Etymology

ἄγαλμα ➚, derivative from the agallomai ('to be proud of', 'to rejoice'). Etymology unclear, Cohen (1976, 100-1) lists 8 theories: (1) from *mgalio, a reconstructed variant of megalo- (‘big’, ‘great’), (Ahrens 1868, 256; Prellwitz 1892, 1); (2) From agamai ('I wonder', 'I admire', 'envy'), (Curtius 1879, 172; Szemerenyi 1964, 155-6; Boisacq 1916, 5); (3) from the intensifying prefix -aga ('very'), (Hofmann 1950, 1; Frisk 1960, 6; Chantraine 1968, 7); (4) from the unattested form *agalos, (Schwyzer (1939, 725; Chantraine 1968, 7; Beeks 2010, 7-8); (5) from the root gl- ('to shine'), related to Latin glōria ('glory', 'splendour'), gr. aglaos ('shining', 'glittering'), (Weber 1861, 49-50; Persson 1891, 146; Danielsson 1888: 35; Szemerenyi 1964, 155-56; cf. Chantraine 1968, 12; Brugmann 1875, 214-311); (6) from the prefix a- ('to', Latin 'ad') and gall- ('to call', Latin gallus ['rooster'], English 'call') as 'to call to', (Pisani 1928, 396; cf. Walde-Hofmann 1965, I, 843); (7) from *gagallō, as a reduplicated form of PIE *gal- ('shine'), (Brugmann 1875, 214, 311); (8) from aganos ('mild', 'gentle') by an alteration of l-n, (Frisk 1960, 1). Cohen (1976) suggests an additional (9): from Hebrew ‛âgôl ('roundness'), from Heb. 'agil ('earring').

Testymonies

The noun ἄγαλμα, occurs in six different meanings: (1) glory, honour, associated with the possession of agalma; (2) ornament, ornament; (3) votive gift; (4) statue; (5) image; and pejoratively (6) mere ornament. Agalma referents include: (I) jewellery; (II) ceramics; (III) sculpture; (IV) architectural elements; (V) elements of armour; (V) elements of dress; (VI) metaphorically people and animals. In religious contexts, it usually appears as an object of ritual activity ἀνατίθημι ➚practice ➚ ➚, attested especially in dedicatory inscriptions and associated artefacts, mainly statues.

1. Praise, honour, glory

In the Iliad (4.144 ➚), agalma means glory (κύδος ➚belief ➚ ➚) for the rider (implicitly the king) and adornment (κόσμος ➚sign ➚ ➚) for his horse. A similar meaning of glory, honour or praise also appears in Greek tragedy: in Agamemnon (208 ➚) by Aeschylus, Iphigenia is the praise of her father's house; also in Euripides The Suppliants, the chorus compares one of the chieftains fallen at Thebes, to an agalma for his mother; in Antigone (704 ➚) by Sophocles, Haymon asks his father rhetorically, is there a greater glory for the child, than the good reputation of the father, and for the father the good reputation of the child? Glory or praise in the form of an agalma can also be a hymn of the muses for the country (Pind. N. 3.13 ➚); but also mindless muses for the multitude (Eur. Ele., 338 ➚).

2. Ornament, decoration

In the Iliad (4.144 ➚), agalma, is the cheek strap of a horse bridle, as an ornament (κόσμος ➚sign ➚ ➚) for the horse. The meaning of ornament, is also connoted by some examples from the Odyssey, where agalma denotes objects such as a necklace (Hom. Od. 18.300 ➚) or a buckle (Hom. Od. 19.257 ➚). These examples indicate the external qualities of objects their value, their craftsmanship. Ornaments can also be various pieces of clothing, especially those intended for the head: in Alcman's Partheneion (35), the agalma is a Lydian mitre in which dark-eyed girls look great; likewise in Pindar's Nemean Ode VIII (16 ➚), the Lydian mitre is an agalma for Deinias as a reward for running two stadia; having slain Αἴγισθος, the victor is also Ὀρέστης in Euripides' Electra (871, 873 ➚), whose head Ἠλέκτρα wishes to adorn with her agalmata; while in Alcaeus of Mytilene (PLF 357. 8) it is the hoplite helmet, with the kite swinging at its tip, that is the ornament for men's heads.

