinfull accord with therelatively recent focus on fifth-century dramatic texts as bearing thesignsoftheir intended re-performance inbroader areasoftheHellenic or Hellenizedworld. 5 More significantly perhaps, fromthe point ofviewofcontinuities inthecultural positioning ofthe post-classical Greek stage, Taplin's assumption oftragic performance as themostwidespread waythrough whichthe massescametoknowtheir myths is deeply consonant with conditions obtaining in thecultural landscapeof imperial times, when theembodied performance ofmyth (intheform oftragedy's generic descendant, pantomime dancing) became the mostinfluential mythological koine,the teacherof mythological staples toallandsundry.6 Theargument insupport oftragedy's cultural migration to theWestgoeshandin handwiththeclaimforthetragic medium's converse withtheworldof thefigurative arts. Forging hiswayagainst thecurrent flow ofinterpretive fashion ,Taplinstakes an admirable claimforthefull legitimacy IO2 "BY MEANS OF PERFORMANCE" ofa lineofinquiry thatperceives tragedy andvase-painting as profoundly interconnected artforms "throwfing] light on each otherthrough theirinteractions" (2). Although the bookis nottheoretically oriented, itscoreargument fora fruitful reciprocity between artandthestageis consonant withinfluential approaches thatsee thevisualartsat the very center ofintersecting cultural discourses. As Norman Bryson putsit,"painting is coextensive withtheflowof signs through bothitself andtherest ofthesocialformation. Thereis no marginalization: painting is bathed inthesame circulation ofsigns which permeates orventilates therest of thesocialstructure."? Taplin's approach appears allthemore compelling when we consider that Athenian tragedy itself wasa quintessentially visualmedium which delighted indrawing attention toitsown special closeness totherepresentational tropes ofthefigurative arts,8 andcanbenaturally assumed tohaveappropriated...