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This artifact gets its name from the sun god Horus, who in this artifact is depicted as a child. The Greeks were fascinated by the Egyptian deities, they equated many of their gods to their own. Horus, became Apollo, the god of light to the Greeks. What made the Greeks so fascinated by the sun god Horus?

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Statuette of Harpocrates

Description

This bronze takes its name from the Greek adaptation of the Egyptian phrase Hor-pa-khred, Horus, the sun god, as a child. This is confirmed by typical Horus traits: the forelock, finger raised to his mouth, and the hole behind the forelock, which once held a double crown. The panther skin over his left arm was priestly Egyptian garb. Centuries before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, the Greeks had traveled and traded there. Fascinated by Egyptian deities they equated many with their own. Horus, the sun god and son of Osiris and Isis, for instance, became Apollo, the god of light to the Greeks. The Egyptians made thousands of images of Hor-pa-khred as votive gifts in shrines and temples. The Greeks rendered their own Harpocrates as a much softer and voluptuous figure.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 27 archive.org

Exhibition history

CMA, 27 February-18 March 1973, The Year in Review for 1972, cat.: CMA Bulletin 60, no. 3 (March 1973), no. 3; Chapel Hill, N.C., William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, 7 March-18 April 1976, Small Sculptures in Bronze from the Classical World, cat. ed. by G. Kenneth Sams, no. 33 (entry by Edwin L. Brown); CMA/Boston/Los Angeles 1988-89, no. 21 (entry by Marion True)

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Cite this page

{{cite web |title=Statuette of Harpocrates |url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.6 |author= |year=c. 50 BC |access-date=11 March 2019 |publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Contact us

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

The information about this object, including provenance information, is based on historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on objects is an ongoing process, but the information about this object may not reflect the most current information available to CMA. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

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This bronze takes its name from the Greek adaptation of the Egyptian phrase Hor-pa-khred, Horus, the sun god, as a child. This is confirmed by typical Horus traits: the forelock, finger raised to his mouth, and the hole behind the forelock, which once held a double crown.

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The story in which Apollo became popular known for slaying a monstrous "lizard". However, some say that this artifact proves that it may not have been a lizard. While others feel as if it was lizard with a asymmetrical body. Do you think the "lizard" that Apollo slain was even a lizard in the first place?

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Description

Since antiquity Praxiteles's masterpiece has been known as "Sauroktonos" (Lizard-Slayer). Pliny the Elder almost certainly saw the bronze original in Rome in the first century AD. He described a young Apollo about to stab a lizard with an arrow. Roman marble copies seemed to support this identification because they included lizards clinging to thick tree trunks. Until the acquisition of the only known bronze version by the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2004, there was no reason to question Pliny's epithet.

The Cleveland Apollo's "lizard," which is probably original to the sculpture, is not a lizard at all. It combines the body of a snake with strangely formed limbs of varying sizes joined asymmetrically to the body. Its disordered anatomy identifies it as an agent of chaos from the world of myth. It is most likely the Python, son of Mother Earth, who Apollo must slay to become the presiding deity at the Delphi sanctuary. The Cleveland Apollo can therefore be called a Python-Slayer, and "Sauroktonos" was perhaps a popular nickname for the famous
bronze original.

Exhibition history

The Cleveland Museum of Art (09/29/2013 - 01/05/2014); "Praxiteles: The Cleveland Apollo"

Praxiteles: The Cleveland Apollo. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 29, 2013-January 5, 2014).

Cite this page

{{cite web |title=Apollo the Python-Slayer |url=https://clevelandart.org/art/2004.30.b |author=Praxiteles |year=c. 350 BC |access-date=11 March 2019 |publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Since antiquity Praxiteles's masterpiece has been known as "Sauroktonos" (Lizard-Slayer). Pliny the Elder almost certainly saw the bronze original in Rome in the first century AD. He described a young Apollo about to stab a lizard with an arrow. Roman marble copies seemed to support this identification because they included lizards clinging to thick tree trunks.

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This large black face reveals what seems to a god getting ready to throw some sort of object/weapon.  Many say its Zeus w others say its the god Ganymede (a trojan prince).  Who do you think it is?

