Racism and Whiteness in the Western view of classical statue

As I read the Greek historian Herodotus’ Histories when he describes the civilisations outside of Greece, I struggled to see them as non-white, even when discussing a range of nations from Libya to Assyria. The Greeks saw skin colour in a non-discriminatory way. The meaning of ‘black’ and ‘white’ as a race was absent during the classical era. Ulysses of Homer’s Odyssey, when returning home to Ithaka in the disguise of a beggar, sheds his guise with the aid of Athena, who made him ‘“dark-skinned again”’ (Erik, 2018; online). To be dark-skinned in Grecian times referred to the wisdom and age of the man, who’s skin would darken under the sun during the length of his endeavours.  

On the other hand, to be white was to be effeminate, young, weak.  Aristophanes in the Assemblywomen writes of a “handsome young fellow, as white as Nikias”, criticising the youth for his white skin yet to be tanned like Ulysses’ was (Erik, 2018; online). The Greeks saw skin colour differently than it is seen today. For the Romans “Albus means pale, lusterless white, while candidus means bright, gleaming white.  Ater is flat, matte black while niger is glossy black,” going by the quality of the skin not the hue itself (Erik, 2018; online). The Greeks called wine ‘black’.  

Here I would like to point out that although my statue is of Roman inspiration, whatever effected the Greeks was handed to the Romans, who rebranded Grecian mythology after they conquered the Greeks. The Romans changed small details of the Greek gods, thus Athena became the Roman Minerva, two forms of the same goddess. Chariots featured heavily in Greek culture as well as Roman, with chariot racing integrated into the Olympics in 680 BC.  

Despairingly, there is backlash amongst academia in the classics. Mixed Classicist, in his/her article Reflections: Against the denial of racism in classics, talks about an “Oxbridge classicist, someone who lectured me as an undergraduate” finding no evidence for racism in the classics, published in his article in the Spectator (Mixed Classist, 2020). If enough influential high ranking classicists prevent the “epistemic injustice” of racism in classics from being addressed, then a racism-free education in classic is harder to achieve (Chae, 2018).

There is little public knowledge of the growing awareness of white supremacy in classical sculpture on the internet. There are plenty of websites about it, but little reaches the public ear.  

Racism is not limited to Northern Africa. The charioteer statue holds Middle Eastern influences, as the chariot originated in Mesopotamia. The myth of Europa, a princess of Phoenicia, modern day Lebanon, is important. Zeus who “fell in love with Europa... and carried her away from her homeland”, took the form a white bull, carrying her on his back as he headed to Crete (House of European History, no date.). The land she travelled over,  “got its name from the princess Europa.” (House of European History, no date.).  To quote Daisaku Ikeda, no “society can exist in isolation”. The Greek world was influenced from as far afield as India, with Dionysus adopting the Indian leopard as his symbol (Brainy Quote, no date; online). When tackling racism in the classics, the focus should be on the known world at that time too.

Personally, I believe this is down to the ‘tourist mindset’. Whilst in Rome, I saw the white statues in the museums. I believed what was physically in front of me was fact. Museums must do more to show colour, like what the Leibieghaus Sculptures Collection is doing, guided by Brinkmann’s work, in their Gods in Colour exhibition, creating colour reproductions of sculptures. Unless we give Northern Africa recognition, we will never overcome racism in Europe. The public needs to be educated about the truth.