3. Votive gift

The meaning of agalma as a votive gift can be found as early as in the Odyssey, in the speech of Aigist , who, in order to propitiate the gods, 'πολλὰ δὲ μηρί᾽ ἔκηε θεῶν ἱεροῖς ἐπὶ βωμοῖς, πολλὰ δ᾽ ἀγάλματ᾽ ἀνῆψεν,' (Hom. Od. 3.273-274 ➚); as well as in the speech of the garrison of Odysseus , who, in return for stealing the cows of Ἥλιος, promise to build a temple to the god and to deposit agalmata in it (Hom. Od. 12.343-347 ➚). However, we do not find this meaning at all in lyric and tragedy; except for a few gifts of the funerary type (Aesch. Lib. 200 ➚; Eur. Alc. 613 ➚; Eur. Orest. 1434 ➚). In Herodotus, the importance of statuary predominates but he also mentions, by way of exception, the agalmata in the form of tripods from the Temple of Apollo Ismene in Beotian Thebesbuildings ➚ (Hd. 5.60-61 ➚). Several agalmata representing votive gifts have survived to our time, and among these the best-preserved is a bronze ariballos from Spartaplace ➚ dated to c. 600 BC (Musée du Louvre, BR 2918 ➚), as well as bronze weights from Susa (Musée du Louvre; SB 2719 ➚). Certain statues, such as the κόρη ➚ ➚ of Anatenor from the Acropolisplace ➚ (Acropolis Museum, Inv. Ακρ. 681 ➚), may have served as votive gifts of statuary.

4. Statue

The meaning of agalma as a statue, is not the earliest meaning of agalma, but it is the most common in both literary sources and epigraphy, and as such, stabilised around the fifth century BC, has survived to the present day in New Greek. The meaning is already evident in the Hymn to Dionysus I (HH 1.9 ➚), and also in Alcaeus of Mytileneplace ➚, where the agalma is the palladion at which Κασσάνδρα seeks refuge from the pursuing Αἴας (ALC. S262). The importance of agalma as a statue is frequent in the Tragedy, both in Aeschylus (Aesch. Seven 258 ➚; Aesch. Supp. 176 ➚; Aesch. Eum. 34 ➚); Sophocles (Soph. OT 1379 ➚); and Euripides (Eur. Hipp. 116 ➚; Eur. Andr. 115 ➚; Eur. Rh. 502 ➚). In Euripides, in whom the word occurs most frequently, it occurs in Iphigenia in Taurida as the central motif of the play (Eur. IT 87 ➚; Eur. IT 1014 ➚; Eur. IT 1480 ➚). Most of the numerous examples from Herodotus also refer to this meaning (Hdt. 1.69.15 ➚; Hdt. 1.183.1 ➚; Hdt. 3.37.3 ➚); with sometimes the statues explicitly indicating the function of so-called cult images, as in the example from the agalm of Ἥρα of Argosplace ➚, before which the mother of Κλέοβις and Βίτων prayed to the Goddess (Hdt. 1.31.4 ➚). Several agalmata in the form of statues have survived to our time, and among them the most famous are (mentioned above) the agalmata of Cheramyes of Samosplace ➚ (Louvre MA 686 ➚; Altes Museum SK 1750 ➚; Vathy Museum Κ/ΚΑ ΕΠΚΑ/84/50 ➚) or the agalmata of Chares of Didymaplace ➚ (British Museum 1859,1226. 5 ➚).

5. Image

The abstract meaning of agalma as an image first appears in Herodotus, where it states:

"γράφουσί τε δὴ καὶ γλύφουσι οἱ ζωγράφοι καὶ οἱ ἀγαλματοποιοὶ τοῦ Πανὸς τὤγαλμα "

(Hdt. 2.46.2 ➚); while this is an exception to the end of V BC. LSJ gives the example of Eur. Hel. 705 ➚, nevertheless this example means a phantom, a ghost (like εἴδωλον ➚ ➚) - agalma from the clouds, not an image itself. In IV BC agalma appears in the sense of a metaphysical image in Timaeus:

"ὡς δὲ κινηθὲν αὐτὸ καὶ ζῶν ἐνόησεν τῶν ἀιδίων θεῶν γεγονὸς ἄγαλμα ὁ γεννήσας πατήρ, ἠγάσθη"

(Pl. Tim. 37C ➚); we also find a similar meaning in Epinomis 983e. ➚

6. Pejorative meaning

Among the exceptions is the pejorative meaning of agalma. Such is found only in Euripides, where it refers to a 'worthless agalma' as an 'unattractive woman' (Eur. Hipp. 631 ➚); and also in Ἠλέκτρα, where agalma is compared to 'empty bodies' as 'ornaments for the crowds' (Eur. El. 388 ➚). It also appears in this sense in Aristophanes, where it ironically means an 'empty sack' or metaphorically a 'pregnant belly' (Aristoph. Wasps 314 ➚).

