Introduction
The focus of this webpage is going to be on the appearance of female acrobats on ancient Greek vases. Although, they do appear on plates on statues, there is less evidence of them that is open sources so I will be focusing on vases. There is a range of information that can be gathered from the images themselves. However, there is also important knowledge that we can gain from reading the inscriptions on the items and the descriptions written by Plato, and Xenophon of real events and symposiums that they attended. The main points I will be discussing on this webpage will be the setting depicted on the vase, the differences between women’s titles versus men’s titles in sport, specifically in acrobatics and what clothing and costumes women wore during their performances. As well as what stunts they performed.
Historical Background
Many vases that illustrate female acrobats are painted on Apulian red figured pottery like skyphos’s (drinking cup) and hydrias (water jug).
Greek, South Italian, Apulian; Skyphos; Vases; On both sides, a female head between palmettes. About 325–300 B.C. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/244866
The image on the left is an example of a skyphos circa 325–300 B.C. These types of vases were wine cups used in Athenian women’s festival to Dionysus.
Marjorie Venit wrote, “Women were most likely to use a skyphos as their cup, and although the skyphos does not function solely as a women’s vase, women most often limit themselves to skyphoi” (Venit 1998, p. 124). Because most women did limit themselves to this type of vase/cup, be it in their private quarters or at festivals, they were more likely to see illustrations of female acrobats.
Unfortunately there are very little examples of acrobatics depicted on these types of vases so the image on the right is just an example of what a hydria (circa 349-330 BC) would look like. This type of vase was principally used for carrying water (Schreiber p. 117).
Working women, like female acrobats, have been seen painted on these types of vases. One such vase was found in a woman’s grave in Ruvo di Pulgila, a city in Italy (Venit 1988, p. 266-267).
Many drinking cups, vases, and plates used during symposiums and other celebrations depicted scenes that attendees were watching in real time. They would have been drinking wine with water from vases and cups that depicted female acrobats preforming their acts.
Settings Depicted on Vases
Some of the vases we have discorvered depict scenes where the vegetation might suggest an outdoor setting (Hoek & Herrmann, 2013, p. 179-187). The presence of that vegetation could suggest that the performance was intended to be seen by a larger audience, like the general public.
Many vases do depict scenes from celebrations and parties called symposiums. However, not all do. Annewies van den Hoek and John Hermann describe one such vase where the setting is a dancing school, where such entertainers were trained for performances at symposia (Hoek & Herrmann, 2013, p. 179-187). On the vase there is a woman practicing a backbend, while an older man observes her while sitting on a chair in front of her holding a stick.
The Importance of Different Titles
There are two distinct words used to describe female and male performers:
- Kybisteter – A term used distinctly when writing about a male tumbler and not a female acrobat.
- Thaumatopoiois/Thaumatopoioi – People who don’t just tumble but could perform other acts (of which mostly just included women.)
Plato, in his allegory of the cave, uses the term thaumatopoiois as well to describe “those who perform feats of skill, magicians.” and those who are “maker[s] of marvels” (“Greece” 2016). These were the women who jumped over swords and bent their bodies in half over themselves. They were truly preforming feats of skill that would put their audience in a state of wonder.
Jonathan Vickers makes a connection between thaumatopoiia and dancers when he writes, “In other words, professional acrobatic wonder-makers are also dancers, and their performance is a hybrid of thaumatopoiia and dance. But as thaumatopoioi, the distinguishing characteristic of their performance is how it relates to a wider context of spectacular and marvelous entertainment” (Vickers, 2016). He calls those female acrobats wonder-makers in the same way that Plato calls them makers of marvels. They continue to stun the audience with their performances not because they can perform one act perfectly but several which all have a different degree of difficulty.
ArchaiOptix, Asteas – RFVP 2-33 – female acrobat on turn-table and phlyax – maenad and Dionysos – Oxford AM 1945-48 – 02, CC BY-SA 4.0
Knowing the difference between a kybisteter and a thaumatopoiois/thaumatopoioi is important when it comes to writing about them in the future. If a piece of artwork is too damaged to tell the gender of the performer but the inscription isn’t, then the use of one of the terms would be key to determining if it was a woman or man being depicted. The artisans took great care to carve and paint scenes and performances as accurately as possible. We would be doing them a disservice by misgendering the performers.
When looking at the image you can see that “the painter has taken pain to make it clear that this is a female acrobat rather than a male actor impersonating a female…” (Dearden, 1995, p 81- 86) Similar to other depictions of female acrobats, the figure on the left is seen wearing shorts and no top. Between her breasts she has a necklace and bracelets on her wrists. These distinctions make it clear that that is a thaumatopoiois or female acrobat.
Women’s Performance Attire
Many modern researchers including Hoek and Hermann, Hughes, and Smith commented on the attire female acrobats wore while they preformed. They wrote about the practicality of their costumes. The image to the right is what most female acrobats were seen wearing. Looking at that particular image, you wouldn’t think that something like that would be practical but because these are mostly depicted on either their arms or hands, wearing almost nothing on top would be the most practical. If she had sleeves and/or loose fabric, there would be a possibility that it causes her to slip or get caught on something, causing her to fall.
