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The hunting frieze from Vergina*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Linda Collins Reilly
Linda Collins Reilly
Affiliation:
Department of Classical Studies, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA The American School of Classical Studies, Athens
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Extract

The tombs at Vergina in Macedonia continue to produce more questions than answers. At the 1990 Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute in San Francisco a colloquium entitled ‘The royal tombs at Vergina: continuing issues’ was presented on these tombs, their dating, and their possible inhabitants. The participants in this colloquium were not in agreement about the identity of those laid to rest in the tombs, or when these burials took place, or the nature of the grave goods which accompanied the funerary rituals. We must continue to anticipate and hope for progress in the debate over these crucial questions.

Type
Notes
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 113 , November 1993 , pp. 160 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1993

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References

1 For the publication and illustration of the tomb, see Andronikos, M., Vergina: the royal tombs and the ancient city (Athens 1984)Google Scholar particularly 102–119.

2 For bibliography on the finds at Vergina, see Andronikos, 238–239 and Borza, E.N., In the shadow of Olympos: the emergence of Macedon (Princeton 1990) 257 n.8.Google Scholar

3 See the accompanying illustration adapted from Andronikos, pp. 102–103. In July 1987, when I was able to see the frieze in question, it was extremely difficult to make out the details of the scene. The dogs numbered #6. #7, and #8 in my illustration were at that time the best preserved canine examples.

4 In English there is a casual and at times undifferentiated use of the terms ‘hound’ and ‘dog’. Used properly, a ‘dog’ is a male canine, and a ‘bitch’ a female one. The term ‘dog’ is commonly used to refer to animals of both sexes. While ‘hound’ is used at times in a colloquial or a mildly affectionate manner to refer to almost any dog, a hound is correctly a hunting dog. All of the canines in the Vergina frieze are generically dogs, and specifically hounds.

5 On the Laconian hound, see Hull, D.B., Hounds and hunting in ancient Greece (Chicago and London 1964) 31–33Google Scholar and plates IV, V, VI and XX, and especially figure 11. A description of the Laconian is provided by Xen. Cyn. 4,1–8. There are countless representations in Greek art of all periods of this type of dog, shown either in a specific context or as a companion to his master. On the speed and skill of the Laconian, see Lilja, S., Dogs in ancient Greek poetry (Helsinki 1976) 49–50.Google Scholar

6 Xen. Cyn. 10.1.

7 Xen. Cyn. 9.1.

8 The colour of the tracking dogs varies, but their color is not related to their physical capabilities. On the color of hounds, see Xen. Cyn. 4. 7–8.

9 On this point see Anderson, J. K., Hunting in the ancient world (Berkeley 1985) 93.Google Scholar He says, ‘Hounds were, as in Xenophon's day, essentially of two types, with the light, keenscented Laconian, or Spartan, hound used to track the quarry, and a heavier mastiff to bay it’. It is exactly these two types of dogs which are represented in the Vergina hunt scene.

10 On these two modern breeds, see The complete dog book (New York 1985) 239–242 for the Pharaoh Hound, and 223–226 for the Ibizan, both with photographs.

11 On these dogs, see Pugnetti, G., Guide to dogs (New York 1980).Google Scholar The Karelian is #127, the Rhodesian #174, and the Akita #87, all with photographs.

12 For an example of dogs used in recent times in a large game hunt, see Lee, R. B. and DeVore, I., eds., Man the hunter (Chicago 1968) 294–5.Google Scholar