Dr. Freund's Lecture

(this is based on the audio recording, I unfortunately couldn't see the artifacts!)

I think what is really interesting about artifacts is that they contain the perspectives of these ancient people in pictorial form- Dr. Freund discussed the images carved onto various artifacts and their significance. These little etchings can really provide a window into the desires of these people- what they carved must have been important to them, and although we cannot really know what that importance means, we can learn from trying to figure it out.

I thought Dr. Freund's revelation of the process of figuring out what artifacts mean was especially interesting. Asking "What does that artifact say, without the context?" and then "What does it mean, within its context?" in that order is helpful when approaching any symbol for the first time. First, you see the symbol as a visual and then as a story, something deeper than its appearance that can be utilized in various ways. You can start to think about how the context is evident in the symbol, and if the symbol effectively tells the story of the context.

Before hearing this lecture, I didn't fully understand how religion factored into the perception and use of images as symbols. Usually we think of a symbol as belonging to a particular religion- their symbol of the purity they desire as a religion and the values they strive to embody, but one symbol could be used by multiple religions and mean something different to each of them. A symbol could have an erotic meaning to one religion but not to other religions who may use the symbol in a different way. I thought this was really interesting- a religion seeing the Cupid symbol could see the childlike Cupid as desire in a pure form, and another religion could see it as an erotic symbol of Eros, with the arrow and its physical implications (the arrow piercing its subject as love physically and emotionally "pierces" you).

I would have liked to see the artifacts, as I'm sure seeing them as Dr. Freund talked about them would enhance my experience, but I knew what some of the more popular symbols that he talked about looked like (such as the cross, Cupid) so it made it a little easier. I liked hearing about these common symbols in a different way than I'm used to- most people think of the cross as just a religious symbol but not as a symbol that's been used in multiple religions and could also symbolize death, love, etc.