Agalmata. Statue visibili e statue invisibili nell'antica Grecia

If agalma, which is representation, indicates two things as apparently different as poetry and sculpture, by holding them together under the single name of statue, this is because poetry is regarded as a sound statue and sculpture is regarded as a marble poem. United by their purpose, which is to honour a god or a hero, poetry and sculpture often came into competition. This is what the lyricists tell us, but it is philosophy, as is always the case, that explains the reason for this assimilation between sculpture, creator of visible statues, and poetry, creator of invisible statues.