Figures de pygmées au Kabirion de Thèbes : entre bilan et perspectives

Kabiric pygmies in Thebes : from previous results to new prospects. The kabiric vases showing pygmies deserve more credit thanks to new approaches combining the methodologies of iconographie and anthropological analyses. The study of these pictures'morphology and the elaboration of meaningful categories underline their original composition and reveal a vision of life able to cast a new light on the mysterious kabiric beliefs. This vast and difficult subject needs many analyses this article aims to precise, formulating the subsequent questions : what can we say about the manner the painters transmit a message ? What is the nature of this message ? Why does the burlesque take so much space in these pictures ? Can we understand their distinctive features by exploring oriental heritages and the way they arrived in Boeotia ? These questions will help us to get the pygmies out of the historiographical marginality in which they have been held.Mackowiak Karin. Figures de pygmées au Kabirion de Thèbes : entre bilan et perspectives. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 31, n°2, 2005. pp. 9-25