Table Of ContentThe Question of Narraüve
in
Aegean Bronze Age Art
by
Candace Dawn Cain
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
History of Art Department
University of Toronto
O Copyright by Candace Dam Cain 1997
1+1 National Library Bibliothèque nationale
,,,fo du Canada
Acquisitions and Acquisitions et
Bibliographie Services seMces bibliographiques
395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington
Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4
Canada Canada
Your lile VoVe niler6nCe
Our Ue Narre reterence
The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non
exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la
National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de
reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou
copies of this thesis in rnicrofom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous
paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de
reproduction sur papier ou sur format
électronique.
The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du
copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse.
thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels
may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés
reproduced without the author' s ou autrement reproduits sans son
permission. autorisation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have advised and assisted in the preparation of this dissertation; they
ail claim an equal share of my gratitude.
As a student 1 have been privileged to learn from a number of inspired teachers, and
their knowledge and enthusiastic interest contributed in countless ways to this project. 1a m
particularly appreciative of the efforts of my supervûor, Mana C. Shaw, and Joseph W.
Shaw at the University of Toronto, individuais who set an example of academic excellence
that is difficult to match. It was Maria Shaw's suggestion that I explore the topic of
narrative in Aegean Bronze Age art, and 1 hope that the result is worthy of the warm
encouragement, the, and attention she has devoted to me over the past few years.
The consul of teachers residing elsewhere must also be credited, and my sincere
thanks go to Professors John Boardman, Whitney Davis, Lyvia Morgan, Sarah Moms, Mark
Stansbury-O'Donnell, Carol Thomas, and John Younger for responding to the queries of
an unknown student with such graciousness and intellectual generosity. A special thank you
is reserved for Nanno Marinatos, who kindly permitted me to audit her brilliant seminars
in Aegean art at College Year In Athens, and is ever forthcoming with rnanuscripts,
offprints, and insightful comments, many of which enlighten the pages below.
I am also very thankful for the financial assistance that has been awarded to me
during the course of my graduate studies. In this regard 1 would like to recognize the
extended support of the Social Studies and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and
the University of Toronto; fellowships and travel grants from these agencies greatly
facilitated the progress of my thesis.
Critical eyes are a gift to any author, and in my case drafts of the dissertation
benefitted most £rom the careful reading of Barbara Ibronyi and Professors Margaret Miller
and Ron Leprohon, each of whom made remarks and suggestions that initiated valuable
improvements in the text
I am indebted as well to fellow students Mirella Cirfi-Walton, Patricia O'Grady, and
Helené Whittaker von Hofsten, all accomplished researchers who have endured significant
doses of this writer's Angst, and liberaIiy administered their own experiential and spintual
wisdom in retum. The product of my efforts is enriched by their tolerance and respect.
The last words of rppreciation and achowledgement belong to Stephen R. Cain,
who has led me through the beginning, middle, and end of this undertaking, and to whom
the following work is dedicated.
ABSTRACT
The Question of Narrative
in
Aegean Bronze Age Art
C. Dawn Cain
Doctor of Philosophy, 1997
History of Art Department
University of Toronto
Those who study the cognitive development of Homo sapiens maintain that our
specialized communication skills evolved £rom the desire to narrate. Societies define
themselves through their histories and their traditional stories; the socio-political
signincance of narrative in any given civilization is considerable.
Until quite recently, narrative in visual media has been identified with recognizable
story content, particularly of a mythological or historical nature. The figura1 arts of the
Aegean Bronze Age have, consequently, been largely overlooked in discussions of pictorial
narration in ancient art. The present study seeks to correct the omissions of eariier writings
by favouring a broad conception of narrative derived fiom the field of narratology,
employing a system of analysis that concentrates on the essential features or structures of
narrative relating, and assessing pictorial tex& in terms of degrees of narrativity.
Chapter 1 introduces the subject, situating this project within the art histoncal
tradition. Chapter 2 reviews research on the topic of pictonal narrative that has been
conducted in the areas of Egyptian, Mesopotarnian, Assynan, and Greek art, with a view
to isolathg models of use to the present investigation. Chapter 3 sets out the
methodological approach employed in Chapter 4, where, after an overview of pertinent
literature in the field of Aegean scholarship, the narrative possibilities of three monuments
from the Aegean Late Bronze Age are analyzed. Some concluding remarks and
observations are given in Chapter 5.
Although the story matter of Aegean figure scenes is often minimal and we shall
never be able to "read" these images with the facility and sophistication possible in cultures
where extra-pictonal information is available, we are remis to ignore the narrative potential
of Aegean art. Indeed, this examination discloses that some of the presentations of visual
narrative produced in the Aegean Bronze Age represent early and precocious statements
in pictonal storytelling, notwithstanding their generalizing and conventional character.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 .I ntroduction to the Topic ....................................
1.1 Narrative Media: Word vs. Image ...........................
1.2 Art Historical Studies of Visual Narrative: From Illustration to the
Autonomous Narrative Picture .............................
1.3 The Question of Narrative in Aegean Bronze Age Art ...........
2 .A Comparative Analysis of Studies on Pictoriai Narrative in Ancient Art
2.1 Egypt: Power Politics and the Art of Narration. ca . 3000-1200 B.C. ..
2.1.1 A Primer for Egyptian Narrative Art: The Scorpion
Macehead .......................................
2.1.2 Symbol and Story: The Narmer Palette and Its Reception ....
2.1.3 Narrative and Conflict: Scenes of War in Egyptian Art ......
2.1.4 An Interest in Particulars: The Picture Chronicle of Punt and
the Narrative Capacity of Amarna Art ..................
