Portrayals of Power: The Local Identity of Three Cypriot Sarcophagi from the Fifth Century BCE
Datum
2018-06
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University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
Cyprus’ location just beneath the Anatolian peninsula has made the island a
meeting ground of many of the iconic Mediterranean powers of history, including
Greece, Egypt, Assyria, and Persia. There has been a great deal of research on the way
Cyprus was influenced by external forces, as well as how these cultural influences were
engaged and manipulated on the island. Yet more research is needed with a primary
focus on the local identity and use of Cypriot material culture. Therefore, this thesis
seeks to reorient the focus of the study of Cypriot antiquities towards their internal
context by analyzing the local significance of three Cypriot sarcophagi with relief
sculpture from the first half of the fifth century BCE. These three objects are similar in
date and form, and they are from three different cities: Amathous, Golgoi, and
Palaipafos, providing context for inter-island diversity at a time of extreme political and
cultural turmoil in Cyprus. I explore how the context of these sarcophagi’s iconography
within Cyprus, and the use of sarcophagi as items of funerary ritual, impacted the
understanding of these objects in their local communities. The Amathous sarcophagus
uses local imagery, both mythological and elite, to create a demonstration of power, the
Golgoi sarcophagus includes scenes indicative of cosmopolitan elite status, and finally,
the Palaipafos sarcophagus has imagery that arguably relates to Homeric epics, and
presents a heroic narrative. Overall, these sarcophagi are all varying local responses to
island-wide events that would have impacted their local communities; and these impacts
are evident in the iconography used to demonstrate the elite status, heroic qualities, and
political power of the deceased.
Beschreibung
Submitted to the Undergraduate Library Research Award scholarship competition: (2019). 150 p.