DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7897#0093
( 75 )
fidelity of Antenor, and by the means of his wife Theano, priestess of the tem-
ple, succeeded in their undertaking (10). This last version seems to have been
adopted by the painter. Part of the moon's disk, and a star below it, indicate
that the enterprise was affected by night.
The two warriors are in the heroic costume, with a simple mantle or chlamys;
Ulysses only, as more advanced in years, is figured with a beard.
The execution is of a very inferior kind, like that of most vases found in Ba-
silicata, and which are generally of a low period. The figure of Ulysses in par-
ticular, is most incorrectly drawn, and the attempt at foreshortening most un-
happy. The attitudes of the other figures, however, are elegant, and recall the
invention to a more happy age.
Though no mention of the Palladium occurs in Homer, yet the traditions
relative to it are very ancient, and Dionysius (i i) has given us that of Arcti-
nus of Miletus, a very early poet, supposed to have been a disciple of Homer.
But the great celebrity it acquired, can only be dated at the decline of the
Roman republic, when, to flatter the vanity of the people and of the Julian
family, it was pretended, that they derived their origin from the Trojans and
^Eneas. At the same time, it was supposed that the Palladium had been
brought to Italy by iEneas (12), and that the statue carried away from Troy
by Diomedes and Ulysses, was only a copy purposely placed in its stead. Some
authors, however, to reconcile as much as possible, the old received tradi-
tions with the new version, supposed that Diomedes gave the Palladium to
iEneas. From this period, the fables relating to it, became extremely popular;
and, according to the superstitious propensity of the Romans, as the Palladium
was the preservative of the empire, representations of it were considered aus-
picious, and worn as a sort of charm (i3). To this notion, we may attribute
the astonishing number of gems which offer subjects relating to this fable.
les Epitres d'Ovide, torn. 1, page 60; and
Heyne, Excurs. iv ad iEneid. Virgil, lib. 11.
(10) Suidas v. riaXXa^iav.
(11) Dionys. Hallicarn. Ant. Rom. lib. 1,
cap. 68.
(12) According to a tradition related by Ser-
vius, the Palladium was brought to Rome at
the time of the Mithridatic war by Fimbria,
who pretended that it was discovered among
the ruins of the ancient Ilium, Comm. in Vir-
gil. iEneid. lib. 11, vers. 166.
(i3) Some subjects were considered auspi-
cious, and others ominous of evil. Thus, the
rape of Proserpine was esteemed inauspici-
ous, since Nero wore a ring with that subject
on the day of his death.
fidelity of Antenor, and by the means of his wife Theano, priestess of the tem-
ple, succeeded in their undertaking (10). This last version seems to have been
adopted by the painter. Part of the moon's disk, and a star below it, indicate
that the enterprise was affected by night.
The two warriors are in the heroic costume, with a simple mantle or chlamys;
Ulysses only, as more advanced in years, is figured with a beard.
The execution is of a very inferior kind, like that of most vases found in Ba-
silicata, and which are generally of a low period. The figure of Ulysses in par-
ticular, is most incorrectly drawn, and the attempt at foreshortening most un-
happy. The attitudes of the other figures, however, are elegant, and recall the
invention to a more happy age.
Though no mention of the Palladium occurs in Homer, yet the traditions
relative to it are very ancient, and Dionysius (i i) has given us that of Arcti-
nus of Miletus, a very early poet, supposed to have been a disciple of Homer.
But the great celebrity it acquired, can only be dated at the decline of the
Roman republic, when, to flatter the vanity of the people and of the Julian
family, it was pretended, that they derived their origin from the Trojans and
^Eneas. At the same time, it was supposed that the Palladium had been
brought to Italy by iEneas (12), and that the statue carried away from Troy
by Diomedes and Ulysses, was only a copy purposely placed in its stead. Some
authors, however, to reconcile as much as possible, the old received tradi-
tions with the new version, supposed that Diomedes gave the Palladium to
iEneas. From this period, the fables relating to it, became extremely popular;
and, according to the superstitious propensity of the Romans, as the Palladium
was the preservative of the empire, representations of it were considered aus-
picious, and worn as a sort of charm (i3). To this notion, we may attribute
the astonishing number of gems which offer subjects relating to this fable.
les Epitres d'Ovide, torn. 1, page 60; and
Heyne, Excurs. iv ad iEneid. Virgil, lib. 11.
(10) Suidas v. riaXXa^iav.
(11) Dionys. Hallicarn. Ant. Rom. lib. 1,
cap. 68.
(12) According to a tradition related by Ser-
vius, the Palladium was brought to Rome at
the time of the Mithridatic war by Fimbria,
who pretended that it was discovered among
the ruins of the ancient Ilium, Comm. in Vir-
gil. iEneid. lib. 11, vers. 166.
(i3) Some subjects were considered auspi-
cious, and others ominous of evil. Thus, the
rape of Proserpine was esteemed inauspici-
ous, since Nero wore a ring with that subject
on the day of his death.