The purpose of this research is to investigate, re-evaluate and synthesize earliest images depicting the Gorgoneion (gorgon’s head) and Gorgon (whole-body). These figures refer to prehistory covering a wide chronological frame in the Aegean World. Ten artefacts in total comprising of pottery, masks, seals are examined simultaneously for the first time. A detailed, critical evaluation of their dating, and the trade connections between mainland Greece and the Aegean are discussed. The issue is about making a symbol of the deceased introduced much earlier than the Archaic and later antiquity, showing the evolution of this form and the associated mythology has deep roots in the remote past. The forms of the Gorgon of the Archaic period depict a monster demon-like bellows, with feathers, snakes or spiral tentacles in the head, tongue protruding from the mouth and tusks. Snakes are the predominant element of this gorgon, which composes the gargoyle’s hairstyle. This figure is identified and appropriately assessed from a dozen of images in pottery and semiprecious stones, in the wider prehistoric Aegean, making the related myths on Gorgon-Medusa interwoven with myths that have had a wide reflection throughout the later ancient times.
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La perception du sceptre en Grèce de l’époque d’Homère et de Mycènes à la lumière des parallèles de l’Orient Antique
The symbols of royal power look like being similar to each other in various cultures of the Ancient World, but this resemblance may hide the regional specifics from the researchers. Early Greek sceptre and Hittite kalmus are considered to be equivalents of mace and of shepherd’s crook. However, this theory is not very convincing. Analysing the textual attestations of the Ancient Greek sceptre and Hittite kalmus, we have found out that these objects were considered as close to throwing weapon and therefore associated with a bolt of lightning, the symbol of the storm god. Archaeological evidences make clear that the symbols of power like sceptre have their origin in a weapon similar to spear.
Die Hypomeiones in Sparta
The article is devoted to the analysis of the structural changes in the civic community of Sparta at the end of the 5th–beginning of the 4th century ВС. The analysis of the sources shows that the civic community began to disintegrate and the new social group of Hypomeiones appeared just in this period. The author considers in detail questions connected with the reasons, time of appearance and status of this category of the Spartan citizenry. Particular attention is paid to the mechanism by which full citizens have lost some of their rights and have fallen down the social ladder, becoming Hypomeiones. The author examines all the sources related to this issue and shows as much as possible the extent to which this topic has been dealt with in Russian and Western historiography.
Kalokagathia: to a Question on Formation of an Image of the Ideal Person in Antiquity and During Modern Time
This paper is devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of kalokagathia, developed by the Greek writers and philosophers in 5th–4th centuries BC The term kalokagathia combines two adjectives, with kalos designating outward, and agathos — inward perfection. The resulting neologism—a word-combination—denotes a predicate of perfection, with no existing synonyms to express the notion of virtue in the Greek lexicon at that time. For the upbringing of the ideal person, leisure (schole) was necessary, which in this slaveholding society was available to all free citizens. The author of the paper emphasises that during the Archaic period kalos kagathos was the self-determination of aristocracy, while during the Classical period the term acquired more generalized semantic value and was applied to worthy citizens of all strata of society. The specificity of the term kalokagathia was most fully developed in the writings of Thucydides and Xenophon. Thus, in Sparta kalos kagathos designated the ideal soldier, whereas in Athens — the ideal person and the citizen. The author of paper considers it difficult to give an adequate translation of the terms kalokagathia and kalos kagathos; therefore, it would be more rational to transliterate both of them. In the modern-day society, the concept of the ideal person appears to be in demand again, mainly within the framework for developing therapeutic sports and education system for the younger generations.
On the Representation and Self-representation of the Argead Rulers (before Alexander the Great): the Title Basileus
In this article, the author considers the use of the title basileus in relation to the Macedonian monarchs before Alexander the Great. He shows that the evidence we have does not prove the point that the Argeads ruling prior to the reign of Philip II bore the formal title basileus. As to Philip, it is not ruled out that some epigraphic documents attest the employment of the title basileus under him. Nevertheless, none of them can be regarded as irrefutable proof in the relation, and therefore it has to be recognized that at the present the question of Philip’s use of the official title basileus remains open.
Stoneworkers’ Hercules. A Comment on an Upper Moesian Inscription
The paper aims to provide comments on the worship of Hercules as a protector of Roman stoneworkers, focusing on an inscription from Upper Moesia — a tabula from the Iron Gates gorge dedicated to Hercules by the lapidarii of the legions VII Claudia and IV Flavia.
Remarks on the so-called Plotinus’ Sarcophagus (‘Vatican Museums’, inv. 9504)
In this article, we offer some philosophical notes on the so-called Plotinus sarcophagus, currently exhibited in the ‘Vatican Museums’ (inv. 9504), which has been dated to the end of the third quarter of the 3rd century. Since the sarcophagus in question has been the subject of discussion among experts since the 1920s, our aim is to contribute to the scientific debate with a number of philosophical remarks to assist in the interpretation of the iconographic representation of the teacher teaching, accompanied by two Muses, but also to make particular reference to certain passages taken from the On the Life of Plotinus, written by his disciple, Porphyry, three decades after the death of his teacher.
Some Considerations on the Praefectus ripae legionis primae Ioviae cohortis et secundae Herculiae musculorum Scythicorum et classis in plateypegiis
This article examines the passage XXXIX, 35 from Notitia Dignitatum, the only literary source referring to the fleet commander in the Roman province of Scythia. The document mentions the praefectus of the fleet and two types of naval units under his control. Several questions can be raised about the status of the commander, the place where he or she resided, the nature and attributions of the fleet. Although the text has been studied by many historians, several reading proposals being advanced, the issue of the military fleet on the Scythian border remains open.