Notes on The Wrestling Laurels:

a conflict between desire and ability in Hellenic society

by Sceapfhaidh ni Dhomhniall

One of the lesser known works of art from the Classical Greek period is a bronze portraying the legendary battle between the goddesses Perfecta and Talentia, colloquially known as "Wrestling Laurels". The artistic strength of this work is apparent even to the layman, but a closer examination of the work's symbolism, and the cultural values unconsciously conveyed in the work by its creator, give us rare insight into the society in which it was fashioned.

This work was created at the beginning of the Classical Age, a few centuries after the Dorians had conquered the Mycenean civilization residing in Greece (c. 500 BC.) The story behind the bronze is one of the lesser-known myths of the Classical Greek Era. One day, while discussing the various merits of the gods and goddesses with his wife Hera, Zeus felt an intense pain in his left buttock and out sprang Perfecta, fully formed, holding a book in her left hand, a needle in her right, and wearing a laurel wreath upon her head.

Perfecta soon demonstrated marvelous ability at whatever she set her hand to. She was beloved by Hera for her skills of the hearth, and respected by Athena for her knowledge and wisdom. Apollo found her to be his equal in music and the other performing arts. She excelled at all that she attempted. It is commonly believed that Perfecta was an indiginous goddess, subsumed, as were many others, into the pantheon brought with the Doric peoples when they arrived in the Greek peninsula.

A short-lived liaison with the god Hephasteus resulted in a daughter, Talentia. Perfecta's daughter grew up much like her mother, showing phenomenal skill in all of the arts. Aphrodite, angry at Hephasteus's liaison with another woman, placed a double-edged curse upon Talentia: She would excel at all things, but despite this, her works would never be considered good enough. Soon, Talentia found the gods turning away from her music, dismissing her sculpture, and otherwise paying no mind to her. She was always being unfavourably compared to her mother.

Angry at what she percieved to be unfair ridicule, Talentia concieved a plan: she would steal from her mother Perfecta the sacred Wreath of Knowledge, which conferred upon the wearer the ability to do and know all things. Possession of this wreath was the only thing capable of breaking Aphrodite's curse. With her skill, she fashioned a golden wreath identical to the real one and slipped into her mother's dwelling while Perfecta was sleeping to exchange the real wreath with her false creation.

When she grasped the Wreath of Knowledge, however, it let out a scream that woke her mother. When Perfecta saw what her daughter was attempting to do, she angrily seized the wreath and attempted to wrest it from Talentia. In the struggle, the real and false wreath soon became confused. Talentia's craft was such that the two were identical in every detail, and neither goddess knew whether the wreath she held was the true or false one.

To discover the true wreath, a contest was devised. Mother and daughter were set a series of seven tasks: to write the most tragic play ever performed, race eachother from one side of Mt. Olympus to the other, fashion the most beautiful song ever sung, weave the most beautiful tapestry ever woven, debate with equal facility both sides of an arguement, bake the best loaf of bread ever eaten, and make the most beautiful necklace ever seen. However, when each task was performed, none of the gods could decide which goddess was the better. Thus was it determined that Talentia wore the true wreath, as Aphrodite's curse had been broken and her skill now shone forth for all to see.

This tale appears straightforward at first glance, but closer examination reveals several insights into the classical mind, especially as regards the shift from the Mycenaean culture (represented by Perfecta, an existing goddess worshiped by the indiginous folk) to the invading Dorian culture (represented by Talentia, a younger goddess who joined the Pantheon at a later date.) Perfecta's ability and skill are an integral part of her being, while Talentia percieves her skill and the ability to attain her desires to originate from an external source--an obvious reference to the Dorian acquisition of the Grecian peninsula. This dichotomy between fulfilment as internal, versus fulfilment as something which is acquired, reflects a fundamental shift synonymous with the change from a primarily agrarian culture to one based on animal husbandry, which retained the philosophical paradigms of its nomadic roots (where a person's worth is measured by the number of animals owned, rather than by the skill of his hands.)


This internal/external conflict is also signified in the position of the two women: Perfecta stands upright, holding the wreath in her hand, sure in her power. The smirk on her face is palpable. One can almost hear a taunting voice saying, "You want it? Come and get it!" Talentia is reaching upwards/outwards to the object of her desire, her frustration equally apparent. The removal of all extraneous decoration, such as rich clothing, belts, and rings, brooches and other jewelry serves to highlight the significance of and focus on the Wreath of Knowledge which forms the vertex of the two goddesses' struggle.

There are other, though not many, depictions of this pivotal struggle to be found in the art of the Greco-Roman empire. Some examples portray the two as equals, each with a wreath in her hand. One shows Talentia triumphant over her mother, while another, similar statue, recently unearthed in the ruins of Herculaneum, shows Perfecta giving a defeated Talenta a boot in the posterior. Each is as worthy of study, if not moreso, as the one described here. Each sheds light on how the society which oversaw its creation saw the battle between talent and perfection, and on which side they stood.

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