You are here

Home

The Boy Strangling the Goose: Genre Figure or Mythological Symbol?

October 2006 (110.4)
Forum Article

The Boy Strangling the Goose: Genre Figure or Mythological Symbol?

110.4
Brunilde S. Ridgway
Download Article PDF (Open Access)

Kunze has suggested that Hellenistic sculpture depicting themes of everyday activities that are traditionally classified as genre subjects may carry very different meanings. This note argues that, in Graeco-Roman terms, the chubby personage in depictions of the Boy Strangling the Goose is not simply a child but the personification of Dionysos/Harpokrates; the goose is not a household pet but an evil spirit over which the Divine Child triumphs. The manner of the representation is Greek and can be read at a superficial level; the deeper content is Egyptian and contains a symbolic message of rebirth and victory.

More articles like this: 
Hellenistic Period
Iconography
Sculpture
Greece

The Boy Strangling the Goose: Genre Figure or Mythological Symbol?

By Brunilde S. Ridgway

American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 110, No. 4 (October 2006), pp. 643–648

DOI: 10.3764/aja.110.4.643

© 2006 Archaeological Institute of America

  • Share

Add new comment

More information about text formats

Plain text

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Click "Save" to submit your comment. Please allow some time for your post to be moderated.