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum

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Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar) | Greek, Attic | Classical | The Met

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McClees, Helen and Christine Alexander. 1933. The Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans: As Illustrated in the Classical Collections , 5th ed. pp. 47-48, 80, fig. 59, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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This unique artifact seems to depict a Hellenized form of Zeus characterized by a ram's head. Why do you think people would characterize a god with a Ram's head?

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum

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Limestone statuette of Zeus Ammon | Cypriot | Archaic | The Met

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Zeus Ammon is a Hellenized form of an Egyptian deity characterized by the ram's head. The figure is shown here seated on a throne and wearing a long tunic. It reflects the variety of cultures that came together on Cyprus.

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Marble Centaurs Leg, joined from two pieces

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Marble Centaurs Leg, joined from two pieces

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This artifact was excavated from the Temple of Apollo.  This is considered a frieze, one of many at Greek Temples.  A frieze is the part of an entablature between the architrave and the cornice. Do you think Centaurs had a huge part in the Greek Mythology world?

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One of many of the artifacts found in The Temple of Apollo.  This type of Metope are apart of classical architecture.  Many Greek Temples are known to have these metopes.  What can you see/depict from this artifact?

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In Ancient Greece, there were often a lot of specific temples for honoring certain gods. Apollo and Zeus were not the only ones who were honored with temples. Many other gods like Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis were also honored with their own temples.  This gives us an overall view of how many other Ancient Greek cities treated the Greek gods.

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During the time period, many of the Ancient Greek cities praised many gods.  There are countless numbers of sanctuaries and sanctuaries with oracles.  Giving us the idea of how prominent Sanctuaries were in Ancient Greece.

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The remains of this temple were to be seen, down to nearly the middle of the present century located o Mt. St. Elias. The ruins of this temple have been mostly used to build a church on the same site. The Boeotians commemorated their victory over the Spartans at Leuctra by periodically celebrating games in honor of Zeus. Why is it that so many different groups of people would celebrate in honor of Zeus?

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There are three verisons of this temple, the first two being destroyed by natural disasters (fires and earthquake).  The temple itself is made up of tufa in the style of the sixth century, with high abacus and broad rounded echinus.  The temple was roofed with large marble tiles of the usual two kinds, namely flat tiles with raised edges , and gable-shaped tiles.  The discovery of a number of archaic sculptures appears almost certainly to have occupied the gables of the temple of the sixth century B.C . Where the natural disasters that destroyed the Temple of Apollo twice coincidental? Could this possibly be a sign from another god not wanting the temple to be built? Why or why not?

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The great temple of Zeus was at Olympia, this is where the festival held every fourth year in his honor was a period of truce among the Greeks. Zeus was depicted as one of the greatest gods because he defeated his own father (Chronos) and became the almightiest out of all the gods. Any god who would try compete with him would fail. Zeus ruled by strength and wisdom.  " 'Ruling among all the immortals' he is the 'father of gods and men' "  What made Zeus so powerful and dominate?

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The sanctuary of Apollo was built by Alexander the Great. When the temple of Apollo was built became the third largest temple in the Greek world. Only priests would be able to enter deep into the sanctuary. Worshippers would enter through the side doors to worship. The main area contained the sacred spring having no roof. There lays the temple of Apollo in the background which contains the statue of Apollo. (8:04-11:56)

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The sanctuaries of Apollo / Τα ιερά του Απόλλωνα.

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Apollo stayed at Delphi and also counseled his mortals.  He was praised heavily for slaying Python the serpent.  At the Sanctuary of Apollo, here spoke the oracle which was the voice of Apollo at Delphi.  There are many other gods who have done great deeds in their time, why was Apollo so heavily praised than the others?

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Frazer J.G, "Pausinias's Description of Greece | Vol 5",  Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge , Published: 1965

Grant Michael, Kitzinger Rachel, "Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean | Greece and Rome | Vol 2", Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc. , Published: 1998

Payne M. Melvin, MacKendrick Paul, Vermeule Emily, Richardson Emeline, Charles-Picard Gilbert, Grimal Pierre, Grosvenor Hovey Gilbert (Editor), "Greece and Rome: Builders of Our World", National Geographic Society, Published