Temple Decoration and Cultural Identity in the Archaic Greek World: The Metopes of Selinus

In this book, Clemente Marconi provides a new interpretation for the use of figural decoration in Greek temples of the archaic period, through a study of the archaic metopes at the temple of Selinus. The study of figural decoration on Greek temples has traditionally been identified with the broader study of architectural sculpture. At the same time, the original visual aspects of archaic Greek temples have been fragmented into a discussion of individual types. Marconi argues against both the typological approach and the tendency to investigate style and iconography as two aspects unrelated to the cultural and social background within which temple decoration operated. He explores the relation between style and function and examines the function of figures on temples within the cultural and social context of the communities for which these images were created.

•A new interpretation of the use of figural decoration in Greek temples of the archaic period •A new interpretation of Greek monumental architecture in archaic Sicily •A new interpretation of the metopes of Selinus, one of the most important documents of Greek temple decoration in all the Greek world

1. Figure and temple in the Greek world until the beginning of the late Archaic period (ca. 700–530); 2. Monumental architecture and colonization in archaic Sicily; 3. Selinus: history and urban development of an archaic Greek colony; 4. The small metopes; 5. Temple C and its metopes; 6. Gods, heroes, and monsters: the cultural identity of a Greek colony in the West.