DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9187#0308
252
greek sarcophagi
If our assignment of the date of the sarcophagus to about
b. c. 370 or 360 be correct, we may almost venture to assign
a name to its possessor. Though we do not know much of the
history of Sidon, we do know that at this period the throne
of the city was occupied by a king named Strato, in whose honour
the people of Athens passed a decree, in return for favours
done to their envoys. The text of this decree is extant \ As
Strato was thus on excellent terms with the people of Athens ;
what more natural than that Athens should lend an artist for
the decoration of his sarcophagus either to him or to his
successor ?
By far the most beautiful and the most noteworthy of the
Sidonian sarcophagi is that which bears the name of Alexander
the Great. At first, when the discovery was made, some writers
expressed the opinion that it was the tomb of Alexander him-
self. Alexander however was buried, as we know on quite
sufficient testimony, not at Sidon but at Alexandria2. And
though the coffin is quite worthy of holding the bones of the
greatest of kings, yet Alexander's taste was probably too florid
to be content with a mere shrine of marble. Moreover, it is
almost certain that no Greek was the occupant, for inside were
found linen bands, such as were used for swaddling the corpses
of Oriental, but not of Hellenic, princes. The body which had
been thus swathed has disappeared.
But though the great sarcophagus never held the body of
Alexander, yet its sculptures are an important artistic and even
historical record of some of his achievements. Let us briefly
consider them in order.
According to analogy, we should expect to find in the
1 Hicks, Greek Historical Inscriptions, p. 155. The marble is in the Oxford
Museum.
2 The evidence is put together by Mr. Chinnock in the Classical Review
or June, 1893.
greek sarcophagi
If our assignment of the date of the sarcophagus to about
b. c. 370 or 360 be correct, we may almost venture to assign
a name to its possessor. Though we do not know much of the
history of Sidon, we do know that at this period the throne
of the city was occupied by a king named Strato, in whose honour
the people of Athens passed a decree, in return for favours
done to their envoys. The text of this decree is extant \ As
Strato was thus on excellent terms with the people of Athens ;
what more natural than that Athens should lend an artist for
the decoration of his sarcophagus either to him or to his
successor ?
By far the most beautiful and the most noteworthy of the
Sidonian sarcophagi is that which bears the name of Alexander
the Great. At first, when the discovery was made, some writers
expressed the opinion that it was the tomb of Alexander him-
self. Alexander however was buried, as we know on quite
sufficient testimony, not at Sidon but at Alexandria2. And
though the coffin is quite worthy of holding the bones of the
greatest of kings, yet Alexander's taste was probably too florid
to be content with a mere shrine of marble. Moreover, it is
almost certain that no Greek was the occupant, for inside were
found linen bands, such as were used for swaddling the corpses
of Oriental, but not of Hellenic, princes. The body which had
been thus swathed has disappeared.
But though the great sarcophagus never held the body of
Alexander, yet its sculptures are an important artistic and even
historical record of some of his achievements. Let us briefly
consider them in order.
According to analogy, we should expect to find in the
1 Hicks, Greek Historical Inscriptions, p. 155. The marble is in the Oxford
Museum.
2 The evidence is put together by Mr. Chinnock in the Classical Review
or June, 1893.