MuseumofFineArts,Boston,MA

HomerGalleryExhibitionReview

BySarahCarter

AncientGreecewasinlovewithitself.Itsculturerevelledinpride,glorifieditsheroesand
perpetuatedanythingthatdisplayeditsintellectualdominanceandrightlyso.AncientGreeceis
responsibleformuchofthebeauty,philosophy,art,architecture,andstorytellingthatistodaylooked
uponwithsuchawe.Whyshouldtheynothavelookedupontheirownworkswiththesame
adoration?OneofthemostfamousGreekworkswhichwassuccessfullypreservedthroughboth
GreekloveandmodernrespectisHomersEpics.Thesepoems,theIliadandtheOdysseyinparticular,
werepowerfullywrittentorecounttheculturalanecdoteoftheTrojanWaranditsaftermath.They
revolvedaroundmythologicalbeliefswhichwereheldtruebytheAncientGreeks.TheHomerGallery
inBostonsMuseumofFineArtsstrivestotellthemostimportantpartsoftheseepicsthroughartand
artifacts,andtothenfurthertheunderstandingofitsculturalrelevanceandprominencebyrelating
itsthemestotwoothervitalaspectsofGreekculture,symposiaandcomedicandtragicdrama.The
evidentconnectionswhichexistbetweenHomersmasterlyregaleofGreekanecdoteandtheother
mostimportantpiecesofGreeksociallifeandorderillustratetheprideofGreeceanditsglorification
ofitslifestyle,aswellastherelevanceofHomericrhetoricineverydaylife.
TheHomerGalleryissplitintothreesections,eachdedicatedtothreeimportantthemes:
HomersEpics;Dionysusandsymposia;andcomedyandtragedy.ItisbesttobeginintheHomerand
theEpicTraditionsection,whichutilizesaselectionofcoins,redfigureandblackfigurepottery,and
walltexttoexplainthemainstorieswithintheepics.Directlytotherighthandsideasyouwalkin
restsabustofHomerandatranscriptoftheepicswrittenbyanearlyChristianmonk.Thebookis
encasedandopentoonepage,butjustwitnessingthesizeofthemanuscriptrelaystheimpressive
amountofworkandseeminglyendlesssourceofinspirationtotheGreeksaswellaswestern
literatureinlatercenturies.AplaqueishungnexttothebustofHomerwhichdescribesabrief
overviewoftheTrojanWarandtheEpics,andtheirinfluenceonGreeklife.Thispieceofwalltextis
extremelyeffectiveateducatingtheviewerenoughtounderstandthepurposeoftheexhibitwithout
lookingtoooverwhelmedwithwords.
Aftertheoverviewandintroduction,thereisanexplanationofhowtheTrojanWarbegan:
withtheJudgementofParis.Thecasewhichcontainstheserelatedartifactsislocatedadjacenttothe
bustofHomer.TheJudgementofParisisaparticularlywellrepresentedpieceofthestoryinthe
gallery;manyceramicsandcoinsprovidedepictionsofHera,AphroditeandAthenabeingledtoand
standingbeforeParisofTroyawaitingthejudgementofwhichwasthemostbeautiful.Thewell
documentedandwellexplainedopeningofthe

Iliadsetstothetonefortheentiretyofthegallery
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itself.Itsetsinmotiontheartofstorytellingthroughartifactaswellasthebeginningofthemost
survivedandreveredpiecesofliteratureinthisparticularway.Italsodenotestheimportanceof

beautyinGreeklifeandculture.
ManysmallanecdotesfromtheIliadarerepresentedinthegalleryaswell,suchastheSuicide

ofAjax,thepropheciesofTroysfate,andtheWeighingoftheSouls.Eachanecdotehasafewrelated

