DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0370
336 THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.
rite suggested in this scene by the laying off of a garment and the receiving
a chair, acts insignificant in themselves.
On each side of this central scene, the sculptor has placed divinities, seven
gods and goddesses on a side ; their superiority to mortals being indicated by
their greater size. It is claimed by some, that these are all Attic deities ; but
by others the conjecture is, that they represent a wider circle, the twelve
great Olympic gods (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hephaistos, Poseidon, Hermes, Ares,
Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hestia), whose worship was, accord-
ing to Thukydides, established by Peisistratos in Athens, who erected an altar
to them in the market-place, a part of the inscription of which has recently been
discovered.65s The supporters of this theory claim, that, changes being usual
in local worship, one female deity, perhaps Hestia, is replaced in this frieze by
Dionysos, who was especially honored in Athens.659 At the right of the central
scene (Fig. 151, c), first and mightiest is Zeus, the king of gods, majestically
seated upon a throne adorned with sphinxes, and more elaborate than the rest.
A rich mantle leaves his powerful chest exposed, but drops fully about his
limbs to the sandalled feet. One hand holds easily the royal sceptre; and his
left arm rests upon the back of his regal throne, partly covered by the folds of
his mantle. Beside him sits his spouse, the matronly, fully draped Hera (d),
who unveils to him alone her beauty. By the two a smaller figure (e) —
whose standing posture and wings mark her as one of the minor goddesses —
is, probably, Iris of the "golden wings," Zeus' messenger, and Hera's constant
attendant, the one who prepared their couch, and executed their commands.
Somewhat separated from them are four youthful divinities, seen in diminutive
form in Fig. 151, and in full in Selections, Plate III. The first of these is, per-
haps, the stormy Ares, who clasps his knee, — a pose which is thought, in an-
cient art, to have expressed struggling with inner emotion. The sculptor could
not show in a seated figure all the wild passion of the war-god, and so takes this
subtle way of hinting Ares' fierce nature, indicated also in the broad, strong
chest. The seated Ares in the Villa Ludovisi, with sword and shield, has the
same attitude; and Eros, playing under his seat, shows that thoughts of love
there keep the fierce god from war. In the frieze of Lysicrates' Choragic
monument of the fourth century B.C., a satyr (Fig. 203) sits thus clasping
his knee; his uneasy pose, while the battle rages beyond him, expressing here
also restrained excitement. In this Ares of the east frieze of the Parthenon,
the attractions of the coming procession seem to bind, for the hour, the pas-
sions of the war-god. The choice and forms of the gods grouped with this fiery
Ares are eminently appropriate. Opposite to him, but likewise facing the pro-
cession, is one shod with high boots, ready for the journey, and holding on his
lap his broad hat, or pctasos. This can be no other than Hermes, the mes-
senger-god. We almost expect, at a moment's warning, to see him spring from
his seat, draw en his mantle, as is usual with this god buttoned over the arm,
rite suggested in this scene by the laying off of a garment and the receiving
a chair, acts insignificant in themselves.
On each side of this central scene, the sculptor has placed divinities, seven
gods and goddesses on a side ; their superiority to mortals being indicated by
their greater size. It is claimed by some, that these are all Attic deities ; but
by others the conjecture is, that they represent a wider circle, the twelve
great Olympic gods (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hephaistos, Poseidon, Hermes, Ares,
Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hestia), whose worship was, accord-
ing to Thukydides, established by Peisistratos in Athens, who erected an altar
to them in the market-place, a part of the inscription of which has recently been
discovered.65s The supporters of this theory claim, that, changes being usual
in local worship, one female deity, perhaps Hestia, is replaced in this frieze by
Dionysos, who was especially honored in Athens.659 At the right of the central
scene (Fig. 151, c), first and mightiest is Zeus, the king of gods, majestically
seated upon a throne adorned with sphinxes, and more elaborate than the rest.
A rich mantle leaves his powerful chest exposed, but drops fully about his
limbs to the sandalled feet. One hand holds easily the royal sceptre; and his
left arm rests upon the back of his regal throne, partly covered by the folds of
his mantle. Beside him sits his spouse, the matronly, fully draped Hera (d),
who unveils to him alone her beauty. By the two a smaller figure (e) —
whose standing posture and wings mark her as one of the minor goddesses —
is, probably, Iris of the "golden wings," Zeus' messenger, and Hera's constant
attendant, the one who prepared their couch, and executed their commands.
Somewhat separated from them are four youthful divinities, seen in diminutive
form in Fig. 151, and in full in Selections, Plate III. The first of these is, per-
haps, the stormy Ares, who clasps his knee, — a pose which is thought, in an-
cient art, to have expressed struggling with inner emotion. The sculptor could
not show in a seated figure all the wild passion of the war-god, and so takes this
subtle way of hinting Ares' fierce nature, indicated also in the broad, strong
chest. The seated Ares in the Villa Ludovisi, with sword and shield, has the
same attitude; and Eros, playing under his seat, shows that thoughts of love
there keep the fierce god from war. In the frieze of Lysicrates' Choragic
monument of the fourth century B.C., a satyr (Fig. 203) sits thus clasping
his knee; his uneasy pose, while the battle rages beyond him, expressing here
also restrained excitement. In this Ares of the east frieze of the Parthenon,
the attractions of the coming procession seem to bind, for the hour, the pas-
sions of the war-god. The choice and forms of the gods grouped with this fiery
Ares are eminently appropriate. Opposite to him, but likewise facing the pro-
cession, is one shod with high boots, ready for the journey, and holding on his
lap his broad hat, or pctasos. This can be no other than Hermes, the mes-
senger-god. We almost expect, at a moment's warning, to see him spring from
his seat, draw en his mantle, as is usual with this god buttoned over the arm,