THE ANTIKYTHERA EPHEBE
In the year 1900 the crew of a Greek ship made a wonderful discovery near Antikythera, an island in the Aegean Sea. While actually diving for sponges, suddenly they encountered an ancient shipwreck. The first diver who caught sight of the ship came back instantly, terrified by the appearance of what he thought to be rotting human corpses. The captain assumed that the diver had gone completely mad from an overdose of carbon dioxide in his helmet and decided to take a look himself. It soon turned out to be one of the most magnificent archaeological finds ever: the boat, dated around 70-60 BC, was loaded with priceless treasures, including some superb Greek bronze statues from the 4th century BC.
This discovery had a profound impact on the modern view on ancient Greek sculpture. Until then, it was known only from historical sources that Greek sculptors manufactured thousands of high quality bronzes. No impressive examples had survived and our knowledge of ancient Greek sculpture depended mainly on marble Greek statues and Roman copies. And, in a way, it still does: although the Antikythera wreck was followed by some other spectacular (underwater) finds of ancient bronze Greek statues, still only a few of them are among us. The rest seems to have been lost, destroyed or melted down for weapons or utensils.
This beautiful young man, known as the Antikythera Ephebe, is mostly thought to be a depiction of the mythological figure Paris presenting the Apple of Discord to Aphrodite, based on the assumption that his right hand originally held a spherical object. The ephebe (male adolescent) is standing in the so-called contrapposto, with most of his weight on one foot. This asymmetrical pose is typical for the classical phase of 4th century Greek art, a style that is characterized by a looser and also more lifelike portrayal of the human figure. This muscled young man can be admired in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Incidentally, he is part of their temporary exhibition about the Antikythera Shipwreck (until next spring).
(text: Maarten Levendig)
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