DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15097#0069
57
METOPE IX.
Upon this Metope we do not see, as upon most of the others,
an actual conflict between a Centaur and a Greek, but a reference
to the circumstances which occasioned the fatal quarrel, perhaps
the very circumstance itself; and the subject represented may,
perhaps, be that insult of the Centaur Eurytion to the bride, to
Hippodamia herself, which brought down upon him the fatal ven-
geance of Theseus, who, irritated at his drunken brutality, and the
outrage against hospitality, snatched up a wine vessel from the table,
and, hurling it against the monster, stretched him prostrate at his feet.
Whether the group here noticed represent this principal event, or
only an episode in the fabulous narration, is not very material; and,
in the absence of any distinguishing characteristics of either Cen-
taur or female, cannot now be decided. A Centaur has seized a
Grecian female; he grasps her right wrist firmly with his right hand,
and with his left retains her by clasping her round the waist; his
fore-feet are also occupied with the same intention, and are
enveloped in her drapery, which in the struggle has been partially
deranged, leaving exposed the bosom and the left leg. The
female is evidently attempting to escape, and her left hand is
exerting itself at once to retain the decency of her attire, and to
force the left hand of the Centaur to forego its hold.
The design of this Metope is bold and spirited, but it does not
appear to be executed with the same skill and taste as some of the
others. The struggles of the female are clearly indicated, and the
sentiment of modesty and delicacy expressed, by the combined
action of the left hand, with much feeling and taste; her drapery
is elegantly and expressively designed, disposed with much elegance,
though evidently deranged by violence. The figure of the Cen-
i
METOPE IX.
Upon this Metope we do not see, as upon most of the others,
an actual conflict between a Centaur and a Greek, but a reference
to the circumstances which occasioned the fatal quarrel, perhaps
the very circumstance itself; and the subject represented may,
perhaps, be that insult of the Centaur Eurytion to the bride, to
Hippodamia herself, which brought down upon him the fatal ven-
geance of Theseus, who, irritated at his drunken brutality, and the
outrage against hospitality, snatched up a wine vessel from the table,
and, hurling it against the monster, stretched him prostrate at his feet.
Whether the group here noticed represent this principal event, or
only an episode in the fabulous narration, is not very material; and,
in the absence of any distinguishing characteristics of either Cen-
taur or female, cannot now be decided. A Centaur has seized a
Grecian female; he grasps her right wrist firmly with his right hand,
and with his left retains her by clasping her round the waist; his
fore-feet are also occupied with the same intention, and are
enveloped in her drapery, which in the struggle has been partially
deranged, leaving exposed the bosom and the left leg. The
female is evidently attempting to escape, and her left hand is
exerting itself at once to retain the decency of her attire, and to
force the left hand of the Centaur to forego its hold.
The design of this Metope is bold and spirited, but it does not
appear to be executed with the same skill and taste as some of the
others. The struggles of the female are clearly indicated, and the
sentiment of modesty and delicacy expressed, by the combined
action of the left hand, with much feeling and taste; her drapery
is elegantly and expressively designed, disposed with much elegance,
though evidently deranged by violence. The figure of the Cen-
i