Chapter XVIII

.), only an episode in the general displacement taking place throughout Europe. In Greece it caused a dispersion of the Achaean race, chiefly in the direction of Asia Minor, which, as we have already seen, probably gave rise to the stories of the Trojan War and subsequent adventures of the Achaean leaders. In other words, the Mycenaean civilisation was driven to seek a new home elsewhere, and to lay the foundations of a new artistic development in the cities of Aeolis and Ionia. But its disappearance from Greece was not complete, and Hellenic Greece was from the beginning an amalgam of the old and new elements, the Achaean (or Ionian) and the Dorian, in which one or the other had at different times or in different places the pre-eminence. The Ionian element represents the civilisation of the Mediterranean, succeeding to that of the Mycenaean world; the Dorian, the influence of Central Europe.[930]

It has hitherto been a truism of archaeology that the Dorians brought with them from Central Europe a new form of art, of which the chief characteristic is that of _rectilinear and geometrical decoration_, forming, it is obvious, a marked contrast to the curvilinear and naturalistic Mycenaean designs. This new principle was thought to be most conspicuously illustrated by the pottery which now replaces the Mycenaean. But certain recent discoveries have given occasion for some scepticism in regard to the acceptance of this idea as conveying the whole truth; and even if they do not radically alter preconceived ideas, they are at least worthy of consideration.

At Aphidna in Attica a find has been made of very rude pottery, without glaze or varnish, but with decoration of a Geometrical character, sometimes painted.[931] Although earlier than any other pottery in Attica, it need not be pre-Mycenaean in date; it seems more likely to be a _contemporary survival_. Early wares have also been found in the islands, as in Aegina, with Geometrical ornament in _matt_-colour; nor must we forget that the Geometrical principle was known in Cyprus and the Cyclades, as also at Hissarlik, at a very remote age. From these data Dr. Wide has ingeniously drawn the conclusion that the Geometrical style was always indigenous in Greece,[932] pointing out that it was more likely and more in accordance with historical precedent that the Dorians, like Rome in later days, accepted the art of the people they conquered[933] than that they introduced their own and forced it upon the subjugated race. This theory has the additional merit of disposing of a difficulty which had always been felt. If the Geometrical pottery was Dorian, how do we account for its reaching its height in Attica, which was never at any time Doric, or influenced by Doric characteristics? But if it can be shown to be indigenous in Attica, the difficulty disappears.

Again, it is necessary to explain the varying character of Geometrical pottery in different parts of Greece, as compared with the homogeneity of the Mycenaean wares. If, as was supposed, the Geometrical style came full-grown into Greece, why should this be? Dr. Wide therefore maintains that there were in Greece _concurrently_ a _Bauernstil_ or domestic art, aboriginal and industrial, which produced the rude geometrical fabrics, and a _Herrenstil_ or _art de luxe_, exotic and ornamental, which we know as Mycenaean. With the upheaval and dispersion of the Achaean aristocracy this art practically died out, but the humbler industry held its ground, and gradually forged its way to comparative excellence, perhaps learning much from Mycenaean technique.

The real novelty of the developed Geometrical pottery which now manifests itself in Greece consists in its evolution _as a style_, and the combination of the patterns into an artistic system, with a continuous progress towards symmetry and rhythm. Geometrical patterns are indeed the property of all primitive peoples, and are no less spontaneous and universal in their origin than the folk-lore stories which we find adopting the same or similar forms in all parts of the world. In Greece, no doubt, the cultured traditions of Mycenaean art had in course of time their due effect, and both in technique and in ornament left their impress on the inferior fabrics,[934] as we have seen to have been the case, especially in the Greek islands. It is an influence which is not confined to the pottery, but made itself felt, for instance, in architecture. It can hardly be doubted that in the Lion Gate of Mycenae we find the prototype of the Doric column; and the parallel with the Geometrical pottery can be further followed up when we consider that Doric architecture also became the common property of Continental Greece, and also realised its highest perfection at Athens.

