Dunbabin, 'Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece', Bryn Mawr Classical Review 9409
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/bmcr/bmcr-9409-dunbabin-dwarfs
Veronique Dasen, Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece.
Oxford Monographs on Classical Archaeology. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1993. Pp. xxix + 354, 80 plates. ISBN 0-19-814699-X
Reviewed by Katherine M.D. Dunbabin -- McMaster University
It suits the taste of our times to study attitudes towards the
marginal and the different in Antiquity; yet for most physical
abnormalities evidence is largely lacking. Veronique Dasen opens
her book (a revision of her Oxford D.Phil. thesis) with the
question: "In ancient Egypt and Greece physical beauty, defined
in terms of proportion, was highly admired, even to excess. What
happened to those who conformed neither to these 'ideal
proportions' nor to norms of human appearance?" (1). She
attempts to answer this question with particular reference to
dwarfs. Dwarfism (defined as "an abnormally short stature over
three standard deviations below the mean height of a population
of the same age and sex" [7]) offers more favourable conditions
for such a study than most physical abnormalities. It is
comparatively common (D. quotes a rate of occurrence of 1 per
10,000 live births for all forms of dwarfism, 1 per 34,000 for
the most common type, achondroplasia); and those afflicted have a
good chance of living to maturity, and having normal mental
development. It is visually distinctive (unlike, say, deafness),
and easy for artists to represent; and it can be recognised in
skeletal remains where these have been properly studied.
The book opens with a chapter on the typology of growth
disorders, including a table of the main types of dwarfism and
their clinical features. Although this is useful to introduce
the modern reader to the technical vocabulary, its relevance to
the main part of the book is limited. There is no sign in the
literature D. quotes of any understanding, either in Egypt or
Greece, of the nature of the disorder, or of the difference
between the various forms. The iconographic conventions adopted
for the portrayal of dwarfs sometimes give a very realistic
rendering of the most striking characteristics of achondroplasia;
the attempts (which D. discusses in chapter 4) to diagnose other
forms of dwarfism on the basis of the artistic representations
are very dubious. Analysis of skeletal remains (discussed in
chapter 2) sometimes allows diagnosis, mostly of achondroplasia,
occasionally of other conditions; but the number of examples well
enough preserved and studied to be of value for palaeopathology
is small (only one skeleton of a Greek dwarf is known, about 20,
whole or in part, from Egypt). Chapter 1 also introduces a
matter which complicates the study of both Egyptian and Greek
dwarfs (and, for that matter, Roman): that of the central African
pygmies. These are not always clearly distingished from clinical
dwarfs in either language, and it is clear that they had a
considerable influence both upon the religious associations of
dwarfs in Egypt, and upon the iconographic formulae. In Greek
and Roman art, the most common scenes in which dwarfs are
portrayed are those derived from the legends of the pygmies;
representations of "real" human dwarfs are almost inextricably
intertwined.
The section on Egypt opens with a discussion on the
terminology. This is beyond the competence of this reviewer; D.
distinguishes three words, dng, nmw, and
hw`, but concludes that the differences between them are
not clear, although dng (the earliest of them) appears to
be used to denote a pygmy. The general chapter on iconographic
conventions which follows is of value mainly for drawing
attention to the problems of identification of dwarfs in an art
such as Egyptian which uses hierarchical variations of scale. In
most cases, the physical disproportions need to be shown clearly,
which means that only the disproportionate forms of dwarfism can
be recognised.
Three chapters (5-7) on dwarf gods follow, the longest devoted
to Bes. The iconography of Bes has been thoroughly studied, and
D. confines herself to a synopsis of the chronological
development. More interesting for the present study are the
questions of the functions of Bes and other dwarf gods, and their
relationship to the major gods, since these are likely to have
affected the position of human dwarfs. These functions are
largely protective, in part because of fertility associations, in
part as manifestations of the sun-god (and sometimes other
deities). The specific role of dwarfism in these identities,
however, remains obscure; D. acknowledges that the reason for the
transformation of Bes from his original leonine form into a
grinning dwarf is not clear, and can only suggest that it may
"have incorporated a belief in dwarfs as familiar protective
beings which goes as far back as the Predynastic Period" (83).
The chapter on Human Dwarfs (9) is based overwhelmingly on the
evidence of art, for the most part funerary. Written evidence is
very sparse. The art is spread over three millennia, though
distribution between different periods is not even. Most
informative for D.'s purposes are the Old Kingdom reliefs, where
dwarfs are frequently represented as part of the household in
royal and noble tombs, and conclusions can be drawn about the
roles that they played, as personal attendants, tenders of
animals, entertainers dancing and making music, and as jewellers.
