DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0156
THE SHRINES OF ATTICA 135
opening pages of the Odyssey, — Telemachus grasped
the right hand of the disguised Athene on the thresh-
old of his father's court. Again, it is clear in some
cases that the monument commemorates the seated
person and not the one who is standing. In such
cases it is not natural to think that the sitting figure
represents the one who is saying farewell.
There are many things pointing strongly to the
conclusion that these are simply scenes of earthly
life. Whatever the meaning of the clasped hands as
to time and place, there is no doubt that these per-
sons are presented to us in relations of trust, friend-
ship or affection.
Among the large number of Greek grave monu-
ments at Athens, there are only three or four in which
there is an evident suggestion of sickness and death;
and there are, I believe, but two cases known in which
Hermes is shown in the act of leading persons to the
lower world.
Curious and interesting are the banquet scenes
which form a common type in these grave reliefs.
One figure is usually reclining on a couch; food is
set on a table near by; slaves or companions arc
present, and sometimes a dog is munching a morsel
beneath. Other pet animals, such as birds or rabbits,
are frequently introduced.
The numerous votive tablets are hard to distinguish
from sepulchral monuments. We know little about
them. It is possible that they may have been kept
in the houses of the survivors in commemoration of
the dead.
There is one stone in the National Museum on which
I can never look with dry eyes. It represents a youth
opening pages of the Odyssey, — Telemachus grasped
the right hand of the disguised Athene on the thresh-
old of his father's court. Again, it is clear in some
cases that the monument commemorates the seated
person and not the one who is standing. In such
cases it is not natural to think that the sitting figure
represents the one who is saying farewell.
There are many things pointing strongly to the
conclusion that these are simply scenes of earthly
life. Whatever the meaning of the clasped hands as
to time and place, there is no doubt that these per-
sons are presented to us in relations of trust, friend-
ship or affection.
Among the large number of Greek grave monu-
ments at Athens, there are only three or four in which
there is an evident suggestion of sickness and death;
and there are, I believe, but two cases known in which
Hermes is shown in the act of leading persons to the
lower world.
Curious and interesting are the banquet scenes
which form a common type in these grave reliefs.
One figure is usually reclining on a couch; food is
set on a table near by; slaves or companions arc
present, and sometimes a dog is munching a morsel
beneath. Other pet animals, such as birds or rabbits,
are frequently introduced.
The numerous votive tablets are hard to distinguish
from sepulchral monuments. We know little about
them. It is possible that they may have been kept
in the houses of the survivors in commemoration of
the dead.
There is one stone in the National Museum on which
I can never look with dry eyes. It represents a youth