The Geometrical pottery has been found in great numbers in Attica and Boeotia, in the islands of Aegina, Melos, Thera, Rhodes, and Crete,[935] in Argolis and Laconia, in Sicily and Etruria, and also isolated specimens in Cyprus and the Troad.[936] That found in Italy and Cyprus is certainly exported from the mainland. It has been observed that each region has its own peculiar variety of the style, and this is especially conspicuous in the examples from Attica and Boeotia.[937] The first writer who attempted to deal with it scientifically was Conze,[938] but owing to its clearly-defined characteristics it has always been more or less correctly treated by the older schools of archaeologists. But with a more extended outlook over the fabrics of early Hellas, many problems have arisen in connection with it which have called for more recent discussion, and the writings of Kroker, Böhlau, and Wide in particular should be studied.[939]

At Mycenae fragments of Geometrical pottery were found both on the surface and in the palace, among the débris of the huts built on its site; while in the island of Salamis there is a cemetery of distinctly transitional character, containing false amphorae with linear decoration and combinations of the spiral with the maeander.[940] It may be noted that a similar transitional cemetery was found by Mr. Paton at Assarlik in Caria,[941] and that the “sub-Mycenaean” pottery of Cyprus (p. 246) has been shown to exhibit the same combination of features. These facts fall into line with what has already been said as to the survival of Mycenaean art in these fabrics.

From the fact that large quantities of this ware have been obtained from the tombs of the Kerameikos near the Dipylon Gate of Athens, chiefly between 1870 and 1891, it has frequently been styled _Dipylon ware_; but it is questionable whether this title should not be reserved for varieties peculiar to this site. These Dipylon tombs were in the form of deep quadrangular trenches, and the bodies had been sometimes inhumed, sometimes cremated, the bones being placed in vessels of bronze or clay, containing smaller objects. Above the trenches was a layer of earth mixed with burnt offerings, on the top of which, _outside the tombs_, were placed the large painted vases (representing the tombstones or stone sepulchral vases of later times) which now form a prominent part of the collections at Athens and in the Louvre.[942]

* * * * *

Turning to treat of their general characteristics, we note that the vases are all wheel-made, of a carefully-prepared red clay covered with a lustrous and impermeable yellow slip, on which the designs are painted in the same lustrous black as the Mycenaean wares. Later, but rarely, white is introduced as an accessory. As regards the shapes, there is less variety than in Mycenaean pottery. They include the typical forms of Dipylon vases, a large wide-mouthed _krater_ on a high stem, and an _amphora_ with cylindrical neck and side-handles; also the _lebes_, the cylindrical jug or _olpe_, the wide bowl or _skyphos_, and the _pyxis_ or covered jar. Open-work stands for vases are often found in the Cyclades.[943] On the covers of the _pyxides_ a group of two or three rudely-modelled horses sometimes forms the handle. In considering the forms generally, it is permissible to say that the potter of the day was in advance of his Mycenaean predecessor, although the painter was not.

The decoration follows a development which permits of the division of Geometrical vases into three periods, in which we follow Kroker[944]: (1) for a long time it is exclusively limited to Geometrical patterns, and (2) even when quadrupeds and birds are introduced they are still only decorative (as in Boeotia); (3) finally, while the animals take a subsidiary place, human figures and large compositions spring into prominence. But this final development is chiefly characteristic of Athens. Wide distinguishes four varieties of the Dipylon ware: (_a_) amphorae, with black varnished bodies and designs only on the neck; (_b_) “black Dipylon ware,” mainly varnished, but more decorated than (_a_); (_c_) large vases, with linear decoration or figures all over in horizontal friezes (the tomb-amphorae); (_d_) as the last, but with vertical panels, divided like metopes. His view is that these represent a continuous development, but that the style did not last long in Attica. Returning to Kroker’s classification, it must be borne in mind that the three classes are not successive in point of _time_, only in artistic development; the plain linear decoration survived throughout, and is often found in tombs contemporaneously with the figure subjects.