Captions in several cases give their titles. A few examples are
known of higher-status dwarfs who appear themselves as the owners
of the tombs. The best-known example is the tomb at Giza of
Seneb, whose statue-group with his (normal-sized) wife and
children forms the book's frontispiece. He was also shown in
reliefs from the tomb, which steer an uneasy compromise between
the representation of his physical disproportions, and the
requirements of rank which would portray him on a larger scale
than his servants. Less informative about the actual status of
dwarfs are the figurines which predominate in the Middle Kingdom,
while there is a remarkable absence of dwarfs in household scenes
from the New Kingdom, when in contrast the numbers of dwarf-gods
increase. From the Late Period one exceptionally fine example is
the sarcophagus of the dwarf Djeho, whose naked figure is carved
in profile on the lid, with remarkably accurate rendering of the
features of achondroplasia. Inscriptions relate that he belonged
to the household of a high official, and that he performed sacred
dances at the burials of the Apis and Mnevis bulls.
The Egyptian material is therefore heterogeneous, but does
permit some conclusions about the status of human dwarfs.
Examples exist which show dwarfs like Seneb thoroughly integrated
into society, though they are few, and it is not clear what were
the conditions which made this possible. The greater part of the
evidence shows dwarfs as members of the households of the
wealthy, used to mark the prestige of their masters and as
entertainers, analogous to their role as jesters and pets in
later periods. More enigmatic are the religious associations; it
seems that they may have benefited from the association with the
various dwarf-gods, and that they performed as dancers in ritual
contexts. D.'s conclusion, that "ancient Egyptians welcomed
short statured people", perhaps goes beyond what the evidence
will bear; but she is right in concluding that there are no signs
of rejection or exclusion.
The Greek material covered by D. is very different in scope.
She covers only the Archaic and Classical periods; Hellenistic
and Roman dwarfs are excluded. The quantity of the material
explains such an exclusion, but the result is somewhat lopsided.
The reader will not find in this book any mention of the dwarfs
from the late Hellenistic Mahdia shipwreck, for instance,
probably the most striking dwarf representations to survive from
Antiquity, nor any discussion of the development of "realism" or
of caricature in Greek art after ca.300 BC. This is regrettable,
for one thing, because it excludes one of the areas where the two
traditions discussed in the book may meet. The section on Egypt
includes some mention of representations of Bes and other dwarf
deities in the Ptolemaic and Graeco-Roman periods. The section
on human dwarfs in Egypt ends with the statement: "In Hellenistic
Egypt, human dwarfs appear only in objects in the Greek
tradition. Some of these representations reflect Egyptian
conceptions of dwarfism, but in a new iconography. I mention
here the widespread motif of the dwarf dancer, often with an
overlarge phallus, which expresses the traditional association of
dwarfs with fertility and regeneration" (155). This is
potentially rich ground, but it is not developed; the mention is
left without connection with the second part of the book. This
in turn refers to the position of dwarfs in the Hellenistic and
Roman periods only in a brief dismissive statement at the very
end, as "centuries of exclusion", when "dwarfism is no longer
distinguished by special religious associations" (247): an
over-simplification, which omits precisely the question she had
earlier raised. Cultic associations, with Isis and Dionysus,
have indeed been suggested for some Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman
dwarfs, including the Mahdia trio.[[1]]
The Greek material that is covered here does not distribute
itself evenly. Mentions of human dwarfs in literary sources are
very sparse, with the exception of Aristotle; the medical
writers, for instance, have nothing to say about the condition.
Dwarfish figures occur in myths (chapter 13), principally in the
guise of pygmies. D. examines the literary accounts of pygmies
(not only those from the period under discussion) at some length,
with much enquiry into the origins and functions of the myth,
which she suggests answers archetypal fears about, for instance,
"the geographic and the genetic unknown". She concludes "The
myth also accounts for the presence of pathological dwarfs at
Athens. Physical abnormality becomes an exotic feature. Dwarfs
appear thus as liminal, wild, but inoffensive beings, like
powerless pygmies" (188). But in the archaic period pygmies are
not shown as dwarfs, in any recognisable pathological sense; they
are normally formed small men. The more interesting question,
which D. does not answer, would appear to be why pygmies came to
be identified by artists with pathological dwarfs (apparently in
the early fifth century)--an identification which endured into
the Roman period; archetypal fears are not necessarily relevant
here.
The works of art discussed fall into two main groups. The
numerically larger consists of figurines, almost all of
terracotta, of East Greek type but found all over the
Mediterranean. They date from a period of fifty years in the
middle of the sixth century, and show fat, standing dwarfish
figures. Some carry a smaller figure, probably a child, others a
basket or a shield. D. identifies them as derived from Egyptian
figurines showing dwarf deities, Bes or Ptah-Patoikos, which are
found as votives at Greek sanctuaries from the seventh century
onwards, and believes that they transmit the Egyptian notion of
dwarfs as protective guardians of the family. The short-lived
nature of the fashion, however, suggests that this notion did not
go very deep. Secondly, there are the vase-paintings,
predominantly Attic red-figure of the second half of the fifth
century. These might seem to offer the best hope of answering
the questions that really interest D., what were the normal
attitudes towards dwarfs and their status in society; yet the
material is recalcitrant. Only 39 vases are listed by D. as
showing human dwarfs (as opposed to pygmies etc.). Some of these
are extraordinarily fine studies of abnormal pathology, like the
fragment of a stamnos by the Peleus Painter in Erlangen
(pl.47.1); others are daubs, and the identification as dwarfs is
by no means always clear. Only a few show the dwarf in a clearly
identifiable context; even those that do, like the Clinic
Painter's aryballos where the dwarf attends the doctor's surgery,
give inadequate clues to his role: is he the doctor's servant, or
one of the patients? There are some scenes where the dwarf is
clearly a servant or attendant, though this is never as explicit
as in the Egyptian scenes. Others show them engaged in the same
sorts of activities as normal-sized Athenians; but again
interpretation of these runs into problems. Can one deduce from
the scene of two dwarfs exercising with a punching-bag that
dwarfs might be admitted to the palaestra like other citizens, or
has the artist substituted them for comic or satiric effect? Are
the dancing dwarfs entertainers, or are they komasts? D. can
only conclude cautiously that they do not differ in clothing or
behaviour from other citizens, but that there are signs of a
liminal and ambiguous status.
The association of dwarfs with Dionysiac scenes seems at least
to be clearer; the Erlangen fragment, for instance, shows its
dwarf wreathed with ivy dancing among musicians, while a bell
krater in Zurich has a dwarf dancing with a tympanon in the
presence of Dionysus, a satyr, and maenads. Even so, the number
of vases which explicitly associate dwarfs with Dionysus is very
small. Their relationship to satyrs, with whom they share
various iconographical features, leads D. to see them as deeply
involved in the thiasos, capable of substituting for satyrs. This
cultic role, she believes, will have further helped to bring
about their integration into society.
It must be admitted that the evidence on which D. endeavours
to base her picture of the status of Greek dwarfs is very thin,
though she does her utmost to squeeze information from it. Some
evidence is negative: that there is only one picture of a female
dwarf (on a skyphos in Munich) does indeed imply that they were
not accepted to the same extent as male--that the conventions of
representation, for whatever reason, could not admit female
deformity. Rather than stressing the unanswerable question of
real-life status, perhaps it would be better to concentrate on
the contributions of the artists. Because they were not subject
to the same conventions as ordinary human figures, dwarfs offered
the artists a freedom to experiment, to observe, to introduce
variety: this was what they had in common with satyrs, and to
some extent with foreigners. It is well known that the rendering
of such liminal types provided opportunities for portraiture and
for expression that were absent in more "normal" subjects. The
best of the vase-paintings reveal a fascination with the
observation of physical difference, of a man who did not appear
quite human, which gives their dwarfs an infinitely greater
liveliness than the stock "normal" figures who accompany them.
D.'s book is full of fascinating information; she has cast her
net wide, and the material, textual and visual, that she has
collected throws light on a wide range of questions, social,
religious, artistic, and medical. This light tends to flicker;
the nature of the evidence does not permit clear answers to all
the questions that D. would like to ask. But despite the
inevitable gaps, D's book gives an engrossing insight into some
very different aspects of the ancient world.[[2]]
NOTES
1. E.g. H. Wrede, "Die tanzenden Musikanten von Mahdia und der
alexandrinische Goetter- und Herrscherkult", RM 95, 1988,
97-114.
2. I am grateful to Mr Michael Garmaise, who is writing a
thesis on Graeco-Roman statuettes of dwarfs, for discussing the
book with me.