DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14699#0073
The Hierbs Gdmos
1033
Ide1—that is represented by the wall-painting found at Pompeii in the 'House
of the Tragic Poet' (pi. lxxii)?. Here we see Zeus, a kingly figure seated on a
rocky throne3. A himdtion wrapped about his legs is drawn up so as to cover his
hair like a veil4, and falls again over his shoulder and left arm. The wreath on
his head is possibly, but not certainly5, composed of oak leaves. He rests his left
hand, the fourth finger of which wears a wedding-ring, on a long sceptre. With
an affectionate0 and at the same time symbolic7 gesture of his right hand he
draws towards him his bride. She is robed in a whitepeplos and an ample veil.
Her hair is confined by a richly decorated stcphdne; and her jewels include
earrings, a necklace, bracelets, and a wedding-ring worn like that of Zeus. Her
large and brilliant eyes, which recall the epithet bodpiss, are averted from the
face of her bridegroom and with a subtle blend of outward dignity and inward
alarm look straight into the distance. The same mixture of feelings is betrayed
by her stately yet hesitating advance, and again by the studied nervous way
in which she is holding the end of her veil between herself and Zeus. Hera
is followed and supported by Iris, a youthful winged figure whose anxious
questioning expression is the natural accompaniment of her mistress' mood.
But the difference between bride and bridesmaid is finely brought out by the
artist. Hera with head erect and full of virginal pride emerges into the light—
a queen indeed. Iris watching her with upturned face obscured by a semi-
darkness is plainly subordinate and serves as her foil. On the rocks beside
Zeus sit three male figures of diminutive size, scantily clad and wreathed with
flowers": they have been interpreted with much probability as the Idaean
1 In the Class. Rev. 1903 xvii. 413 f. I accepted the conclusions of Overbeck Gr.
Kunstmyth. Zeus pp. 239—243 and maintained that the scenery of the fresco is that
of the Cretan mountain. Certainly the woods (supra ii. 932 n. 1), the cult of Rhea
(Diod. 5. 65 f.), and the Idaean Daktyloi ([Hes.] frag. 14 Flach ap. Plin. nat. hist.
7. 197, Ap. Rhod. 1. 1119 with schol. ad loc, Diod. 5. 64, Paus. 5. 7. 6 with schol.
ad loc, Porph. v. Pyth. 17, Hesych. s.v. 'Ioaioi A&xruXoi, et. mag. p. 465, 25 ff., cp.
Plin. nat. hist. 37. 170) all suit the neighbourhood of Knossos. But they suit the Trojan
Ide equally well: here too were woods (supra ii. 949 n. 5), a cult of Rhea (Strab. 469:
see further Gruppe Gr. Myth. A'e/. p. 1523 n. 1), and the Idaean Daktyloi (schol. Ap.
Rhod. 1. 1126 and 1131, Strab. 473, Diod. 5. 64, 17. 7, Plout. de music. 5, Clem. Al.
strom. 1. 15 p. 46, 24 ff. Stahlin, Hesych. s.v. 'IScuoi Aa/cruXoi). Moreover, the other
frescoes found in the same atrium depict scenes from Homeric epos (Herrmann Denkm.
d. Malerei i. 16), and the flowers worn by the Daktyloi may be due to a reminiscence
of //. 14. 347 ff.
2 PI. lxxii is from Herrmann op. cil. pi. 11, a photographic reproduction which
supersedes all previous publications.
3 Supra i. 124 ft'. 4 Supra p. 1028.
5 Herrmann op. cit. i. 17 n. 1.
6 Cp. the Homeric t7ri Kapirifi x£Va K.T.X. (I!. 24. 671, Od. 18. 258, 24. 398).
7 C. Sittl Die Gcbiirden dcr Griechen und Rbtner Leipzig 1890 p. 131 f., R. Foerster
Die Hochzcit des Zeus und dcr Hera Breslau 1867 p. 15 (who cites inter alia Eur. Ion
891 ff. XevKois d' e/x0us Kapiroh xelP<*>v | eis avrpov Koiras | Kpaiydv, u> P-irep, p.' auSwaav \
0e6s bpevviras ayes k.t.\.).
8 Supra i. 444. A drawing of Hera's head, almost full-size, is given by A. Bau-
meister in his Denkm. i. 649 fig. 719.
9 Herrmann op. cit. i. 17 n. 3 (cp. ii. i. 15 fig. 3) states that their wreaths consist
of sprays entwined with flowers, but thinks it impossible to decide whether these flowers
are, as Helbig IVandgem. Camp. p. 33 f. no. 114 supposed, primroses.
