Sculpture is a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture

Abstract

The purpose of the article consists of exploring sculpture as a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture. The research methodology consists in the application of analytical method - to determine the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of the phenomenon of sculpture as a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture, using works of ancient classics; the method of comparative studies is used to analyze approaches to understanding sculpture as a form of agonal tradition in the context of «Entertainment» (the discourse of antiquity); the hermeneutic method is used to interpret the concept of «Entertainment» in the context of ancient culture; the method of theoretical generalization is used to summarize the intermediate and general results of the study. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time the essence of the sculpture as a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture in the context of the phenomenon of «Entertainment». Conclusions. In ancient culture, agonism was its fundamental essence, and this manifested itself in all spheres of socio-cultural life, in art, politics, and sports. The spirit of competition was present in all aspects of the phenomenon of «Entertainment», shows dedicated to the February Lupercalia, December Saturnalia, Big and Small Dionysias, Big Panathenes, Pythian, Nimean, Isthmian, Olympic Games, where gods and winners were revered by the personification of their statue (Dionysus; Olympic winners: Epikharin hoplitodrome, Xenombrot, Xenodik, Kinisk). In antiquity, the anthropocentric perception of a person as an individual is not important, but an exclusively living body, corporeality is the main category underlying all forms of ancient culture. But sculpture, as a form of agonal tradition in ancient culture, is a great opportunity to show your own individuality within the framework of the canon, generally accepted traditions (Myron, Polycletus). Ancient plasticity became a great force, for it was the personification of the bodily understanding of life, the slave was understood exclusively as a thing, a body. But there is also a mythologized aspect of the artist's divine gift, sculpture as a means of transferring the divine gift of the gods to the artist who creates it, with this aspect of irrationality, antique plastic looks from a different perspective, from the perspective of the exaltation of the gods and heroes, the winners of the Olympics, who are beginning to be seen in the context of anthropocentrism. A hero is a person, he becomes, at least for a moment, like a god, and this is personified in the sculpture.
 Keywords: sculpture, agonal tradition, «Entertainment», collective experience, interpretation, ancient culture.