DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0408
CHAP. XVIII.]
GROTTA DE' POMPEJ.
303
your tapers, and look around. This tomb differs in many
respects from those you have already seen. It is of great
size ;2 its flat roof is supported in the centre by a massive
square pillar ; and a triple tier of benches, all hewn from
the living rock, surrounds the chamber. In fact it more
nearly resembles the sepulchres of Csere than those of
Tarquinii. Its size, and the many sarcophagi which he
scattered and broken about the tomb, prove that this was
a family-vault, the last resting-place, it may be, not
merely of a single family, but of a gens, or I might say, a
clan of ancient Tarquinii.
The walls of this tomb are not covered with paintings,
but simply adorned with a double band—the upper, of
dolphins sporting above the waves; the lower, of patera-
like flowers—except on one wall where a small space is
occupied by a funeral procession of singular interest.3
The square pillar in the centre is also painted. On three
of its sides is a divinity of Etruscan mythology; that in the
centre a female, terminating in foliage, the other two,
males, conventionally called Typhon—in Italian, Tifone—
whence the tomb receives its vulgar appellation.4 They
2 The area, or the arena, so to speak,
of this tomb, is 26 ft. by 15|- ; but if to
this be added the depth of the benches,
the dimensions will be 41J ft. long, by 31
wide. The height is 11 ft., and the
floor cannot be less than 30 ft. below
the surface of the ground. The pillar is
nearly 5 ft. square. The roof is flat, stuc-
coed, and painted with broad red beams
intersecting each other at right angles.
3 The outlines of the figures in these
bands are scratched, as well as painted,
which is not the case with the figures
on the pillar or in the procession.
4 The Etruscan name of this mythical
being is not yet known to us. But he
bears an analogy to the Typhon of the
Egyptians and Greeks, and is significant
of the principle of Destruction ; just as
the Typhon of Egypt was the evil and
destructive power, in opposition to
Osiris, the good and productive. With
the Egyptians he was, in particular, the
personification of whirlwinds and storms,
—and so Hesiod (Theog. 307) also de-
scribes him—5ew(Jy ff v0ptffT$v t' &vefioy;
cf. Pliny, II. 49, 50. In the Greek
mythology Typhon was one of the giants
who made war on the gods, and who
were smitten by Jove's thunder, and
cast beneath Mia& and other volcanoes,
where their belchings caused eruptions,
and their writhings occasioned earth-
quakes. Pindar Pyth. I. 29, et seq.
GROTTA DE' POMPEJ.
303
your tapers, and look around. This tomb differs in many
respects from those you have already seen. It is of great
size ;2 its flat roof is supported in the centre by a massive
square pillar ; and a triple tier of benches, all hewn from
the living rock, surrounds the chamber. In fact it more
nearly resembles the sepulchres of Csere than those of
Tarquinii. Its size, and the many sarcophagi which he
scattered and broken about the tomb, prove that this was
a family-vault, the last resting-place, it may be, not
merely of a single family, but of a gens, or I might say, a
clan of ancient Tarquinii.
The walls of this tomb are not covered with paintings,
but simply adorned with a double band—the upper, of
dolphins sporting above the waves; the lower, of patera-
like flowers—except on one wall where a small space is
occupied by a funeral procession of singular interest.3
The square pillar in the centre is also painted. On three
of its sides is a divinity of Etruscan mythology; that in the
centre a female, terminating in foliage, the other two,
males, conventionally called Typhon—in Italian, Tifone—
whence the tomb receives its vulgar appellation.4 They
2 The area, or the arena, so to speak,
of this tomb, is 26 ft. by 15|- ; but if to
this be added the depth of the benches,
the dimensions will be 41J ft. long, by 31
wide. The height is 11 ft., and the
floor cannot be less than 30 ft. below
the surface of the ground. The pillar is
nearly 5 ft. square. The roof is flat, stuc-
coed, and painted with broad red beams
intersecting each other at right angles.
3 The outlines of the figures in these
bands are scratched, as well as painted,
which is not the case with the figures
on the pillar or in the procession.
4 The Etruscan name of this mythical
being is not yet known to us. But he
bears an analogy to the Typhon of the
Egyptians and Greeks, and is significant
of the principle of Destruction ; just as
the Typhon of Egypt was the evil and
destructive power, in opposition to
Osiris, the good and productive. With
the Egyptians he was, in particular, the
personification of whirlwinds and storms,
—and so Hesiod (Theog. 307) also de-
scribes him—5ew(Jy ff v0ptffT$v t' &vefioy;
cf. Pliny, II. 49, 50. In the Greek
mythology Typhon was one of the giants
who made war on the gods, and who
were smitten by Jove's thunder, and
cast beneath Mia& and other volcanoes,
where their belchings caused eruptions,
and their writhings occasioned earth-
quakes. Pindar Pyth. I. 29, et seq.