_THE SUCCESSORS OF PHEIDIAS._
SCULPTURES OF THE TEMPLE CALLED THE THESEION.
The building which is commonly known as the Temple of Theseus, or
Theseion, stands about a quarter of a mile to the north-west of the
Acropolis of Athens.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--Plan of the Theseion. (From Baumeister.)]
The temple is of the kind called _peripteral hexastyle_. Round the
_cella_, or central chamber, is a single row of columns, thirty-four
in number, of which there are six at each end. The order is Doric,
with a frieze peculiarly arranged. On the eastern front are ten
sculptured metopes, and there are four on each of the adjacent sides,
making a total of eighteen sculptured metopes. The remaining metopes
of the temple, fifty in number, are plain slabs, which may possibly
have had painted on them figures or ornaments. Of the pedimental
groups, which appear to have once existed at each end of the temple,
nothing now remains except the marks of the attachment of sculptures.
Within the colonnade the two ends of the _cella_ are adorned with a
frieze of Parian marble, which is still in position. At the west, the
length of the frieze is only equal to the width of the _cella_; at
the east, the frieze is continued as far as the epistyle, or beams
surmounting the colonnade.
The west frieze is about 25 feet long; casts of 16 feet 4 inches are
in the British Museum. The east frieze is about 37 feet long, and
casts of 32 feet are in the Museum.
From the Middle Ages till recent times this building has been called
the Temple of Theseus, and was supposed to have been dedicated to
Theseus by the Athenians in the time of Kimon. That statesman had
transferred the bones of Theseus to Athens from the island of Skyros
in 469 B.C. The chief arguments for this attribution are:--(1) That
labours of Theseus are represented on the metopes, and perhaps on
the friezes; (2) that the building is not far from the place
where, according to Leake and others, it might be expected from the
description of Pausanias (i. 17, 2); (3) that the temple was dedicated
as a Christian church to St. George, who corresponds in many ways to
Theseus.
Ross, however (_Das Theseion_), tried to prove that this was not the
Theseion. He argued that no connection could be traced between the
external sculptures and the function of the building. He also argued
that the real Theseion cannot have been a complete temple, and that
it cannot have stood in the position of the temple now in question.
He proposed to call the building a temple of Ares. It has since been
suggested that Ares and Theseus may have been joint occupants of
the temple, as Athene and Erechtheus held the Erechtheion in common
(Murray, i. p. 236). Curtius (_Sieben Carten_, text, p. 53) suggested
that the temple may have been that of Heracles in Melite. In this view
he has been followed by Wachsmuth (_Stadt Athen_, i. p. 364). Other
patron deities have also been proposed, as Apollo Patrooes, or Heracles
and Theseus together, or Hephaestos. Doerpfeld, followed by Miss
Harrison (_Mythology and Monuments of Anc. Athens_, p. 112), is
strongly in favour of the last-mentioned attribution, identifying the
building with the temple of Hephaestos mentioned by Pausanias (i., 14,
6).
It is clear, from a comparison of other temples, that no conclusive
argument can be drawn from the subjects of the sculptures, especially
of the metopes, which may have little connection with the special
purpose of the temple. At the same time we know that the Theseion was
decorated with paintings relating to the story of Theseus, and, so far
as any weight can be attached to the subjects of the sculptures,
they favour the attribution of the building to Theseus. It has been
suggested that the temple may have belonged to Heracles and Theseus in
common--not on the ground that we hear of such a temple, but because
the ten metopes on the east front relate to Heracles. But this fact
is inconclusive. The Athenians would be content to point out the
parallelism of Heracles and Theseus, even if Theseus was made to
occupy a subordinate position. The newly-discovered [Greek: Athenaion
Politeia] of Aristotle furnishes some new evidence. The disarming of
the Athenians by Peisistratos is said to have been effected in the
following manner. He caused the citizens to put down their arms in the
Theseion, presumably in the temenos of Theseus, that he might address
them, and then drew them off to the Propylaea on the pretext that they
would be better able to hear him. Meanwhile his agents shut up the
arms in "the adjacent buildings of the Theseion" ([Greek: exoplisian
en to Theseio] [_sic_ MS.] [Greek: poiesamenos ... ekeleusen autous
prosanabenai pros to Propylon tes ackropoleos ... anelontes hoi epi
touton tetagmenoi ta hopla auton kai synkleisantes eis ta plesion
oikemata tou Theseiou k.t.l.] Aristot. [Greek: Ath. pol.] ed. Kenyon,
15). From this it may be inferred that the Theseion was at no great
distance from the Propylaea, though sufficiently removed for the
success of the stratagem. Polyaenus (_Strat._ i., 21) tells the story,
but states that the disarming took place in the Anakeion, and that the
arms were shut up in the sanctuary of Aglauros. These are known sites
below the north and north-west sides of the Acropolis. The account of
Aristotle thus shows that there was a temenos and shrine of Theseus in
existence long before the time of Kimon.
The date of the temple is necessarily uncertain. It cannot be older
than the Persian invasion (480 B.C.), but most writers are of opinion
that each part is rather older than the corresponding part of the
Parthenon, both in the architecture (Julius, _Annali dell' Inst._
1878, p. 205) and in the sculpture. There are many parallels between
the metopes of the Parthenon and the sculptures, both metopes and
friezes, of the Theseion. There is also a close analogy between
the east friezes of the Parthenon and the Theseion in point of
composition; moreover certain figures occur in both works (Murray, i.
p. 244). But there is no trace in the Theseion of the low relief
of the Parthenon frieze. The whole of the Theseion sculptures are
metope-like in the treatment of the high relief. Overbeck states the
order in point of time as follows:--Metopes of Theseion; metopes of
Parthenon; west frieze of Theseion; east frieze of Theseion; frieze
of Parthenon (_Gr. Plast._ 3rd ed. I., p. 349). Doerpfeld, however,
followed by Miss Harrison, holds the temple to be later than the
Parthenon.
It has been held by Brunn, Julius (_Annali dell' Inst._ 1878, p. 202),
and Murray (i. p. 251), that the differences between the sculptures
of the two temples are due to the fact that the sculptures of the
Theseion were produced by the school of Myron.
Stuart, _Antiqs. of Athens_, vol. III., chap. i.; _Mus. Marbles_,
IX., pls. 12-21; Mueller, _Denkmaeler_, pl. 21; _Kunstarch. Werke_,
IV., p. 1; Ross, _Das Theseion_ (1st ed. 1838; 2nd ed., 1852);
Ulrichs, _Annali dell' Inst._, 1841, p. 74; Leake, _Topography of
Athens_ (2nd ed.), p. 498; Gurlitt, _Das Alter der Bildwerke
des sog. Theseion_; Brunn, _Sitzungsber. der k. bayer. Akad.
Phil.-hist. Cl._ 1874, II., p. 51; Wachsmuth, _Die Stadt Athen_,
I., p. 357; Julius, in _Annali dell' Inst._, 1877, p. 92; 1878,
p. 193; and _Mon. dell' Inst._, X., pls. 43, 44, 58, 59; Overbeck,
_Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 343; Murray, I., p. 235; Wolters,
No. 526; Baumeister, s. v. _Theseion; Elgin Room Guide_, II., B.,
1-16. The British Museum possesses an excellent series of drawings
of the Theseion by Lord Elgin's artists.
CASTS OF THE METOPES OF THE THESEION.
The ten metopes on the eastern front contain nine labours of Heracles,
one labour being represented in two groups. The eight metopes at
the east ends of the South and North sides represent the following
exploits of Theseus:--On the South side--(1) The victory over the
Minotaur. (2) The capture of the bull of Marathon. (3) The punishment
of Sinis Pityocamptes. (4) The punishment of Procrustes (?). On the
North side are--(1) The victory of Theseus over the robber Periphetes,
also called Corynetes. (2) His contest with the Arcadian wrestler,
Kerkyon. (3) The punishment of Skiron. (4) The capture of the sow of
Crommyon.
Of these eighteen metopes the Museum possesses casts of only three,
Nos. 1, 2, and 4 on the North side.
[Sidenote: =400.=]
Theseus and the robber, Periphetes. Theseus stands over his adversary,
who has been thrown down on the ground, and aims a blow at him. Both
arms of Periphetes are stretched out as if to avert a spear-thrust,
and it seems probable that the weapon of Theseus was a spear, which
he directed with both hands. The left hand of Theseus still remains in
front of his breast.
Height, 3 feet 9-1/2 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 20.
[Sidenote: =401.=]
Theseus and Kerkyon, an Arcadian wrestler, who challenged all
travellers to wrestle, and slew the vanquished. Theseus has lifted his
adversary from the ground, and, clasping his hands together, grips
him tightly round the body. Kerkyon is nearly helpless. His right
arm passes behind the shoulder of Theseus, but with his left hand he
seizes Theseus' right heel. Kerkyon is bearded, but the hair is hardly
indicated in detail.
Height, 2 feet 9-1/2 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 21.
[Sidenote: =402.=]
Theseus and the Sow of Crommyon. The sow stands on her hindlegs,
resting her forefeet on the thigh and the drapery of Theseus. Theseus
advances to the attack. The action of the right hand cannot be
ascertained, but the right arm must have been raised above the head,
and perhaps brandished a club. The left arm is concealed in the
chlamys, which Theseus wears in this metope.
Height, 2 feet 9-1/2 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 21.
CASTS OF THE WEST FRIEZE OF THE THESEION.
The subject of the West frieze of the Theseion admits of no doubt.
Here we have represented the Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths at the
marriage feast of Peirithooes. It has been pointed out that this frieze
appears to consist of metope-like groups, with a few figures added to
give continuity between the different groups, such as is appropriate
to a frieze. Thus, compare No. 403, _1_ with the Parthenon Metope, No.
307. In the parts of the frieze, not represented by casts, compare the
group engraved Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._ 3rd ed. i., p. 348, No. 2, with
Michaelis, pl. 3, xxiv.; Overbeck, No. 6, with Parthenon metope, No.
311; Overbeck No. 8 with Michaelis, pl. 3, xi.
[Illustration: Fig. 16.--The disposition of the West Frieze of the
Theseion. (From Baumeister).]
[Sidenote: =403.= 1.]
Combat of Centaur and Lapith. The Lapith is defeated and has
fallen to the ground. He supports his body with the right arm, of
which the hand alone remains. The left hand, which is wrapped in
the chlamys, is raised imploringly to the Centaur, to whom also
the head is turned. The victorious Centaur rears up above the
Lapith, and is about to hurl a great stone, or perhaps a hydria,
with both hands.
Height of this and the following slabs, 2 feet 9-1/2 inches;
length, 2 feet 10 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 18.
Between Nos. 1 and 2 is a group, of which the Museum does not
possess a cast, representing two Lapiths and a fallen Centaur.
[Sidenote: 2.]
On the left is a group of a Lapith and a Centaur. The combatants
have for the moment drawn a little apart. The Lapith has recoiled
for a blow; the attention of the Centaur seems more directed to
the group on his left. The symmetry of the grouping, which is
apparent in the frieze as a whole, requires us to regard these two
figures as connected, though they may appear somewhat separated.
The Centaur brandishes a branch of a tree, to which his hands are
still attached, though the arms are lost. The Lapith had both arms
raised, and perhaps held a battle-axe. His dress is a chlamys.
We next have a group of two Centaurs, rearing up, and heaving
together a rock wherewith to crush the invulnerable Lapith,
Kaineus, who is half buried in the ground between them, and who
endeavours to defend himself with his shield uplifted on his left
arm. His head is turned towards the Centaur on the right. His
right arm, now wanting, may have rested on the ground. But it is
possible, to judge from indications on the ground of the relief,
that it was bent at the elbow, and pierced with a sword the
abdomen of the Centaur. The Lapith wears a helmet.
