0002Achilles_Westmacott

ogcma@byu

ClCv241

Mastery

MythMatters

Photograph of base courtesy of Gary Todd, all rights reserved.
Ovid Met.

Horatio Greenough, “George Washington,” base Smithsonian Museum of American History, Washington, DC

Close-up of a sculpted stone base with a relief of a man with a bow and arrow next to a horse-drawn chariot

The message of Greenough’s Washington overall is straightforward: Washington’s authority derives from a divine source. The pose is unmistakably derived from Phidias’ Zeus (see OGCMA 1067NOTZeus_Greenough.htm).

The throne under Washington’s right hip depicts Apollo, Hyperion’s replacement in the new regime of the Olympians, driving the chariot of the sun across the dawning sky.

Opposite, Hercules strangles snakes in his cradle while Iphicles sleeps. (See OGCMA 0527HeraclesInfant_Greenough.pdf).

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled forThe Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 - 1990's, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.