The patterns are mainly, though not exclusively, rectilinear, and sometimes extremely elaborate. The favourite are a large bold maeander, chevrons, chequers, and arrangements of hatched lines; also squares, with diagonals and much ground-ornament. Among the simpler motives are lines of dots, triangles, lozenges, and various forms of crosses; but concentric and “tangent” circles occur not infrequently, the latter being clearly derived from the Mycenaean spiral, and one vegetable motive appears in the form of a conventionalised leaf, later developed into a rosette. M. Perrot[945] gives a very instructive diagram of the typical scheme of ornamentation on the neck and body of a vase, including most of the principal varieties. It should also be noted that these patterns occur frequently on the field of the designs as ground-ornaments, to cover the vacant spaces.

In the arrangement of the patterns an architectural instinct is clearly at work, the influence of the Doric metope being especially prominent. They are usually arranged, as the diagram (Fig. 83) shows, in horizontal bands round the neck and body, like the bands of painted ornament on the entablature of a temple. The metopes and triglyphs are represented by large square patterns of ornament, separated by narrow vertical strips of simpler motives (cf. Fig. 84). The introduction of the frieze principle proper is a later development. Generally speaking, there is an invariable tendency towards symmetry and refinement in the arrangement. When figure subjects begin to be introduced, it betokens a great advance in decorative art, especially over the Cypriote and other varieties of the style. In the tendency to a _horror vacui_, the style is inferior to Mycenaean, as also in the figure-drawing, of which more anon. The absence of any plant-ornament is most characteristic, as showing the great change from the Mycenaean spirit; but it was not long before this element was destined to reappear and virtually usurp the field of decoration.[946]

[Illustration:

From _Perrot’s Hist. de l’Art_. FIG. 83. SCHEME OF ORNAMENTATION ON GEOMETRICAL VASES. ]

In regard to its ornamentation the Geometrical style may be said to have attained success. It is not so, however, with its representations of living form, least of all those of human beings. But this is only in accordance with the principle which M. Pottier styles the _hierarchie des genres_, a principle which is universal in all early development of Greek art, and to which we have already referred (p. 245: see also p. 315). Briefly it is this: first, the predominance of pure _ornament_ and the perfecting of the same; secondly, the employment of _animal_ forms and the relegation of ornament to a subsidiary place; thirdly and lastly, the rise and development of _human_ forms, the other animals ceasing to form the main theme of decoration, and sinking to the level of mere decorative adjuncts.

[Illustration: FIG. 84. GEOMETRICAL VASE WITH PANELS (BRIT. MUS.).]

Hence we find that figures of animals when first introduced on Geometrical vases are of a conventional and ill-drawn character, but show a gradual progress and development. Human forms again, which now appear for the first time, are only seen in a very rude and undeveloped stage, from which there is continuous development throughout the archaic period till perfection is reached in the fifth century. Their original extreme conventionality may be the result of a training in Egyptian canons of art.

The favourite animal motives are the horse, the deer, and water-fowl. The first also appears in a plastic form, surmounting the covers of vases and forming a sort of handle. Usually a single animal is seen in a metope-like panel (cf. Fig. 84), and the frieze system is seldom found at this period. A curious conception is that of a lion or wolf devouring a man, whose legs are seen protruding from its mouth, and this appears to have been adopted by the Etruscans, on whose archaic bronze-work and bucchero vases it sometimes occurs.[947] The lions on the Geometrical vases, it may be noted in passing, are obviously drawn without knowledge, and borrowed from Asiatic art; the same conventional type obtains at a later date, as in the Burgon lebes (below, p. 296).

Human figures are almost confined to the large vases from the Dipylon cemetery, which are evidently a purely local product; almost the only exceptions are two from Boeotia (see below, p. 288), and one from Rhodes in the British Museum (A 439). The infantile and barbarous style of the figures recalls in a measure the primitive marble idols from the Cyclades; there is seldom any actual distinction of sex, the narrow waist, wide hips, and tapering limbs being apparently common to both. The figures being painted in plain silhouette, there is no attempt at rendering features. Where it is intended to represent a warrior, the body is completely hidden behind a shield of the Boeotian type [Boeotian shield], a ready resource of the artist for avoiding anatomical difficulties, which was also adopted later by his seventh-century Corinthian successors, except that in the latter case the shield is circular.

