The antique Greek dance, after sculptured and painted figures . hs. The feet of the women are not lifted in the sametime: an elegant and restrained gesture of the arm is the onlysymmetrical, dance-like movement of the Ensemble. Usually, as indicated by the vases, the high gods did little morethan assist at the dances of the inferior divinities. Such was theAsiatic Cybele, whose cult evoked the most furious saltation, butwho herself advanced with a grave manner which excluded all violentmotion, carrying a dulcimer—like her worshipers—to the rhythmof which they whirled in delirium, but which, in
The antique Greek dance, after sculptured and painted figures . hs. The feet of the women are not lifted in the sametime: an elegant and restrained gesture of the arm is the onlysymmetrical, dance-like movement of the Ensemble. Usually, as indicated by the vases, the high gods did little morethan assist at the dances of the inferior divinities. Such was theAsiatic Cybele, whose cult evoked the most furious saltation, butwho herself advanced with a grave manner which excluded all violentmotion, carrying a dulcimer—like her worshipers—to the rhythmof which they whirled in delirium, but which, in her hand, was only 247 248 THE DANCERS ?•£&? a symbol; Cybele comes forward with majesty, as befits the greatmother of the gods. Among the secondary di-vinities, the Charites, theNymphs, and the Hours are/ the principal ones. The danceis heavy and clumsy: here thepaintings are in direct contra-diction to the poets, who speakof the light Step of the gra-cious goddesses. The two dancers par excel-lence are Nike and Eros. 383. Nike the Dancer.—. .:...!? Fig. 566. Nike is always winged. The personi-fication of Victory, she is also its mes-senger. In raising the Temple of theWingless Victory the Athenians toredown this tradition, craftily deprivingVictory of her wings so that she mightnever leave Athens. The primitive artists were limited tothe winged form; they were not able todevise for a figure in the air an expres-sion of rapidity of movement, so theywere obliged to represent the goddessas running, the wings serving only togive lightness to the figure (Fig. 566).Nike was not slow to adopt the gestureof the tunic, so dear to other runningfigures: she made the gesture in double form (Fig. 106). At a later time the artists became more daring and attemptedto show her leaping. An amphora in the Louvre, of the middleof the fifth century B. C. shows Nike soaring through the air, her
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherl, booksubjectdance
