What makes sirens so scary? Join archaeologist and curatorial fellow Frances Gallart Marqués as she takes a close look at a group of small Greco-Roman objects that depict sirens: hybrid creatures straddling the line between beast and human, fear and desire, life and death.
Exploring the hybridity of a komast dancer (a drunken reveler) and bearded sirens represented in a painting on an ancient Corinthian oil flask, Marqués challenges our preconceived associations of sirens and their function in ancient times.
This talk is part of a series investigating power dynamics in artworks across the collections. Considering intersections of art and power, our curatorial team discusses how artists engage with social and political crises, use art to upset systems of power, and imagine more equitable futures.
Led by:
Frances Gallart Marqués, Frederick Randolph Grace Curatorial Fellow in Ancient Art, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art
Works explored:
The Otterlo Painter, Greek, Black-figure aryballos: Two heraldic bearded sirens with woman, c. 600–575 BCE. Terracotta. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Edward W. Forbes, 1950.162.
Hydria (water jar) with siren attachment, Greek, late 5th century BCE. Bronze. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Grace Nichols Strong Memorial Fund, 1949.89.
Siren, Roman, 1st century CE. Terracotta. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, Gift of Pfeiffer-Hartwell Collection, 1977.216.258.
