OPTIC: is a way to analyze a visual or graphic image. Paintings, videos, architecture all help to tell the story of a people and time. Knowing how to analyze and interpret these visuals will help you understand a time and culture better.
O: Overview
P: Parts
T: Title
I: Interrelationships
C: Conclusion
Each of these are explained in more detail on the OPTIC form. In addition to filling out the information data sheet for the different empires, you will need to complete an OPTIC form for the following images.
Ancient Egypt
Notice also the hierarchical scale within the painting at the left, which pictures the king in enlarged scale, and his servant at a much smaller scale, according to their relative importance.
Persian Empire
In addition to hunting Crowther suggests archery images on Achaemenid coinage indicatePersians engaged in archery competitions (Sport in Ancient Times, 2007, 21). Xenophon’s remarks suggest the Persian elite engaged in sporting competitions:
“passing their time shooting with the bow and hurling the spear and practising all the other arts they learnt when boys, they continually engage in contests of this kind with one another. There are also public contests of this sort, for which prizes are offered” (Cyropaedia)
Gupta
Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi, Gupta period (ca. 321–500), 5th century
Vishnu appears in innumerable guises (avatars) on earth but none is more popular than that of Krishna, the warrior-king who freed his people from demonic threats. On one occasion, the youthful Krishna slayed the demon Keshi, who appeared in the guise of a horse. This subject probably has its origins in Hellenistic legends, most notably the labors of Hercules in which the Greek hero slays the horses of Diomedes. In this terracotta relief, Krishna restrains the ferocious Keshi with his foot while thrusting his elbow down the beast's throat. Below the combatants are the dead horse and balls of dung emitted at the moment of death. The graphically observed rendering of the subject is a reminder of the importance of horse sacrifices in early Indian Vedic cult practices, of which this Krishna myth undoubtedly preserves a memory. Temple building began in earnest in India only in the Gupta period, and these brick and stone structures typically were decorated with terracotta plaques of this type for which Krishna was a popular subject.
There will be more OPTICs to come in a future post
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