Miniature Herms Representing Alexander the Great

by Antonio Peña and David Ojeda

Hesperia, Volume 89, Issue 1
Page(s): 83-124
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.89.1.0083
Year: 2020
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ABSTRACT:

The present article focuses on a type of miniature herm depicting a masculine figure in military costume whose identification has long been debated. Through examination and a cataloguing of the pieces belonging to the type, this study outlines their iconography and prototype, offers some considerations of their material and other aspects, and concludes that they are representations of Alexander the Great. A discussion of the possible reasons for the depiction of a real person within the repertoire of miniature herms of Dionysiac character is also offered.