On the right of this group is a Lapith hastening to give succour
to Kaineus. His right arm, which was bent back at the elbow, had
been raised to strike. His left arm has been muffled in a
chlamys. He also wore a petasos, part of which is seen behind
the shoulders. On the right of this figure is a group of a Lapith
attacking a Centaur. The Lapith wears a crested helmet; on his
left arm is a shield, within which his chlamys hangs from his
arm. He also wears sandals. He places his left foot on a rock.
The Centaur opposed to him is rearing, with his back turned to
the spectator; his right arm, drawn back, has held some weapon,
probably the branch of a tree; on his left arm and shoulder is the
skin of a lion or panther which hangs down his back.
Length, 10 feet 9 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pls. 18, 19.
The next group on the frieze, which is not represented by a cast,
contains a Centaur struggling with a Lapith who has fallen on his
knees.
[Sidenote: 3.]
On the left is a Lapith, armed with shield and helmet, and wearing
a chiton and sandals. He seems about to attack a Centaur, who
rears to the right over the body of a Lapith, who has sunk down in
a sitting position.
Length, 2 feet 9 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 20.
Most of the figure of the seated Lapith, and the whole of the
succeeding group of a Lapith and Centaur are not represented by
casts in the Museum.
CASTS OF THE EAST FRIEZE OF THE THESEION.
On the east frieze is represented a battle in the presence of six
seated deities arranged in two groups. In one part of the frieze
the combatants are hurling vast rocks. Colonel Leake (_Topography
of Athens_, 2nd ed. p. 504), supposed that Heracles and some of
the gods are engaged in a battle with giants, while other deities,
among them some who usually take a leading part in the fray,
merely sit and watch. This, however, is a scheme of Gigantomachia
to which no parallel can be adduced.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--The disposition of the East Frieze. (From
Baumeister).]
Brunn (_Sitzungsber. der k. bayer. Akad. Phil.-hist. Cl._, 1874,
ii., p. 51), supposes the battle here represented to be that
fought by the Athenians under Theseus against Eurystheus in
defence of the Heracleidae. The scene on the left would thus
represent the first rout of the troops of Eurystheus; then would
come the storming of the Skironian pass by Theseus, where we
might expect masses of rocks to be hurled on the assailants. The
kneeling figure on the left of the central group (404, _4_), who
is being bound would, according to Brunn, be Eurystheus, who was
taken prisoner and put to death. The figure on the extreme right
(404, _8_), who is stooping forward, Brunn supposes to be one of
the victors erecting the boundary stone, which, according to the
Attic legend, was set up by Theseus to mark the limits of the
Peloponnese on the side of Attica.
The theory is highly ingenious; but it demands a forced
interpretation of the rocks to suppose them to be lining the two
sides of a pass; and it overlooks the close parallelism with the
east frieze of the Parthenon, where the two groups of gods must
be supposed to form a single background to the scene. Also, the
Skironian pass was a road between rocks and the sea. Moreover, the
vast size of the rocks indicates a giant race, rather than a group
of warriors who are reduced to using stones in an extremity.
If the subject has any connection with Theseus, the theory of
K. O. Mueller seems the best that has been proposed. According to
Mueller (_Kunstarch. Werke_, iv. p. 1) it represents the Athenians
under Theseus attacking the Pallantidae, or sons of Pallas, who
was a son of Pandion, king of Attica. These in Attic legend (Plut.
_Theseus_, 13) formed a league against Theseus. Mueller supposes
them to have been a race akin to the giants. Compare Soph. _Aegeus,
fr._ 19, ed. Dindorf, [Greek: ho skleros houtos kai gigantas
ektrephon Pallas]. See also Mueller (p. 8) on the close connection
between Pallas, son of Pandion, and the Attic Pallene, with Pallas
the giant and the Thracian Pallene, the field of the great war of
the gods and giants.
[Sidenote: =404.= 1.]
On the left of the slab, two armed warriors carrying large shields
on the left arm, and wearing, one a chlamys and one a chiton over
the left shoulder only (_heteromaschalos_), advance to the right.
Before them is a conquered adversary, who has been forced down on
his knees by the victor, who appears to tread down his buttock,
while his hands are engaged binding the hands of the prisoner. The
victor wears a chlamys, but the prisoner is nude. The head of the
prisoner was probably turned towards the victor. On the extreme
right of the slab there remains the right foot of a figure. The
original is extant (cf. Stuart, vol. iii. ch. i. pl. 15), and is a
nude armed figure, moving to the right. The head is lost.
Height of this and the following slabs, 2 feet 9-1/2 inches;
length, 4 feet 6 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 12.
[Sidenote: 2.]
On the next slab is a group of three deities seated on rocks, of
whom the figure on the right is male and the other two female.
The two female deities wear long chitons, in the one case with a
diploidion, and in the other case with sleeves. The figure on the
left has the right hand, which is still preserved, by her side. It
evidently held a spear. In Stuart's engraving this figure wears a
helmet, but the drawing published by Le Roy (_Les Ruines des
plus beaux Monuments de la Grece_, 1758), though in most
respects worthless, seems to show conclusively that the heads are
conjecturally restored in Stuart, vol. iii. ch. i. pls. 15, 16,
while in pls. 17 to 20 no restoration is attempted. The remains of
the figure make it probable that the goddess here represented is
Athene.
The central figure turns towards Athene, to whom her right arm was
probably extended. Passing over the back of her head is a large
mantle, which is also wrapped about the legs, and falls over the
left arm. The male figure in the group probably looked to the
right at the pair of combatants which follows next in order. He
has a mantle twisted round his lower limbs and passing behind his
back. His left hand rested on a sceptre held vertically, which has
now been broken away. All these three figures wear sandals.
The second Goddess may well be Hera, and in that case her male
companion would probably be Zeus.
Length, 4 feet 6 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 13.
[Sidenote: 3.]
Combat of two warriors. The nude warrior on the left, armed with
shield and helmet, presses forward to the attack; he probably held
a sword in the right hand. His adversary, whose back is turned
towards us, appears to be in retreat, but to be stopping to
deliver a thrust, probably with a spear held in the right hand.
His left arm must have held out a shield, of the rim of which
a fragment remains, attached to the left thigh. His dress is a
chiton _heteromaschalos_. On the right of the slab is seen the
right foot of a warrior, belonging to the succeeding group, of
which the British Museum possesses no cast. The warrior stretches
out his shield to protect a wounded figure lying on the ground.
Length, 2 feet 10 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 14. For the
missing group, see Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 17; Overbeck, _Gr.
Plast._, 3rd. ed., I., p. 348.
[Sidenote: 4.]
Part of the legs of the wounded warrior just referred to remains
on the ground, on the left. Next on the right are two warriors
moving to the right. Both these figures are nude, but very
seriously mutilated. It is doubtful whether the figure on the left
was armed with a shield, like his companion. His right foot is
advanced and he is hurrying forward.
Length, 2 feet 8 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 14.
[Sidenote: 5.]
A battle scene, in which the combatants, four in number, are
hurling rocks; a fifth, overcome in the fray, lies prostrate on
the ground. In this combat one warrior appears to be fighting
against three. On the left an heroic figure, which may well be
Theseus, is seen advancing. In the confusion his mantle has fallen
off, and only hangs over the left arm. With outstretched left hand
he repels a huge stone hurled against him by his adversary; the
right hand appears to have been stretched out behind the body, and
may have held a sword. There appear to be no means of warding
off the stone which the adversary throws with his left hand.
Confronting the hero, supposed to be Theseus, is first the warrior
just mentioned, who hurls a stone with each hand. Behind him is
a second figure, who appears to be looking in the same direction.
His right hand was probably holding a stone behind his head, while
the left hand is stretched back to pick up another stone from the
ground. The third warrior hurls a great stone with his right hand,
while with his left hand he propels the large stone seen behind
the shoulders of the central figure. The fallen figure lies on
rocky ground in the middle of the group of combatants, his head is
much below the level of his body; his right arm, now wanting, has
been resting on a lower level, his left arm is folded helplessly
across his body.
Length, 5 feet 10 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 16.
[Sidenote: 6.]
Group of two warriors advancing rapidly to the right, each with
a shield on the left arm. One is nude, the other wears a chiton
_heteromaschalos_. Next on the right is a group of one female and
two male deities seated on rocks, and observing the combat.
The Goddess occupies the centre of the group, her head slightly
inclined forward, and looking to the left. She wears a long
chiton, sandals, and a mantle wrapped about her lower limbs. Both
male figures have similar mantles. It may be conjectured that the
three figures in order from the left are Poseidon, Demeter, and
Dionysos; but it is impossible to attribute names to them with any
confidence.
Length, 6 feet 6 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 15.
[Sidenote: 7.]
Torso of a warrior armed with a large shield, who moves to the
left front. The head, now wanting, was probably turned to the
group next on the right, which consists of two male figures. The
one on the left is evidently a victor holding a prisoner, who
has his hands tied behind his back. The victor wears a chiton
_heteromaschalos_, while the prisoner wears a chlamys.
Between this group and the next figure is a space, in which should
be a male figure standing, turned a little to the right, and
wearing a chlamys. He appears to be giving an order to the figure
on the right.
Length, 3 feet 8 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 17. For missing
figure, see Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 20; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._,
3rd ed. I., p. 348.
[Sidenote: 8.]
Male figure turned to the left, and bending forward. Both arms
have been extended in front of the body. The figure wears a helmet
and a chiton girt at the waist. The left foot, which is advanced,
rested on a higher level than the right foot. There is some
uncertainty as to the motive of this figure. Stuart restores it
as engaged in the erection of a trophy, and this is accepted by
Schultz, _De Theseo_, p. 26; cf. Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed.,
I., p. 353. For this however there is very little room. Leake
suggested that the figure was engaged adjusting his greave
(_Topogr. of Athens_, 2nd ed., p. 511).
Length, 1 foot 6 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 17.
ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS.
[Sidenote: =405.=]
Part of the ceiling, _lacunaria_, of the Theseion with six squares for
soffits cut through the marble. See fig. 17.--_Elgin Coll._
Length, 3 feet 11-1/2 inches; breadth, 3 feet 4-1/2 inches.
Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.
[Sidenote: =406.= 1.]
Cover from panel of _lacunar_ of the Theseion.--_Elgin Coll._
Height, 10-1/8 inches; breadth, 10-1/8 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 365
(243); Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.
[Sidenote: 2.]
Similar to last.
Height, 10-1/8 inches; breadth, 9-7/8 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 367
(254); Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.
THE ERECHTHEION.
The Erechtheion is an Ionic temple of a peculiar form, which stands
near the north side of the Acropolis of Athens. It embodies in a
structure of the end of the fifth century the shrines about which the
Athenian religion had centred from time immemorial, and to this fact
the anomalous character of the plan must be ascribed.
The building consisted of a central cella divided into three portions,
and having a portico of six columns at the east end; a porch of six
columns at the north-west corner; and a porch of Caryatids at the
south-west. It was built of Pentelic marble, with the exception of the
frieze, which had a ground of dark Eleusinian marble.
The temple is known to have been incomplete in 409 B.C. At this time a
minute survey of the building was made, by order of the Assembly, and
the result was recorded in an inscription which is now in the British
Museum. (_C. I. G._ 160; Newton & Hicks, _Greek Inscriptions in Brit.
Mus._, xxxv.).
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Ground Plan of the Erechtheion.]
The east half of the building was devoted to Athene Polias, whose
archaic statue was placed in it.
The remainder of the building was associated with the cults of
Poseidon, Erechtheus, Pandrosos, and others. The arrangement has been
a subject of much controversy. The passage at the west of the cella
probably contained altars of Poseidon (with Erechtheus), of Boutes,
and of Hephaestos; the tokens of Poseidon, namely the salt spring, and
the marks of the trident, were either in the west central chamber
or below the north portico. The south porch served as an additional
entrance, but it also contained the tomb of Cecrops. The Pandroseion,
which contained the sacred olive-tree of Athene, and a small shrine of
Pandrosos, was annexed to the outside of the west end of the building.