1033
Ide1—that is represented by the wall-painting found at Pompeii in the 'House
of the Tragic Poet' (pi. lxxii)?. Here we see Zeus, a kingly figure seated on a
rocky throne3. A himdtion wrapped about his legs is drawn up so as to cover his
hair like a veil4, and falls again over his shoulder and left arm. The wreath on
his head is possibly, but not certainly5, composed of oak leaves. He rests his left
hand, the fourth finger of which wears a wedding-ring, on a long sceptre. With
an affectionate0 and at the same time symbolic7 gesture of his right hand he
draws towards him his bride. She is robed in a whitepeplos and an ample veil.
Her hair is confined by a richly decorated stcphdne; and her jewels include
earrings, a necklace, bracelets, and a wedding-ring worn like that of Zeus. Her
large and brilliant eyes, which recall the epithet bodpiss, are averted from the
face of her bridegroom and with a subtle blend of outward dignity and inward
alarm look straight into the distance. The same mixture of feelings is betrayed
by her stately yet hesitating advance, and again by the studied nervous way
in which she is holding the end of her veil between herself and Zeus. Hera
is followed and supported by Iris, a youthful winged figure whose anxious
questioning expression is the natural accompaniment of her mistress' mood.
But the difference between bride and bridesmaid is finely brought out by the
artist. Hera with head erect and full of virginal pride emerges into the light—
a queen indeed. Iris watching her with upturned face obscured by a semi-
darkness is plainly subordinate and serves as her foil. On the rocks beside
Zeus sit three male figures of diminutive size, scantily clad and wreathed with
flowers": they have been interpreted with much probability as the Idaean
1 In the Class. Rev. 1903 xvii. 413 f. I accepted the conclusions of Overbeck Gr.
Kunstmyth. Zeus pp. 239—243 and maintained that the scenery of the fresco is that
of the Cretan mountain. Certainly the woods (supra ii. 932 n. 1), the cult of Rhea
(Diod. 5. 65 f.), and the Idaean Daktyloi ([Hes.] frag. 14 Flach ap. Plin. nat. hist.
7. 197, Ap. Rhod. 1. 1119 with schol. ad loc, Diod. 5. 64, Paus. 5. 7. 6 with schol.
ad loc, Porph. v. Pyth. 17, Hesych. s.v. 'Ioaioi A&xruXoi, et. mag. p. 465, 25 ff., cp.
Plin. nat. hist. 37. 170) all suit the neighbourhood of Knossos. But they suit the Trojan
Ide equally well: here too were woods (supra ii. 949 n. 5), a cult of Rhea (Strab. 469:
see further Gruppe Gr. Myth. A'e/. p. 1523 n. 1), and the Idaean Daktyloi (schol. Ap.
Rhod. 1. 1126 and 1131, Strab. 473, Diod. 5. 64, 17. 7, Plout. de music. 5, Clem. Al.
strom. 1. 15 p. 46, 24 ff. Stahlin, Hesych. s.v. 'IScuoi Aa/cruXoi). Moreover, the other
frescoes found in the same atrium depict scenes from Homeric epos (Herrmann Denkm.
d. Malerei i. 16), and the flowers worn by the Daktyloi may be due to a reminiscence
of //. 14. 347 ff.
2 PI. lxxii is from Herrmann op. cil. pi. 11, a photographic reproduction which
supersedes all previous publications.
3 Supra i. 124 ft'. 4 Supra p. 1028.
5 Herrmann op. cit. i. 17 n. 1.
6 Cp. the Homeric t7ri Kapirifi x£Va K.T.X. (I!. 24. 671, Od. 18. 258, 24. 398).
7 C. Sittl Die Gcbiirden dcr Griechen und Rbtner Leipzig 1890 p. 131 f., R. Foerster
Die Hochzcit des Zeus und dcr Hera Breslau 1867 p. 15 (who cites inter alia Eur. Ion
891 ff. XevKois d' e/x0us Kapiroh xelP<*>v | eis avrpov Koiras | Kpaiydv, u> P-irep, p.' auSwaav \
0e6s bpevviras ayes k.t.\.).
8 Supra i. 444. A drawing of Hera's head, almost full-size, is given by A. Bau-
meister in his Denkm. i. 649 fig. 719.
9 Herrmann op. cit. i. 17 n. 3 (cp. ii. i. 15 fig. 3) states that their wreaths consist
of sprays entwined with flowers, but thinks it impossible to decide whether these flowers
are, as Helbig IVandgem. Camp. p. 33 f. no. 114 supposed, primroses.