Praxiteles' Hermes and Infant Dionysus Sculpture

Significance and Function

As Greek culture evolved, it increasingly sought the perfection of images. Since most sculptures were created for shrines or cities, maximum realism was sought as a representative token.

Historical Context

It is very possible that Hermes with Infant Dionysus was sculpted to commemorate the peace between Elis and Arcadia, as Dionysus was the first patron of Elis and Hermes the second patron of Arcadia.

Symbolism and Dualism

The group is dualistic: it perfectly contrasts maturity and balance (represented by Hermes) with the immaturity and imbalance of Dionysus. In fact, it can be seen as a symbol of the world, as Hermes and Dionysus play just like the gods play with human destiny.

Mythological Narrative

Dionysus, son of Zeus and Semele, a princess of Thebes who was struck down by Zeus when he showed himself in his divine aspect (because his wife Hera, jealous, had asked her to), is sustained by his older brother, Hermes, the illegitimate son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of the titan Atlas. Zeus experienced strange visions; Dionysus was taken from his mother's belly when she died and was carried for nine months in an incision in his thigh. This work depicts the time when Hermes, fearing terrible vengeance from Hera for Zeus's marital infidelity, takes his brother to the kings of Orchomenos, Athamas and Ino, entrusting him to their care. In a reference to the future of Dionysus as god of wine, his brother offers him a bunch of grapes.

Praxiteles' Style

Praxiteles preferred humanizing the gods, as seen in the tenderness with which Hermes watches his younger brother.

Condition and History

The right arm of Hermes, which offered the grapes, and the small right arm of Dionysus have been lost. Similarly, the plinth of both legs and the left foot of Hermes are modern additions. This work, inspired by Greek mythology, was destined for public display at a crossing in the city, but it is not known whether it was commissioned by a private individual or by public authorities. When it was found in 1877, it adorned the temple of Hera in Olympia.

Artistic Context

Mythology (the cultural basis of Greek civilization) was one of their references when explaining what surrounded them, as well as philosophy. These sculptural figures continue the trend of the Second Classical period, which provided the representation of reality in an idealized result of anthropocentrism. The curve was important at the time because the Praxitelian curve brought a change in sculptural representation; this sinuosity was used more pronouncedly later, from the Renaissance.

Iconography

Iconographically, the figures of Hermes and Dionysus were sometimes reduced to a column representing the bearded head of Dionysus and his genitals, which citizens touched at the entrances and exits of the cities because they believed they gave them good luck.