The Elgin Collection contains several specimens of the architectural
decorations of the Erechtheion. In the above plan (fig. 18), those
parts of the building are indicated by letters from which fragments
have been obtained. In some instances the exact position is uncertain.
For a discussion of the Erechtheion, see Harrison, _Mythology and
Monuments of Anc. Athens_, p. 481.
[Sidenote: =407.=]
So-called Caryatid, or Canephoros, [Greek: kanephoros] (fig. 19).
One of the six female figures which served as columns in the southern
portico of the Erechtheion. In the survey of the building these
figures are called _Korae_, "maidens." They have been called Canephori
(see p. 149) by Visconti (_Memoirs on the Sculptures of the Earl
of Elgin_, p. 122), and others. It is true that the maidens here
represented are such as those represented on the Parthenon frieze. But
there is nothing that specially connects them with the Canephori, or
persons who bore the sacred vessels on their heads. By some writers
they have been called Caryatids, on account of a statement of
Vitruvius (i., chap. 1) that women of Carya, a town of Arcadia,
were represented as architectural supports--a punishment which they
incurred for betraying the Greeks to the Persians.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Caryatid of the Erechtheion.]
The figure here described wears a long chiton, which is drawn up under
the girdle, falling in rich folds, and is fastened on each shoulder
by a circular brooch. Attached to this is the diploidion, which falls
down before and behind. In front it falls to the waist; behind
it would trail on the ground, if a part were not looped up to the
shoulders, so as to make a deep fold, falling as low as the hips.
The hair from the back of the head falls in a thick mass between
the shoulders, tied together with a band. The hair gathered from the
forehead is woven into tresses. Two fall on each shoulder; the others
are twisted round the head in the form of the _krobylos_ (cf. p. 87).
The arms are wanting from above the elbows. The right hand probably
hung by the side, where the surface of the drapery is seen to have
been protected from corrosion. The left hand has drawn from behind one
corner of the diploidion.
The head supports a capital, consisting first of a pad or cushion
[Greek: tyle], such as was, and still is, used to support weights.
(Compare the east frieze of the Parthenon, Nos. 30, 31.) From this the
transition to the square abacus is effected by an egg and tongue and a
bead and reel moulding.
This statue is admirably designed, both in composition and drapery,
to fulfil its office as a part of an architectural design. While the
massiveness of the draped figure suggests the idea that the support
for the superimposed architecture is not structurally inadequate,
the lightness and grace of the pose suggest that the maiden bears her
burden with ease.
The original position of the figure is marked A on the plan. Four
figures and part of a fifth still remain on the Acropolis. They are
uniform in their general design, but differ slightly in pose and
arrangement of drapery.
Pentelic marble; height, 7 feet 7 inches. Stuart, II., ch. II.,
pl. 19. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 6. Rayet, _Monuments_, No. 40;
Mitchell, _Selections_, pl. 7; Murray, II., pl. 17; Wolters, No.
810; _Stereoscopic_, No. 115.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE ERECHTHEION.
[Sidenote: =408.=]
Ionic column from the north end of the eastern portico of the
Erechtheion (B on plan). This being a column from an angle of the
building, the volutes occur on two adjacent sides, so as to present
themselves both to the east and north view.
Height, 21 feet 7-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, Nos. 125-7, 110; Stuart,
II, ch. II., pls. 4, 5, 6.
[Sidenote: =409.=]
Capital of one of the pilasters (_antae_) and part of necking or
wall-band from the east wall of the Erechtheion (C, C, C on plan). It
is to be observed that the frieze on the pilaster, though analogous
to that on the walls, differs from it in details which heighten the
richness of the effect, and which assimilate the pilaster to the
columns of the east portico, while the walls resemble the capitals of
the north portico. Moreover, on the pilaster the carving of the frieze
is raised above the surface of the courses, while on the wall it is
set back from the wall face.
The slab on the right must be from the north-east angle of the
Erechtheion. The three slabs next to it might belong to the east,
north, or south sides, as regards the form and design. But the
excellent preservation of the surface, as compared with that of the
unprotected north-east angle, seems to show that these slabs are
derived from the east wall, where they were protected by the portico.
It is interesting to note the numerous repairs in the series of slabs.
They probably date from the time of the construction of the building,
and were meant to make good what was broken by accident in the course
of construction. On the north side of the pilaster, seven inches of
the bead and reel moulding immediately surmounting the anthemia have
been skilfully inserted in a groove and fastened with lead. On the
east side of the pilaster one of the beads of the lower bead and reel
moulding was attached by a plug, of which the hole remains. On the
next slab on the left one bead of the upper bead and reel moulding was
similarly added. On the second slab from the left, one tongue of the
egg and tongue moulding, one piece of spiral connecting the anthemia
and one bead were let into the marble. Traces of red colour remain in
the upper part of the frieze on this slab.--_Elgin Coll._
Height, 1 foot 7-1/2 inches. The slab containing the capital of
the pilaster is 6 feet in length. Of the other slabs, two are each
4 feet 3 inches in length. The fourth is broken on the right-hand
joint, and measures 4 feet 1-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_ Nos. 252-255
(127-130). _Greek Inscriptions in Brit. Mus._, I., p. 89, _e_, pl.
3, fig. 8. Stuart, II., ch. II., pl. 5. Inwood, _Erechtheion_, p.
110.
[Sidenote: =410.=]
Fragment of frieze similar to last. Joint on left. Found on the north
side of the Erechtheion.--_Inwood Coll._
Height, 6 inches; breadth, 6 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 116. Inwood,
_Erechtheion_, p. 138.
[Sidenote: =411.=]
Fragment of leaf, bead and reel, and egg mouldings from the capital of
a pilaster at the west side of the south portico of the Erechtheion (D
on plan).--_Inwood Coll._
Length, 1 foot 2-1/4 inches; height, 5-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, No.
118.
[Sidenote: =412.=]
Cymatium moulding from inner architrave of the south portico of the
Erechtheion (E on plan).
Height, 2-1/2 inches; length, 7-1/4 inches. _Synopsis_ No. 403.
Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 20. See also Stuart, II., ch. II., pl.
13.
[Sidenote: =413.=]
Piece of architrave, probably part of the beam from the north angle of
the east portico of the Erechtheion (F, F on plan). There is a joint
on the left of this slab.--_Elgin Coll._
Height, 2 feet 1 inch; length, 8 feet 2-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 220 (85). Wilkins, _Prolusiones_, p. 29.
[Sidenote: =414.=]
Piece of the architrave from the south wall of the Erechtheion, broken
at each end (G on plan). It is connected with the preceding by a piece
of moulding cast in plaster.--_Elgin Coll._
Height, 2 feet 1 inch; length, 8 feet 5-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 219 (291). Wilkins, _Prolusiones_, p. 29; _Greek Inscriptions
in Brit. Mus._ I., pl. 3, fig. 9.
[Sidenote: =415.=]
Piece of corona of cornice, from the north portico of the Erechtheion
(H on plan). Although not derived from the same part of the temple,
this fragment has been placed in connection with the slabs of the
architrave, Nos. 413, 414, in order to show the original effect. The
space of two feet between the corona and the architrave was occupied
by the sculptured frieze. This consisted of marble figures in relief
attached by metal clamps on a ground of black Eleusinian marble. A few
fragments are extant at Athens.
Length, 4 feet 7 inches; height, 10-1/2 inches; breadth, 1 foot
1-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 289 (165). Stuart, II., ch. II.,
pls. 4, 5. For the frieze, see Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, Nos. 31-33;
Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 361.
[Sidenote: =416.=]
Coffer from the _lacunaria_ of the north portico of the Erechtheion (J
on plan).--_Elgin Coll._
Height, 3 feet 2 inches; breadth, 3 feet 5-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 108 (299). See Stuart, 2nd ed., II., p. 73, note.
[Sidenote: =417.=]
Part of coffer of east portico of the Erechtheion. Found near the
eastern portico (K on plan).--_Inwood Coll._
Height, 1 foot 4 inches; breadth, 1 foot 1-1/4 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 117. Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 20.
[Sidenote: =418.=]
Part of door jamb, perhaps from the eastern doorway of the Erechtheion
(L on plan).--_Inwood Coll._
Height, 1 foot 2-3/4 inches; breadth, 6-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 115. Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 20.
[Sidenote: =419.=]
Cast of console, _parotis_, from the doorway in the north portico of
the Erechtheion (M on plan).
Height, 2 feet 3 inches. _Greek inscriptions in Brit. Mus._, I.,
p. 98, Sec. 14, _b_. Wilkins, _Prolusiones_, pls. 13, 14. _Journ. of
Hellen. Studies_, XII., pl. 1.
[Sidenote: =420.=]
Necking of Ionic column, copied from the columns of the east portico
of the Erechtheion.--_Elgin Coll._
Height, 11-1/4 inches; diameter, 2 feet 2-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 120 (306*); _Elgin Room Guide_, II., No. A. 2.
TEMPLE OF NIKE APTEROS.
The temple of Nike Apteros (Victory without wings), or more correctly
of Athene Nike, stood on the projecting eminence to the south of the
approach to the Propylaea at Athens (Paus., i. 22, 4).
The building had remained uninjured till the close of the seventeenth
century, and was seen in 1676 by the travellers Spon and Wheler.
But not long after, probably about the year 1685, the temple was
demolished by the Turks, and the materials were used to build a
bastion on the spot where the temple had stood.
In 1835 Ludwig Ross, and the architects Schaubert and Hansen took
down the bastion and reconstructed the temple as it now stands. A
sufficient amount of the lower part had remained undisturbed to enable
them to proceed with certainty.
The temple consists only of a single cella, opening to the east, but
has four columns at each end (_tetrastyle amphiprostyle_). It stood
on a podium of three steps. The exterior was surrounded by a small
frieze, 1 ft. 5-1/2 in. high, and measuring 26 ft. on its long sides,
and 17 ft. 2 in. at the ends. The annexed cut (fig. 20) shows the plan
of the temple. The arrangement of the slabs of the frieze has been
most fully discussed by Ross, but is still uncertain in parts. The
west frieze, according to Ross, consisted of the two slabs, Nos. 421,
422, in the Elgin Collection, and the return faces of two slabs of
the north and south sides. Each return measures 1 ft. 7 in. The slabs,
Nos. 421, 422, measure respectively 6 ft. 8-1/2 in., and 6 ft. 7-3/4
in. The total length, 16 ft. 6-1/4 in., is thus nearly equal to the
estimated length of the side. The distribution of the slabs belonging
to the long sides is doubtful. No. 425, cast from a corner stone,
certainly belongs to the south side. Ross assigns No. 423 to the south
side, No. 424 to the north side, on the hypothesis that the mounted
horsemen on the same side proceed in the same direction. Kekule (_Die
Balustrade_, ed. 1869, p. 17) places them both on the south side, in
an order more probable than that suggested by Hawkins (_Mus. Marbles_,
ix., p. 29). The east side consisted of two slabs and two returns
arranged similarly to those of the west.
[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Plan of the Propylaea and Temple of Wingless
Victory.]
The subject of the east side appears to be a council of Gods. The long
sides each contained a battle between Greeks and a series of warriors,
mounted and on foot, wearing Asiatic costumes and probably intended
to represent Persians. The west side is generally taken to represent a
battle of Greeks with Greeks. Several attempts have been made to
show that historical battles are represented on the frieze. Overbeck
suggests that the three sides on which there are combatants belong to
one battle, and he conjectures the battle of Plataea (479 B.C.), when
Greeks defeated the Persians and their Greek adherents. Other writers,
perhaps with more probability, deny that any definite battle is
intended, and hold that we see merely a generalised representation of
Athenians, victorious alike over Greeks and Barbarians.
