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> I think Ancient art - visual and otherwise - was steeped in formulaic motifs.

A good example is ancient Egyptian art, which remained remarkably consistent across multiple empires, kingdoms, and dynasties, stretching some 3 millennia and change, a time range and consistency that is simply hard for us to fathom.

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For statuary in particular, it's important to note that Egyptians, and Greeks to a lesser extent, believed that statues of gods were _physically inhabited by those gods_ and could be used to communicate with them, so it was pretty important not to mess with depictions.

For other common tropes, like Medusa, they were used as wards against evil and were basically magical spells or talismans.

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