DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0493
SCOPAS' OTHER WORKS. 459
train of Phorkys, and other sea-monsters, all so excellent, he adds, that it well
might have been the work of a whole lifetime.902 According to poetic story,
when Achilles fell, his mother, the silver-footed Thetis, hearing the tidings, rose
with her immortal sea-nymphs from ocean depths, and " mournfully came over
the waves the sound of their lament." From the midst of the funeral pyre
she snatched his beautiful body, rescuing it from Hades, and, accompanied by
all the dwellers of the sea, bore it away to the far-off Isles of the Blest. Her
way lay over the waves : and Poseidon himself, and all the dwellers of the sea,
joined the wondrous procession, now changed from a funeral to a triumph ;
for it was not to death, but to eternal life, that they bore the hero. Whether
Scopas' sculptures, in which Poseidon, Thetis, and Achilles appeared, repre-
sented this procession, we do not know, nor even whether they adorned a tem-
ple, or perhaps a colossal tomb, for which the subject would have been most
appropriate. From these general descriptions, however, we may infer the ideal
bent of Scopas' genius.
In the poetry of all nations, water, and especially that of the sea, is asso-
ciated with the idea of sadness and restless longing. The moaning of its
breaking waves is unceasing. The gentlest breeze ruffles its surface, and it
becomes frightful when lashed by the tempest. Unlike the hospitable earth,
it takes no abiding form, and bears no refreshing fruits or nourishing grain to
gladden the heart of man. In keeping must be the beings chosen to represent
it. The development into truly expressive and palpable forms of these subtile
ideals which long had lurked in poetry was, no doubt, carried by Scopas to its
highest perfection. The constantly recurring type of the Triton, with deeply
sunken eyes, sharply drawn eyebrows, and changeful mouth, so suited to these
exiles from the earth, whose waitings were heard by the Greeks when tempests
beat their rock-bound coasts, was, doubtless, brought to express what it does
by Scopas' genius. But these gloomier fancies in ancient art were lightened up
by sunny Nereids, as appears by a glance at a frieze now in Munich, but origi-
nally from Rome, in which Poseidon and Amphitrite are seen in nuptial proces-
sion accompanied by easily riding, merry Nereids, and hollow-eyed hippocamps.
Among existing monuments it has more charms than any of a similar charac-
ter, and may possibly have adorned Cn. Domitius' temple, in which Scopas'
famous group stood, it having been discovered in close proximity to the sup-
posed site.9°2a
At Fphesos, Scopas must also have sojourned. According to Kphesian
myth, Apollo and Artemis were born there in the sacred grove Ortygia; and
in the midst of its cypress-trees seems to have been Scopas' Leto bearing a
sceptre, and Ortygia as nurse, carrying in her arms these twin gods.?°3 Of an
Ares, removed from Asia Minor to Rome to a temple built by Brutus Gallrccus
about 133 B.C., we only know that the god of war was a colossal seated figure,
and occupied the same temple as a nude Aphrodite by this master, which was
train of Phorkys, and other sea-monsters, all so excellent, he adds, that it well
might have been the work of a whole lifetime.902 According to poetic story,
when Achilles fell, his mother, the silver-footed Thetis, hearing the tidings, rose
with her immortal sea-nymphs from ocean depths, and " mournfully came over
the waves the sound of their lament." From the midst of the funeral pyre
she snatched his beautiful body, rescuing it from Hades, and, accompanied by
all the dwellers of the sea, bore it away to the far-off Isles of the Blest. Her
way lay over the waves : and Poseidon himself, and all the dwellers of the sea,
joined the wondrous procession, now changed from a funeral to a triumph ;
for it was not to death, but to eternal life, that they bore the hero. Whether
Scopas' sculptures, in which Poseidon, Thetis, and Achilles appeared, repre-
sented this procession, we do not know, nor even whether they adorned a tem-
ple, or perhaps a colossal tomb, for which the subject would have been most
appropriate. From these general descriptions, however, we may infer the ideal
bent of Scopas' genius.
In the poetry of all nations, water, and especially that of the sea, is asso-
ciated with the idea of sadness and restless longing. The moaning of its
breaking waves is unceasing. The gentlest breeze ruffles its surface, and it
becomes frightful when lashed by the tempest. Unlike the hospitable earth,
it takes no abiding form, and bears no refreshing fruits or nourishing grain to
gladden the heart of man. In keeping must be the beings chosen to represent
it. The development into truly expressive and palpable forms of these subtile
ideals which long had lurked in poetry was, no doubt, carried by Scopas to its
highest perfection. The constantly recurring type of the Triton, with deeply
sunken eyes, sharply drawn eyebrows, and changeful mouth, so suited to these
exiles from the earth, whose waitings were heard by the Greeks when tempests
beat their rock-bound coasts, was, doubtless, brought to express what it does
by Scopas' genius. But these gloomier fancies in ancient art were lightened up
by sunny Nereids, as appears by a glance at a frieze now in Munich, but origi-
nally from Rome, in which Poseidon and Amphitrite are seen in nuptial proces-
sion accompanied by easily riding, merry Nereids, and hollow-eyed hippocamps.
Among existing monuments it has more charms than any of a similar charac-
ter, and may possibly have adorned Cn. Domitius' temple, in which Scopas'
famous group stood, it having been discovered in close proximity to the sup-
posed site.9°2a
At Fphesos, Scopas must also have sojourned. According to Kphesian
myth, Apollo and Artemis were born there in the sacred grove Ortygia; and
in the midst of its cypress-trees seems to have been Scopas' Leto bearing a
sceptre, and Ortygia as nurse, carrying in her arms these twin gods.?°3 Of an
Ares, removed from Asia Minor to Rome to a temple built by Brutus Gallrccus
about 133 B.C., we only know that the god of war was a colossal seated figure,
and occupied the same temple as a nude Aphrodite by this master, which was