It has been shown by Bohn (_Die Propylaeen_, p. 31) and Doerpfeld on
technical architectural grounds that the Temple of Victory was not
contemplated in the first plans for the Propylaea, but that the form
of the Propylaea was modified during the course of construction on
account of it. The earliest date thus obtained for the beginning of
the present building is about 432 B.C. There is nothing to show what
time the temple took to build. In point of style there is a great
resemblance between the sculptures of the frieze, and those of the
frieze of the Erechtheion, of which a part was being worked, as we
know from the inscription, in 409 B.C. The frieze of Nike Apteros may
perhaps be placed between 430 and 420 B.C.
Spon, _Voyage_ (ed. 1679), II., p. 105; Wheler, _Journey into
Greece_, p. 358; Stuart, II., ch. V., pls. 12, 13 (from drawings
by Pars, now in the British Museum); Ross, Schaubert and Hansen,
_Die Akropolis von Athen; Abth. I. Der Tempel der Nike Apteros_,
1839; _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pls. 7-10; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd
ed., I., p. 363; Bohn, _Die Propylaeen der Akropolis zu Athen_,
1882; Murray, II., p. 179; Kekule (and Bohn) _Die Reliefs an
der Balustrade der Athena Nike_; Wolters, Nos. 747-760. For
Doerpfeld's views, see Harrison, _Mythology and Monuments of Anc.
Athens_, p. 356. For further references see Wolters, p. 284. A
photographic view of the temple is given by Baumeister, fig. 1234;
and of Nos. 421 to 424 in _Stereoscopic_, No. 121.
THE WEST FRIEZE.
[Sidenote: =421.=]
The return of a slab of the north side, now at Athens, formed the left
end of the frieze, and contains two figures advancing to the right to
join the fray (Ross, pl. 11. h.). This is followed by slab No. 421,
containing a battle of Greeks. In the first group on the left two
warriors are engaged in vehement combat. The warrior on the left
supports with his right knee the shoulder of a wounded comrade who has
fallen at his feet and leans on his right arm. In the next group are
two antagonists fighting over the body of a dead combatant, then a
warrior who has overthrown his adversary and treads him down with his
left foot. He raises his right hand to inflict the mortal wound, and
may perhaps have grasped the victim's right wrist with his left hand.
In the background is a trophy which appears to consist of a trunk of
a tree, to which a helmet, shield, and cuirass have been attached.
On the right of the slab is a warrior pursuing a foe flying to the
right.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 feet 5-1/2 inches; length, 6 feet
8-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 160 (259); Ross, pl. 11, i.; _Mus.
Marbles_, IX., pl. 9; Baumeister, fig. 1240; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_,
No. 118.
[Sidenote: =422.=]
The first figure on the left of the slab appears to be hastening to
the assistance of the flying warrior on the right of the slab just
described. Next is a complicated group of five warriors fighting
for the body of a wounded man. The latter has sunk helplessly on the
ground. He is half raised and clasped under the arms by a friend who
attempts to draw him away; a foe tries to seize an ankle, and covers
himself meanwhile with his outstretched shield. More in the background
two adversaries are engaged in hot combat. The warrior on the left
probably had a sword, and that on the right a spear. A friend of the
fallen man hastens up from the left. The right thigh of this figure,
which is now wanting, is preserved in a drawing by Pars.
On the right are two pairs of combatants. In one of these groups a
warrior, who has fallen on his right knee, tries to defend himself
with his shield, while with the right hand he seizes a stone.
The antagonist has his right arm raised to strike, perhaps with a
battleaxe, and seizes with his left hand the shield of the kneeling
figure. On the right of the slab one of the warriors flies before
the assault of his antagonist, whose arms are both raised to strike
him.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 5-1/2 inches; length, 6 feet
7-3/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 161 (260); Ross, pl. 11, k.; _Mus.
Marbles_, IX., pl. 10; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd. ed., I., fig.
81, p. q.; Baumeister, fig. 1239; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, No. 118.
On the right of the slab described was the return of the corner slab
of the south side, with a combat of two warriors.
Ross, pl. 11, 1.; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig. 81, r.
There is a considerable variety of costumes on the west side of the
frieze. Some of the figures are nude; others wear the chlamys only,
the chiton only, or the two garments together. The chiton is sometimes
worn on both shoulders, and some times only on one shoulder. The
warriors are for the most part armed with helmets and large bucklers.
In two instances a cap of a flexible material is worn instead of a
helmet. None, however, of the costumes are non-Hellenic; and further
the attempt made by Overbeck (i. p. 365), to show that the helmet
of the figure on the extreme right of the frieze is distinctively
B[oe]otian, is untenable (Wolters, p. 284).
THE NORTH AND SOUTH FRIEZES.
[Sidenote: =423.=]
Slab containing a part of the battle between Greeks and Persians. In
the first group on the left, a Persian has fallen on his right knee,
raising his right arm to defend his head. The antagonist presses his
left foot on the right thigh of the Persian, raising his right arm for
a spear thrust, and probably seizing the hair of the Persian with his
left hand. Next is a group of two Persians and a Greek. One of the
Persians lies dead on the ground; his mounted comrade urges his horse
against the Greek, who draws back, and raises his arm to strike with a
battle-axe.
The next group is composed of two Persians on foot and a Greek. In the
centre is a wounded Persian, who has been forced down on his left knee
and extends his arms forward in entreaty to the Greek, who drags him
along, grasping the head of the Persian with his left hand. The right
hand of the Greek must have held either a spear or a sword. On the
right the other Persian turns back to defend his fallen comrade
against the Greek. Both arms are raised to strike, and probably
wielded a battle-axe. At his left side hangs a quiver. On the extreme
right is a Greek moving to the right in pursuit of a flying Persian of
whom only the leg and part of the drapery round the loins remain. The
ground on which this scene takes place is rocky.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 5-1/2 inches; length, 5 feet
10 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 158 (258); Ross, pl. 12, o; _Mus.
Marbles_, IX., pl. 7; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig.
81, i-l; Baumeister, fig. 1237; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, No. 117.
[Sidenote: =424.=]
The first pair of combatants on the left are a Persian, who has
fallen on his right knee, and who holds up a shield in the form of a
crescent, on his left arm to defend himself, and his antagonist, who
advances from the right.
Next is a combat between a Greek on foot and a mounted Persian. The
latter draws back his right hand, which must have been armed with a
spear aimed at the Greek advancing from the left. The horse of the
Persian rears as if to strike down with his forefeet the left arm of
the Greek, which is thrust forward, protected by his shield. A dead
Persian lies on the ground.
Behind the mounted Persian is a comrade, hastening to the left, and
pursued by a Greek of whom nothing remains except part of his shield
and of the drapery round his loins. This closes the scene on the
right.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 5-1/2 inches; length, 6 feet 1-1/4
inches. _Synopsis_, No. 159 (257); Ross, pl. 12, fig. g; _Mus.
Marbles_, IX., pl. 8; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig.
81, m, n; Baumeister, fig. 1238; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, No. 117. On
the position of these slabs, cf. p. 240.
[Sidenote: =425.=]
A plaster cast from one of the slabs now in position on the temple. On
the left is a mutilated group representing a Greek warrior turning
to assist a comrade who has fallen on his right knee. Next is a Greek
moving forward to pursue a mounted Persian who is flying to the right.
On the extreme right a Persian on foot flies in the same direction. A
slain Persian lies in the foreground. The position of this slab on the
temple at the south-east angle is fixed by the relief on its return
face which is part of the composition of the eastern front. This
return is not given in the cast here described.
Height, 1 foot 5-1/2 inches; length, 3 feet 11-1/4 inches. Ross,
pl. 12, fig. a; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig. 81, g,
h; Murray, II., pl. 16, fig. 1.
The dress of the Persians in this frieze is the usual chiton with long
sleeves, girt at the waist, and close-fitting trousers, _anaxyrides_.
One of them, the kneeling figure in No. 424, wears a quiver and bow
case, _gorytos_, from which appears the end of his bow, and two others
wear quivers. The only Persian whose face is preserved is bearded, and
wears the Persian headdress, the _kidaris_. The heads and weapons of
both sets of combatants have been nearly all destroyed. Some of the
Greeks are armed with the Argolic buckler. Others have a chlamys wound
round the left arm or hanging loose from the body.
CASTS FROM THE BALUSTRADE OF THE TEMPLE OF NIKE APTEROS.
The temple of Nike Apteros stood on a lofty projecting bastion, as may
be seen from the model of the Acropolis. This bastion was surrounded
for safety with a breast-high parapet, consisting of a frieze of
sculpture in relief, facing outwards, surmounted by a bronze screen.
Several fragments of the frieze or balustrade were discovered on the
site, in 1835. (Ross, pl. 13.) Additional fragments were found by
Beule in 1852, and in more recent excavations to the east of the
temple of Nike, and on the south slope of the Acropolis. They are
preserved in the Acropolis Museum at Athens.
The sculptures are too mutilated to be arranged in one composition.
It is evident, however, that the frieze consisted of figures of
Victories, variously engaged. Some lead bulls to sacrifice, while
others are erecting or decking trophies in the presence of Athene.
There is some uncertainty as to the date of the frieze. It cannot be
older than the temple, and therefore not earlier than 432 B.C. Kekule
(_Balustrade_, p. 22), and Wolters (p. 289) hold that the frieze was
produced immediately after that date. But a more admissible view is
that which puts the balustrade at the very close of the fifth century.
If the different fragments of the balustrade are examined, they seem
to reveal a combination of various schools and methods. No. 426,
severely draped in chiton and diploidion, seems to have the somewhat
stiff dignity best seen in sculptures of the Temple of Zeus at
Olympia, but occasionally suggested by the Parthenon sculptures. The
figures of Athene (Kekule, _Balustrade_, pl. ii.), have the spirit of
the Parthenon frieze. In No. 427 and No. 428, the artist dwells on and
emphasises the nude form, displaying it through transparent drapery in
a manner that may well be supposed to have been that of the transition
from Pheidias to Praxiteles. Finally, in the figure leading the bull
(No. 429), there is a florid wealth of drapery, which, among early
works, only finds a partial analogy in the frieze of Phigaleia, and
which appears more akin to the Nike of Samothrace than to Attic work
of the fifth century. This want of uniformity in style suggests a time
of transition in which the traditions of the school of Pheidias were
still to some extent operative, while newer tendencies were beginning
to make themselves felt. Perhaps also they indicate that the work was
spread over a space of several years, such as might be expected in the
troubled close of the fifth century B.C.
Height of Balustrade, 3 feet 2 inches. Ross, p. 17, pl. 13 (cf.
ante, p. 241); Michaelis, _Arch. Zeit._, 1862, p. 249. All the
materials are collected by Kekule, _Die Reliefs an der Balustrade
der Athena Nike_ (1881), which superseded Kekule, _Die Balustr. d.
Tempels d. Athena Nike_ (1869). See also Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._,
3rd ed., I., p. 369; Murray, II., p. 186; Wolters, Nos. 761-804.
_Stereoscopic_, Nos. 158-160.
[Sidenote: =426.=]
Victory standing, half turned to the left. She holds a greave in her
left hand, with which she was probably decking a trophy. She wears a
leather helmet.
Kekule, _Balustrade_, pl. 5, fig. R; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd
ed., I., fig. 82.
[Sidenote: =427.=]
Winged Victory turned to the left stoops forward, raising her right
foot in order to adjust or unfasten her sandal. A somewhat similar
incident is seen on the Parthenon frieze, (west side, No. 29). There,
however, the figure has his foot resting on a rock, while here the
Victory balances herself on the left foot with the right leg high in
the air, in a position of effort such as does not occur on the frieze
of the Parthenon.
Ross, pl. 13, figs. B, Bb; Kekule, _Balustrade_, pl. 4, fig. O;
Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig. 82; Murray, II., pl. 16,
fig. 4; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, No. 35. The meaning of the subject is
not known. In the ritual inscription of Andania the initiated are
ordered to have bare feet, and possibly the Victory is supposed
to be removing her sandals before entering a shrine. Dittenberger,
_Syll._, 388, 15, cf. _ibidem_, 357, 25.
