DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0524
THEATRE OF DIONYSOS.
489
amusing and pleasurable had been developed. In this unpretending frieze the
spirit of the time is mirrored ; and what glimpses does it give us of the capa-
bilities of art, even as represented by the decorations of a simple private
monument! the tall, slender proportions of the figures at the same time show-
ing a departure from the sterner older models.
Among the few public works undertaken in Athens during the fourth cen-
tury, was the restoration of the Theatre of Dionysos, the ruins of which, within
a few years, have been laid open on the south-
ern slope of the Acropolis.979 The original
time-honored building of wood, which fell in
on the occasion of the rival performances of
Aeschylos, Choirilos, and Pratinas in 500 B.C.,
was rebuilt in stone. This theatre, doubtless,
suffered in the Persian war, like all the other
public buildings in Attica. But the first re-
corded restorations were made between 343
and 329 B.C., under the direction of Lycurgos,
at whose proposal bronze statues of the great
trio of tragedians, Aeschylos, Sophocles, and
Euripides, were put up. Of these bronze figures,
no remnant has been found in the recent excava-
tions, but many pedestals that once bore statues
have come to light; and it is possible, that in
several fine monuments found in Italy we have
reminiscences of those portraits worked over
into marble. Such, perhaps, is the portrait
statue of Sophocles, discovered before 1839, in
Terracina, restored in a masterly manner by
Tenerani, and now in the Lateran Museum
(Fig. 205).9So Here we seem to see all the
dignity and beauty of manhood in forms so
generalized as to produce a magnificent speci-
men of idealized portraiture. How worthy of
the great poet it represents, and how full of benignity and high intelligence,
is this face ! calling to mind many faces seen in the beautiful Attic tomb-
stones of this century.
Among the sculptures found on the site of this Theatre of Dionysos, and
which probably adorned it, is the colossal form of a cowering silen, unfortunately
poorly represented in the cut (Fig. 206). His obese form acts as an architectural
support, and is the first known example of this kind, but was repeated frequently
lateral He has lopping ears, and a face strikingly like the busts inscribed
Socrates, who was said to have had a silen face. It is a curious and interesting
Fig 205. Statue of Sophocles.
Museum.
489
amusing and pleasurable had been developed. In this unpretending frieze the
spirit of the time is mirrored ; and what glimpses does it give us of the capa-
bilities of art, even as represented by the decorations of a simple private
monument! the tall, slender proportions of the figures at the same time show-
ing a departure from the sterner older models.
Among the few public works undertaken in Athens during the fourth cen-
tury, was the restoration of the Theatre of Dionysos, the ruins of which, within
a few years, have been laid open on the south-
ern slope of the Acropolis.979 The original
time-honored building of wood, which fell in
on the occasion of the rival performances of
Aeschylos, Choirilos, and Pratinas in 500 B.C.,
was rebuilt in stone. This theatre, doubtless,
suffered in the Persian war, like all the other
public buildings in Attica. But the first re-
corded restorations were made between 343
and 329 B.C., under the direction of Lycurgos,
at whose proposal bronze statues of the great
trio of tragedians, Aeschylos, Sophocles, and
Euripides, were put up. Of these bronze figures,
no remnant has been found in the recent excava-
tions, but many pedestals that once bore statues
have come to light; and it is possible, that in
several fine monuments found in Italy we have
reminiscences of those portraits worked over
into marble. Such, perhaps, is the portrait
statue of Sophocles, discovered before 1839, in
Terracina, restored in a masterly manner by
Tenerani, and now in the Lateran Museum
(Fig. 205).9So Here we seem to see all the
dignity and beauty of manhood in forms so
generalized as to produce a magnificent speci-
men of idealized portraiture. How worthy of
the great poet it represents, and how full of benignity and high intelligence,
is this face ! calling to mind many faces seen in the beautiful Attic tomb-
stones of this century.
Among the sculptures found on the site of this Theatre of Dionysos, and
which probably adorned it, is the colossal form of a cowering silen, unfortunately
poorly represented in the cut (Fig. 206). His obese form acts as an architectural
support, and is the first known example of this kind, but was repeated frequently
lateral He has lopping ears, and a face strikingly like the busts inscribed
Socrates, who was said to have had a silen face. It is a curious and interesting
Fig 205. Statue of Sophocles.
Museum.