Herm (sculpture)
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| - | :''[[world erotica]], [[history of human sexuality]]'' | + | :''[[Eros in Greece]]'' |
| - | :''[[homosexuality in ancient Greece]]'' | + | |
| - | In ancient [[Greece]], the [[phallus]], often in the form of a [[herma]], was an object of worship as a symbol of fertility. This finds expression in [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[sculpture]] and other artworks. One ancient Greek male idea of female sexuality was that women envied penises of males. Wives were considered as commodity and instruments for bearing legitimate children. They had to compete sexually with [[eromenoi]], [[hetaera]]s and slaves in their own homes. | + | |
| - | [[Homosexuality]], in the form of [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|pederasty]], was a social institution in ancient Greece, and was integral to education, art, religion, and politics. Relationships between adults were not unknown but they were disfavored. [[Lesbian]] relations were also of a pederastic nature. | + | A '''Herma''', '''herm''' or '''herme''' is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which [[male genitals]] may also be carved at the appropriate height. The form originated in [[Ancient Greece]], and was adopted by the Romans, and revived at the Renaissance in the form of [[Term (architecture)|term figures]] and [[Atlas (architecture)|Atlantes]]. |
| - | Ancient Greek men believed that refined [[prostitution]] was necessary for pleasure and different classes of prostitutes were available. Hetaera, educated and intelligent companions, were for intellectual as well as physical pleasure, [[Peripatetic]] prostitutes solicited business on the streets, whereas temple or consecrated prostitutes charged a higher price. In [[Corinth]], a port city, on the [[Aegean Sea]], the temple held a thousand consecrated prostitutes. | + | In [[ancient Greece]] the statues functioned as a form of [[apotropaic]] and were placed at crossings, country borders and boundaries as protection. Before his role as protector of merchants and travelers, [[Hermes]] was a [[phallic symbol|phallic]] god, associated with fertility, luck, roads and borders. His name comes from the word '''''herma''''' (plural ''hermai'') referring to a square or rectangular pillar of stone, [[terracotta]], or bronze; a bust of Hermes' head, usually with a [[beard]], sat on the top of the pillar, and male [[genitals]] adorned the base. The ''hermai'' were used as boundary markers on roads and borders. In [[Athens]], they were placed outside houses as [[apotrope]]s for good luck. [The male genitals would be rubbed or anointed with olive oil to obtain luck]. This superstition persists, for example in the [[Porcellino]] bronze boar of Florence (and numerous others like it around the world), where the nose is shiny from being continually touched for good luck or fertility. |
| - | [[Rape]] - usually in the context of warfare - was common and was seen by men as a “right of domination”. Rape in the sense of "abduction" followed by consensual lovemaking was represented even in religion: [[Zeus]] was said to have ravished many women: [[Leda]] in the form of a swan, [[Danaë]] disguised as a golden rain, [[Alkmene]] disguised as her own husband. Zeus also ravished a boy, [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], a myth that paralleled [[Cretan pederasty|Cretan]] custom. | + | Especially in Roman and Renaissance versions, the body was often shown from the waist up. The form was also used for portrait busts of famous public figures, especially writers like [[Socrates]] and [[Plato]]. [[Sappho]] appears on Ancient Greek herms, and anonymous female figures were often used from the Renaissance on, when herms were often attached to walls as decoration. |
| + | ==The trial of Alcibiades== | ||
| + | In [[415 BC]], on the night before the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for Syracuse during the [[Peloponnesian War]] (see [[Sicilian Expedition]]), all of the Athenian ''hermai'' were vandalized. This was a horribly impious act and many people believed it threatened the success of the expedition. Though it was never proven, the Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] or [[Spartan]] sympathizers from [[Athens]] itself. In fact, [[Alcibiades]] was accused of being the originator of the crime. He denied the accusations and offered to stand trial, but the Athenians did not want to disrupt the expedition any further. His opponents were eager to have Alcibiades' trial in his absence when he could not defend himself. Once he had left on the expedition, his political enemies had him charged and sentenced to death ''[[in absentia]]'', both for the mutilation of the herms, and the supposedly related crime of profaning the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]. | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Phallus]] | ||
| + | *''[[Female herm]]''[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornelis_Bos_001.jpg] (1546), an [[ornamental print]] by [[Cornelis Bos]] | ||
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Revision as of 17:37, 6 July 2013
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A Herma, herm or herme is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. The form originated in Ancient Greece, and was adopted by the Romans, and revived at the Renaissance in the form of term figures and Atlantes.
In ancient Greece the statues functioned as a form of apotropaic and were placed at crossings, country borders and boundaries as protection. Before his role as protector of merchants and travelers, Hermes was a phallic god, associated with fertility, luck, roads and borders. His name comes from the word herma (plural hermai) referring to a square or rectangular pillar of stone, terracotta, or bronze; a bust of Hermes' head, usually with a beard, sat on the top of the pillar, and male genitals adorned the base. The hermai were used as boundary markers on roads and borders. In Athens, they were placed outside houses as apotropes for good luck. [The male genitals would be rubbed or anointed with olive oil to obtain luck]. This superstition persists, for example in the Porcellino bronze boar of Florence (and numerous others like it around the world), where the nose is shiny from being continually touched for good luck or fertility.
Especially in Roman and Renaissance versions, the body was often shown from the waist up. The form was also used for portrait busts of famous public figures, especially writers like Socrates and Plato. Sappho appears on Ancient Greek herms, and anonymous female figures were often used from the Renaissance on, when herms were often attached to walls as decoration.
The trial of Alcibiades
In 415 BC, on the night before the Athenian fleet was about to set sail for Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War (see Sicilian Expedition), all of the Athenian hermai were vandalized. This was a horribly impious act and many people believed it threatened the success of the expedition. Though it was never proven, the Athenians at the time believed it was the work of saboteurs, either from Syracuse or Spartan sympathizers from Athens itself. In fact, Alcibiades was accused of being the originator of the crime. He denied the accusations and offered to stand trial, but the Athenians did not want to disrupt the expedition any further. His opponents were eager to have Alcibiades' trial in his absence when he could not defend himself. Once he had left on the expedition, his political enemies had him charged and sentenced to death in absentia, both for the mutilation of the herms, and the supposedly related crime of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries.
See also
- Phallus
- Female herm[1] (1546), an ornamental print by Cornelis Bos
![[1]](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornelis_Bos_001.jpg){kind=link}