[Sidenote: =428=]
Winged Victory standing turned to the left, the right arm advanced.
The right hand and all the left arm being broken away, the motive of
this figure has not been ascertained, but probably the Victory was
decking a trophy.
Kekule, _Balustrade_, pl. 4, fig. M; _Arch. Zeit._, 1862, pl. 162;
Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig. 82; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_,
No. 35.
[Sidenote: =429.=]
Two winged Victories about to sacrifice a bull, which one of them is
holding back as it springs forward. The other Victory leads the way,
moving to the right.
Ross, pl. 13, fig. A; Kekule, _Balustrade_, pl. 1, fig. A;
Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig. 82; Murray, II., pl. 16,
fig. 3; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, No. 34.
THE CHORAGIC MONUMENT OF LYSICRATES.
The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates is a small edifice which presents
one of the earliest examples of the use of the Corinthian order in
Greek architecture. It may be thus described. On a square basement
is a cylindrical structure resting on six Corinthian columns. Between
them are six equal panels of white marble closely joined; at each
vertical joint a Corinthian column has been fitted, so as to project
more than half its diameter. Between the capitals were figures of
tripods in relief, of which only one now survives. Above the colonnade
is the entablature and a cupola or _tholos_; this is in the form of a
tiling of laurel-leaves richly decorated round the circumference with
a double row of projecting ornaments. From the apex of the roof
rises a mass of foliage arranged in a triple form, on the three most
projecting leaves of which was placed a bronze tripod, dedicated by a
choragos, who had provided a victorious chorus. An inscription on the
architrave immediately below the figure of Dionysos furnishes the name
and date of the dedicator. It runs,[*] "Lysicrates of Kikynna, son
of Lysitheides, was Choragos. The youths of the tribe Acamantis were
victors, Theon was the flute player, Lysiades an Athenian was the
instructor of the Chorus, Euainetos was Archon." The mention of this
magistrate fixes the date of the monument to B.C. 335-4.
*: _C. I. G._ 221; _C. I. A._, II., 1242. [Greek:
Lysikrates Lysitheidou Kikynneus echoregei. Akamantis paidon
enika. Theon eulei. Lysiades Athenaios edidaske. Euainetos
erche.]
[Illustration: Fig. 21.--The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. (After
Stuart.)]
The building still stands in its original position at Athens, below
the eastern side of the Acropolis and a little to the north-east of
the theatre of Dionysos. In antiquity it stood in a street called "the
street of tripods" (Paus. i. 20, 1), because of the number of tripods
which were there dedicated to Dionysos. At least as early as the
15th century the building was popularly known as the Lantern of
Demosthenes. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was built into the
wall of the French Capuchin monastery, and the interior served as the
library of the Superior. The monastery was burnt in 1821, and the only
trace of it is in a few tombstones of French citizens lying near. The
monument now stands in an open square. Lord Elgin's casts are the best
record of the frieze, as the sculptures, which are of Pentelic marble,
have suffered considerably in the last ninety years.
The subject of the frieze here described is the victory of Dionysos
over the Tyrrhenian pirates who had kidnapped him from Chios with
the intention of selling him as a slave. The God revenged himself by
transforming the pirates into dolphins, a myth which is to be found
in the Homeric Hymn to Dionysos (No. vi.) and elsewhere (Ovid, _Met._
iii. 650; Nonnus, _Dionys._ xlv. 102; Philostr. _Im._ i. 19, &c. Cf.
_Gaz. Arch._ 1875, p. 7). In the frieze the moment is represented
when this transformation took place. According to Homer and most other
writers, the event happened on board the ship, and the pirates were
first terrified by a miraculous appearance of vines and wild beasts.
The sculptor has preferred to represent the scene as passing on the
rocky shore on which the pirates found Dionysos (_Hom. Hymn_, vi. l.
2) and has made Satyrs help in the vengeance. The subject is thus made
to adapt itself to the requirements of sculpture. For a vase with
a representation of the literary form of the legend, see Gerhard,
_Auserlesene Vasenbilder_, i., pl. 49; Harrison, _Mythology and
Monuments of Anc. Athens_, p. 251. An intaglio, with a pirate half
transformed, as on the frieze, is engraved in the _Gaz. Arch._ 1875,
p. 13.
It is convenient to take the architectural remains of Athens
consecutively, and the monument of Lysicrates has therefore been
inserted in this place. But the accurately ascertained date (335 B.C.)
is a century later than the Parthenon, and it is easy to discern the
change that has taken place. The form of Dionysos is becoming softer
and more effeminate. The Satyrs on tip-toe belong to a scheme not
introduced in the 5th century sculpture; more free play of humour
is admitted. At the same time Attic schemes of composition present
themselves, which had already come into use in the time of Pheidias.
This frieze is a remarkable example of the Greek power of combining
variety and symmetry. On the right and left of Dionysos the groups
correspond with great accuracy, but the correspondent groups always
differ one from another. On each side of the God we have an attendant
Satyr; a Satyr with a crater; a Satyr watching the conflict; a Satyr
hastening to join it; a Satyr kneeling on a pirate; a Satyr about to
strike a pirate thrown to the ground; a Satyr breaking off a branch
from a tree; a pirate, half transformed, leaping into the sea. The
remainder of the frieze is less exactly symmetrical.
Wheler, _Journey_, p. 397; Spon, _Voyage_ (ed. 1679), II., p.
132. A view of the monument from the monastery garden is shown in
Stuart, I., chap. IV., pl. 1. The view from the street is in Le
Roy, _Ruines_, pl. 13. A view of the interior used as a library,
Dodwell, _Tour_, I., pl. facing p. 289. A view subsequent to the
destruction of the monastery is given, _Exp. de Moree_, III., pl.
96. For the present state of the monument see Harrison, _Mythology
and Monuments of Anc. Athens_, p. 245. The original frieze is of
Pentelic marble; height, 10-1/2 inches. Stuart, I., ch. IV., pls.
1-26. Stuart's drawings which are freely restored are the basis of
the inaccurate plate in Stuart, 2nd ed., Vol. I., ch. IV., pl. 30.
The illustrations in most of the text-books are derived from the
latter plate; e.g., Mueller, _Denkmaeler_, pl. 37; Overbeck, _Gr.
Plast._, 3rd ed., II., p. 91. These works all repeat an erroneous
order of the two groups of No. 8, which spoils the symmetry of the
frieze; cf. Murray, II., p. 333. An independent and more accurate
publication is that in _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pls. 22-26, taken from
the Elgin casts. See also Ellis, _Elgin Marbles_, II., pp. 79-87.
The British Museum also possesses a careful series of drawings
from the sculptures, by Lord Elgin's artist, Lusieri. _Report of
the Elgin Committee, appendix_, p. xli.; Wolters, No. 1328.
[Sidenote: =430.= 1.]
In the centre of the composition is Dionysos turned to the left,
reclining on a rock over which drapery is thrown. He leans on his
left elbow; with his right hand he caresses a panther which fawns
on his knees. In the left hand Dionysos appears to have held a cup
and a thyrsos, of which traces appear behind his left shoulder.
This figure is now entirely destroyed on the original. There is
a considerable resemblance in the pose of Dionysos to that of the
so-called Theseus of the east pediment of the Parthenon. On either
side of Dionysos is a Satyr, seated on lower rocks. The Satyr
on the right clasps his left knee with both hands. (Compare the
figure on the east frieze of the Parthenon No. 26). His head was
probably turned towards Dionysos. The Satyr on the left of the God
rests his left hand on the rock behind him; his right knee is bent
and the right leg drawn up under it; in his right hand he holds a
thyrsos; his body and head are turned to the right.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 24.
[Sidenote: 2.]
Next on the left is a Satyr advancing over rocky ground towards a
large crater; in his right hand he holds an oinochoe, with which
he is about to take wine from the crater; in his left hand
has been a phiale; a fawn skin, _nebris_, hangs from his left
shoulder. His head appears to have been turned towards Dionysos.
On the opposite side of the vase stands a Satyr turned to the
left, resting his elbows on the stump of a tree, over which is
thrown a panther's skin; the top of a thyrsos appears above his
right shoulder. He appears to have been bearded.
This figure looks on at the destruction of the pirates which is
represented in a series of groups on the left, and which we must
suppose to have taken place on a rocky shore overlooked by the
higher ground on which Dionysos reclines.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 24.
[Sidenote: 3.]
A Satyr advances to the left with a burning torch, with which he
is about to assail the fallen pirate of the next group. This Satyr
is nude and bearded. His head is bound with a diadem. The head and
left leg are now lost on the original. The next group on the left
represents a pirate thrown on his hands and knees upon the rocks.
On his back kneels a Satyr whose right arm is upraised to strike
his prostrate foe with some weapon which is not clearly shown in
the relief, but which was probably a pedum, or perhaps a branch.
The Satyr has a panther's skin floating in the air, at his back.
Between the legs is a lump of plaster, which is due to a fault in
the moulding.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 23.
[Sidenote: 4.]
Next on the left is a bearded Satyr, who draws back to the right,
to collect his force for a blow, with his thyrsos. Meanwhile he
looks back at a pirate on his left, who kneels with his hands tied
behind him, and looks round towards the Satyr in helpless terror.
A panther's skin, hanging from the left shoulder of the Satyr,
floats in the air at his back.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 23.
[Sidenote: 5.]
The next figure on the left is a bearded Satyr who turns to the
right kneeling on his left knee, set in the fork of a tree close
to the edge of the sea; with both hands he is breaking off a
branch. His panther's skin floats in the air behind his back. His
right foot stands in shoal water, which is indicated by curling
waves. Behind him on the left is a pirate, whose body to the waist
is transformed into a dolphin, and who leaps head foremost into
the sea.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 23.
Between No. 5 and No. 6 is about a yard of frieze, wanting in
the cast. This is given, freely restored, by Stuart. An accurate
drawing by Lusieri is preserved in the Museum (Plate ix.). A
bearded Satyr holds out a torch and pursues a pirate who runs away
at full speed. A hole has been cut between them for the insertion
of a beam. A rock and tree separate this group from the following,
No. 6.
[Sidenote: 6.]
This group is rather better preserved in the drawing of Lusieri
than in the cast. A young pirate is seated on the ground leaning
on his left arm. The right hand is extended in supplication to the
bearded Satyr, who is dragging him seawards by the foot. A hole
has been cut through the figure for a beam. The Satyr stands in
the waves. Behind him a pirate, half transformed, is in the act of
leaping into the sea. This figure is now almost destroyed in the
original. As it is leaping to the right, it belongs strictly to
that part of the circular frieze which represents the scene on the
right of Dionysos.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 22.
[Sidenote: 7.]
On the right of the central group (No. 1) is a bearded Satyr
moving to the right towards a large crater. In his right hand he
holds up an oinochoe or wine jug. His left is extended over the
crater and holds a phiale. This figure appears to be bearded,
though it is drawn as beardless by Lusieri; the head is now
wanting. Next on the right are two Satyrs, each wearing a panther
skin. The Satyr on the left turns to the right and extends his
right hand towards the second Satyr, as if giving him an order.
The latter looks round to the left, as if to receive the order,
while he is hastening to the right with both hands raised, as if
pointing.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 25.
[Sidenote: 8.]
Next on the right is a prostrate pirate, on whose buttock a
bearded Satyr is kneeling with his left knee, while he holds the
pirate's hands, as if to tie them behind his back. The pirate
kneels on the rock, with his head pressed upon the ground and
turned towards the spectator.
