The temple of Nikè Apteros (Victory without wings), or more correctly of Athenè Nikè, 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. 5½ 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. 8½ in., and 6 ft. 7¾ in. The total length, 16 ft. 6¼ 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. Kekulé (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.
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 Platæa (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 Propyläen, 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 Nikè 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 Propyläen der Akropolis zu Athen, 1882; Murray, II., p. 179; Kekulé (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.
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 5½ inches; length, 6 feet 8½ inches. Synopsis, No. 160 (259); Ross, pl. 11, i.; Mus. Marbles, IX., pl. 9; Baumeister, fig. 1240; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 118.
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 5½ inches; length, 6 feet 7¾ 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 Bœotian, is untenable (Wolters, p. 284).
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 5½ 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.
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 5½ inches; length, 6 feet 1¼ 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.
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 5½ inches; length, 3 feet 11¼ 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.
The temple of Nikè 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 Beulé in 1852, and in more recent excavations to the east of the temple of Nikè, 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 Athenè.
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. Kekulé (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 diploïdion, 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 Athenè (Kekulé, 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 Nikè 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 Kekulé, Die Reliefs an der Balustrade der Athena Nike (1881), which superseded Kekulé, 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.
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.
Kekulé, Balustrade, pl. 5, fig. R; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., fig. 82.
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; Kekulé, 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.
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.
Kekulé, Balustrade, pl. 4, fig. M; Arch. Zeit., 1862, pl. 162; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., fig. 82; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 35.
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; Kekulé, 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 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. Λυσικράτης Λυσιθείδου Κικυννεὺς ἐχορήγει. Ἀκαμαντὶς παίδων ἐνίκα. Θέων ηὔλει. Λυσιάδης Ἀθηναῖος ἐδίδασκε. Εὐαίνετος ἦρχε.
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 Morée, 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, 10½ 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., Müller, Denkmäler, 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.
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.
2. Next on the left is a Satyr advancing over rocky ground towards a large crater; in his right hand he holds an oinochoè, with which he is about to take wine from the crater; in his left hand has been a phialè; 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 oinochoè or wine jug. His left is extended over the crater and holds a phialè. 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.
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.
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.
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.
431. Cast from the capital of a column of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.
Height, 2 feet ¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 360*. See Stuart, I., ch. IV. pl. 6, fig. 1.
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 façade. 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., Müller'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 1½ 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, 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.
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 5½ inches. Synopsis, No. 130 (206). Stuart, II., ch. V., pl. 7, fig. 1. Penrose, Athen. Architecture, ch. X., pl. 31; Bohn, Die Propyläen, pls. 11, 13, fig. 2.
434. Piece of drum of Ionic column from the inner order of the Propylaea.—Elgin Coll.
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 4½ inches; diameter, 3 feet ⅛ inch. Synopsis, No. 129. Penrose, Athen. Architecture, ch. X., pl. 32.
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 7¼ inches; length, 3 feet 10½ inches. Synopsis, No. 131 (308). Stuart, II., ch. V., pl. 8, fig. 1; Bohn, Die Propyläen, pl. 12, fig. 6.
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 ⅛ inch; breadth, 2 feet ½ inch. Synopsis, No. 170 (174). Stuart, I., ch. II., pl. 8, fig. 1. See also Leake, Topography of Athens, 2nd ed., p. 250.
437. Moulding with anthemion, plait, maeander, and leaf, bead and reel patterns. Found near the south-east anta of the Erechtheion.—Inwood Coll.
Height, 8¼ inches; breadth, 6¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 407. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 26, p. 138.
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 7½ inches. Synopsis, No. 169 (173); Laborde, Le Parthénon, pl. 27.
439. Ornament of roof-tile, kalypter anthemotos. Purchased by Inwood at Athens.—Inwood Coll.
Pentelic marble; height, 8¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 417. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 28, fig. 3, p. 144.
440. Ornament of roof-tile. Probably purchased by Inwood at Athens.—Inwood Coll.
Pentelic marble; height, 10¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 412. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 28, fig. 2, p. 144.
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, 8½ inches. Synopsis, No. 411. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 23, p. 131.
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.
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 stelè or other work, where great strength of construction was not required. Bötticher, 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, 12¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 398. Inwood, Erechtheion, p. 132, pls. 24-25. Bötticher, Tektonik, pl. 30, fig. 7, text, p. 299.
444. Volute of Ionic capital. Inwood (p. 128) states that it was found near the site of the temple of Nikè 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 Nikè 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 Bötticher's Tektonik, pl. 31, fig. 5, text, p. 299.—Inwood Coll.
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot; breadth, 9½ inches. Synopsis, No. 404, where it is incorrectly described as a capital from the temple of Nikè Apteros. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 21.
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, 7¾ inches; breadth, 9 inches. Synopsis, No. 410. Inwood, Erechtheion, pl. 20; Bötticher, Tektonik, text, p. 299.