DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15101#0047
23
the Great.(1) The technical name for this head-dress is Cidaris,^
a word of Persian origin ; and it may be remarked that, while the
tiara of the monarch appears erect, those of the subject popula-
tion, being generally soft and flexible, fall in front or on one side.
We should therefore be inclined to regard this bust as a portrait
of some young and beautiful Asiatic woman; though there are no
distinctive marks sufficient to assign it to any known person.
The legend of Adonis is well known. According to Apollo-
dorus,(3) he was the son of Cinyras and Medarme; according to
others, of Phoenix and Alphesiboea—or of Theias, a mythical king
of Assyria, and his own daughter, Smyrna. The story was, that
on the birth of Adonis, a dispute arose between Aphrodite and
Persephone, who were both captivated by his beauty. This dis-
pute was decided by Zeus, who declared that during four months
of each year Adonis should be left to himself, during four should
belong to Persephone, and during the remaining four to Aphrodite.
He is said to have died from a wound received from a boar duriii!>-
the chase. Various versions of this tale may be found in Hyginus
and the other mythographers.(4)
The worship of Adonis, which in later times spread along the
borders of the Mediterranean, was of Asiatic, perhaps of Phoe-
nician, origin.(5) Aphrodite was in the Oriental religion regarded
as the fructifying principle of nature, and the legend of Adonis
may be held to refer to the decay of nature in the winter and its
revival in the spring. According to some writers, however, Adonis
1 Museo Borbon. vol. viii. Tav. xxxvi.
2 Cidaris, Herod, vii. 61; Xen. Anab. ii. 5, § 23; Cyrop. viii. 3, § 13; Schol. in
Aristoph. Aves, v. 487; Curt. iii. 8; Strab. xi. 12, 9; Pollux, vii. 58. Cf. also Caylus,
Itecueil d'Antiq. ii. p. 124.
3 Apollod. vii. 14, § 4; Servius ad Virg. Eclog. x. 18; Ovid, Met. x. 300.
* Hyginus, Fab. 58, 164, 251, 271; Poet. Astron. ii. 7; Theocrit. Idyll, xv.; Bion.
Idyll, i.; Orpb. Hymn. 55, 10.
5 Lucian, De Dea Syria, c. 6.
the Great.(1) The technical name for this head-dress is Cidaris,^
a word of Persian origin ; and it may be remarked that, while the
tiara of the monarch appears erect, those of the subject popula-
tion, being generally soft and flexible, fall in front or on one side.
We should therefore be inclined to regard this bust as a portrait
of some young and beautiful Asiatic woman; though there are no
distinctive marks sufficient to assign it to any known person.
The legend of Adonis is well known. According to Apollo-
dorus,(3) he was the son of Cinyras and Medarme; according to
others, of Phoenix and Alphesiboea—or of Theias, a mythical king
of Assyria, and his own daughter, Smyrna. The story was, that
on the birth of Adonis, a dispute arose between Aphrodite and
Persephone, who were both captivated by his beauty. This dis-
pute was decided by Zeus, who declared that during four months
of each year Adonis should be left to himself, during four should
belong to Persephone, and during the remaining four to Aphrodite.
He is said to have died from a wound received from a boar duriii!>-
the chase. Various versions of this tale may be found in Hyginus
and the other mythographers.(4)
The worship of Adonis, which in later times spread along the
borders of the Mediterranean, was of Asiatic, perhaps of Phoe-
nician, origin.(5) Aphrodite was in the Oriental religion regarded
as the fructifying principle of nature, and the legend of Adonis
may be held to refer to the decay of nature in the winter and its
revival in the spring. According to some writers, however, Adonis
1 Museo Borbon. vol. viii. Tav. xxxvi.
2 Cidaris, Herod, vii. 61; Xen. Anab. ii. 5, § 23; Cyrop. viii. 3, § 13; Schol. in
Aristoph. Aves, v. 487; Curt. iii. 8; Strab. xi. 12, 9; Pollux, vii. 58. Cf. also Caylus,
Itecueil d'Antiq. ii. p. 124.
3 Apollod. vii. 14, § 4; Servius ad Virg. Eclog. x. 18; Ovid, Met. x. 300.
* Hyginus, Fab. 58, 164, 251, 271; Poet. Astron. ii. 7; Theocrit. Idyll, xv.; Bion.
Idyll, i.; Orpb. Hymn. 55, 10.
5 Lucian, De Dea Syria, c. 6.