ceramicartifactsaswellassomecoinagewhichrepresentthestories.Theadditionoftheseanecdotes
isstrategicandservestobettertheunderstandingofthenatureofthewar,exactlyhowheavily
mythologywasinvolved,andhowtheGreeksrespondedtothesestoriesbycoveringtheir
householditemswithdepictionsofthesetales.Alsoexplainedinthesecasesisthebattlebetween
AchillesandHektor.ThewalltextexplainseffectivelywhyAchilleswentintobattleafterahiatushe
wasenragedbythedeathofhisfriendPatroklosandhisultimatevictoryoverHektor.Inoneofthe
cases,thereisawatervasewhichcarriesadepictionofHektorsbodybeingdraggedbytheGreeks.
Havingsuchanimagepaintedonacommonplacehouseholditemhelpstoexplainjusthowintrinsicit
wastothemtoglorifygruesomebattlesandtheirGreekvictors;itshowstheoverflowingGreekpride
evidentthroughouteveryaspectoftheculture.
Inthemiddleofthefirstsectionofthegallery,therearefourseparatecaseswhichhousefour
largewinevessels,alldepictingscenesfromtheHomericepics.Thisbeginstosynthesizethethemes
fromthefirstsectionwiththesecondsection:DionysusandtheSymposium.
PerhapsoneofthemostimportantpartsofGreeklifewasthesymposium,apartywhich
includeddrinkingmassiveamountsofwine,discussingphilosophy,andrecitingsongandpoetry.Allof
thiswasintroducedbythebelovedgodDionysus,whowasthegodofwine,intoxicatedecstasy,and
theatre.Thereisplentyoftextinthissectionofthegallerywhichexplainseverythingfromthemaking
ofthewinetowhoattendedthesesymposiatowhatwentonandhowtheydrank.Theinformationis
helpfulandincludesinterestingfactoidsaswellasoverallinformation.Oneofthemostinteresting
thingstolearninthissectionofthegalleryisthatSocratesoftenpracticedrecitinghisphilosophyat
thesetypesofparties.
Throughoutthesecondsection,thereare3subthemeswhichareclearlyrepresented.The
firstisthesymposiumitself.Theleftwallisdedicatedtoacasewhichcontainsmanytypesofdrinking
vesselsalldepictingimagesofwhattypesofactivitieswentonattheparties.Thereistextwhich
explainswhoattended,whattheydidandwhy.Oneofthedrinkingvesselsevenfeaturesimagesof
drunkenness,beastiality,andothersuchtypesofbehaviorontheinsideofthevessel.Theideaisthat
themoreamandrank,themoreoftheimagehecouldsee,whichrepresentedwhathehimselfmight
becomeoncehefinishedthewine.Anotherthemerepresentediswinemakingandcommerce,a
dominantpartofGreekculturalandeconomicstance.Finally,thegodDionysusisproperly
represented,throughabustwhichshowsonetypeofcommondepiction(femininelike),artifacts
whichdescribetheworshipofDionysus(likeeyecups),andtherepresentationofhisentourage.
ThesethreesubthemesaccuratelypresentthedominantactivityasonethatiscentraltoGreeklife;
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appropriately,thereisalargetablefullofartifactssuchasdrinkingvesselsanddepictionsofdrinking
intheverycenterofthegallery.
Homerandhisepicsplayanimportantroleinthesesymposiaaswell.Atthebeginningofthe
party,therewasanofferingofwinetoDionysus.Duringthistimeofoffering,songswererecited,and
poemswereread,mostoftenfromthehomericepics.Thisdirectlyconnectstheepicstocommonand
vitalGreeksocialpracticesandreinforcestheideathatfantasticstoriesofvictoryandpraisearekey
inGreeksocializationpatterns.AsDionysuswasthegodoftheatreaswell,thisleadseasilyintothe
sectiononcomedyandtragedyintheGreektradition,thethirdandfinalsectionofthegallery.
Thevisualembodimentofmyths,poemsandepicswasalsoaprincipalpartofGreeksocial
life,andwascloselyrelatedtothetraditionsofdrinking.Inthissection,thereisapieceofwalltext
whichexplainsacupandfigurinethatwerefoundinanancientsanctuary.Accordingtothetext,the
sanctuarywasdedicatedtoKabeiros,arelativeofDionysus,whowasoftendepictingdrinkingwine
andrecliningatbanquets,muchlikeDionysushimself.Theartifactsfounddepictaparodyofthis,
denotingtheimportantrelationshipbetweenparodyanditscomediceffect,aswellasthe
relationshipbetweenparody,drinking,andentertainment.Thispieceoftextisparticularlyusefulin
termsofsynthesizingthemesandunderstandingthegoalsofthecuratorialpractice.
Anotherimportantthingtonoteisthelargevesselwhichsitsdirectlyinfrontoftheviewer
whenwalkingintothesectionofthegallery.Becauseofitssize,itcontainsmuchmoreimageryand
sceneworkthanmost.Nexttothisvessel,thereisasmalltouchscreenwhichcanbeeasilyutilizedto
clickthrough,readabout,andunderstandeachindividualsectionorstoryonthevase.Theadditionof
thistouchscreenwasanincrediblyinterestingeducationalsupplementbecauseitprovidedan
indepthanalyzationofanimportantpieceofartwork.(Itwouldbegreattohavemoreofthemin
othergalleriesaswell!)
Thetheatricalproductionofmythsandstorieswasawaytodynamicallyrepresentancient,
importantwaysoflifeandtalesoftheirgods.WithinafewyearsoftheintroductionofHomersepics,
Greekartistsbegangivingvisualformtothesestoriesaswell.ThevisualmanifestationoftheTrojan
cyclestoriesinthesamemannerasthefoundationalmythologicaltalesdirectlyandfirmlyplacesthe
Homericepicsatthecenterofcomedyandtragedyasdramaticthemes,andbyextension,Greek
culturalidentification.
Thegalleryhasagreatrelevanceintodaysculturalandartisticsociety.Homersepicsarestill
beingtaught,aswellasGreekmythologyandrelatedtopicsofthelike.Seeingtheseparticularthemes
outlinedtogetherinacohesive,visuallyinterestinggallerytrulycombineseverythinglearnedin
classesliketheseintoagrandnewideaoftheartformthatisancientliterature.Itexposesitsendless
impactandinfluenceonitsimmediatecultureaswellascenturiesmoretocome.

