Tadashi Tanabe. Diffusion of the Greek gesture of touching another’s chin with raised hand in the East
Tadashi Tanabe. « Diffusion of the Greek gesture of touching another’s chin with raised hand in the East ». Parthica, 12, 2010, p. 81-94.
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1The gesture of touching or grasping another person’s chin with one hand supposedly originated in Greece. It was widespread in the ancient Near and Far East during the Hellenistic period, and survived for a long time even though it apparently became sporadic. Several scholars have speculated on this gesture’s meaning, which is still obscure. No exhaustive survey has been made of its diffusion in Asia. This article comments on several documents from ancient Persia and Gandhara that present this gesture in different contexts. It compares these sources iconographically with the Greek prototypes. The gesture might represent universal attitudes, such as coquetry or entreaty. It must have had different meanings depending on the artist’s cultural background.
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Référence électronique
Vito Messina, « Tadashi Tanabe. Diffusion of the Greek gesture of touching another’s chin with raised hand in the East », Abstracta Iranica [En ligne], Volume 32-33 | 2013, document 203, mis en ligne le 01 juillet 2016, consulté le 15 mars 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/40582 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.40582
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