Animal Influences In Paleolithic Egyptian And Greek

Animal Influences In Paleolithic, Egyptian And Greek, Essay, Research Paper

Animal Influences in Paleolithic, Egyptian and Greek Art

There are numerous ways in which animals have resonated within the

human mind. Throughout history there have been representations ranging

from the realistic, to myths, legends, symbols, and even horrific murderous

beasts; at the same time providing fascinating perspectives of our own

humanity. Various forms of art have conveyed ideas and concepts of

animal’s intelligence, as well as behavior, from generation to generation.

Animal art is used as a tool to make the connection between different

cultures at different time periods and it relates historical and symbolic

meanings. In most cultures animals have been linked with the supernatural

forces which were believed to control the natural world and the destiny of

humans. They were often revered as the agents. or associates, of gods,

and goddesses, and were even the focus of worship as deities. Following

the tracks of historical animal art, through the human imagination

introduces a trail of creativity and unsurpassed beauty.

Paleolithic art:

Cave paintings are the earliest known example of human art dating

40,000 to 8,000 BCE. The paintings mainly feature various animals

running, sleeping, and eating. Some also contain a few humans,

geometrical shapes, and even hand prints. The artist used permanent

features like ceilings, floors, and walls of rock shelters and caves as their

canvas. Pigments of black, yellow, red, and brown were utilized to display

the observations of animals. The painters gathered a great deal of

information about finding food, and which foods were safe to eat or to

hunt, by closely observing animals. The valuable information was passed to

others through the detailes in the artwork. The construction of the figures

are sporadic over uneven surfaces and small confined areas in the caves.

Paintings in this position would have been difficult to view, and may not be

simple decorations, but possess a special or spiritual purpose.

Researchers, “took what they thought were the most important

features of the content of Paleolithic art (the animals, the arrows. etc.) and

stressing the locality of the art (deep done in caves far from habitation)

inferred a secret magical function.”1 The paintings depict strong,

dangerous, and swift animals which may be a form of sympathetic magic,

in an attempt to control them through representation.(fig. 1) Many

paintings have marks indicating wounds or bleeding, which may be

connected with hunting. One theory is that prehistoric hunters believed

that by depicting the animal on the wall they would capture it’s soul, and

inevitable death during the hunt. However there has also been evidence

“that the animals used most frequently for food were not the ones

traditionally portrayed in cave art.”2 The paintings reflect the human

relationship with animals; for admiration, fascination, the feared and the

hunted. Reasearchers have divided the animals into three major groups.

“The first comprises the large herbivores-bison, ox, mammoth, horse; the

second, the small herbivores-stag and ibex; and the third, the most

dangerous animals-lion, bear and rhinoceros, all of which occur by

themselves in the rear portions of the caves.”3(fig. 2) Smaller animals such

as rabbits were not painted, perhaps because they were very abundant. The

reason for the paintings will never be fully answered. They may be part of

rituals marking a successful hunt or maybe it is ‘art for art’s sake.’ Andre

Leroi-Gourhan feels, “By this route alone, thoughts of these men who are

the only people anywhere in the world, at any epoch, to have sheltered

their works of art in the dank depths of caves.”4

Egyptian art

Egyptians and animals (3150 to 2700 BCE) together symbolize many

mysterious and magical powers. Marilyn Stockstad states, “The many god

and goddesses were depicted in various forms, some as human beings,

others as animals, and still others as creatures half human, half animal.”5

The symbolic nature of the lion, like that of many animals, is ambivalent.

In Egypt it represented notably the living power of the sun in it’s

identification with the solar deity Ra, but also death and afterlife, because

of its association with Osiris, the ruler of the underworld. The lion was also

believed to guard the spirit realm. The Sphinx at Giza (fig. 3) is a

recumbent, lion bodied statue of the pharaoh Khafre. The tradition of the

sphinx combined the idea of the lion, the king of beasts with that of the

divine ruler, symbolize the union of intellectual and physical powers

incarnated into the pharaoh. The Ibis was widely associated with the

sacred to the moon god Aah, and the god Thoth, who were often depicted

with an ibis’s head. The wading bird was

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