322 THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.

Praxias, who began architectural sculptures for the pediment of the temple at
Delphi; but, death interrupting his labors, the work was completed by another
Athenian, Androsthenes. In the front pediment were represented Apollo, his
mother Leto, sister Artemis, and the Muses : in the other appeared Helios as
the setting sun, and Dionysos with the Thyads.620

Of still other sculptors in Athens, some are thought to have followed
Myron : others cannot be assigned to any school. Among Myron's follow-
ers are reckoned masters who, like him, did not give expression to the loftiest
ideals, but found their field of activity in humbler realms. Only one is men-
tioned as his direct scholar, — his own son, Lykios, who, like his father, worked
in bronze. For Apollonia, Lykios executed an extensive bronze group of thir-
teen figures, a thank-offering for the conquest of Thronion in Epeiros : accom-
panied by a dedicatory inscription, this group stood on a semicircular base in
the open air at Olympia, near the Temple of Hippodameia.621 The scene, like
that of Onatas' group (p. 239), was from epic story. Here Achilles and
Memnon prepared for conflict, accompanied each by his country's heroes, —
Achilles by Odysseus, Menelaos, Diomedes, and Ajax, over against the bar-
barians Memnon, Helenos, Alexandres, yEneas, and Dei'phobos. In the centre
was Zeus, whose aid was being sought by Thetis, the mother of Achilles, on
one side, and by Hemera, the mother of Memnon, on the other. Whatever
details the sculptor may have introduced, we see that his composition was a
strictly symmetrical one, which, in its semicircular arrangement, reminds us of
the neighboring group by Onatas.

To two other works by Lykics far greater importance is attached, both by
Pliny and Pausanias.622 These were two statues of boys engaged in the
temple service. One of them, in bronze, with the basin for holy water, stood
at the entrance to the Temple of Artemis Brauronia on the Acropolis at
Athens. A part of the ritual of the Greek temple consisted in the frequent
use of consecrated water, a basin of which stood at the entrance to every holy
place. With it the priest sprinkled the altar and worshippers. It is possible
that Lykios' boy formed the pedestal of such a vessel, into which was dipped
the firebrand from the altar, or the laurel-branch, for purification ; and the sub-
ject is of interest as being apparently taken from life, and used as decoration
in a temple. As such it would naturally be less subservient to worship than
actual votive offerings, and may mark one of those steps which should lead
eventually to the thorough emancipation of ancient art in some branches from
the service of religion, and in so far bring it nearer to modern genre. Of a
similar character seems to have been Lykios' second statue, a boy blowing up
a fire for incense, and described as worthy of his father, Myron.623 The use
of incense, no less than holy water, was a part of the Greek ritual; and hence
it is possible that this figure likewise was decorative, standing before the
statue of the god, or at the entrance to the temple. Myron had expressed