The next group on the right is composed of a Satyr, who has thrown
a pirate backward on the rock, and is about to strike him with a
pedum or club. The pirate has his left knee bent under him, and
leans back on his right elbow: he advances his right foot and left
arm to defend himself. He is drawn by Lusieri with a negro face
and pointed ear. The ear seems pointed, but it is manifest that
the features are wrongly drawn. The head is now wanting on the
original. The Satyr has his body facing to the front and inclined
to the left with the right leg advanced: his right hand is raised
to the level of his head. The action shows that he is about to
swing his body round to give effect to the blow which he is aiming
at the pirate. On his left arm is the panther's skin, worn as a
shield.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 25.
[Sidenote: 9.]
In the next group are a Satyr and a transformed pirate, separated
by a tree which marks the edge of the rocky shore, as at the
opposite side of the frieze. The Satyr stoops forward, breaking
off with both hands a branch of the tree, which he is about to use
as a weapon. He is bearded. The right leg is now wanting on the
original. The pirate darts head foremost into the water, pressing
his feet against the trunk of the tree.
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 26.
[Sidenote: 10.]
On the right of the transformed pirate is a group representing a
Satyr about to strike with a branch of a tree a pirate seated
on the ground, whose head he draws back with his left hand,
brandishing in his right hand the branch held behind his neck;
from the left arm of the Satyr hangs his panther's skin. He
is bearded. In the drawing of Lusieri he has an ivy wreath and
pointed ears. On the original this group is mutilated almost
beyond recognition. The last group on the right is composed of a
Satyr darting forward with a lighted torch, which he is about to
apply to a pirate seated on a rock with his hands tied behind his
back. A large serpent behind the pirate has fastened its fangs on
his right shoulder, and has one coil between his right arm and his
back. The pirate looks round in agony towards his assailants. The
serpent suggests the form of the legend usually current, in which
Dionysos is assisted by strange monsters. According to Nonnus,
_Dionys._, xlv., 1. 134, the ropes of the rigging of the ship
turned to serpents.
[Sidenote: =431.=]
Cast from the capital of a column of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.
Height, 2 feet 3/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 360*. See Stuart, I.,
ch. IV. pl. 6, fig. 1.
THE CHORAGIC MONUMENT OF THRASYLLOS.
[Sidenote: =432.=]
The statue of Dionysos, here described, originally decorated a
choragic monument, of which some scanty remains may still be seen
below the southern wall of the Acropolis of Athens, and immediately
above the Dionysiac theatre. The monument was in the form of a
portico, the architrave of which rested on three pilasters which
masked the entrance to a cavern in the rock. Until removed by Lord
Elgin the statue stood above the facade. Since the removal of the
statue the portico itself has been destroyed, and at present only
the base and lower portions of the pilasters stand in position, while
fragments of the inscription lie close at hand. We learn from the
inscription on the centre of the face of the monument that it was
dedicated by Thrasyllos to commemorate the victory gained by his
tribe in the dramatic contest in which he was himself choragos, in the
archonship of Neaichmos (320 B.C.); _C. I. G._, 224; _C. I. A._, ii.,
1247. On the right and left were inscriptions recording the dedication
of tripods by Thrasycles, son of Thrasyllos, who was agonothetes in
the archonship of Pytharatos (271 B.C.); _C. I. G._, 225, 226; _C.
I. A._, ii., 1292, 1293. At some date intermediate between these two,
probably about 310 B.C., the state had assumed the burden of providing
the chorus, and the agonothetes or director of the contest took the
place of the choragos, or provider of the chorus. (Hermann, _Lehrb. d.
Griech. Antiq._, Mueller's ed., iii., pt. ii., p. 339.)
It has commonly been supposed that the statue belongs to the
dedication of Thrasyllos. Stuart made the infelicitous conjecture that
it held the votive tripod on its lap. The most recent writer on the
subject, Reisch (in the _Athenische Mittheilungen_, xiii., p. 383),
conjectures that the monument of Thrasyllos was originally surmounted
by a pediment on which was a tripod; and that the pediment was removed
by Thrasycles, who placed the statue in the centre, and bases for his
tripods at the sides. It is left unexplained what became of the tripod
of Thrasyllos. From the style of the statue we cannot decide between
the two dates. Reisch well points out that in composition and spirit
there is an attempt, only partially successful, to preserve the
manner of Pheidias as seen in the Parthenon pediments. The figure
is majestic, but the drapery is rather heavy. The influence of the
younger Attic school hardly makes itself felt.
The statue is that of a colossal seated figure, the head, arms,
and right foot to the instep wanting. The body is clad in a talaric
chiton, over which is a panther's skin, passing like a scarf from the
left shoulder to the right side, and bound round the waist by a broad
girdle, under which is seen the panther's face and teeth; an ample
mantle passes from the back of the figure over the lower limbs,
falling in rich folds across the lap. The head and left arm of this
statue were of separate pieces of marble, and were originally morticed
to the body. The head was wanting as early as the visit of Spon and
Wheler to Athens in 1676. On the left thigh is a sinking about 6
inches deep, 5 long, and 1-1/2 wide, in which some object may have
been inserted, but which may have been used when the statue was being
placed in position. On the drapery of the left shoulder there is a
hole for a rivet. It seems probable that the God was represented with
a lyre, the base of which rested on his left thigh. This instrument
was the attribute of Dionysos Melpomenos (see Gerhard, _Ant.
Bildwerke_, text, p. 240), and the costume of the figure seems
assimilated to that of a citharist.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 6 feet 3 inches. The stone is roughly
hewn out at the back to lighten the figure. Wheler, _Journey_, p.
368; Le Roy, _Ruines_, pl. 8; Stuart, II., ch. IV., pls. 3, 6;
_Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 1; Ellis, _Elgin Marbles_, II., p. 90;
Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., II., p. 94; Reisch, _Athenische
Mittheilungen_, XIII. (1888) pl. 8, p. 383; _Stereoscopic_, No.
114; Brunn, _Denkmaeler_, No. 119.
THE PROPYLAEA.
The Propylaea, or gateways to the Acropolis, were constructed by
Mnesicles under the administration of Pericles, in the five years
436-431 B.C.
The main portion of the building consisted of two Doric portions,
facing respectively inwards to the Acropolis and outwards. These were
connected by a series of Ionic columns. The entrance was flanked
on each side by wings (see the plan, fig. 20). The Elgin Collection
contains a few architectural remains from the building. A portion
of the cedar dowels which connected the drums of the columns of the
Propylaea may be seen in the Bronze Room.--_Presented by A. W. Franks,
Esq._ Cf. Dodwell, _Tour_, I., p. 313.
[Sidenote: =433.=]
Capital of Doric column from the Propylaea. It is impossible to tell
from the dimensions whether this capital is derived from the internal
or external portico.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; width of abacus, 5 feet 5-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_,
No. 130 (206). Stuart, II., ch. V., pl. 7, fig. 1. Penrose,
_Athen. Architecture_, ch. X., pl. 31; Bohn, _Die Propylaeen_, pls.
11, 13, fig. 2.
[Sidenote: =434.=]
Piece of drum of Ionic column from the inner order of the
Propylaea.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 4-1/2 inches; diameter, 3 feet 1/8
inch. _Synopsis_, No. 129. Penrose, _Athen. Architecture_, ch. X.,
pl. 32.
[Sidenote: =435.=]
Part of band for supporting the beams of the ceiling in the central
hall of the Propylaea. There are considerable remains of the painted
mouldings.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 7-1/4 inches; length, 3 feet
10-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 131 (308). Stuart, II., ch. V., pl.
8, fig. 1; Bohn, _Die Propylaeen_, pl. 12, fig. 6.
MISCELLANEOUS ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS.
[Sidenote: =436.=]
Capital of one of the antae from the small Ionic temple near the
Ilissos seen by Stuart, but destroyed since his time in 1780.--_Elgin
Coll._
Height, 1 foot 1/8 inch; breadth, 2 feet 1/2 inch. _Synopsis_,
No. 170 (174). Stuart, I., ch. II., pl. 8, fig. 1. See also Leake,
_Topography of Athens_, 2nd ed., p. 250.
[Sidenote: =437.=]
Moulding with anthemion, plait, maeander, and leaf, bead and reel
patterns. Found near the south-east _anta_ of the Erechtheion.
--_Inwood Coll._
Height, 8-1/4 inches; breadth, 6-3/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 407.
Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 26, p. 138.
[Sidenote: =438.=]
Antefixal ornament or acroterion from the temple of Demeter at
Eleusis. For a similar ornament see Kinnard in Stuart's _Antiquities
of Athens_, 2nd ed., iii., pl. 1, p. 53.--_Elgin Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 3 feet 7-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 169
(173); Laborde, _Le Parthenon_, pl. 27.
[Sidenote: =439.=]
Ornament of roof-tile, _kalypter anthemotos_. Purchased by Inwood at
Athens.--_Inwood Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 8-3/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 417.
Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 28, fig. 3, p. 144.
[Sidenote: =440.=]
Ornament of roof-tile. Probably purchased by Inwood at
Athens.--_Inwood Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 10-3/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 412.
Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 28, fig. 2, p. 144.
[Sidenote: =441.=]
Ornament of roof-tile, found "on the gable of a small Greek church,
that appears to have been on the site of a temple" "in the gardens at
Athens, beyond Mount Anchesmus."--_Inwood Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 8-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 411.
Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 23, p. 131.
[Sidenote: =442.=]
Ornament of roof-tile found built into a modern house near the
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.--_Inwood Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 11 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 413. Inwood,
_Erechtheion_, pl. 28, fig. 5, p. 144.
[Sidenote: =443.=]
Capital of Ionic column discovered by Inwood built into the wall of a
small Greek chapel called Agia Marina on the left bank of the Ilissos
at Athens. This is probably the site of the temple of Artemis Eucleia
mentioned by Pausanias (i., 14, 5, and compare ix., 17, 1). Roses are
sculptured in the eyes of the volutes. Inwood remarks (p. 136) that
the central enrichment over the cymatium between the volutes is
unusual. From the absence of mortices by which the capital could be
secured to the architrave or to the shaft, he infers (p. 133) that
this capital may have belonged to some sepulchral stele or other work,
where great strength of construction was not required. Boetticher,
who engraves this or a similar capital, is of the same opinion. The
opposite face of the capital is nearly all broken away.--_Inwood
Coll._
Pentelic marble; width from centre of volute to centre of volute,
12-3/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 398. Inwood, _Erechtheion_, p. 132,
pls. 24-25. Boetticher, _Tektonik_, pl. 30, fig. 7, text, p. 299.
[Sidenote: =444.=]
Volute of Ionic capital. Inwood (p. 128) states that it was found near
the site of the temple of Nike Apteros, and that from its scale it
probably belongs to that temple. This, however, is not the case, as
may be seen by comparing this fragment with the capital of the temple
of Nike Apteros in Ross, _Akropolis von Athen_, pls. vii., viii. The
pulvinus of this capital is ornamented with leaves, as in the example
from Athens in Boetticher's _Tektonik_, pl. 31, fig. 5, text, p.
299.--_Inwood Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot; breadth, 9-1/2 inches.
_Synopsis_, No. 404, where it is incorrectly described as a
capital from the temple of Nike Apteros. Inwood, _Erechtheion_,
pl. 21.
[Sidenote: =445.=]
Volute of Ionic capital, which, according to Inwood (p. 127) was found
in a wall below the north side of the Acropolis at Athens. In the eye
of this volute a rose is sculptured in relief. In the capitals of
the Erechtheion there was a similar rose of bronze gilt, for which a
recess is carved in the marble.--_Inwood Coll._
Pentelic marble; height, 7-3/4 inches; breadth, 9 inches.
_Synopsis_, No. 410. Inwood, _Erechtheion_, pl. 20; Boetticher,
_Tektonik_, text, p. 299.
[Sidenote: =446.=]
Fragment of the shaft of a column which was fluted with twenty-four
flutes, the diameter being about two feet two inches. The dimensions
differ from those of the columns of the Erechtheion.--_Greece._
_Presented by W. R. Hamilton, Esq._
Marble; height, 1 foot 7 inches; width, 1 foot 6 inches.
