Pollux on Bronze Casting: A New Look at "kanabos" [Greek] Mattusch, Carol C Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Fall 1975; 16, 3; ProQuest pg. 309 Pollux on Bronze Casting: A New Look at 1(ava~oc Carol C. Mattusch THE TECHNICAL TERM Kava~oc is used in a variety of contexts. It appears in late lexicographical entries concerning bronze casting, in fifth-century B.C. tragic and comic fragments, and in passages describing the human body. In many cases, Kava{Joc is used metaphorically and, as a result, it has been variously interpreted and translated, It will be seen, however, to have a consistent meaning that can be applied to all of its uses, The only full definition of Kava{Joc is given in the second century by Pollux, in a description of bronze casting, 'TO J.LE:V 8~ gv~ov c;, 1TEpt- '\ I ''\ ,r '\ 'f} I Q '\ ~ oc Bekker; plA,yooe codd., acc. Bethe; T]p.~ Aly80c Nauck, Pearson; iJp.Du.yooc codd. The word )'ly80c is problematic. It appears elsewhere, meaning 'mortar' (Nic. Ther. 589, 618; also as iy&c Sol. 39,Damocr. ap. Gal. 14.130, Dsc. 5.89, AP 9.642 [Agath.], or ry~ Hdn.Gramm. Tech. 2.523, Hippoc. Mul. 1.103), or 'lye' (Eust. 1229.27; also as ..\ty8a Hsch.). The definite article does not make sense in the Sophoclean fragment. p.Duy8oc probably < TJP.TJALy8oc through iotacism; the first use of p.Du.yl>oc in this passage may be the result of ascribe's misunderstanding of the Sophoclean fragment. We are left with >.ty8oe, i'y3tC, iyi3TJ; only the first is suitable here. In the passage in Pollux, the meaning of ..\ty8oc is clearly 'mould'. 'lTVKVop.p.aT€"i Bentley, ace. Bekker, Pearson; 7TvK"wp,an, 'lTVKlJO" 7Tan, eodd.; mJK"wp,a T£ Bethe. 7TVKIJOp.p,aT££ agrees with Pollux's paraphrase and is an acceptable emendation if the phrase is taken to refer to a mould used in bronze casting. Pollux uses Ka"afJoc in one other passage (7.164), which does not necessarily refer to bronze casting: 7T£pl 8 8.1 o[ Toue 7TTJAll'oVC 7TAaTTOIJT€C TO" 7T"IAO" 'IT£p£811JT£C 'lTAUTTOVC£, TOVTO TO ~VA7J.p£O" Ka"afJoc KaA£iTa£ ... "The wooden stick around which the sculptors model the clay is called the Kal'afJoc." 7TT}AL"OVC, 7T7)AL8ouc, 7T>.t.,oOVC, 'lTl8ouc eodd. Only 7TTJAL"ovc makes sense in this context, and the other forms may be explained as corruptions of 7T7)AL"ove. 309 Copyright (c) 2003 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright (c) Duke University, Department of Classical Studies 310 POLLUX ON BRONZE CASTING "The wood around which the image-makers2 work the clay (core) is called the KaVa-{Joe. Hence Strattis in (his work) Kinesias calls Sannyrion a KaVa-{JOC because of his thinness. But the clay that surrounds the modeled wax, which melts by the application of fire and leaves behind many holes in the clay, is called the mould (Aty8oc). Hence Sophocles said in (his work) The Captives: "a, 'JT€p~ & TO 1TpWTOII Ol1TMCTat TOil KTJPOII TdUaav' 080 Kal ot .\€'IM'O~ Kal acapKo, K&'vafJo, .vYOVTat, "the wood around which modelers first put Copyright (c) 2003 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright (c) Duke University, Department of Classical Studies CAROL C. MATTUSCH 311 It could perhaps be argued that Pollux confused lost-wax casting with the sphyrelaton process of making bronze statuary, which was still known in later antiquity. Here wood probably formed the entire core for cold-hammered sheets of metal (Paus. 3.17.6), as it did also for some xoanon-like figures (Paus. 3.19.2, 9.12.4). That Pollux was not thinking of the relatively solid core of a spTtyrelaton statue, however, is shown by his reference to the analogy between Kavaf30c and a thin man. If Pollux had not mentioned wax, the passage might be explained as referring to the making of terracotta sculpture, where a wooden core or framework could have been used, since openings are left in a terracotta to allow gases to escape during baking.7 But even before firing, the contraction of the drying clay would be impeded by a rigid