Triton & Hippocamp - view from front to right
For representations of the marine god Triton, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite who is first mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony, Greek artists developed consistent but not exclusive imagery. His rump, like that of a hippocampus, terminated in a fish tail (or, beginning in late classical times, a pair of fish tails). His human torso with arms and head could be supplemented with horse's or crab's legs.
In the above Jerusalem group, Triton has subdued the hippocampus. With a twisting movement he swings himself upon the powerful fish body of his opponent; Triton turns the hippocampus round in an attempt to hold his adversary fast beneath him with his crab-like limbs. The circular movement is repeated by Triton's own raised and thrashing fish tail. The artist cleverly camouflaged the juncture of Triton's human torso and his fish tail with a "skirt" of fins as in the representation of Scylla in the Sperlonga group.
With his right hand, Triton holds the large tail fin of the hippocampus like a steering oar, taking control of any movement forwards. With his left arm, Triton grips the neck of his opponent in a stranglehold, to judge from the hippocampus's wide-open mouth, flaring nostrils and bulging eyes. Triton seems to rush forward, focusing attention on the frontal view, but this emphasis is countered by the twisting motion of Triton's whipping tail and the contorted fish body of the hippocampus. The composition can be appreciated fully only when viewed from every angle. The plight of the hippocampus becomes clear when the group is seen from the left side, while from the right the observer can see that Triton has grabbed his opponent by the tail fin and that the powerful fish body which arches above the god is his own, not his adversary's.
Triton & Hippocamp; Hellenistic bronze group from about 200-175 BC
Borowski collection, Jerusalem
Triton & Hippocamp - view from front to right
For representations of the marine god Triton, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite who is first mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony, Greek artists developed consistent but not exclusive imagery. His rump, like that of a hippocampus, terminated in a fish tail (or, beginning in late classical times, a pair of fish tails). His human torso with arms and head could be supplemented with horse's or crab's legs.
In the above Jerusalem group, Triton has subdued the hippocampus. With a twisting movement he swings himself upon the powerful fish body of his opponent; Triton turns the hippocampus round in an attempt to hold his adversary fast beneath him with his crab-like limbs. The circular movement is repeated by Triton's own raised and thrashing fish tail. The artist cleverly camouflaged the juncture of Triton's human torso and his fish tail with a "skirt" of fins as in the representation of Scylla in the Sperlonga group.
With his right hand, Triton holds the large tail fin of the hippocampus like a steering oar, taking control of any movement forwards. With his left arm, Triton grips the neck of his opponent in a stranglehold, to judge from the hippocampus's wide-open mouth, flaring nostrils and bulging eyes. Triton seems to rush forward, focusing attention on the frontal view, but this emphasis is countered by the twisting motion of Triton's whipping tail and the contorted fish body of the hippocampus. The composition can be appreciated fully only when viewed from every angle. The plight of the hippocampus becomes clear when the group is seen from the left side, while from the right the observer can see that Triton has grabbed his opponent by the tail fin and that the powerful fish body which arches above the god is his own, not his adversary's.
Triton & Hippocamp; Hellenistic bronze group from about 200-175 BC
Borowski collection, Jerusalem