The subjects include battles and naval scenes, dances of women hand in hand, and funeral processions. From the combination of ships with funeral scenes, it would seem that they were sometimes used for carrying the dead. A remarkable lebes recently acquired by the British Museum[948] is decorated with a large ship-of-war with two banks of rowers (bireme), and appears to represent a warrior landing therefrom on shore.[949] The funeral scenes on the great Dipylon vases are exceedingly elaborate, and exhibit a corpse drawn on a bier, accompanied by chariots and bands of mourning women beating their heads.[950] By a conventional attempt at perspective the figures are often placed above the central group when they are supposed to be on its farther side, just as, in the fresco from Tiryns, and an “Island-gem” of the Mycenaean period, a man leading a bull is represented over its back.[951]

Two very interesting specimens of Geometrical fabrics are in the museum at Kopenhagen,[952] late indeed and almost transitional in character, but still typical. One is a deep two-handled cup or bowl with long panels on either side, in two tiers; the upper ones are filled with ornaments and animals, and in the lower are several subjects—combatants, lyre-players, a dance of armed men with shield and spear, two lions devouring a man (see above), and men with jugs and lustral branches preparing for some religious rite. The other is a jug, with very little ornamentation except on the background of the designs, which also include several subjects. On the neck is a man holding horses; on the shoulder, dogs pursuing a hare; and on the body, combats on land and sea.

In the range of subjects a general correspondence with epic poetry is to be noted,[953] as in the funerals and combats; but there are some important discrepancies, such as the _quadriga_ in place of the Homeric _biga_, the types of the ships, and in the appearance of horsemen, which are of course unknown to Homer.[954]

The Geometrical vases found in Boeotia form an important and distinct local variety, which calls for separate treatment. The existence of this local style was first suspected by Furtwaengler in 1878 on seeing the first finds made at Thebes, and it has since been studied with great care and detail by Böhlau.[955] Among these finds were, in addition to the recognised local pottery, ordinary (imported) Dipylon vases, and later Proto-Corinthian and Corinthian wares, as well as bronze fibulae and terracotta figures, to which subsequent reference must be made. Similar pottery was also found in large numbers on the site of the temple of Apollo at Mount Ptoös in 1885–91, and other examples have turned up at Tanagra. It has been suggested, though on somewhat slight grounds, that Aulis was the centre of the local fabric; and, further, it was supposed by Böhlau, who is supported by Perrot,[956] that the Boeotian wares represent a primitive phase of the Geometrical pottery, anterior to the Dipylon, and consequently that Boeotia is the original home of the style as a whole. But in view of what has been said above, and generally of the relation of the Boeotian pottery to the Dipylon, and to the later Proto-Corinthian, it seems doubtful if this view can be maintained. Moreover, it has been pointed out by M. Holleaux,[957] in discussing the Ptoös finds, that the pure Geometrical vases were found at a lower level than the typical local wares, and were never found either with them or with the analogous terracotta figures. This certainly points to the later origin of the Boeotian pottery.

The local clay differs from that of Athens both in nature and appearance, being less well levigated and of a reddish-yellow colour, as compared with the warm brown of the Dipylon. Further, the designs are not laid directly on the clay, as in the latter, but on a thin creamy-yellow slip, as in Mycenaean and Ionian pottery. The technique is, generally speaking, inferior, as is also the black pigment used; the work is rough and hasty, the drawing careless and inaccurate.

The vases are mostly small, at least compared with those of the Dipylon, and the favourite shape is the _kylix_, with or without a stem. Out of seventy-two examples given by Böhlau, no less than fifty-five take this form. He traces its development from a deep bowl with “base-ring,” which seems to be related to the Cypriote white-slip one-handled bowls; but the Boeotian type has at first two small finger-pieces in place of handles, afterwards replaced by a single handle for hanging up. The majority, however, have no less than four handles, and that they were still intended for suspension is shown by the method of decoration which can only be properly seen in this position (cf. Fig. 85).

