DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14134#0030
22
which, with the shoulder, is raised, and may have been
extended in a nearly horizontal direction. His left arm,
which is still preserved from the shoulder to about half-
way to the elbow, has a downward direction. The head
in Carrey's drawing is slightly inclined over the right
shoulder. At the back the upper part of the shoulders
is roughly cut away ; the chiselling does not appear to bo
ancient, but to have been done by some one who wanted
to strike the head off by a blow on the nape of the neck.
The upper part of this torso is remarkable for the grandeur
of the lines. (Mus. Marbles, vi. pi. 17; Caldesi, No. 16.)
Though we know from Pausanias that the strife
between Athene and Poseidon for the soil of Attika was
the subject of the western pediment, the exact action
repi'esented by the central group cannot be determined.
Poseidon, on this occasion, striking the ground with his
trident, produced the salt spring ; Athene made the earth
bring forth the olive-tree. It has been argued that the
moment chosen by the sculptor is that which immediately
preceded the accomplishment of this double miracle.
Both deities would thus be in the act of striking the
earth simultaneously, Athene with her spear, Poseidon
with his trident. Among the fragments found on the
Akropolis were three which are certainly parts of an
olive-tree (Michaelis, pi. 8, fig. 15). The scale of these
fragments, casts of two of which are exhibited in Wall-
Case F, would be suitable for a ti*ee placed in the centre
of the pediment between the two contending deities.
There is, however, no positive proof that they belong to
the Parthenon. If the olive-tree was represented in the
centre of the pediment, the salt spring produced by the
trident of Poseidon may also have had a place in the
composition, but no trace of it is to be found either among
the fragments or in Carrey's drawing. It has been
suggested that the horse, which, according to another
which, with the shoulder, is raised, and may have been
extended in a nearly horizontal direction. His left arm,
which is still preserved from the shoulder to about half-
way to the elbow, has a downward direction. The head
in Carrey's drawing is slightly inclined over the right
shoulder. At the back the upper part of the shoulders
is roughly cut away ; the chiselling does not appear to bo
ancient, but to have been done by some one who wanted
to strike the head off by a blow on the nape of the neck.
The upper part of this torso is remarkable for the grandeur
of the lines. (Mus. Marbles, vi. pi. 17; Caldesi, No. 16.)
Though we know from Pausanias that the strife
between Athene and Poseidon for the soil of Attika was
the subject of the western pediment, the exact action
repi'esented by the central group cannot be determined.
Poseidon, on this occasion, striking the ground with his
trident, produced the salt spring ; Athene made the earth
bring forth the olive-tree. It has been argued that the
moment chosen by the sculptor is that which immediately
preceded the accomplishment of this double miracle.
Both deities would thus be in the act of striking the
earth simultaneously, Athene with her spear, Poseidon
with his trident. Among the fragments found on the
Akropolis were three which are certainly parts of an
olive-tree (Michaelis, pi. 8, fig. 15). The scale of these
fragments, casts of two of which are exhibited in Wall-
Case F, would be suitable for a ti*ee placed in the centre
of the pediment between the two contending deities.
There is, however, no positive proof that they belong to
the Parthenon. If the olive-tree was represented in the
centre of the pediment, the salt spring produced by the
trident of Poseidon may also have had a place in the
composition, but no trace of it is to be found either among
the fragments or in Carrey's drawing. It has been
suggested that the horse, which, according to another