DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0011
APPENDIX A.
KAIROS.
Kairos as a distinct personification first emerges in the middle of s. V B.C.,
when Ion of Chios composed a hymn in his honour. Pausanias1 mentions it
apropos of an altar to him in the north-eastern part of the Altis : 1 Hard by the
entr^ice into the Stddion are two altars. One they call the altar of Hermes
Enagonios, the other that of Kairos. I am aware that Ion of Chios actually made
a hymn to Kairos and in his hymn gives the genealogy of Kairos as the youngest
of the sons of Zeus.' It has been conjectured with some probability that this
hymn was written for the original dedication of the Kairos-altar at Olympia2.
Whether Kairos was definitely worshipped elsewhere, we cannot say.
Menandros ' spoke of him as a god3,' and Lysippos ' enrolled him among the
gods4' by making his famous effigy. But neither phrase can be pressed to imply
a practical cult.
Of the Lysippean Kairos numerous late descriptions and copies are extant5.
These, however, differ widely among themselves : some must, many may, all
might, refer to subsequent modifications of the type. Our earliest and most
trustworthy source is Poseidippos (c. 270 B.C.), who devotes an epigram to the
statue6. He informs us that it was fashioned by Lysippos of Sikyon, that it
stood on tip-toe as a runner with wings attached to its feet, that it carried a razor
in its right hand, that it was long-haired in front but bald behind, and that it
was set up 'in the vestibule'—presumably of some Sicyonian building.
But how came Lysippos, the sculptor of athletes, to attempt such a curious
piece of allegory? That is a problem which has never been squarely faced. My
own conviction is that the statue was not, to speak strictly, allegorical at all.
Lysippos, who excelled in the rendering of graceful male forms and is said to
have paid special attention to the hair7, wished simply to portray the Age of
Puberty. He therefore modelled a youthful runner, with wings8 on his feet,
holding the razor9 that had shorn his votive tress for the well known puberty-
1 Paus. 5. 14. 9.
2 O. Benndorf 'Uber eine Statue des Polyklet' in the Gesammelte Studien zur Kunst-
geschichte, eine Festgabe zum 4 Mai 1885/?'/;' Anton Springer Leipzig 1885 p. 11.
3 Anth. Pal. iq. 52. 1 (Palladas) ev ye \eywv rbv ~Kaipbv e'firjs debv, ev ye, "SlivavSpe, '
K.T.X.
4 Himer. eel. 14. 1 iyypa<fiei rols deois rbv Kaipov, k.t.\.
5 The fullest list is given by Lamer in his admirable article in Pauly—Wissowa Real-
Enc. x. 1 508—1521.
6 Anth. Pal. 16. 275. iff. (Poseidippos).
7 Plin. nat. hist. 34. 65.
8 These may of course have been a later addition ; but similar wings are attached to
the feet of the ' Resting Hermes' at Naples (Guida del Mus. ATapoli p. 208 f. no. 841,
Brunn—Bruckmann Denkm. der gr. und rom. Sculpt, pi. 282), which—in the opinion of
most critics (e.g. M. Collignon Lysippe Paris 1904 pp. 112, 115 with fig. 24)—emanated
from the school, and reflects the style, of Lysippos.
9 Lamer loc. cit. p. 1516 on grounds which to me seem inadequate denies that Lysippos'
Kairos held a razor, and hence infers that even Poseidippos was not describing the
original statue.
KAIROS.
Kairos as a distinct personification first emerges in the middle of s. V B.C.,
when Ion of Chios composed a hymn in his honour. Pausanias1 mentions it
apropos of an altar to him in the north-eastern part of the Altis : 1 Hard by the
entr^ice into the Stddion are two altars. One they call the altar of Hermes
Enagonios, the other that of Kairos. I am aware that Ion of Chios actually made
a hymn to Kairos and in his hymn gives the genealogy of Kairos as the youngest
of the sons of Zeus.' It has been conjectured with some probability that this
hymn was written for the original dedication of the Kairos-altar at Olympia2.
Whether Kairos was definitely worshipped elsewhere, we cannot say.
Menandros ' spoke of him as a god3,' and Lysippos ' enrolled him among the
gods4' by making his famous effigy. But neither phrase can be pressed to imply
a practical cult.
Of the Lysippean Kairos numerous late descriptions and copies are extant5.
These, however, differ widely among themselves : some must, many may, all
might, refer to subsequent modifications of the type. Our earliest and most
trustworthy source is Poseidippos (c. 270 B.C.), who devotes an epigram to the
statue6. He informs us that it was fashioned by Lysippos of Sikyon, that it
stood on tip-toe as a runner with wings attached to its feet, that it carried a razor
in its right hand, that it was long-haired in front but bald behind, and that it
was set up 'in the vestibule'—presumably of some Sicyonian building.
But how came Lysippos, the sculptor of athletes, to attempt such a curious
piece of allegory? That is a problem which has never been squarely faced. My
own conviction is that the statue was not, to speak strictly, allegorical at all.
Lysippos, who excelled in the rendering of graceful male forms and is said to
have paid special attention to the hair7, wished simply to portray the Age of
Puberty. He therefore modelled a youthful runner, with wings8 on his feet,
holding the razor9 that had shorn his votive tress for the well known puberty-
1 Paus. 5. 14. 9.
2 O. Benndorf 'Uber eine Statue des Polyklet' in the Gesammelte Studien zur Kunst-
geschichte, eine Festgabe zum 4 Mai 1885/?'/;' Anton Springer Leipzig 1885 p. 11.
3 Anth. Pal. iq. 52. 1 (Palladas) ev ye \eywv rbv ~Kaipbv e'firjs debv, ev ye, "SlivavSpe, '
K.T.X.
4 Himer. eel. 14. 1 iyypa<fiei rols deois rbv Kaipov, k.t.\.
5 The fullest list is given by Lamer in his admirable article in Pauly—Wissowa Real-
Enc. x. 1 508—1521.
6 Anth. Pal. 16. 275. iff. (Poseidippos).
7 Plin. nat. hist. 34. 65.
8 These may of course have been a later addition ; but similar wings are attached to
the feet of the ' Resting Hermes' at Naples (Guida del Mus. ATapoli p. 208 f. no. 841,
Brunn—Bruckmann Denkm. der gr. und rom. Sculpt, pi. 282), which—in the opinion of
most critics (e.g. M. Collignon Lysippe Paris 1904 pp. 112, 115 with fig. 24)—emanated
from the school, and reflects the style, of Lysippos.
9 Lamer loc. cit. p. 1516 on grounds which to me seem inadequate denies that Lysippos'
Kairos held a razor, and hence infers that even Poseidippos was not describing the
original statue.