[Illustration:

From _Jahrbuch_. FIG. 85. BOEOTIAN GEOMETRICAL VASES (BERLIN MUSEUM). ]

There is a wearisome uniformity in the patterns, and indeed in the decoration generally. Only two examples are known from Boeotia with human figures,[958] and the rest belong to the intermediate class, with its combination of animals and decorative patterns. On the exterior is usually a broad frieze, divided by bands of ornament into four or five fields, in which are birds or palmette patterns; these panels are not necessarily arranged with reference to the position of the handles. The patterns comprise rows of vertical zigzags, dotted lozenges, chevrons, latticed triangles, rosettes, and scrolls, the first-named being specially characteristic of Boeotia. It is to be noted that the typical Athenian motives, the maeander and the ornamented square, do not occur; in fact, these bowls have no analogies in the Dipylon ware. But it is also interesting to observe the appearance of a new vegetable element in the form of friezes of palmettes and lotos-flowers.[959] The importance of this feature is due to the extensive part it was destined to play in the ornamentation of Greek vases all through the sixth century. Some of the palmettes are remarkably advanced, and the whole pattern is even emancipated from the confinement of the frieze, and treated freely without regard to space.[960] Böhlau, in his analysis of the ornament as a whole, notes its independence of the Athenian vases, though remaining a parallel and closely-related development.

Individual vases do not call for much comment, but there is a curious coffer of terracotta from Thebes in Berlin (Fig. 86),[961] painted with figures in this style. The subjects include the Asiatic Artemis, a hare-hunt, a woman leading a horse, a horse tied up, and two serpents erect, confronted. The ground is filled in with rosettes, crosses, and other ornaments, such as the so-called _swastika_.

[Illustration:

From _Jahrbuch_. FIG. 86. COFFER FROM THEBES: BOEOTIAN GEOMETRICAL STYLE (BERLIN MUSEUM). ]

While on the subject of the Boeotian vases it is worth while to call attention to the remarkable parallels presented by two other classes of objects also found in that region: bronze fibulae and terracotta statuettes. The former may be regarded as important chronological evidence, inasmuch as their development can be clearly traced from their first appearance at the end of the Mycenaean period (about the tenth century), and similar types have been found in Rhodes, at Olympia, and elsewhere. The characteristic of the Boeotian fibulae is the flat plate which forms the foot (in some cases the central part or bow), and is generally of a quadrangular form, decorated with an engraved subject, usually animals or birds of a similar type to those painted in the panels on the vases. More rarely ships or human figures are found.[962]

The terracotta figures (p. 123), on the other hand, bear a different relation to the pottery. They are flat board-like figures (σανίδες), known to the modern Greek digger as “Pappades,” the high head-dress which they wear suggesting to him the well-known hat of the orthodox “Papas” or priest. The flat surface of the body gives scope for ornamentation representing embroidered robes,[963] and the patterns employed are just those which are seen on the vases; and, moreover, the method of painting is the same, the figures being covered with a buff slip, the patterns in black with purple details. It should be remarked that some of these figures are comparatively developed in style,[964] and that they are practically _later imitations_ of the decoration of the vases.

* * * * *

In considering the Geometrical vases as a whole, we are struck with the laudable aspirations of the artist, who, though unable to execute his new ambitions with complete success, yet shows in his work the same promise of the future that is latent in all early Greek art. His best achievement is in the ornamentation. Oriental influences as yet count for very little, though they are perhaps to be discerned in the human figures, as already noted; Kroker also thinks that the nude female figures on the larger vases are due to Oriental art.[965] In any case they are not to be traced until late in the period, and first, as might be expected for geographical reasons, in the fabrics found at Kameiros in Rhodes.

The question of chronology must next be considered. That the developed Geometrical style succeeds to the Mycenaean, and forms a link between it and the early Attic attempts at black-figured ware, of which we shall subsequently treat, is sufficiently clear. It may also be laid down that the Dipylon ware represents the last stage of Geometrical decoration, being in point of fact too far advanced to be regarded as a purely typical Geometrical ware. Such data as the finding of iron in the tombs, or the evidence of finds at Troy,[966] also tend to place the beginning of the style at least as early as the tenth century. It has also been noted that the figures correspond closely with the bronzes of Olympia which are dated about the ninth century, and this, if accepted, necessitates placing the simpler linear decoration back as far as the tenth. The lower limits of the style may be roughly fixed by the evidence from the tombs of Etruria, discussed in