Bupalus

Bupalus in Wikipedia

Bupalus and Athenis, were sons of Archermus, and members of the celebrated school of sculpture in marble which flourished in Chios in the 6th century BC. They were contemporaries of the poet Hipponax, whom they were said to have caricatured. Their works consisted almost entirely of draped female figures, Artemis, Fortune, The Graces, when the Chian school has been well called a school of Madonnas. Augustus brought many of the works of Bupalus and Athenis to Rome, and placed them on the gable of the temple of Apollo Palatinus. They supposedly committed suicide out of shame when Hipponax wrote caustic satirical poetry about them for revenge. Aristophanes refers to Bupalus in The Lysistrata. When the Chorus of Men encounter the Chorus of Women near the north-western edge of the Acropolis they ridicule the women, "I warrant, now, if twice or thrice we slap their faces neatly, That they will learn, like Bupalus, to hold their tongues discreetly." (Benjamin Bickley Rogers translation)

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Bupălus in Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities

(Βούπαλος). A sculptor and architect born in the island of Chios, and son of Anthermus, or rather Archennus. He encountered the animosity of the poet Hipponax (q.v.), the cause of which is said to have been the refusal of Bupalus to give his daughter in marriage to Hipponax, while others inform us that it was owing to a statue made in derision of the poet by Bupalus. The satire and invective of the bard were so severe that, according to one account, Bupalus hanged himself in despair (Horace, Epod. vi. 14). His brother's name was Athenis. In addition to the statue which Bupalus made in derision of Hipponax, other works are mentioned by Pliny as the joint productions of the two brothers. See Callim. Frag. 90, ed. Ernesti.

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