[Sidenote: =447.=]
Capital of Corinthian column, from one of the porches of the building
at Athens, commonly known as the Tower of the Winds, or more correctly
as the Horologium of Andronicus Cyrrhestes (built probably in the 2nd
century B.C.).--_Formerly in the Elgin Collection._
Marble; height, 1 foot 4-1/2 inches. Stuart, I., chap. III., pl.
7.
[Sidenote: =448.=]
Unfinished Ionic base.--_Formerly in the Elgin Collection._
Marble; height, 9 inches; diameter, 1 foot 10-3/4 inches.
AGORACRITOS OF PAROS.
[Sidenote: =460.=]
Fragment of colossal head, showing the right cheek, right eyelid and
right side of the head as far as the ear. The hair is waved. On the
crown of the head eleven holes are pierced in the marble, evidently
for the attachment of a wreath or other ornament. The left side
and back of the head have been cut or broken away. So far as can be
inferred from the little original surface remaining, this head was in
a fine style of the fifth century B.C.
The style and material of this work, and the place of its discovery,
give good grounds for thinking that it is a fragment of the famous
statue of Nemesis by Agoracritos of Paros. The exact date of
Agoracritos is not recorded, but he is said to have been a favourite
pupil of Pheidias. The statue of Nemesis is described as a colossal
figure of the type of Aphrodite, holding in her hands an apple branch
and a phiale, on which were figures of Aethiopians. She had no wings,
and stood on a base, sculptured with subjects relating to the birth of
Helen and the Trojan war. The figure wore a diadem, adorned with
deer and figures of Victory of no great size. Compare the diadem of
Pandora, described by Hesiod, _Theogony_, 581; the diadem of Hera
of Polycleitos (Paus., ii., 17, 4); the Cypriote terracottas, in the
Terracotta Room, wall cases 1 and 27; and the Cypriote sculptures in
the Cyprus Room. The numerous holes mentioned above must have served
for the attachment of an ornament of some weight, and so confirm the
proposed identification.
According to tradition the statue was made of a block of Parian
marble, which was brought by the Persians, before the battle of
Marathon, to be erected as a trophy for the capture of Athens. (Paus.,
i., 33. 2; _Anthol. Pal. App. Plan._, iv., 221, 222, 263). Found on
the site of the _Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnus_.--_Presented by J. P.
Gandy Deering, Esq., 1820._
Parian marble; height, 1 foot 4-1/2 inches. _Uned. Antiquities of
Attica_, p. 43; Leake, _Athens and Demi of Attica_, II., p. 108;
_Synopsis_, No. 325 (273); _Elgin Room Guide_, II., No. E. 4;
Six, _Num. Chron. 3rd. Ser._, II., p. 94; _cf._ coin of Cyprus,
_ibidem_, pl. 5; Gardner, _Journ. of Hellen. Studies_, VIII., p.
47; Rossbach, _Athenische Mittheilungen_, XV., p. 64; Overbeck,
_Schriftquellen_, 834-843.
POLYCLEITOS OF ARGOS AND THE PELOPONNESIAN SCHOOL.
Polycleitos of Argos was, as has already been observed (p. 90), one
of the great pupils of Ageladas of Argos, who was also the master of
Myron and perhaps of Pheidias.
Nothing is recorded as to the life of Polycleitos; his age, as
compared with that of Pheidias, is not accurately known. It is
probable that he was rather younger than Pheidias, as he was working
at a later date. Pliny gives the 90th Olympiad, or 420 B.C., as the
date of Polycleitos. This may be the date of his great statue of Hera
at Argos, the older temple of Hera having been burnt in 422 B.C., and
it was probably near the end of the sculptor's life.
No original works by the hand of Polycleitos survive, but several
sculptures are known which can be shown with probability to have been
copied more or less directly from originals, of which the character is
thus ascertained.
Polycleitos was famous in antiquity as the author of a methodical
system of proportions for the human form. One in particular of his
figures, the Doryphoros, was known as the _Canon_, and was adopted
as the ideal type of a youthful male figure by later sculptors. This
figure, and its companion the Diadumenos (see below, Nos. 500, 501),
are known to us from copies. They are of vigorous make and square
build, but somewhat heavy when compared with the graceful youths of
the Parthenon frieze. But the words of Quintilian, who says (_Inst.
Orat._, xii., 10, 7) that some critics objected to the works of
Polycleitos as being wanting in weight and unduly elegant, suggest
that the extant copies do not convey an accurate impression of the
bronze originals, and in fact some of the numerous Doryphoros heads
which have been found in Italy present a profile which strikingly
recalls the profiles of the youths on the Parthenon frieze.
Polycleitos was also noted for his technical skill and perfect
workmanship.
The works that have been associated with Polycleitos, in the British
Museum, are here described (Nos. 500-503). A fragment, however, of a
group of two boys playing with knuckle-bones (_Mus. Marbles_, ii.,
pl. 31), which was ascribed by Winckelmann to Polycleitos (_Hist. de
l'Art_, Bk. vi., chap. 2; Pliny, _H. N._, xxxiv., 10), is no doubt of
a later period, and is therefore omitted.
[Sidenote: =500.=]
Graeco-Roman copy of the Diadumenos of Polycleitos. Statue of a nude
youth, tying a band (taenia) about his head. He stands principally
on the right leg, resting lightly on the left leg, and has both hands
raised. The left hand is lost. The band was made of bronze, and holes
remain for its attachment. The left side of the face has been very
much rubbed down. By the side of the figure is a tree-stump.
That this figure is the Diadumenos of Polycleitos is indicated by its
close resemblance in style to the figure at Naples, believed to be
a copy of the Doryphoros (see No. 502). It would be a remarkable
coincidence if we had two companion statues representing respectively
a Diadumenos and a Doryphoros, known from the number of replicas to
be copies of important works, and agreeing in style with what would be
expected of the art of Polycleitos, but yet derived from independent
sources.
The head was found at a distance of two-thirds of a mile from the
torso. The torso was found in 1862 in the _Roman Theatre, at Vaison
(Vaucluse)_.
Marble; height, 6 feet 1 inch. Restorations:--Nose, fingers of
right hand, parts of left thigh and of left shin and heel; also
the upper part of the stump. The figure should perhaps be set
with the ancient surface of the base horizontal, and so lean less
forwards. _Mon. dell' Inst._, X., pl. 49, figs. 1-3; _Annali dell'
Inst._, 1878, p. 11 (Michaelis); Rayet, _Monuments_, I., No. 30
and text; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 388; Murray, I.,
pl. 10, p. 274; Wolters, No. 508.
Other examples more or less nearly reproducing this type
are:--(_a_) A bronze from the De Janze Collection in the French
Bibliotheque Nationale. _Annali dell' Inst._, 1878, pl. B, p. 11
(Michaelis); Rayet, _Monuments_, I., No. 31; Babelon, _Le Cabinet
des Ant. a la Bibl. Nationale_, pl. 13. (_b_) A terracotta
statuette in an English private collection. _Journ. of Hellen.
Studies_, VI., p. 243, pl. 61. (_c_) A sepulchral relief from
Praeneste, in the Vatican, commemorating one Tiberius Octavius
Diadumenus, and having a relief of a Diadumenos, in allusion to
the name. Pistolesi, _Vaticano_, IV. 84. (_d_) A gem. _Journ. of
Hellen. Studies_, II. p. 352. See also No. 501.
[Sidenote: =501.=]
Graeco-Roman statue of a Diadumenos. Statue of a nude youth standing,
tying a band (taenia) about his head. Both arms were raised, but the
left is lost. This figure, like the Diadumenos of Vaison (No. 500),
stands principally on the right leg, but the left leg is differently
placed, and the whole pose is thereby altered. By the side of the
figure is a stump of a palm.
The hair falls in curls, and the figure is more youthful than the
Diadumenos of Vaison. Except in the similarity of subject these
statues have little in common, and if the Vaison figure represents
the statue of Polycleitos, this figure would appear to be either an
independent rendering of the same subject, or only remotely derived
from Polycleitos. It was, however, for a long time regarded as a copy
of the work of Polycleitos, and this view has been held by several
writers, after the discovery of the Vaison Diadumenos.--_Farnese
Coll. 1864._
Pentelic marble; height, 4 feet 10-1/4 inches.
Restorations:--Nose, parts of band. The right leg appears to be
ancient, but worked over. In the earliest publications (Cavalieri,
&c.) the left arm is drawn as if restored. The statue is first
known in the Villa Madama, near Rome (Cavalieri, _Ant. Stat. Urb.
Romae Liber_, 1569, pl. 97). It was afterwards in the Farnese
Gardens, in the Farnese Palace, and at Naples. Guattani, _Mem.
Encicl._, V., pl. facing p. 83; Gerhard, _Ant. Bildwerke_, pl.
69, p. 311; Mueller-Wieseler, _Denkmaeler_, I., pl. 31, fig. 136;
Clarac, V., pl. 858 C, 2189 A; _Annali dell' Inst._, 1878, pl. A,
p. 20 (Michaelis); Murray, I., pl. 9, p. 273; Rayet, _Monuments_,
text to No. 30; Mitchell, p. 388; Wolters, No. 509; Mansell, No.
726.
The Polycleitan origin of the Farnese statue is supported by
Winckelmann (_Hist. de l'Art_, Bk. VI., chap. 2), Guattani (_loc.
cit._), Newton (Rayet, _loc. cit._), Brunn (_Annali dell' Inst._,
1879, p. 218), Murray (_loc. cit._).
[Sidenote: =502.=]
Statuette copied from the Doryphoros of Polycleitos (?). Figure of
youth having the arms broken off from the shoulders, and the legs from
above the knees. The head is slightly bent forwards, and turned to the
left of the figure. The left leg was advanced in front of the right
leg.
The figure, like a bronze statuette at Athens (_Mon. dell' Inst._,
viii., pl. 53), which it nearly resembles, may perhaps be a
modified rendering of the Doryphoros of Polycleitos. The Doryphoros
(spear-bearer) was a figure of a nameless athlete, which carried a
spear, and which was the Canon or typical model of later sculptors
(see above). The type was first recognized by Friederichs in a statue
from Pompeii, now in the Museum at Naples, and other copies have since
been identified.--_Athens._
Marble; height, 9 inches. Unpublished. The principal examples of
the type are:--(_a_) Figure at Naples (Friederichs, _Doryphoros
des Polyclet_; Rayet, _Monuments_, I., No. 29; Overbeck,
_Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., fig. 84). (_b_) Relief from Argos
(_Athenische Mittheilungen_, III., pl. 13; Mitchell, p. 386).
(_c_) Bronze bust from Herculaneum, at Naples, found with a
companion bust of an Amazon (Comparetti, _La Villa Ercolanese_,
pl. 8, fig. 3). (_d_) Gem at Berlin (Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, _loc.
cit._). For other copies, see Michaelis, _Annali dell' Inst._,
1878, p. 6; Wolters, Nos. 506, 507.
[Sidenote: =503.=]
Head of Amazon, slightly inclined to the left and looking down, with
an expression of pain on the face. The hair is parted in the middle,
and drawn back over the ears to the back of the head, where it is
gathered in a bunch. The sharp parallel lines in which it is worked
suggest that the head is copied from a bronze original.
Pliny relates (_H. N._, xxxiv., 53) that four artists, Polycleitos,
Pheidias, Cresilas and Phradmon, made statues of Amazons which were
placed in the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Polycleitos was accounted
to have won the competition, as he obtained the second vote of each of
his rivals. This account of the contest has the appearance of a late
invention. There are, however, many statues and busts of wounded
Amazons which appear to be copies, more or less exact, of three types,
different one from another, but yet so far alike that they may have
been produced by artists working on one plan.
