DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0272
MARBLES FROM ^GINA. 239
tive form. Onatas did not reproduce this monster, but varied from the origi-
nal, producing a statue in the spirit of his time. From the charge of too great
license, he exonerated himself by saying that the divinity had appeared to him
in a dream, and authorized him to alter the old form.410 Of Onatas' bronze
Apollo for Pergamon, we have only Pausanias' laudatory but very general ex-
pressions ; and, of his Hermes for Olympia, we learn that the god carried a goat
under the arm, and that Onatas' son and pupil, Calliteles, assisted in its exe-
cution.4n For the people of Thasos he executed in bronze a colossal Heracles
carrying, club and bow. This work, with its bronze pedestal, was seen by
Pausanias in the Olympic shrine.412 Two large bronze groups by this master
have a more direct interest for us, as showing many points of resemblance to
the celebrated yEginetan marbles. The first of these consisted of an assem-
blage of ten bronze figures, representing the scene in the Iliad where the Greek
heroes draw lots held by Nestor, to decide who should meet Hector in single
combat. On one of the statues Pausanias read the name of Agamemnon, writ-
ten in archaic style. In another he recognized Idomeneus, from the cock on
his shield, and tells us that the Odysseus had been carried off by Nero. To the
statue of Nestor was given a separate pedestal over against the rest.4"3 The
pedestal of this group of heroes, in the shape of a segment of a circle, was
found at Olympia, about fifteen meters from the south-east corner of the Tem-
ple of Zeus ; and opposite to it was a small, round pedestal of the same coarse,
porous stone, on which Nestor must have stood.4'4 Judging from the size of
these remains, the heroes were nearly life-size. Pausanias tells us further, that
they were not clad in full armor, but wore only helmet, shield, and lance, indi-
cating that preference for nude forms which will be noticed in the vEginetan
marbles. The grouping of these nine heroes on the narrow semicircular basis
could, however, have been little more than a simple arrangement in a row, more
simple even than that of the yEgina marbles. The other large bronze group
by Onatas at Olympia, a thank-offering from the people of Tarentum for victory
over the barbarian Peuketians, included horsemen and foot-soldiers. Here the
hostile king Opis was represented as fallen ; and on either side were Taras and
Phalanthos, the heroic founders of Tarentum.4'5 Owing to obscurity in the
historical records, it is uncertain whether Onatas was assisted in this work by
a sculptor Colynthos, or his son Calliteles. Such are our literary records of
the sculptors of ^Egina.
The Glyptothek, in Munich, contains no greater treasure than its marbles,
discovered by a company of English and German scholars in ^Egina in 1811.
They were bought by Prince Ludwig of Bavaria for thirty thousand dollars,
who had them restored by Thorwaldsen and Wagner.4'6 These figures in Par-
ian marble once adorned the pediments of Athena's temple, of which the
crumbling columns, on the heights of yEgina, still overlook the blue waters
of the Saronic Gulf. In both groups appeared a conflict about the body of a
tive form. Onatas did not reproduce this monster, but varied from the origi-
nal, producing a statue in the spirit of his time. From the charge of too great
license, he exonerated himself by saying that the divinity had appeared to him
in a dream, and authorized him to alter the old form.410 Of Onatas' bronze
Apollo for Pergamon, we have only Pausanias' laudatory but very general ex-
pressions ; and, of his Hermes for Olympia, we learn that the god carried a goat
under the arm, and that Onatas' son and pupil, Calliteles, assisted in its exe-
cution.4n For the people of Thasos he executed in bronze a colossal Heracles
carrying, club and bow. This work, with its bronze pedestal, was seen by
Pausanias in the Olympic shrine.412 Two large bronze groups by this master
have a more direct interest for us, as showing many points of resemblance to
the celebrated yEginetan marbles. The first of these consisted of an assem-
blage of ten bronze figures, representing the scene in the Iliad where the Greek
heroes draw lots held by Nestor, to decide who should meet Hector in single
combat. On one of the statues Pausanias read the name of Agamemnon, writ-
ten in archaic style. In another he recognized Idomeneus, from the cock on
his shield, and tells us that the Odysseus had been carried off by Nero. To the
statue of Nestor was given a separate pedestal over against the rest.4"3 The
pedestal of this group of heroes, in the shape of a segment of a circle, was
found at Olympia, about fifteen meters from the south-east corner of the Tem-
ple of Zeus ; and opposite to it was a small, round pedestal of the same coarse,
porous stone, on which Nestor must have stood.4'4 Judging from the size of
these remains, the heroes were nearly life-size. Pausanias tells us further, that
they were not clad in full armor, but wore only helmet, shield, and lance, indi-
cating that preference for nude forms which will be noticed in the vEginetan
marbles. The grouping of these nine heroes on the narrow semicircular basis
could, however, have been little more than a simple arrangement in a row, more
simple even than that of the yEgina marbles. The other large bronze group
by Onatas at Olympia, a thank-offering from the people of Tarentum for victory
over the barbarian Peuketians, included horsemen and foot-soldiers. Here the
hostile king Opis was represented as fallen ; and on either side were Taras and
Phalanthos, the heroic founders of Tarentum.4'5 Owing to obscurity in the
historical records, it is uncertain whether Onatas was assisted in this work by
a sculptor Colynthos, or his son Calliteles. Such are our literary records of
the sculptors of ^Egina.
The Glyptothek, in Munich, contains no greater treasure than its marbles,
discovered by a company of English and German scholars in ^Egina in 1811.
They were bought by Prince Ludwig of Bavaria for thirty thousand dollars,
who had them restored by Thorwaldsen and Wagner.4'6 These figures in Par-
ian marble once adorned the pediments of Athena's temple, of which the
crumbling columns, on the heights of yEgina, still overlook the blue waters
of the Saronic Gulf. In both groups appeared a conflict about the body of a