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Compare And Contrast From The 4th Century To The 20th Century?

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1.6 Compare & Contrast: From the 4th Century to the 20th Century It is important to notice how far the depiction of this literary myth has come from the 4th century to the 20th century. We see that both visual depictions are of different styles as well as mediums. Compared to the mosaic, the placement of the figures is very similar. In Waterhouse’s work, Narcissus appears to be feminised with his longer hair and his thin body frame, compared to the mosaic, which depicts Narcissus as a strong warrior. According to Trippi, Waterhouse used female models to paint males (2002). As a result, Waterhouse’s depiction of Narcissus compares with Ovid’s Narcissus as the figure was seen as a feminised and beautiful male that had both male and female admirers. …show more content…

This movement argued that art had no purpose or function other than to be beautiful and appeasing to the eye of the viewer. The claim was if an art piece had a meaning more than beauty, it was not defined as art. Oscar Wilde’s views of aestheticism are communicated in the preface of Dorian Gray where the writer states that ‘books are well written or badly written/That is all’ as well as ‘arts for art’s sake’ (Greenblatt, 2012). In relation to Waterhouse and his painting, aestheticism does not apply as the work generates meaning and a function for the time it was created, which has been discussed, as well as for today. Individually these figures represent issues that have been prominent in the last 3 to 4 centuries, which are the idea of the right of speech and identity, especially for the female race and the idea of positive and negative self image and self …show more content…

This translates within other literary versions, secondary readings as well as visual images which depict the myth. According to Spaas, Ovid’s text is the only version that depicts Echo’s story (2000, p. 91). In essence, Echo’s role in the story is very transparent but essential to the telling of Narcissus’s story as it displays the revealing nature of the man and his eventual

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