Mare, Estelle Alma2009-08-042009-08-042007Mare, EA 2007, 'Combat scenes in classical Greek art as "beautiful objects": the expressive power of visual omission', South African Journal of Art History, vol. 22, no 3, pp 100-108. [http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_sajah.html]0258-3542http://hdl.handle.net/2263/10913Two explanations are proposed for the fact that classical scenes depicting a combat between a Greek warrior and an opponent are composed in a restrained way, in that the actual violence of maiming and killing is not explicitly represented. The first explanation is speculative as a visual parallel with the treatment of violence in classical tragedy, while the second is based on a formal, art historical explanation of a motif derived from Egyptian art. In a concluding section it is pointed out that in Hellenistic art violence becomes explicit in the depictions of war and combat.8 pages.enArt Historical Work Group of South AfricaCombat scenesClassical Greek artClassical tragedyHellenistic artArticle