DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4326#0020
CNIDUS.
of Praxiteles.* We gained the shore in almost perfect stillness, as if the goddess herself was
guiding our bark, under the influence of her own bright and unruffled serenity.-f Whilst the
crew were employed in the ordinary preparations, I made the circuit of the town, having one
of my agreeable companions on either arm. We were amused with the strange and fanciful,
but not inappropriate figures of earthern ware with which this city, as sacred to Venus,
abounds.^ When we had visited the portico of Sostratus,§ and had seen everything else that
was interesting, we proceeded to the temple of Venus ; Charicles and myself with eager curi-
osity, while Callicratides who has a kind of aversion to the sight of women, would rather have
paid a visit to the Cupid of Thespias. In approaching the sacred inclosure we were fanned by
the most delicious breezes ;|| for within, no polished pavement spreads its barren surface, but the
area as suited to a sanctuary of Venus, abounds with productive trees, extending their luxuriant
foliage to the sky, and canopying the air around. But chiefly the blooming myrtle fertile from
its earliest growth and covered with a profusion of fruit, graces its mistress; nor do any of the
other choice and beautiful plants suffer from the decay of age, but are ever vigorous, and putting
forth new shoots. Those which are not productive of fruit are distinguished for their beauty, the
aetherial cypress, the lofty plane, and Daphne, who once shunned the goddess. All these the
ivy lovingly embraces, while the clustering vines declare the happy union of the two deities. In
the deeper shades are pleasant seats for convivial meetings, which although rarely resorted to by
the people of the city, are much frequented by the other inhabitants of the Cnidian territory.^
" Having satisfied ourselves with admiring these beauties of nature, we entered the temple.
In the centre stands the goddess, formed of Parian marble — a most beautiful and splendid
work: a half suppressed smile is on her mouth. ** No drapery conceals her beauty, nor is
any part hidden except that which is covered unconsciously as it were by the left hand.44
Such has been the consummate skill of the artist, that the rigid and repulsive marble perfectly
represents the delicate formation of every limb. Charicles, as if bereft of his senses, cried aloud :
Happy amongst the gods he that was enchained for thee ;—and springing forward with neck
outstretched as far as was possible,XX he repeatedly kissed the statue. Callicratides stood by in
humble and silent admiration.
* TO TT)Q Upa^lTiXoVQ tvySpiMQ OVTlx)Q tira<j>p6^lTOV.
f Lucian seems here to allude to Euplcea, one of the
epithets of the Cnidian Venus.
+ ovk aytXaarl rriQ Ktpa/MvriKriQ tucoXaaiag ptrkywv, wq ev 'A<ppo-
Sirije 7roXa.
§ The pensilis ambulatio of Pliny, vid. sup. p. 9.
| ' A<ppo$lcnoi avpai.
ff tjv §' i>7rd raie a-yav iraXivoKioig vXaig iXapai icXiaiai toiq eveoti-
acr0ai diXovffiv, t'lQ a filv acm/cwv airav'iWQ ette^o/twv Tivkg' aOpoog 8'
o TroXiTt/coc o^Xoc eiravvyvp&v, °V™S 'Hpo^malovrtg.
The difference here indicated between the a'tmKoi and ttoXiVoi
seems to be a vestige of the ancient aristocratical constitution
of Cnidus. The descendants of the old nobles may have
continued to dwell in a part of the town distinguished as the
aarv, while the privilege of iroX'irua may have been common not
only in the other parts of the city, but throughout the Cni-
dian district.
i) ptv ovv 0eoc ev /uEffw KaBlSpvTai, napiag §e XlOov SniBaXfia
(caXXiorov vTnpr)<bavov' Kai <7£<tj/jooti jLXwti fitKpov vtreppuSiiocra.
ff Thus also described by an author of the eleventh century,
whose work is a compilation from some earlier writers of the
Byzantine empire,—ri KviSi'a 'Ai^oo&tj? wc XiOov Xedkijc, yu^n,
/iovTjv T17V otSdi rrj yjupl TrtpiGTiXXovcra, ipyov tov KviStov Tipa£iT£-
Xouc. Cedren. Hist. Comp. p. 254 (322). The authority of
Cedrenus however is not sufficient to establish Praxiteles as a
native of Cnidus. His origin is not certain, but as he dwelt
at Athens, he was in all probability an Athenian; and this
opinion is supported by an inscription found among the ruins
of Thespige; which although imperfect, shews that a statue,
which the marble supported, was made by Praxiteles, an Athe-
nian. Boeckh. C. Ins. Gr. no. 1604.
