Topomythopoiesis : the expression and reception of classical mythology in gardens from antiquity to 1800

Abstract

This thesis introduces ‘topomythopoiesis’ as a distinct genre of landscape place-making that deliberately evokes myths. A theoretical framework was developed to elucidate the relationship between myths and the gardens that manifest them. Based on theories of perception and garden reception, it is posited that designed ‘topomyths’ are not to be understood as physical incarnations of myths, but as compositions of emblematic, spatial and somatic signifiers that summon a virtual landscape. This imagined place is cultivated within the garden dweller through their acquaintance with the verbal and visual representations of myths. When this immaterial dimension of landscape is brought in relation with the sensory – an act of participation – enchantment is felt. This thesis provides the first panoramic history of the continual expression and reception of classical myths in gardens as an exemplary tradition of topomythopoiesis, from its origins in the cult sanctuaries of ancient Greece up to its decline in the landscape gardens of the late nineteenth century. A broad, multidisciplinary literature review of secondary and primary sources was undertaken to write a series of chronological episodes that each focuses on different aspects of classical topomythopoiesis. It was found that the tradition was transmitted through various means: the artistic mimesis of statue and spatial types; the dissemination of the myths (both ancient and re-imagined, both verbal and visual); the collation and elucidation of mythical iconography in emblem books; the visualisation and theorising of topomythopoiesis in design treatises; and the cultivation of participation through poetic and polemic literature and guidebooks. First-hand accounts of garden reception confirm that classical topomyths were encountered through participation to offer glimpses into the virtual landscape of Arcadia. Thus, classical topomythopoiesis serves as an example of a way of place-making that invites a participatory mode of reception that pursues enchantment, and has potential to be employed in the face of the disenchanted world of modernity.