17. Foreleg of a horse from below the knee to the hoof. The direction is to the right.

Length, 7½ inches.

18. Youthful beardless head wearing a petasos and looking to the right. The right side of the head is broken away. Michaelis engraved this head, pl. 11, slab xix., No. 48. It no doubt belongs either to that horseman, or to one of the two on the slab following (xx.), for which see Carrey's drawing.

Height, 7 inches.

19. Upper part of youthful male figure looking to the right; behind, horse's head. The figure wore a chiton with girdle, and, apparently, a close-fitting helmet or leather cap. Part of the shoulder of a second figure seems to be visible on the right edge of the fragment. It is not easy to find a place for this fragment among the horsemen of the south side. It seems more probable that the head is that of the charioteer of slab xxvi.; it agrees well with Carrey's drawing.

Height, 1 foot 4 inches; Michaelis, pl. 11, slab, xxvi.; No. 64.

20. Fragment of male figure, turned to the right, extending from the neck to the hip. The drapery consists only of a mantle which is seen passing over the right shoulder and round the body. The figure appears to be that of a youth and to correspond best with one of the charioteers of the south frieze, only preserved in Carrey's drawing, Michaelis, pl. 11, slab xxvii.

Height, 1 foot ¼ inch; Michaelis, pl. 11, slab xxiv., a.

21. Fragment of elderly male figure, moving to the right; from the hips to the beginning of the shoulder blades. He wears a mantle closely wrapped about him, and leaving the right arm bare. On the right of this fragment is a joint. It probably belongs to a figure in the group of old men and musicians, slabs xxxiv.-xxxvii. Michaelis inserts it in slab xxxv. (No. 97 in his pl. 11), but his drawing is incorrect and the fragment cannot be adjusted there. The only possible place seems to be on the right of slab xxxiv.

Height, 10 inches.

22. Fragment with left foot and part of drapery of figure moving to the right, and having the left foot hindmost. From the left-hand lower corner of a slab. The lowness of the relief shows that this foot belongs to one of the figures on the far side of the victims. Michaelis combines it with his pl. 11., slab xliii., 126. This figure, which is 84 according to the Museum numbering, has now been joined to slab xli. Although the fragment does not seem to join satisfactorily to the angle of slab xli., yet this seems its probable position.

Height, 8 inches.

South or North Frieze.

23. Fragment of helmeted head looking to the right. The head is entirely destroyed except the back of the helmet and its crest. This head perhaps belongs to one of the warriors that accompany the chariots in the north frieze.

Height, 11½ inches.

351. Part of a marble tile-front. The roof of the Parthenon, like that of many other Greek temples, was formed of marble tiles, solenes, carefully adjusted. In the case of the Parthenon the tiles were placed side by side. Ridge tiles covered the joints, and the lower end of each ridge terminated in an anthemion. Hence the tile-front was called by the Greeks kalypter anthemotos. See the model of the Parthenon, and Michaelis, pl. 2, fig. 8.—Inwood Coll.

Height, 1 foot ½ inch.

352. Cast of a similar but more perfect tile-front, from the original at Athens.

Height, 1 foot 8½ inches; Michaelis, pl. 2, fig. 8; Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 22.

353. Cast of lion's head from one of the angles of the pediment. This head, is worked from a block which forms the springing stone of both the cymatium and the corona of the pediment. In the modelling of the lion's head, and especially in the treatment of the mane, there is a noticeable austerity and conventionalism, such as is appropriate to a purely decorative piece of sculpture.

Height, 1 foot 4½ inches. See the model of the Parthenon; Penrose, Athenian Architecture, pl. 17; Michaelis, pl. 2, fig. 9; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 82 b.

354, 5. Casts from two fragments of acroteria, probably from the western pediment.

The acroteria were ornaments placed above the centre of the pediments. For an example of a complete acroterion, see that from Eleusis, No. 438.

Lengths, 3 feet 3 inches and 1 foot 9 inches; Michaelis, pl. 2, fig. 10, i, l.

356. Marble fragment of a similar acroterion.—Inwood Coll.

Height, 10 inches; Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 22, p. 130.

357. Marble fragment of moulding with painted mæander pattern.—Inwood Coll.

Length, 10 inches; Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 22, p. 129.

