DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0402
368
THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS
believes that here the Athenians, under Theseus, fight against Eurystheus, the
Skironian pass being assailed, a boundary stone between Attica and the Pelo-
ponnesos being set up, and Eurystheus led away a prisoner.6S3 In the very
centre of the frieze, the first figure to the left (Fig. 163) is doubtless Theseus
himself, with drapery trailing to the ground. The sculptures are, unfortu-
nately, much injured; but with the aid of Stuart's drawings, made in the early
part of this century, two of the divinities may be identified,—the helmeted
Athena, who converses with the veiled Hera seated beside her, and appear-
ing in Fig. 164. Zeus and Poseidon are probably also in this frieze, and, with
the remaining unknown gods, eagerly watch the contest. Beyond the gods,
at the ends of the eastern frieze, on both sides, bound prisoners are being led
away.
The gods are here seated in separate groups on each side of the central
Fig. 164. One Group of Gods in the East Frieze of the Temple of Theseus. Athens.
scene, as in the Parthenon frieze; and there is so unmistakable a kinship in
the composition and style of the sculptures of the two temples, that there can
be little doubt that the same art-spirit inspired both.
The venerated Erechtheion on the Acropolis, which had sheltered Athena's
wooden idol and olive, and under the pavement of which fable buried the heroes,
Erechthonios and Kecrops, had been destroyed during the Persian wars, but
rose again, in the time of religious fervor and great material prosperity, a jewel
of Ionic, as the Parthenon was of Attic-Doric, architecture, and is beautiful in
its ruins. It was a complex building, differing from any other known Greek
temple. According to inscriptions found on the Acropolis, some of its sculp-
tures were not completed until 409 B.C., four years before the closing of the
Peloponnesian war.68* Parts of a frieze, as well as graceful figures supporting
a portico, and inscriptions, give us a glimpse of what its sculptures must have
been. These inscriptions comprise building accounts carved in marble, and put
THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS
believes that here the Athenians, under Theseus, fight against Eurystheus, the
Skironian pass being assailed, a boundary stone between Attica and the Pelo-
ponnesos being set up, and Eurystheus led away a prisoner.6S3 In the very
centre of the frieze, the first figure to the left (Fig. 163) is doubtless Theseus
himself, with drapery trailing to the ground. The sculptures are, unfortu-
nately, much injured; but with the aid of Stuart's drawings, made in the early
part of this century, two of the divinities may be identified,—the helmeted
Athena, who converses with the veiled Hera seated beside her, and appear-
ing in Fig. 164. Zeus and Poseidon are probably also in this frieze, and, with
the remaining unknown gods, eagerly watch the contest. Beyond the gods,
at the ends of the eastern frieze, on both sides, bound prisoners are being led
away.
The gods are here seated in separate groups on each side of the central
Fig. 164. One Group of Gods in the East Frieze of the Temple of Theseus. Athens.
scene, as in the Parthenon frieze; and there is so unmistakable a kinship in
the composition and style of the sculptures of the two temples, that there can
be little doubt that the same art-spirit inspired both.
The venerated Erechtheion on the Acropolis, which had sheltered Athena's
wooden idol and olive, and under the pavement of which fable buried the heroes,
Erechthonios and Kecrops, had been destroyed during the Persian wars, but
rose again, in the time of religious fervor and great material prosperity, a jewel
of Ionic, as the Parthenon was of Attic-Doric, architecture, and is beautiful in
its ruins. It was a complex building, differing from any other known Greek
temple. According to inscriptions found on the Acropolis, some of its sculp-
tures were not completed until 409 B.C., four years before the closing of the
Peloponnesian war.68* Parts of a frieze, as well as graceful figures supporting
a portico, and inscriptions, give us a glimpse of what its sculptures must have
been. These inscriptions comprise building accounts carved in marble, and put