DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0392
358 THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.
depart. The tragic fate which met them, on being lowered from the pediment
by the Venetians, has already been alluded to. Fragments, casts of which are
in the Elgin room, powerful even in their ruin, still await re-adjustment, if that
be possible. Athena's charioteer, perhaps Nike, has perished ; but the torso
of the youth accompanying her, thought to be Hermes, and who is often repre-
sented on vases as attending Athena's chariot, is preserved in the Elgin room.
This powerful athletic frame, in intense action, with drapery still clinging to the
back, is a most interesting counterpart to the Olympos of the east pediment,
who is equally strong, but in perfect repose. Thus Athena, Poseidon, and the
chariots, filled up gloriously the centre of the pediment; making, as it were,
the ruling strain in this powerful symphony transferred into enduring marble.
To the right of Athena's chariot came many figures, all sharing in the excite-
ment emanating from the centre. These have received many conjectural names,
Brunn supposing them to personify the cliffs and shores of Attica. The older
and more generally accepted theory, however, is, that they are Attic gods.
Following Carrey's drawings, we find that the first group was composed1 of two
females,—which have been called Demeter and Core, — and a child in excited
motion, — perhaps Iacchos. Of this group no trace is left; while the next, which
consists of a youthful female and an elderly man, on whose shoulder she leans,
is still in the pediment, but is so sadly mutilated, that its forms are barely recog-
nizable. The coil of a serpent, seen under the right of the group, may be intended
to characterize here either the earth-born Kecrops with one of his daughters,
or Asclepios with Hygieia, all of whom were worshipped in Attica.
Beyond this group is a space, which in Carrey's drawing is left vacant, but,
in one made by Dalton, is filled by a crouching figure, perhaps a local nymph.
In the extreme corner reclines a local river-god, whose glorious form is now in
the British Museum (Selections, Plate IV.). From his beautifully extended
form, this figure is supposed to represent the Kephissos, a stream which
flows in a direct course through the north of Attica, from Mount Kithairon to
the sea. The figure of this Attic river-god seems confined to its rocky base,
like running waters within their bed; but, catching the excitement rippling
out to him from the stormy centre, he raises himself up on one arm. The
elevation of the shoulders and knees, alternating with the sinking of the body
and the retreating legs, suggest well the wavy lines of water. The very dra-
pery, slipping from the arm, lies on the marble as though floating helplessly
upon water; and the straight line of the thigh, almost melting into one with
the base, goes to enhance the ideal of a river-god. The contrast between this
liquid form, with all its softness, and exquisite treatment of skin, and the
massive, rocky, firm frame of the Olympos of the opposite pediment, shows a
degree of skill in characterization scarcely to be met with elsewhere in the
whole range of ancient sculpture.
Turning from this jubilant retinue of Athena, to Poseidon and his followers
depart. The tragic fate which met them, on being lowered from the pediment
by the Venetians, has already been alluded to. Fragments, casts of which are
in the Elgin room, powerful even in their ruin, still await re-adjustment, if that
be possible. Athena's charioteer, perhaps Nike, has perished ; but the torso
of the youth accompanying her, thought to be Hermes, and who is often repre-
sented on vases as attending Athena's chariot, is preserved in the Elgin room.
This powerful athletic frame, in intense action, with drapery still clinging to the
back, is a most interesting counterpart to the Olympos of the east pediment,
who is equally strong, but in perfect repose. Thus Athena, Poseidon, and the
chariots, filled up gloriously the centre of the pediment; making, as it were,
the ruling strain in this powerful symphony transferred into enduring marble.
To the right of Athena's chariot came many figures, all sharing in the excite-
ment emanating from the centre. These have received many conjectural names,
Brunn supposing them to personify the cliffs and shores of Attica. The older
and more generally accepted theory, however, is, that they are Attic gods.
Following Carrey's drawings, we find that the first group was composed1 of two
females,—which have been called Demeter and Core, — and a child in excited
motion, — perhaps Iacchos. Of this group no trace is left; while the next, which
consists of a youthful female and an elderly man, on whose shoulder she leans,
is still in the pediment, but is so sadly mutilated, that its forms are barely recog-
nizable. The coil of a serpent, seen under the right of the group, may be intended
to characterize here either the earth-born Kecrops with one of his daughters,
or Asclepios with Hygieia, all of whom were worshipped in Attica.
Beyond this group is a space, which in Carrey's drawing is left vacant, but,
in one made by Dalton, is filled by a crouching figure, perhaps a local nymph.
In the extreme corner reclines a local river-god, whose glorious form is now in
the British Museum (Selections, Plate IV.). From his beautifully extended
form, this figure is supposed to represent the Kephissos, a stream which
flows in a direct course through the north of Attica, from Mount Kithairon to
the sea. The figure of this Attic river-god seems confined to its rocky base,
like running waters within their bed; but, catching the excitement rippling
out to him from the stormy centre, he raises himself up on one arm. The
elevation of the shoulders and knees, alternating with the sinking of the body
and the retreating legs, suggest well the wavy lines of water. The very dra-
pery, slipping from the arm, lies on the marble as though floating helplessly
upon water; and the straight line of the thigh, almost melting into one with
the base, goes to enhance the ideal of a river-god. The contrast between this
liquid form, with all its softness, and exquisite treatment of skin, and the
massive, rocky, firm frame of the Olympos of the opposite pediment, shows a
degree of skill in characterization scarcely to be met with elsewhere in the
whole range of ancient sculpture.
Turning from this jubilant retinue of Athena, to Poseidon and his followers