DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0409
393
or the metopes were filled up* with square stones of a suffi-
cient thickness, which in some cases were plain, in others were
faced with sculptures-]-; and a general rule for the distribution
of these members of the architecture was that the triglyphs
should, except at the angles, be placed immediately above
the centre of the columns, and above the middle of the in-
tcrcolumniations, each metope forming nearly a square; this
succession of triglyphs and metopes formed the frieze. On
this was laid the cornice, which in the early and flourishing pe-
riods of Grecian architecture had less elevation, and a greater
projection than either of the other two members. At stated di-
stances, lions' heads were attached to this part of the entablature,
where the water was conveyed from the roof, and modillons were
sculptured upon it, just where the under surface overhangs the
several triglyphs and metopes.
The height of this entablature was in general equal to one
* The following passage in Euripides has led some antiquaries to suppose that, in the
most antient temples of this kind, these spaces were not filled up by" the metopes, after-
wards introduced. The term metope, /xetotp;, derived from /x=ra and oVij, means an in-
terval, an intermediate space or hole. The line in the Iphigenia in Tauride is
'Oca. Ji y tlcra tpiyXufwv, ottoi xzyqv.
And the concluding words of Pyladcs are sufficiently illustrative of the difficulties that
attended the enterprise he recommended, of which Orestes likewise is aware, while he
is ready to encounter them : his words arc
............ToA/xijrMv"
Mo^o; yip sSti; toTj v/ojj cxr^iv fspei.
The obscurity of the former citation from this tragedy would, I think, be considerably
removed by reading AeT'^aj instead of Asaaj.
f The metopes at first were plain ; afterwards were sculptured on them heads of
oxen (whence some suppose they have taken their name), heads of goats, instruments
of sacrifice, or circumstances peculiarly relating to the divinity to whom the temple
was dedicated, or to the history or tradition of the country.
3 e third
or the metopes were filled up* with square stones of a suffi-
cient thickness, which in some cases were plain, in others were
faced with sculptures-]-; and a general rule for the distribution
of these members of the architecture was that the triglyphs
should, except at the angles, be placed immediately above
the centre of the columns, and above the middle of the in-
tcrcolumniations, each metope forming nearly a square; this
succession of triglyphs and metopes formed the frieze. On
this was laid the cornice, which in the early and flourishing pe-
riods of Grecian architecture had less elevation, and a greater
projection than either of the other two members. At stated di-
stances, lions' heads were attached to this part of the entablature,
where the water was conveyed from the roof, and modillons were
sculptured upon it, just where the under surface overhangs the
several triglyphs and metopes.
The height of this entablature was in general equal to one
* The following passage in Euripides has led some antiquaries to suppose that, in the
most antient temples of this kind, these spaces were not filled up by" the metopes, after-
wards introduced. The term metope, /xetotp;, derived from /x=ra and oVij, means an in-
terval, an intermediate space or hole. The line in the Iphigenia in Tauride is
'Oca. Ji y tlcra tpiyXufwv, ottoi xzyqv.
And the concluding words of Pyladcs are sufficiently illustrative of the difficulties that
attended the enterprise he recommended, of which Orestes likewise is aware, while he
is ready to encounter them : his words arc
............ToA/xijrMv"
Mo^o; yip sSti; toTj v/ojj cxr^iv fspei.
The obscurity of the former citation from this tragedy would, I think, be considerably
removed by reading AeT'^aj instead of Asaaj.
f The metopes at first were plain ; afterwards were sculptured on them heads of
oxen (whence some suppose they have taken their name), heads of goats, instruments
of sacrifice, or circumstances peculiarly relating to the divinity to whom the temple
was dedicated, or to the history or tradition of the country.
3 e third