DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.804#0034
27 THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
that the figure had leaned against the pediment.
The surface of the marble in this part strikingly
expresses the character of flesh. " The chest of
Neptune, distinguished by Homer* as the most im-
posing part of his form, is still admirable in the work
of Phidias f. When Agamemnon is preparing for
battle, his eyes and head," says the poet, " were like
those of Jupiter, his belt like that of Mars, and his
chest was that of Neptune." Thus the great poet of
the Greek nation stamped the divinities of Olympus
with their characteristics, which the sculptor of a
later age embodied in marble.
Fragment of the Ericthonian Serpent. No. 104.
Whether this fragment was found upon the floor
of the eastern or the western pediment seems not to be
accurately ascertained: Mr. Cockerel], in the sixth
part of the Museum Marbles, says the eastern ; and he
connects this fragment with that of an olive-tree and
teet preserved in another part of the Elgin collection.
The Ericthonian serpent is unquestionably of Pentelic
marble, and was most probably found upon the floor
of the western tympanum. The olive-tree and feet
are of a different marble ; and on this account may
be conjectured really not to have belonged to the
Parthenon. This fragment of the serpent is 1ft. 6 in.
in length, by 7 in. in depth.
«<nj.
* II. lib. ii. v. 479. 2*Hg¥ov Se UflirsX.w,!.
f Visconti, Memoir on the Sculpture of the Parthenon, p. -4.
that the figure had leaned against the pediment.
The surface of the marble in this part strikingly
expresses the character of flesh. " The chest of
Neptune, distinguished by Homer* as the most im-
posing part of his form, is still admirable in the work
of Phidias f. When Agamemnon is preparing for
battle, his eyes and head," says the poet, " were like
those of Jupiter, his belt like that of Mars, and his
chest was that of Neptune." Thus the great poet of
the Greek nation stamped the divinities of Olympus
with their characteristics, which the sculptor of a
later age embodied in marble.
Fragment of the Ericthonian Serpent. No. 104.
Whether this fragment was found upon the floor
of the eastern or the western pediment seems not to be
accurately ascertained: Mr. Cockerel], in the sixth
part of the Museum Marbles, says the eastern ; and he
connects this fragment with that of an olive-tree and
teet preserved in another part of the Elgin collection.
The Ericthonian serpent is unquestionably of Pentelic
marble, and was most probably found upon the floor
of the western tympanum. The olive-tree and feet
are of a different marble ; and on this account may
be conjectured really not to have belonged to the
Parthenon. This fragment of the serpent is 1ft. 6 in.
in length, by 7 in. in depth.
«<nj.
* II. lib. ii. v. 479. 2*Hg¥ov Se UflirsX.w,!.
f Visconti, Memoir on the Sculpture of the Parthenon, p. -4.