Humbert de Superville, David (1770-1849), Female acrobate balancing on the head of a warrior (after a Greek vase) PK-T-667, PK-T-AW-5522, CC BY 4.0
C. W. Dearden also wrote about women who also wore a necklace between their breasts. Since they were able to reach that far down, they had to have been loose. This also poses a danger to the performer when she reaches with her hands. Her fingers could become caught in it, pulling her down. Her eye sight could also be obstructed if she leaned too far forward.
For the bottom half of their costumes, Hughes wrote that they wore long skirts that made some of their acts like the sword dance, handstands, and somersaults more dangerous (p. 1-27). Long skirts and loose pants, like those depicted in the image on the right, could get cut by swords while dancing. They could also trip on the excess and loose fabric.
These costumes could cause many injuries. However, as depicted on the vase mentioned in the previous section, these were trained professionals who practiced their acts so they wouldn’t be injured.
Even though it seems impractical to wear nothing but a necklace and loose shorts or longer pants and skirts, it’s important to remember that these women were entertainers. The more danger involved in the act, the more entertaining they were. Their graceful management of a diaphanous skirt was part of the spectacle. (Hughes, 2008, p. 1-27) Their ability to control the skirt while performing dangerous acts added to the excitement and wonder their audience felt when they watched them dance.
Acts Performed
Foundling Painter, Hydria acrobat BM VaseF232, CC BY 2.5
Most of the depictions of female acrobats that we have from vases, plates, and terracotta statues are almost always shown doing the same pose: the acrobat’s body is resting on her forearms with her back arched, so her feet are bent towards her head. Vases, like the one on the left, depict a woman performing on or next to a potter’s wheel. While the woman balances on the wheel, it is pulled by a man with a string to make it spin.
Like with many things, there are varying levels of difficulty when it comes to this act. Hoek and Herman describe a scene in which a contortionist performs on a table with a wine cup, a much less dangerous version of the stunt than previously described. The lowest difficulty would be something like in the image: a back bend done on the ground wearing shorts and no top. (Hoek & Herrmann, 2013, p. 179-187). There is nothing there that could accidentally be caught on something that would cause the performer to injure themselves.
Another act that has a considerably higher risk involved is sword play. This performance has been pictured on a mid-fifth-century Athenian water jar which depicted a female flutist and a dancer who is about to leap over the swords, which are planted in the ground. (Hoek & Herrmann, 2013, p. 179-187). While we don’t have many visuals that depict those specific actions, we do have written text from Xenophon, one of Socrates’ students. A translation of one of his works says, “After this a ring was brought in with upright swords all around; the dancer turned somersaults into the swords and out over them again continuously, so that the onlookers feared that she might suffer something, but she accomplished these things confidently and safely.” (Hoek & Herrmann, 2013, p. 179-187) The descriptions of this action is very similar to the images decorating jugs and vases, so we must believe that the images are not exaggerations, but representations of real events.
Concluding Thoughts
There is so much we can learn from apulian pottery. Although rare, these vases are able to give us some insight into what female acrobats wore, preformed, and just in general how they were seen in antiquity. The wear and tear that has happened over the years, modern historian have taken their time to look at every little detail possible. Even without a large quantity of items, we are still able to decipher and find important information based on writings by actual people like Plato and Xenophon. They give us a glimpse into the past.
Refernces
Dearden, C. W. (1995). Pots, Tumblers and Phlyax Vases. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 40(Supplement_66), 81-86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43767990?seq=1
Greece. (2016, August 10). World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts. https://wepa.unima.org/en/greece/
Hoek, A. V., & Herrmann, J. J. (2013). Clement of Alexandria, Acrobats, and the Elite. In Pottery, pavements, and paradise: Iconographic and textual studies on Late antiquity (pp. 179 – 187). BRILL.
Hughes, A. (2008). AI DIONYSIAZUSAI: WOMEN IN GREEK THEATRE. Bulletin – Institute of Classical Studies, 51(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-5370.2008.tb00272.x
Schreiber, Toby. “Athenian Vase Construction.” Google Books, p. 117, books.google.ca/books?id=2NJVAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=snippet&q=skyphos&f=false. Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.
Smith, J. M. (1882). Miscellaneous. In Ancient Greek female costume: Illustrated by one hundred and twelve plates and numerous smaller illustrations. With explanatory letterpress, and descriptive passages from the works of Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes, theocritus, Xenophon, Lucian, and other Greek authors (pp. 79-80).
Venit, Marjorie S. “Women in Their Cups.” The Classical World, vol. 92, no. 2, 1998, p. 124, www.jstor.org/stable/4352236?seq=8.
Venit, Marjorie S. “The Caputi Hydria and Working Women in Classical Athens.” The Classical World, vol. 81, no. 4, 1988, pp. 266-267, www.jstor.org/stable/4350194?sid=primo&seq=3.
Vickers, J. R. (2016). The Acrobatic Body in Ancient Greek Society [Doctoral dissertation]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
Women in Antiquity 