The Persuasiveness or Deception of Art in the Context of the Mouth of Truth Myth
Chapter from the book: Akarslan Kodaloğlu, F. (ed.) 2023. Research on Art and Design.

Ayhan Özer
Gaziantep University

Synopsis

“Mouth of Truth” relief is known as a mythical relief thought to represent the Roman Sea God Oceanus. It is believed that Oceanus bites his hand if the person who puts his hand in his mouth is a liar. This legend has caused the relief to be named "The Mouth of Truth". It has also been suggested for a long time that the statue was used as part of a polygraph test. The statue, thought to have been made in the 1st century BC, is also considered an iconic symbol of Rome. In the post-truth era, reaching the truth is not as easy as in this myth. So much so that the relationship between the truth and the truth rather than its relationship with the lie has become worth questioning.

The concepts of reality and truth, as well as being difficult to define, have often been used to refer to information that is "verifiable" or "considered true". In the modern world, on the other hand, truth is often seen as something that can be verified by scientific methods or empirical evidence. However, with the post-modern age, the situations that started to replace reality and truth have created a new definition, and a political and social concept, the concept of post-truth, which has been emphasized a lot in recent years, has begun to be discussed.

The relationship between art and reality is already complex by nature. Realities in works of art are fictionalized as artist designs and are subject to the interpretation of the audience. This interpretable aspect of art can lead to opinions about whether the reality or the truth is interpretable in a way. In this respect, the cases of truth and error can be resolved within the framework of the concept of post-truth, especially in the work of the mouth of truth. With this study, Art's Persuasiveness or Deception in the Context of the Mouth of Truth Myth, it is aimed to analyze an ancient work in the context of art and persuasiveness or art and deception.

How to cite this book

Özer, A. (2023). The Persuasiveness or Deception of Art in the Context of the Mouth of Truth Myth. In: Akarslan Kodaloğlu, F. (ed.), Research on Art and Design. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub134.c610

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June 23, 2023

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