AfterdecipheringeachpieceoftheHomerGalleryintheMFA,thecuratorialgoalbecame
cleartome.Thefrontsectionexplainsthehomericepicsinjustenoughdetailsoastounderstandthe
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overallstorylineandimpactoftheepics.Thedetailsandartifactsprovidedwereinterestingand
engaging.Movingfurtherintotheexhibit,onebegantoseetheconnectionsbetweenHomersIliad
andOdysseywithothercentralpartsoflife.Theintegrationofthestorieswitheverydayroutines

madeitcleareryethowimportantthisliteraturewastothem,andhowtheyadoredtobereminded
oftheirgreatnessandvictory.Itwasfascinatingtofinallyseetheconnectionsbetweeneverysingle
artifactinthegallery;IcouldbegintounderstandtheGreekmindsetalittlebetter.
Ithinkthecuratorsoftheexhibitdidamagnificentjobofrelayingthechosenthemesand
messages.Thetextwaseffectiveandtheartifactsthemselveswereintriguing.Themainpieceoftext
titledHomerandtheEpicTraditionservedasabriefexplanationoftheentiregallerywithoutbeing
tooobviouswithit.Itrequireddelvingintothesubjectandthinkingaboutthesynthesisofthe
materialtotrulyunderstandthethoughtsbehindit,yetprovidedjustenoughinformationtosetthe
intellectualprocessinmotion.
Throughtheprocessofwritingthispaper,Ihaverealizedhowtotrulyvisitamuseum.Its
morethanjustlookingattheartforafewsecondsandreadingtheplaqueswithnames,dates,and
explanations.Itsmorethanevenstaringattheartworkforminutesonendanalyzinglineandstroke.
Inowseethattheresmoretogalleriesthanjusttheart.Thecuratorshavetheamazingjobof
constantlysynthesizinghistory,artists,themesetc,andthatswhatitsbesttofindwhenina
museum.Atleastthatsmynewtheory!AndImexcitingtotestitout.