wooden core and the clay might crack. No other literary source confirms Pollux's reference to wood, nor is there yet any archaeological evidence for it. An explanation, how­ ever, may be found in modern bronze casting. Today wood can be used as an armature for a direct lost-wax casting. (It is not a universal practice, nor is it commonly mentioned in technical handbooks.) A core is built up over the armature and the wax is added. With the core completely enclosing the armature, the burning out of the wood results in a tubular structure that is highly resistant to pressure from outside. An alternative method is to hang the wax directly on the armature and then to pour the core. With the armature and the wax touching, once the wood has burned out, the bronze flows into the space where the armature was, giving the sculpture a form of bronze the wax, whence thin and fleshless people are called Kava{Jo,"; and s. v. KavaP£(v)oc K'YJpoc:

yI\EfJEC, WC1T€P €V TOtC ypa-r0IUVotC Kava otC, TO TOV CWJLaTOC EXovn cxfjJLa 1Tav-roc OVTWC WCT' €V TOLC ccpo8pa AEAE1TTVCJLEVOtC 1TavTa TOV OYKOV cpalV€eOaL 1TA~PTJ cpAEfJlwv (ytYV€Tat yap <> aVToc T01TOC AE1TTWV /LEV ov-rwv cpAEfJLa, 1Taxvv(UVTWV SE capKEc) . •• 18 "For the blood vessels, just as in the drawn KavafJoL, have the form of the whole body, so that in extremely slender people the whole volume of the body seems to be full of blood vessels (the same space in thin people is filled with blood vessels, and in fat people with flesh) ... " Here KavafJoc has been explained by Tricot as a sculptor's sketch.19 But again, Aristotle seems to see the blood vessels as a kind of framework, which becomes 15 Arist. Gen.An. 743aZ (p.78 ed. H. J. Drossaart Lulofs). 16 Arist. Gen.An. 743aZ, The Works of Aristotle, edd. J. A. Smith and W. D. Ross, trans. A. Platt, V (Oxford 196Z). Similarly, Peck translates KavafJo, as 'skeleton models' drawn on the wall and writes that "there seems to be no justification for interpreting KavafJo, as a mere outline or sketch" (p.219 n.d), meaning that they are something that reveals the interior structure upon which the outlines are based. 17 See J. V. Noble, The Techniques of Painted Attic Pottery (New York 1965) 50 figs. 191-93. For large.scale guide lines see M. Mellink, AJA 75 (1971) Z5Z. 18 Arist. HA 515a34if (I p.186 ed. A. L. Peck). 19 Arist. HA S1Sa3S (I p.179 ed. J. Tricot). Copyright (c) 2003 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright (c) Duke University, Department of Classical Studies 314 POLLUX ON BRONZE CASTING visible in a thin person whose interior form is not well concealed by flesh. In another passage, Aristotle is more explicit about the relation of flesh to blood vessels: ... TtcC cfoMfJac 1TEP~ &c Jx: 1TEP~ {J1Toypacfo~v TO dJfta 1TEptKEtTat TO TWV capKwv,20 H ••• the blood vessels, around which lies the flesh of the body, as around a framework ({J1Toypacfo-IJ)." The analogy with a framework is still with a drawing or a sketch,21 but the passage leaves no doubt that Aristotle sees blood vessels as a frame­ work or armature around which the structure of the body is built up. Aristotle refers to the same kind of framework in all of these passages, whether it is a flat sketch on a wall or a real framework like the armature that is used in bronze casting. It is for this reason that Aristotle is able to draw parallels between the fine lines of blood vessels in a solid body and a drawing on a flat surface. Aristotle uses one more analogy to explain the way in which the body is built up over a framework, but this time it is a framework of bones rather than of blood vessels. The parallel is drawn with the work of clay modelers. WC1TEP ytcp Ol1TAChTOVTEC €K 1T7]AOV 'qJov 7f Tt.VOC "\ \ .... , . ./........ ... , "()'" alV\7'JC vypac CVCTaCEWC v.,.tCTaCt TWV CTEpEWV Tt CWftaTWV, Et.1 OVTW \' ""'./..' ~ ~, ,... ... 1TEpt1Tl\aTTOVCt. TOV aVTOV TP01TOV 7'J .,.VCtC OE07'J/LLOVpY7'JKEV EK TWV capKWV , r'" ...,,, .. \ \., ,...... , ~ , 22 TO <:.