Literary sources (mostly ill-disposed) give us an image of Agathocles which is fully consistent with the more important trends of the Early Hellenistic art. The Syracusan dynast seems to have skillfully adopted the clichés of royal ideology developed by the Diadochs and the Epigons. That is based on the outstanding military prowess and on the charisma of the king, who proves himself worthy to imitate Alexander the Great, and on his extraordinary life-style. Feasts and banquets give him occasion for sumptuous display and magnificence; at the same time, they provide a means to define the new social hierarchies. On the one hand, there is the king Agathocles with his palace, his great dining-hall measuring 60 klinai, his precious vessels, furniture, and entertainments, and the fortification towers of the Small Harbour with his name inscribed on – just like the official coins minted under his name–, and the grand pugna equestris Agathoclis regis in tabulis picta within the temple of Athena at Ortygia. This pictorial cycle amplified in “epic-dramatic” tones the glory drawn from the last victories of the king. On the other hand, material finds give us a lot of “modern-style” artifacts which are characterized, however, by different tones and contents: as a matter of fact, they refer to popular religion or “bourgeois” concerns, showing sometimes a certain “vulgarization” of high-level models. This bifurcation reflects the polarization of Syracusan society around the king – whose personal power strengthens itself through “theatrical” and demagogic attitudes –, and in the same time the eclipse of high-level commissioners. Such a state of affairs can justify the limited survival of Agathoclean art, apart from the coins and the literary record.

La tradizione letteraria, spesso ostile, ci restituisce in termini assai nitidi un’immagine di Agatocle del tutto in linea con le tendenze eminenti nell’arte aulica del Primo Ellenismo. Il Siracusano risulta aver sfruttato con abilità e perspicacia i clichés dell’ideologia regale affermatasi tra i Diadochi e gli Epigoni, nei regni originatisi dalla divisione dell’impero di Alessandro, fondata sull’esaltazione delle virtù militari eccezionali e del carisma del re (degno emulo del grande Macedone), e del suo stile di vita “straordinario”, cui le grandi feste e i banchetti danno occasione di ostentare magnificenza e generosità, definendo altresì le nuove gerarchie sociali. Da un lato quindi il re, con la reggia, il salone da banchetti capace di contenere 60 klinai, le suppellettili di metalli preziosi e gli intrattenimenti sfarzosi, le torri del Porto Piccolo intestate al suo nome, come le monete ufficiali, ed il ciclo pittorico della battaglia equestre nel tempio di Athena a Ortigia, che amplifica in toni “epico-drammatici” in una serie di tabulae la gloria delle vittorie recenti di Agatocle. Dall’altro, la documentazione materiale superstite recita un linguaggio pure moderno, ma dai toni e contenuti del tutto diversi, legati alla sfera della religione, della famiglia, ed anche alla “volgarizzazione” dei modelli di prestigio in materiali e livelli più correnti. Questa divaricazione rispecchia la forte polarizzazione della società siracusana attorno al re, nella cui politica le messinscene auliche si uniscono a condotte demagogiche funzionali a consolidare un modello di potere personalistico, e spiega l’eclissi delle committenze di livello medio-alto, da cui dipende la stessa scarsa sopravvivenza dell’arte agatoclea, se non nei documenti monetari e nella tradizione letteraria.

Portale E. C. (2013). L’immagine di Agatocle e l’arte dell’età di Agatocle. ARCHIVIO STORICO SIRACUSANO, XLVI, 2011(XLVI, 2011), 269-321.

L’immagine di Agatocle e l’arte dell’età di Agatocle

PORTALE, Elisa Chiara
2013-01-01

Abstract

Literary sources (mostly ill-disposed) give us an image of Agathocles which is fully consistent with the more important trends of the Early Hellenistic art. The Syracusan dynast seems to have skillfully adopted the clichés of royal ideology developed by the Diadochs and the Epigons. That is based on the outstanding military prowess and on the charisma of the king, who proves himself worthy to imitate Alexander the Great, and on his extraordinary life-style. Feasts and banquets give him occasion for sumptuous display and magnificence; at the same time, they provide a means to define the new social hierarchies. On the one hand, there is the king Agathocles with his palace, his great dining-hall measuring 60 klinai, his precious vessels, furniture, and entertainments, and the fortification towers of the Small Harbour with his name inscribed on – just like the official coins minted under his name–, and the grand pugna equestris Agathoclis regis in tabulis picta within the temple of Athena at Ortygia. This pictorial cycle amplified in “epic-dramatic” tones the glory drawn from the last victories of the king. On the other hand, material finds give us a lot of “modern-style” artifacts which are characterized, however, by different tones and contents: as a matter of fact, they refer to popular religion or “bourgeois” concerns, showing sometimes a certain “vulgarization” of high-level models. This bifurcation reflects the polarization of Syracusan society around the king – whose personal power strengthens itself through “theatrical” and demagogic attitudes –, and in the same time the eclipse of high-level commissioners. Such a state of affairs can justify the limited survival of Agathoclean art, apart from the coins and the literary record.
2013
Settore L-ANT/07 - Archeologia Classica
Portale E. C. (2013). L’immagine di Agatocle e l’arte dell’età di Agatocle. ARCHIVIO STORICO SIRACUSANO, XLVI, 2011(XLVI, 2011), 269-321.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/94443
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