1. Verb + ἀγάλμα

τίθημι + ἀγάλμα = ‘to put, place, set’; Od. 12.257 ➚; Eur. IT 1385 ➚

ἐπιτίθημι + ἀγάλμα = ‘to lay, put or place upon’: Od. 19.257 ➚

τίθημι + ἀγάλμα = ‘put on’, ‘dedicate’: Hdt. 2.182.1 ➚; DAA6 ➚

ἀνάπτω + ἀγάλμα = ‘hang’; Od. 3.274 ➚

2. Adj. + ἀγάλμα

πολύς — ‘many’: Od. 3.274; ➚ Od. 12.347 ➚

περικαλλής — ‘very beauty’: Od. 18:300; ➚ Hdt. 5.60-61; ➚ IG XII,6 2:558C; ➚

καλὸν — ‘beauty’: SEG 23:38 ➚; IvO 252 ➚

χρυσός — ‘gold’: Od. 3.438 ➚; Hdt. 1.183.1 ➚

3. SubsGen + ἀγάλμα

θεῶν: Od. 8.509 ➚

ἀπόλλωνος: Hdt. 1.69.4 ➚

Διὸς: Hdt. 1.183.1 ➚; 2.42.6 ➚

ἑρμέω: Hdt. 2.51.1 ➚

4. SubsDat + ἀγάλμα

Ἠελίῳ: Od. 12.347; ➚

Ἑρμῆι: DAA 295 ➚

Ἀθαναίαι: CEG 205 ➚ ; DAA 64 ➚; IG I³ 552 ➚

τἤρηι: IG XII,6 2:558B ➚ ;

Interpretation

The term agalma is characterised by polysemy and polyreference, around which various interpretations have developed, especially concerning the problem of describing the polysemy of the term in diachronic order. The description of the polysemy of agalma in the synchronic order has been detailed in numerous lexicographical studies (LSJ, CGL, Montanari). Etymological studies agree to derive agalma from the infinitive ‘agallomai’, nevertheless the etymology of the latter is unclear (Cohen 1976; Beeks 2010). H. Bloesch (1943) described the development of the meaning of agalma in a diachronic perspective, distinguishing 4 stages: 1) Early Archaism, covering the Homeric epics and the lyric, where agalma means jewellery; 2) The Middle Archaic stage, where agalma means votive gifts in various forms, such as statues, ceramics, reliefs, architectural elements; 3) The Late Archaic and Early Classical stage, where agalma means cultic images; 4) The Late Classical times and Early Hellenism, where agalma means statues in general. This interpretation has been criticised (Raubitschek 1948; Walter 1950; Philipp 1979, 103-108); in particular, the existence of agalma polysemy already in Homer has been emphasised (Lazzarini 1976, 96); and Bloesch's narrative has been problematised by citing examples that do not fit into its structure.

On the other hand, various synchronic interpretations of the term have been given: 1) Gernet (1948) defines agalma as a pre-monetary idea of value, having its roots in mythology; 2) Kereny (1962, 170) calls agalma the eternal source of an event involving deity and human; 3) Lacan (1991, 175) and Lanérès (2012, 162) call agalma a ‘trap for the gods’; 4) Day (2010, 88, 103) defines agalma as a general category of gift mediating the relationship between the dedicator and the god, signifying no specific things but their qualities; emphasising the connotative properties of the term; 5) Patera (2021, 71-72) in agreeing with Day's definition and the etymological one, defines agalma as a term that gives a quality to things regardless of their nature, arousing pleasure or honour. She rejects, Lacan's and Lanérès’ definition of agalma as a ‘piège à dieux’ and Lanérès’ (2012, 163) definition of agalma as a site of exchange between humans and gods.