++ e>' ocrov r,v Svvarov. The statue was surrounded probably
with a rail.
of Praxiteles.* We gained the shore in almost perfect stillness, as if the goddess herself was
guiding our bark, under the influence of her own bright and unruffled serenity.-f Whilst the
crew were employed in the ordinary preparations, I made the circuit of the town, having one
of my agreeable companions on either arm. We were amused with the strange and fanciful,
but not inappropriate figures of earthern ware with which this city, as sacred to Venus,
abounds.^ When we had visited the portico of Sostratus,§ and had seen everything else that
was interesting, we proceeded to the temple of Venus ; Charicles and myself with eager curi-
osity, while Callicratides who has a kind of aversion to the sight of women, would rather have
paid a visit to the Cupid of Thespias. In approaching the sacred inclosure we were fanned by
the most delicious breezes ;|| for within, no polished pavement spreads its barren surface, but the
area as suited to a sanctuary of Venus, abounds with productive trees, extending their luxuriant
foliage to the sky, and canopying the air around. But chiefly the blooming myrtle fertile from
its earliest growth and covered with a profusion of fruit, graces its mistress; nor do any of the
other choice and beautiful plants suffer from the decay of age, but are ever vigorous, and putting
forth new shoots. Those which are not productive of fruit are distinguished for their beauty, the
aetherial cypress, the lofty plane, and Daphne, who once shunned the goddess. All these the
ivy lovingly embraces, while the clustering vines declare the happy union of the two deities. In
the deeper shades are pleasant seats for convivial meetings, which although rarely resorted to by
the people of the city, are much frequented by the other inhabitants of the Cnidian territory.^
" Having satisfied ourselves with admiring these beauties of nature, we entered the temple.
In the centre stands the goddess, formed of Parian marble — a most beautiful and splendid
work: a half suppressed smile is on her mouth. ** No drapery conceals her beauty, nor is
any part hidden except that which is covered unconsciously as it were by the left hand.44
Such has been the consummate skill of the artist, that the rigid and repulsive marble perfectly
represents the delicate formation of every limb. Charicles, as if bereft of his senses, cried aloud :
Happy amongst the gods he that was enchained for thee ;—and springing forward with neck
outstretched as far as was possible,XX he repeatedly kissed the statue. Callicratides stood by in
humble and silent admiration.
* TO TT)Q Upa^lTiXoVQ tvySpiMQ OVTlx)Q tira<j>p6^lTOV.
f Lucian seems here to allude to Euplcea, one of the
epithets of the Cnidian Venus.
+ ovk aytXaarl rriQ Ktpa/MvriKriQ tucoXaaiag ptrkywv, wq ev 'A<ppo-
Sirije 7roXa.
§ The pensilis ambulatio of Pliny, vid. sup. p. 9.
| ' A<ppo$lcnoi avpai.
ff tjv §' i>7rd raie a-yav iraXivoKioig vXaig iXapai icXiaiai toiq eveoti-
acr0ai diXovffiv, t'lQ a filv acm/cwv airav'iWQ ette^o/twv Tivkg' aOpoog 8'
o TroXiTt/coc o^Xoc eiravvyvp&v, °V™S 'Hpo^malovrtg.
The difference here indicated between the a'tmKoi and ttoXiVoi
seems to be a vestige of the ancient aristocratical constitution
of Cnidus. The descendants of the old nobles may have
continued to dwell in a part of the town distinguished as the
aarv, while the privilege of iroX'irua may have been common not
only in the other parts of the city, but throughout the Cni-
dian district.
i) ptv ovv 0eoc ev /uEffw KaBlSpvTai, napiag §e XlOov SniBaXfia
(caXXiorov vTnpr)<bavov' Kai <7£<tj/jooti jLXwti fitKpov vtreppuSiiocra.
ff Thus also described by an author of the eleventh century,
whose work is a compilation from some earlier writers of the
Byzantine empire,—ri KviSi'a 'Ai^oo&tj? wc XiOov Xedkijc, yu^n,
/iovTjv T17V otSdi rrj yjupl TrtpiGTiXXovcra, ipyov tov KviStov Tipa£iT£-
Xouc. Cedren. Hist. Comp. p. 254 (322). The authority of
Cedrenus however is not sufficient to establish Praxiteles as a
native of Cnidus. His origin is not certain, but as he dwelt
at Athens, he was in all probability an Athenian; and this
opinion is supported by an inscription found among the ruins
of Thespige; which although imperfect, shews that a statue,
which the marble supported, was made by Praxiteles, an Athe-
nian. Boeckh. C. Ins. Gr. no. 1604.
++ e>' ocrov r,v Svvarov. The statue was surrounded probably
with a rail.