2/4/22: Argonauts, Art, and The Bi-Co!

Emily Egan, assistant professor and ancient Eastern Mediterranean, art, and archaeology at the University of Maryland college park, led a talk about the argonaut. This was a very intriguing talk, especially because I had not heard about nor seen this creature before. I was surprised to see how much they resembled an octopus as they both have eight arms and cells that allow their skin to change color. I found the way the argonaut collects very fascinating. Egan explained the process, stating that the argonaut rises to the surface and rocks back and forth to capture the proper amount of air and then seals the air off in the deepest part of its shell with one of its dorsal webs and then re-emerges to swim.

I loved the section of the talk where Professor Egan showed how the argonaut was used in decorative elements during the Bronze age in Greece, first used in face painting and then in ceramics. The argonaut became very popular in the art that fell under the marine style during the Late Minoan period, and they were surrounded by depictions of water or marine rock work. It was captivating to see the shifts in the use of argonaut in art, as its next stage of use was in clay coffins and in a riverside setting rather than a marine setting. The argonauts were now accompanied by plants, weeds, aquatic birds, and deer over rocks and seaweed.

It was really interesting that Professor Egan’s work connected to Bryn Mawr alumna and Professor of Greek Mabel Louise Lang. While Lang claimed to be a novice, her work was impactful in the field, and she offered careful descriptions of six examples of Argonauts for the paintings to be created. I am inspired by the work a fellow Bi-Co alumna had done and contributed to a talk that is being given so many years later. A portion of the name of the talk even came from Lang’s words as she a specific type of Argonaut was the most exceptional and that others “have nothing in common with these tiny little cephalopods.”