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SHAGI/STEPS 6(2)

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The Calydonian hunt between the Roman, Early Byzantine and the Sassanian empires: The Hermitage Meleager and Atalanta silver plate

A. Dan
French National Centre for Scientific Research (France, Paris)

DOI: 10.22394/2412-9410-2020-6-2-144-199

Ключевые слова: Emperor Heraclius, Martina, Šahrbarāz/Šahrwarāz, “Boar of the Empire”, Byzantine-Sassanian Wars, the year of 622, Byzantine silver-plates, political communication, propaganda

Аннотация: The Hermitage silver plate no. W-1 represents Meleager and Atalanta, accompanied by two servants, at the beginning and at the successful end of the Calydonian hunt. Five stamps applied on the back of the vase allow us to date it in the first part of the reign of Heraclius (before 630).The plate can be compared with the famous David plates discovered in Cyprus, for some decoration details but also for their aim in political communication or propaganda. Heraclius — the first Roman/Byzantine basileus — probably used the Homeric myth of Meleager in order to express his ambition or pride at defeating the most terrible boar ravaging his empire — the Sassanian “Boar of the Empire”, Šahrbarāz/Šahrwarāz, military chief of Chosroes II. Moreover, the conflicts determined by the marriage of Heraclius with Martina, the daughter of his sister, in the Roman Christian society, could have been compared with the tragic myth of Meleager, who sacrificed his victory over the Calydonian boar and finally his own life in the family conflict which followed the hunt, for his love and faith towards Atalanta. Both the epic and the tragic hypostases of Meleager are well illustrated in the long Roman tradition of literary and iconographic representations, especially from the 2nd to the 5th century AD. Even if we lack literary sources confirming it, we must assume that these representations were still well known at the beginning of the 7th century. The external and internal political motivations we assume for the Hermitage plate lead us to date it around 622–624, when Heraclius and Martina (alias Meleager and Atalanta) obtained their first important victories against the Sassanians in Asia Minor.

Acknowledgements: I am very grateful to Prof. Nikolai Grintser for the invitation to the Gasparov readings 2019, to Profs. Frantz Greent, Tonio and Fernanda Hölscher for their critical feedback and to Dr. Ekaterina Ilyushechkina for the Moscow invitations, her continuous support and translation of this paper.

Для цитирования: Dan, A. (2020). The Calydonian hunt between the Roman, Early Byzantine and the Sassanian empires: Notes on the Hermitage Meleager and Atalanta silver plate. Shagi/Steps, 6(2), 144–199. (In Russian). DOI: 10.22394/2412-9410-2020-6-2-144-199.