Sami Hoplite (Berlin SK 1752)

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As Sami Hoplit parts of an ancient Greek statue in the Antikensammlung Berlin called (1752 inventory number Berlin Sk). It comes from the second half of the 6th century BC. Chr.

The statue fragments in the current installation in the Altes Museum

Fragments of the statue were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century by a German archaeological expedition under Theodor Wiegand on the island of Samos during excavations in the Heraion (the Hera sanctuary). The pieces came to Berlin through the find-sharing agreement at the time. Here the found parts of the trunk and the partially damaged head were put together. In later excavations, fragments of the left buttock and the left leg were found. These pieces can be found on Samos today. The marble of the statue is unevenly colored. The left side has a dark gray-blue, the right side a light gray-blue tint. Such marble was only found in Samos and Laconia .

What is striking about the depicted warrior is his Ionic helmet , which, however, differs somewhat from the usual helmet type. The helmet is closed, but the eyes, nose and mouth are visible and give the warrior something threatening. The armor with its spiral-shaped decorations is also rather unusual and is best known from bronze warrior statuettes and vase pictures from Laconia. The fine elaboration of the decorations on the armor and greaves is more reminiscent of Sami work. The long pigtail that falls down to the bottom speaks for a laconic work.

To this day it is unclear whether the warrior is a laconic or a Sami work. Some influence seems certain, after all Samos and the laconic Sparta were close allies. A lively cultural exchange is particularly evident in the first half of the 6th century BC. Occupied. Most researchers, however, advocate the assumption that the statue is a Sami work, Conrad M. Stibbe saw it more critically, but later relativized his statements.

To this day, the reason for the installation of the statue in the Heraion is unclear. Something like this was more typical for the Spartans than for the Sami, as they usually donated more peaceful works of art to the gods. It is also noticeable that the statue does not have the usual white-gray, almost cream-colored exterior of Sami statues. But this marble was also used for the construction of temples on Samos and was therefore not unusual. It is also interesting that this work, which was clearly influenced by laconic artists, only occurred shortly before the break between Sparta and the Sami tyrant Polykrates around the year 525 BC. Was established. It is possible that the stone hoplite was a warning to the Samians not to break with the Spartans, as otherwise real warriors would be sent, which also happened shortly after the break. But the Spartans were defeated outside the walls of the city of Samos.

Stibbe comes to the conclusion that the statue was created by a laconic sculptor in Samos and on behalf of a Sami. Archaeologists have noticed the statue's non-Sami character before, but the assumption that it is the work of a laconist is rejected by almost all researchers to this day. The statue was restored in the 1990s.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Inventory numbers II S 23 (buttocks) and I 210 (lower legs) in the Vathy Museum.
  2. ↑ in Hermeneus 61, 1989, pp. 303-307.
  3. ↑ Stibbe: A Spartan Warrior on Samos? .
  4. ^ So 1946 Carl Weickert in Greek sculpture , Mann, Berlin pp. 20–24.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '10 "  N , 13 ° 23' 54"  E