DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15096#0038
21
side. Amphitrite, in her car drawn by horses, rising from the ground
which Neptune had opened with his trident, may thus have signified
the salt spring, which is said to have flowed from the stroke, as well
as his authority over the sea.
These supplied, the rest of the composition is exactly balanced,
the same number of figures on either side, the same equilibrium of
masses, preserve the symmetry, while the groups and attitudes
afford a continual variety, and thus obviate the monotony which
might otherwise result, keeping up the interest of the spectator by
combinations, which, from their high relief, would offer a different
aspect from every point of view.
As the descriptions of the contest, which have reached us, vary
in every instance, the Poet has never probably adhered to any
existing representation; none of them correspond with the fact
here represented, but it is remarkable also that none of them differ
wholly from it,(5^ due allowance being made for the local mytho-
logy and the nature of the composition in which the subject was
conveyed.
It would require an acquaintance with the mythology of Athens,
which is now hopeless, to describe the personages represented by
the figures on either side satisfactorily. The absence of the heads
and of all symbols renders every conjecture hazardous and uncer-
tain. It is probable that the divinities on either side of the
contending parties are such as would be naturally associated with
their worship, and give most weight to their cause.
5 Aristid. Orat. Panatll. p. 183. ifravivTwv Si twv avfifioXwv tKaripwOtv, tov tc
'poO'iov Kat tov OaWoxi, vik(i fxlv AQtiva k. r. A.
The application of the Fahle of the Metamorphosis of Arachne, hy Ovid, would
also he perfectly reconcileahle.
Stare Deum pelagi, longoque ferire tridente
Aspera saxa facit, medioque e vulnere saxi
Exsiluisse ferum. (Met. vi. 75.)
Paus. lib. i. c. xxiv. describes a group in the Acropolis, representing the Contest,
in which Neptune produces a wave, and Minerva the olive tree.
side. Amphitrite, in her car drawn by horses, rising from the ground
which Neptune had opened with his trident, may thus have signified
the salt spring, which is said to have flowed from the stroke, as well
as his authority over the sea.
These supplied, the rest of the composition is exactly balanced,
the same number of figures on either side, the same equilibrium of
masses, preserve the symmetry, while the groups and attitudes
afford a continual variety, and thus obviate the monotony which
might otherwise result, keeping up the interest of the spectator by
combinations, which, from their high relief, would offer a different
aspect from every point of view.
As the descriptions of the contest, which have reached us, vary
in every instance, the Poet has never probably adhered to any
existing representation; none of them correspond with the fact
here represented, but it is remarkable also that none of them differ
wholly from it,(5^ due allowance being made for the local mytho-
logy and the nature of the composition in which the subject was
conveyed.
It would require an acquaintance with the mythology of Athens,
which is now hopeless, to describe the personages represented by
the figures on either side satisfactorily. The absence of the heads
and of all symbols renders every conjecture hazardous and uncer-
tain. It is probable that the divinities on either side of the
contending parties are such as would be naturally associated with
their worship, and give most weight to their cause.
5 Aristid. Orat. Panatll. p. 183. ifravivTwv Si twv avfifioXwv tKaripwOtv, tov tc
'poO'iov Kat tov OaWoxi, vik(i fxlv AQtiva k. r. A.
The application of the Fahle of the Metamorphosis of Arachne, hy Ovid, would
also he perfectly reconcileahle.
Stare Deum pelagi, longoque ferire tridente
Aspera saxa facit, medioque e vulnere saxi
Exsiluisse ferum. (Met. vi. 75.)
Paus. lib. i. c. xxiv. describes a group in the Acropolis, representing the Contest,
in which Neptune produces a wave, and Minerva the olive tree.