Niken des Lysander
The niks of Lysander are a round sculptural nik group of two figures from Olympia, described by Pausanias . There they were in an anathema dialogue with Nike des Paionios . The Spartan general Lysander donated the group of figures after the battle of Aigospotamoi at the end of the 5th century BC. The statues have not survived archaeologically, and their exact appearance is also unknown.
Deployment context
After their victory over the Athenians and their allies at the Battle of Tanagra in 457 BC. The Spartans donated a golden shield to Olympia, which they had attached to the ridge of the Temple of Zeus together with an inscription stone.
This anathema could be clearly perceived by any ancient observer as the pictorial defeat of Athens because it was attached to the most important temple of the sanctuary. In addition, it was placed at the highest point of the temple, which underlined the importance of this Spartan victory and the emphasis on Zeus as the official bearer of this victory. Even without the inscription, the ancient observer might have known the intention and the ideological concept of this anathem.
However, the highlighting of the Spartan victory is not due solely to thanks to the gods. Rather, the anathema is to be understood as a sign of the superiority of the Spartan state over the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War , which should be demonstrated to the outside world.
Against this background, the listing of Nike des Paionios , which has a clear anti-spartan intention, is of particular importance. It must be seen as a pictorial and political response to the anathema of the Spartans, which not only diminished the Spartan victory at Tanagra through the constellation, but also captured the struggle for supremacy between Athens and Sparta in pictures. This is how the conflict between Athens and Sparta was carried out in the sanctuary of Olympia. The Nike des Paionios is directly related to the so-called Tanagra shield and specifically refers to the anathema.
The Niken des Lysander must surely be seen as a political answer to the Nike des Paionios . The adoption of the motif looks inappropriate at first glance. With an eagle, which, according to Pausanias, is said to have been depicted next to Nike, not only was Zeus' companion animal depicted in a sanctuary of Athena , but also a motif that was clearly antispartanic in Olympia, for a Spartan victory over Athens to demonstrate. This expressly turned away from the intention of such an anathema as a pure gift of thanks to the deity.
Although the Niken des Lysander were officially consecrated to Athena, the contextual reference to her is completely absent. Rather, especially in this case, the historical aspect of the anathema comes to the fore.
The provocative concept of the anathema also becomes clear from the consecration of Niken des Lysander . The battle of Aigospotamoi brought the decision about the outcome of the Peloponnesian War and culminated in the surrender of Athens.
The Spartans decided in a polemical way to use the same motif for the pictorial representation of this extremely high-ranking victory that was clearly linked to an anti-Spartan basic idea in Olympia. They also had it set up in duplicate. This conscious parallelism represents an enormous humiliation of the Athenian state and a clear degradation of already won Athenian victories over Sparta.
swell
Pausanias describes the anathem as follows: “There is also another sanctuary of Athena Ergane . In the hall to the south there is a temple of Zeus with the nickname Cosmetas and in front of it the tomb of Tyndareos. The hall to the west contains two eagles and as many goddesses of victory on them, a consecration gift from Lysander in memory of his two deeds, at Ephesus, when he defeated Antiochus, the helmsman of Alcibiades, and Attic triremes and later at the goat rivers, where he was the Attic fleet destroyed "
literature
- Reinhard Förtsch : Use of Art and Art Legitimation in Archaic and Early Classical Sparta. 2001.
- Alexandra Gulaki: Classical and Classicist Nikedabbilder. Dissertation Bonn 1981, p. 36ff.
- Bernhard Schmaltz : Type and Style in the Historical Environment. In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute 112. Berlin 1997. pp. 77–107.
- Cornelia Thöne: Iconographic studies on Nike in the 5th century BC Investigations into the mode of action and nature (= archeology and history 8). Verlag Archäologie und Geschichte, Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-9804648-2-2 (also: Heidelberg, Univ., Diss., 1992).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pausanias 5:10 , 4; Pausanias describes the anathema as a shield, whereas the epigram calls it a bowl. In addition: Wilhelm Dittenberger , Karl Purgold : The inscriptions from Olympia . Asher, Berlin 1896 (Olympia, Volume 5), No. 253, pp. 369-374 ( online ).
- ↑ Pausanias 5:10 , 4.
- ↑ Pausanias 3, 17, 4, translation after Förtsch 2001, p. 61.