The present head belongs to the type which various archaeologists
(Kluegmann, _Rhein. Mus._ 1866, p. 327; Michaelis, _Jahrb. des Arch.
Inst._, i., p. 40) have assigned to Polycleitos. The complete figure
is that of a wounded Amazon, leaning with the left arm on a pillar,
and having the right hand resting on the top of the head.
_Brought to England by Lyde Brown. Purchased by Townley,
1774._--_Townley Coll._
Greek marble; height of ancient portion, 10-1/4 inches.
Restorations:--Tip of nose, throat and bust. _Mus. Marbles_, X.,
pl. 5; _Guide to Graeco-Roman Sculptures_, I., No. 150; Murray, I.,
p. 280; _Jahrbuch des Arch. Inst._, I., 1886, pl. 3, No. 2; p. 16,
_K_, (Michaelis). There is a drawing by Cipriani in the British
Museum (_Add. MSS._ 21,118, No. 12).
The best examples of the type are:--(_a_) A statue at Lansdowne
House, London. _Specimens of Ant. Sculpture_, II., pl. 10.
_Cat. of Lansdowne Marbles_, No. 83. (_b_) A bronze head from
Herculaneum, now in the Museum at Naples. Comparetti, _La Villa
Ercolanese_, pl. 8, fig. 1. (_c_) Compare the Amazon on the
Phigaleian frieze (No. 522). For further literature and examples,
see Michaelis, _loc. cit._
[Sidenote: =504.=]
Head of Hera (?). Ideal female head wearing a lofty diadem. The hair
was brought to the back of the head, where it was tied in a knot, now
lost.
It is thought possible that this head may be derived from the Argive
statue of Hera by Polycleitos, for which the coins of Argos may
be compared (_Journ. of Hellen. Studies_, vi., pl. 54, Nos.
12-15).--_Girgenti._
Marble; height, 1 foot 4 inches. The lower part of the back of the
head on the right side, which had been broken, has been in modern
times roughly carved on the fractured surface to represent hair,
and the end of the diadem. The surface of the face has also
suffered from being worked over. The genuineness of the sculpture
has been questioned, without reason. _Mon. dell' Inst._, IX.,
pl. 1; Helbig, _Annali dell' Inst._, 1869, p. 144; Overbeck, _Gr.
Kunstmyth._, pl. 9, figs. 4, 5; II., p. 81, 3; Murray, I., p. 268;
Wolters, No. 501; Furtwaengler, _Arch. Zeit._, 1885, p. 275, fig.
A; Murray, _Roemische Mittheilungen_, I., p. 123.
THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO AT PHIGALEIA.
The Temple of Apollo Epicurios, at Phigaleia, in Arcadia, stands in a
slight depression on the bare and wind-swept side of Mount Cotylion,
above the valley of the river Neda. It was discovered towards the end
of the eighteenth century, but on account of its remote position it
was seldom visited before 1811. In that year the party of explorers,
who had previously discovered the pedimental sculptures of Aegina,
began excavations which were completed in 1812. The party included
Cockerell and Haller in the first season, and Haller, Stackelberg and
Broendstedt in the second season. The sculptures found were removed to
Zante, and were purchased by the British Government in 1814.
The temple was visited by Pausanias, who describes it as being
situated at the village of Bassae on Mount Cotylion, about five miles
from Phigaleia. Pausanias states that the temple and its roof were
alike built of stone, and that it might be counted among the temples
of the Peloponnesus, second only to that of Tegea, for beauty of
material and fineness of proportion. He adds that the temple was
dedicated to Apollo Epicurios (the Helper), because the god had
stayed a plague at Phigaleia in the time of the Peloponnesian war. The
architect was Ictinos, the builder of the Parthenon (Paus. viii., 41,
5). The date of the temple is therefore about 430 B.C., although it
is doubtful whether the plague in Arcadia was connected with the more
celebrated pestilence at Athens.
The temple is built of the light grey limestone of the surrounding
mountains. The sculptures, tiles, lacunaria, and capitals of the
interior architecture were all of marble, which was probably obtained
in the neighbourhood. The form of the building is that known as
amphiprostyle peripteral hexastyle. The temple consisted of a central
cella with a pronaos and opisthodomos, and was surrounded by a Doric
colonnade, having six columns at the ends and fifteen columns at the
sides. The pronaos and opisthodomos were each bounded by two Doric
columns between antae, surmounted by metopes. The cella contained ten
Ionic columns engaged in buttresses which connected them with the
side walls. Towards the south end of the cella was a single Corinthian
column, of remarkable form, which is now lost. Beyond it was the
temple image, which by a peculiar arrangement is thought to have
looked to the east, towards a side door, the orientation of the
temple being nearly north and south. It has been thought that this
arrangement may show that an ancient shrine was embodied in the later
temple. (Curtius, _Pelop._, i., p. 329; Michaelis, _Arch. Zeit._,
1876, p. 161). The frieze was internal, and passed round the cella,
with the exception of that portion which is south of the Corinthian
column. (Compare the ground plan, fig. 22, and the view, plate xi.)
[Illustration: Fig. 22.--Plan of the Temple of Apollo at Phigaleia.]
The temple was discovered by a French architect, Bocher, in
November, 1765 (Chandler, _Travels in Greece_, 1776, p. 295). For
descriptions of the architecture and sculpture, see Stackelberg,
_Der Apollotempel zu Bassae, in Arcadien_, 1826; Donaldson, in
Stuart, 2nd ed., vol. IV.; Blouet, _Expedition scientifique de
Moree_, II; _Museum Marbles_, IV.; Leake, _Travels in the Morea_,
II., chap. xii., p. 1; Ellis, _Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles_, II.,
p. 175; Cockerell, _The Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at Aegina,
and of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, near Phigaleia, in Arcadia_,
1860; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 449; Murray, II., p.
169; Wolters, Nos. 880-912. For literature specially relating to
the frieze, see below, p. 279. Views and plans of the temple are
exhibited in a table case.
ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS.
[Sidenote: =505.=]
Two fragments of the cymatium cornice, with a pattern of palmettes
alternating with palmettes of a plainer form, springing from acanthus
leaves as on the cornice of the Erechtheion. The member to which these
fragments belong surmounted the pediments.
Marble; height, 1 foot 1/8 inch; width, 4 feet 2-3/4 inches. The
left-hand fragment is engraved in _Mus. Marbles_, IV., vignette.
_Synopsis_, Nos. 26, 27; Cockerell, _Phigaleia_, pl. 6; Ellis,
_Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles_, II., p. 212.
[Sidenote: =506.=]
Fragment of a Doric capital, from a column of the external colonnade.
Limestone; height of fragment, 1 foot 5 inches; width. 1 foot 9
inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IV., pl. 25, fig. 4; _Synopsis_, No. 24;
_cf._ Cockerell, _Phigaleia_, pl. 6.
[Sidenote: =507.=]
Fragment of the capital of one of the Doric columns of the pronaos or
opisthodomos, including the lower part of the echinus, and the upper
part of the flutings.
Limestone; height, 5-1/2 inches; width, 1 foot 6-1/2 inches.
[Sidenote: =508.=]
Fragment of the capital of one of the Ionic columns of the interior of
the cella, with a part of the fluting. These capitals are of peculiar
form, each column being connected at the back by a cross wall with the
wall of the cella (see plan). The three exposed faces of the capital
had each a pair of Ionic volutes. In the centre of the volute is a
stud of marble separately made. The hole for it was prepared by a
series of drill holes placed so as to form a ring-like depression,
the centre of which was afterwards worked out. The profile of the side
pairs of volutes was somewhat different to that of the front pair,
whence it can be ascertained that the fragment in the British Museum
contains a part of the front and right side of the cap.
Marble; height, 1 foot 6 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IV., pl. 25, fig.
3; _Synopsis_, No. 25; Cockerell, _Phigaleia_, pl. 14.
[Sidenote: =509.= 1.]
Roof tile, with antefixal end, with a palmette in relief above two
volutes springing from an acanthus.
Marble; height, 1 foot 3-1/4 inches; length, 1 foot 8-1/2 inches. _Mus.
Marbles_, IV., pl. 25, fig. 1; _Synopsis_, No. 39; _Exp. de Moree_,
II., pl. 19, fig. 1; Cockerell, _Phigaleia_, pl. 7.
[Sidenote: 2.]
Part of roof tile from the ridge of the roof of the temple.
The central portion is not worked with palmettes, as shown by
Cockerell.
Marble; height of fragment, 1 foot 4 inches; length, 1 foot 6 inches.
The complete length was about 2 feet 3 inches. _Mus. Marbles_,
IV., pl. 25, fig. 2; _Synopsis_, No. 40; Cockerell, _Phigaleia_, pl. 7,
figs. 5, 6.
PHIGALEIAN METOPES.
The following fragments belong to a series of metopes in high relief,
which were placed over the entrance to the cella of the temple, in a
position similar to that occupied by the metopes of the Temple of
Zeus at Olympia. In the Parthenon the frieze takes the place of the
internal metopes, of which however a trace remains in the _guttae_
which occur at regular intervals below the frieze, and which imply
triglyphs.--Cockerell, _Phigaleia_, pl. 5.
The fragmentary state of the metopes makes the subjects uncertain, in
most instances.
For a general view of the metopes, see _Stereoscopic_, No. 122.
[Sidenote: =510.=]
Figure wearing a helmet with a projecting tail-piece (compare
Parthenon frieze, south side, No. 4), a sleeveless chiton girt at the
waist, and a small cloak. The figure wears a Gorgoneion on the breast;
and with the left hand seems to be playing on a lyre, which is partly
expressed in relief, and must have been further indicated in colour.
The Gorgoneion suggests Athene, but it is more likely that it is
merely worn as an amulet, and the figure may be that of a Thracian
citharist (cf. Wolters, p. 301). The dress is nearly the same as
that of Orpheus on the well-known relief in the Villa Albani--(Zoega,
_Bassirel. Ant._ i., pl. 42).
Marble; height, 1 foot 6 inches; width. 1 foot 4-1/2 inches. _Mus.
Marbles_, IV., pl. 24, fig. 1; Stackelberg, pl. 30, fig. 2; _Exp.
de Moree_, II., pl. 23, fig. 2; _Synopsis_, No. 28; Cockerell,
_Phigaleia_, pl. 8; Ellis; _Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles_, II, p.
213.
[Sidenote: =511.=]
A mutilated male head, inserted in the same metope as last. It appears
to have been bearded, but this is doubtful.
Marble; height, 5-1/2 inches; width, 9 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 33.
[Sidenote: =512.=]
Torso from the breasts to the knees of a female figure, wearing a
fine clinging chiton and a mantle. The right hand holds two objects,
perhaps _crotala_ or possibly flutes, and the left hand was extended.
Marble; height, 1 foot 3 inches; width, 1 foot 5-1/2 inches. _Mus.
Marbles_, IV., pl. 24, fig. 2; Stackelberg, pl. 30, fig. 1; _Exp.
de Moree_, II., pl. 23, fig. 1; Ellis, _Elgin and Phigaleian
Marbles_, II., p. 213.
[Sidenote: =513.=]
Lower part of a nude male figure from the waist to the ankle of the
left leg, standing. The right leg is wanting. The figure stands to the
left with drapery wrapped about the left arm.
Marble; height, 1 foot 10 inches; width, 9-1/4 inches.
[Sidenote: =514.=]
Right knee of a draped female figure standing to the right.
Marble; height, 10 inches, width, 11 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 37.
[Sidenote: =515.=]
Fragment with the upper moulding of a metope, and with a circular
object in relief, which has a round depression in the centre. This
object has been interpreted as a cymbal held up by a dancing figure.
Perhaps, however, it may be a ring from the top of a tripod of Apollo,
such as is frequently seen. Cf. Furtwaengler, _Bronzen von Olympia_,
pl. 34.
Marble; height, 4 inches; width, 6 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 31.
[Sidenote: =516.=]