Reflection on the Dying Gaul

            In the first or second century AD, an unknown artist rendered an image of a physically, yet not mentally, conquered Gaul warrior. The sculpture, originally cast in bronze, literally depicts a man who has been wounded and is dying. However, the positioning of the body, being propped up on one arm, as if letting himself down to the ground on his own terms, shows the audience of the piece that the artist meant not to show the conquered enemy in his dying moment, but rather to respect a man as he struggles to control his pain and suffering nobly. If we look at the statue as not a statue but a human being we see a man holding down an immense amount of pain and taking his last moments into his own hands.

            On the right side of the statue, there is a gash in the man’s skin. On the human body there runs an artery in this area. Blood moving through these arteries has an approximate speed of three feet per second, so imagine the reality of this sculpture before you. One can imagine him on a field after battle, so weak that he no longer can keep pressure on the blood shooting out of his body, slowly letting himself down into the grass to die on his own terms.

            The Gaul’s face is contorted, showing the viewer that he is indeed suffering greatly, which is not readily understood from a simple glance at the piece. The realism employed by the artist on the Gaul’s face uses pathos to cause the viewer to actually experience what the Gaul is experiencing himself, whether through the use of conscious imagination or the unconscious firing of mirror neurons, I do not know. However, it is remarkable that such an early human being could evoke such empathy in even the modern viewer. The Dying Gaul truly shows that human emotion is timeless and universal, existing commonly throughout all races of man. The Dying Gaul is a testament to the power of human will.