2.1.5 Summary and Observations ..........................
2.2 Early Mesopotamia: Picturing the Events of Sacred and Secular
History 3000 .2 300 B.C. .................................
2.2.1 A Matter of Interpretation: The Warka Vase .............
2.2.2 A Simple Story of War and Victory in Six Parts: The Standard
ofUr ..........................................
2.2.3 Greater Intricacies of Narrative in the Service of the King: The
Stele of the Vultures ...............................
2.2.4 Stones on a Small Scale: Ritual, Myth, and the Problem of
Narration on Cylinder Seals ..........................
2.2.5 Summary and Observations ..........................
2.3 Assyrian Palace Decoration: Stateroom Statements. the Narratives of
Empire ca . 1000-612 B.C. ................................
2.3.1 Sequence and Ellipsis in Pictorial Narrative: The Northwest
Palace Throneroom of Ashumasirpal II at Nimrud .........
2.3.2 Questions of Medium and Narrative Presentation: The Bronze
............................
Gates of Shalrnaneser III
2.3.3 Pictorial Narrative and the Panoramic View: The Lachish
.............................
Reliefs ofsennachen3 75
2.3.4 The Dance of Death in SimuItaneous and Slow Motion Tirne:
Ashurbanipal's Tales of the Hunt ...................... 79
..........................
2.3.5 Summary and Observations 84
2.4 Greek Traditions of Visual Narration ca. 800-150 B.C. ........... 87
2.4.1 Narrative Beginnings: Geometric Figure Scenes and the
"Typical or Particularl' Debate Revisited ................. 89
2.4.2 Mûeoc. X@dvoc. and the "Greek Revolution" in Naturalistic
Representation: Essential Developments in Pictorial Narrative
ca . 700-150 B.C. .................................. 95
2.4.3 Summary and Observations .......................... 105
..........................................
2.5 Conclusions 107
3 .M ethodological Concerns ................................... 113
3.1 First Principles: A Definition of Narrative .................... 113
3.2 Epistemological Guides 1: Narratology ....................... 114
3.2.1 Narrative Structure: Story and Discourse ................ 117
3.2.2 Not al1 Narratives are Created Equal: Narratology and Orders
of Narrativity .................................... 119
3.2.3 The Eye of the Beholder: Narrative Apprehension and the
Viewer as Narrator ................................ 122
3.3 Epistemological Guides II: Semiotic Theones of Sign-Action and Sign-
Interpretation ......................................... 124
3.4 Theory and Practice: Pictorial Guides and the "Signs" of Visual
Narrative ............................................ 129
4 . Appraising the Narrative Status of Aegean Figura1 Art: Overview and
Three Case Studies .......................................... 131
4.1 Questioning Narrative in Aegean Bronze Age Art: A Critique of
Prevailing Perceptions ................................... 131
4.1.1 Images of Confiict Events: Subject Matter and Narrativity .... 131
4.1.2 Buiis. the Hunt, and Problems of Narrative Time in Aegean
Bronze Age Art .................................. 137
4.1.3 Pictorial Accounts of Ritual Events: Narratives of Another
Order .......................................... 143
vii
4.1.4 Journeys by Sea and Captive Wornen: "Rootless Narratives" on
Aegean Rings and Seals ............................ 151
................................
4.1.5 OveMew Summary 156
4.2 The Isopata Ring ...................................... 157
4.3 The Miniature Wall Paintings From the West House ............. 176
......................................
4.3.1 West Wall 180
4.3.2 North Wall ...................................... 280
4.3.3 East Wall ....................................... 190
4.3.4 South Wall ...................................... 193
4.3.5 The West, North, East, and South Friezes tout ensemble:
.......................
Narrative and Thematic Relationships 201
4.4 Frescoes lrom the Megaron Complex in the "Palace of Nestor" at
Pylos ............................................. 211
4.5 Summary and Observations ............................... 231
5 .C onclusions and Ruminations ................................ 234
APPENDIX .A ssessing Narrativity: A Quantitative Approach ................ 240
AppendÏx Table A: Narrative Element Assessrnent Guide .............. 246
Appendix Tables B1 .8 8: Narrative Element Assessments ............. 247
Appendk Figure 1 .C omparative Narrative Values .................. 255
References ..................................................... 256
Illustrations .................................................... 283
List of Dlustrations
Figure No. Description Page No.
Map of Bronze Age Greece
£rom Hood 1978,10. ............................ 284
Map of Bronze Age Crete
irom Hood 1978, 11. ............................ 285
Chronological Table
£rom Morgan 1988, xix. .......................... 286
Gold Ring from Isopata, Original
from CMS IL3, n. 51. ........................... 287
Gold Ring £rom Isopata, Impression (drawing)
from CMS 11.3, n. 51. ........................... 287
Taureador Fresco, Knossos
from Immewahr 1990, PI. 41. ..................... 287
Gilliéron's Reconstruction of Procession Fresco, Knossos
from Immerwahr 1990, Pl. 40. ..................... 288
Temple Fresco, Knossos
£rom hmewahr 1990, Pl. 22. ..................... 288
Sacred Grove and Dance Fresco, Knossos
from immerwahr 1990, PI. 23. ..................... 289
Gold Ring from Archanes
from Archaeology 1967, V. 20, 280. .................. 290
Gold Ring h m M ycenae, Shaft Grave IV
from CMS 1, n. 16. ............................. 290
Il. Gold Ring £rom Mycenae, Shaft Grave IV
r€ om CMS 1, n. 15. ............................. 290
Gold Seal from Mycenae, Shaft Grave III
from CMS 1, n. 11. ............................. 290
Lion Hunt Dagger, Mycenae Shaft Grave IV
fkom Hood 1978, Fig. 178. ........................ 291
