Changes [Dec 03, 2008]
HomeThis statuette was excavated from the sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona, in the north-west of the Greek peninsular. Now in the National Museum of Athens, it is considered, from an art historical perspective, to be a premier example of mid-sixth century BC Laconian metalwork (Cartledge *ref* Hodkinson *ref*). It is understood to represent a Spartan girl undergoing the type of physical training for which Spartans in general were renowned in the Classical literature (Xen. *ref*). Considered from this perspective, it is easy to understand this statuette as a totality, a discrete whole which signifies little; a (peculiarly Spartan) femininity definitely, an agonistic ideology maybe, but nothing more. Its essence lies in its inherent beauty as art. But this is to understand the statuette as a complete thing-in-itself, its own signifier and signified. Following Derrida (*ref*), and more recently Shanks (1999 *and more, ?Witmore*, we may begin to break down the statuette into its constituent entities, processes and meanings, and explore how it, as a thing, represents a coming together of material, agency and time. We may begin with a few, uncontroversial categories.
gender + the feminine | labor | the agôn | Dodona | bronze + metalwork | the National Museum | Sparta
