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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1994.8
Title
Odysseus and the Ram
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
1st-3rd century CE or later
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/221580

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Brass
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
H. 5 x W. 8 cm (1 15/16 x 3 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Brass:

Point 1: Cu, 79.44; Sn, less than 0.25; Pb, 1.05; Zn, 18; Fe, 0.76; Ni, 0.02; Ag, 0.01; Sb, less than 0.05; As, 0.72; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.01; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

Point 2: Cu, 80.32; Sn, less than 0.25; Pb, 1.37; Zn, 16.74; Fe, 0.76; Ni, 0.01; Ag, 0.01; Sb, less than 0.02; As, 0.78; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001


J. Riederer

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 2
Alloy: Brass
Alloying Elements: copper, lead, zinc
Other Elements: tin, iron, arsenic

K. Eremin, June 2015

Chemical Composition:
Lead Isotope Analysis (Pb, 1.05 to 1.37%):

Pb206/Pb204, 18.64420; Pb207/Pb204, 15.65249; Pb208/Pb204, 38.75786; Pb, 207/Pb206, 0.83954; Pb 208/Pb206, 2.07882; Pb208/Pb207, 2.47615



P. Degryse

Technical Observations: The bronze is a solid lost-wax cast and structurally sound, with a green patina. Chisel-like tool marks from wax shaping are visible on the ram’s chest behind its forelegs. The ram’s face was textured, probably in the wax, with a small oval punch. Its body and legs were textured with a larger, round punch. The top and sides of the nose, and top of the head and neck have scratches from abrasive smoothing of the metal. A small abrasion of bright metal appears at the left ear, but cuprite appears at numerous locations. The corrosion layers are fairly thick and deep, which suggests that the piece may have been buried for a long time. The high zinc content indicates a Roman date; the presence of arsenic rules out a modern forgery. The patina ranges from dark green to tan.


Tony Sigel (submitted 1999)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Nefer Antike Kunst, Zurich (by 1993)], sold; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1993.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Walter and Ursula Cliff and William Collins Kohler in honor of Professor Emily T. Vermeule and the Gerhardt Liebmann Bequest, by exchange
Accession Year
1994
Object Number
1994.8
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This is one of only three known ancient three-dimensional bronze statuettes representing Odysseus’s escape from the cave of Polyphemos the Kyklops—an adventure recounted by Odysseus in Book 9 of Homer’s Odyssey (1). In the story, Odysseus and his companions first intoxicate and blind Polyphemos, which then allows them to prepare to flee his cave by fastening themselves underneath the Kyklops’s sheep. Odysseus hides beneath Polyphemos’s favorite ram, an animal described in heroic terms. Concealed in this way, the hero and his men escape when Polyphemos lets his flock out to graze at dawn. Ironically, the concern for the artist is that Odysseus, who is identifiable by his characteristic conical cap (or pilos), is visible instead of being completely hidden.


In most Greek depictions of the escape episode, Odysseus is stretched out full-length under the ram: his head beneath the ram’s chin or jutting out in front of the animal; his feet or legs emerging between the ram’s hind legs (2). Some Roman examples show Odysseus curled up under the ram’s belly and with his head turned toward the viewer (3). In this version, Odysseus hides under the ram’s belly, although he is not curled up; instead, he protrudes face-up and diagonally from underneath the ram’s right side. This Odysseus has no bottom half: his body ends at the waist in a sort of smear under the ram’s midsection. The group’s left side is unmodeled, except for a few places (the hooves, fleece, and face) that are visible when the viewer observes the composition from its completely modeled right side. The piece was probably intended for right-side viewing only.

NOTES:

1. Odyssey 9.415-65. The other two bronzes are also Roman; see H. B. Walters, Catalogue of the Bronzes, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum (London, 1899) nos. 1445 (inv. no. 1772,0307.182) and 1446 (inv. no. 1824,0473.1). Only the front half of BM 1445 remains; Odysseus looks up from between the ram’s forelegs and clutches its shoulders. BM 1446 shows Odysseus under the ram’s belly; Odysseus’s head is front as he grips the ram’s sides with his hands and presses his feet against its haunches. The fleece of BM 1446 is rendered in a pattern of dots and striations similar to the Harvard pi
ece.

2. The escape episode is among the earliest known narrative depictions in Greek vase painting; see, for example, a Protoattic “Ram Jug” in Aegina, dated c. 660 BCE, published as Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) Odysseus no. 109. The scene is not uncommon in black-figure vase painting; see, for example, a black-figure lekythos in the manner of the Haimon Painter, dated c. 550 BCE, published as LIMC Odysseus no. 112. Flat-cast bronze relief plaques from the Archaic period (c. 550-500 BCE) are also known; see LIMC Odysseus no. 128. The group that includes Harvard’s example was previously published as Greek, but the alloy’s high zinc content suggests a Roman d
ate.

3. Compare BM 1446 (supra 1); the second to third century CE marble group in Rome published in B. Andreae, Odysseus: Mythos und Erinnerung (Mainz, 1999) 202, fig. 76; and the elaborate Antonine bronze relief medallion in London published as LIMC Odysseus no. 1
35a.


Maura Giles Watson

Publication History

  • Bernard Andreae, Odysseus: Mythos und Erinnerung, Verlag Philipp von Zabern (Mainz, 1999), p. 122, fig. 38; 385, no. 38.
  • James Cuno, ed., A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions by the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, Mass., Spring 2000), p. 28
  • [Reproduction Only], Persephone, (Hollis, NH, Fall 2002)., p. 15.
  • Maura Giles-Watson, "Odysseus and the Ram in Art and (Con)text: Arthur M. Sackler Museum 1994.8 and the Hero's Escape from Polyphemos", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology (2007), Vol. 103, 555-77, p. 556, fig. 1; 570-74.

Exhibition History

  • Odysseus: Mythos und Erinnerung, Haus der Kunst München, 10/01/1999 - 01/09/2000
  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/25/2015 - 01/03/2016

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu