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Melancholy of the Antique World |
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written
by sariah / 10.24.2005 |
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| melancholy of the antique world |
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Part 1: |
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Once inside the Colosseum, the shadowed labyrinths where animals and gladiators were kept or prepared for battle are now covered in sand, speckled with dried brown grass. Amassed in stratified tiers, the crowd that once vibrated in anticipation of the life and death struggles that were about to occur, and in expectation of the ensuing gossip for coming weeks, now are lost. Instead, from our modern perspective and culture, where even fighting chickens is considered cruel and illegal, this human death-match seems a bizarre and unjustified form of entertainment.
Herein lies the “melancholy of the ancient world”. The Colosseum and other monuments of the ancient world no longer impart the symbolism of what these buildings meant to ancient civilizations and what they hoped would remain their legacy of greatness to future generations. As a result of these ancient edifices’ longevity, there is a disconnect between modern observers of this once-glorious setting and what it must have symbolized to the citizens of ancient past. Instead of an imposing monument of grand size and inspiration, the Colosseum exists isolated against a “background of immutable ebony”, to which visitors struggle to find correlations within modern values, and often conclude only negativity in what is seen as blood-thirsty acts of violent entertainment. No longer are modern day visitors inspired to mentally re-invent the past glory of the Colosseum in a positive light. The melancholy of the ancient world is embodied in this imposing structure, once the heart of ancient civilization, that has lost its meaning of glory to modern man.
There are few monuments of modern life that have the endurance of the Colosseum. Our culture rapidly evolves, in an increasingly digital context, leaving few physical traces of everyday life that inspire the imagination as strongly as the Colosseum. For instance, purely by their lack of physical presence, it is unlikely that a file of emails would have the same emotional effect on future generations. Thus, as evidenced by an absence of physical traces, modern generations no longer desire a legacy of greatness in the same way as the ancients. Unlike the ancient Romans, the peace of moderns does not rely so heavily on memories of individuals in the mortal world; People currently find comfort for the afterlife in their relation to the spiritual, not necessarily to their relation to future generations. Therefore, moderns bypass the dark hole of infinity directly toward a kind of immortality.
In this interpretation, part of the “melancholy of the ancient world” results from the power of the viewer. In its time, the Colosseum did not represent a relic of the past, but a functioning element of ancient Rome. Citizens who streamed through its curved arches understood that it was the heart of ancient civilization, a vital part of their life in the city. As the Roman Empire declined, and the Colosseum fell into disuse, those who visited, lacked an understanding of its function, an understanding that can only be gained through actual use and living in Roman society. When its use ended, the Colosseum was an image in limbo, maintained in half-state through the imaginations of its visitors. These modern observers have the power to suspend the symbolism that the antique world had sought, to create the melancholy of the ancients through perception or misperception.
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Part 2: |
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Because of Pompeii’s unique circumstance of being “frozen in ashes”, it, too, is a monument, but in a completely different way than the Colosseum. Although it is separated from the context of modern time, the once livable spaces, like shops, apartments and theaters, resemble the streets of present day Rome- cobblestone streets, crowded housing and public spaces. It is easier to relate to the people of Pompeii; and, unlike the Colosseum and its citizens, there is no incongruence of its purpose and form with modern life. Instead, Pompeii’s demise was like other natural disasters that occur in modern times, a destructive force such as a tsunami or hurricane that devastate modern cities. Encountering the glass-encased plaster molds of Pompeii’s citizens elicits empathy for the helpless forms, curled beneath the suffocating ash. As a result, walking through the streets of Pompeii, the melancholy felt is more like that of a young life cut short, instead of greatness that no longer has meaning in modern life.
Another symbol of the ancient world, the Pantheon, seems to lack much of the melancholy that shrouds the Colosseum and Pompeii. Unlike the Colosseum and Pompeii, which are broken shells of previous civilizations, the Pantheon’s original construction has remained intact, and its current function as a church removes it from being a “token relic”. In the Pantheon, there is an atmosphere of peace and serenity. Because of its unique connection to nature through its oculus, there is a perpetual connection to life and one that is inherent to man’s existence. When looking at the Colosseum and Pompeii, death, destruction and downfall are overt themes; whereas, the Pantheon is an experience in the greatness of the present and of being alive.
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