Greek Asia: RHODAX ~ AGELESS FLOWERS ~ THE GREEK ROSETTE IN ANCIENT ART

Tuesday, 25 June 2019

RHODAX ~ AGELESS FLOWERS ~ THE GREEK ROSETTE IN ANCIENT ART

A rhodax is a Greek round, stylized flower design. It comes from the natural shape of the botanical rosette, formed by leaves radiating out from the stem of a plant and visible even after the flowers have withered.

Frieze from the Rotunda of Arsinoe, Samothrace ( c. 288-281 B.C.E. )

History

Funerary Hellenistic stele, from Smyrna ( moden-day Izmir )

The rhodax design is used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in funeral steles' decoration in Ancient Greece. It was also common in the art of Central Asia, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art.

Rhodax at the bottom of a Buddha statue (circa 1st c.C.E.) Greco- Buddhist art, found in Gandhara.

One of the earliest appearances of the rhodax in ancient Greece is a design that comes from Minoan Crete; Among other places, the design appears on the Phaistos Disc, recovered from the eponymous archaeological site in southern Crete.

Rhodax at the center of the Phaistos Disc. Minoan Crete, 2nd millennium B.C.E.

They appear to be solar symbols, or more precisely represent the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and thus indicate the passages from one state of existence to another.

The Sun of Vergina, the famous emblem of the Macedonian dynasty, has a rhodax at its centre. The flower symbolized strength and creation .The 12-spiked Sun represents the main 12 Greek Gods, whereas the 16 spikes symbolize the Pantheon, along with the four points of the horizon.