358. Marble fragment of moulding with painted mæander pattern. Both these fragments (357, 358) appear to belong to the moulding which surmounted the frieze and passed round the interior of the peristyle.—Elgin Coll.

Length, 1 foot 9 inches; Penrose, Athenian Architecture, pl. 20, fig. 27a; pl. 23; Michaelis, pl. 2, fig. 17.

PART III.

THE SUCCESSORS OF PHEIDIAS.

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 Athenè 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 Melitè. In this view he has been followed by Wachsmuth (Stadt Athen, i. p. 364). Other patron deities have also been proposed, as Apollo Patroös, 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 Ἀθηναίων Πολιτεία 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" (ἐξοπλισίαν ἐν τῷ Θησείῳ [sic MS.] ποιησάμενος ... ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς προσαναβῆναι πρὸς τὸ Πρόπυλον τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ... ἀνελόντες οἱ ἐπὶ τούτων τεταγμένοι τὰ ὅπλα αὐτῶν καὶ συγκληίσαντες εἰς τὰ πλησίον οἰκήματα τοῦ Θησείου κ.τ.λ. Aristot. Ἀθ. Πολ. 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; Müller, 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.

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 9½ inches. Mus. Marbles, IX., pl. 20.

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 Peirithoös. 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.

  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 9½ 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.

  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.

  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.

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. Müller seems the best that has been proposed. According to Müller (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. Müller supposes them to have been a race akin to the giants. Compare Soph. Ægeus, fr. 19, ed. Dindorf, ὁ σκληρὸς οὗτος καὶ γίγαντας ἐκτρέφων Πάλλας. See also Müller (p. 8) on the close connection between Pallas, son of Pandion, and the Attic Pallenè, with Pallas the giant and the Thracian Pallenè, the field of the great war of the gods and giants.

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 9½ inches; length, 4 feet 6 inches. Mus. Marbles, IX., pl. 12.

  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 diploïdion, 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 Grèce, 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 Athenè.

The central figure turns towards Athenè, 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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

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 11½ inches; breadth, 3 feet 4½ inches. Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.

406.  1. Cover from panel of lacunar of the Theseion.—Elgin Coll.

Height, 10⅛ inches; breadth, 10⅛ inches. Synopsis, No. 365 (243); Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.

  2. Similar to last.

Height, 10⅛ inches; breadth, 9⅞ 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.).

The east half of the building was devoted to Athenè 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 Athenè, 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.

407. So-called Caryatid, or Canephoros, κανηφόρος (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.

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 diploïdion, 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 diploïdion.

The head supports a capital, consisting first of a pad or cushion τύλη, 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.

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 7½ inches. Synopsis, Nos. 125-7, 110; Stuart, II, ch. II., pls. 4, 5, 6.

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 7½ 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 1½ 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.

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.

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 2¼ inches; height, 5½ inches. Synopsis, No. 118.

412. Cymatium moulding from inner architrave of the south portico of the Erechtheion (E on plan).

Height, 2½ inches; length, 7¼ inches. Synopsis No. 403. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 20. See also Stuart, II., ch. II., pl. 13.

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 2½ inches. Synopsis, No. 220 (85). Wilkins, Prolusiones, p. 29.

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 5½ inches. Synopsis, No. 219 (291). Wilkins, Prolusiones, p. 29; Greek Inscriptions in Brit. Mus. I., pl. 3, fig. 9.

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, 10½ inches; breadth, 1 foot 1½ 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.

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 5½ inches. Synopsis, No. 108 (299). See Stuart, 2nd ed., II., p. 73, note.

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 1¼ inches. Synopsis, No. 117. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 20.

418. Part of door jamb, perhaps from the eastern doorway of the Erechtheion (L on plan).—Inwood Coll.

Height, 1 foot 2¾ inches; breadth, 6½ inches. Synopsis, No. 115. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 20.

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, § 14, b. Wilkins, Prolusiones, pls. 13, 14. Journ. of Hellen. Studies, XII., pl. 1.

420. Necking of Ionic column, copied from the columns of the east portico of the Erechtheion.—Elgin Coll.

Height, 11¼ inches; diameter, 2 feet 2½ inches. Synopsis, No. 120 (306*); Elgin Room Guide, II., No. A. 2.