DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4376#0070
54 HISTORY CHF CARIA.
scope and meaning to Asiatic magnificence, and in
converting an ephemeral and sumptuous pageant
into an abiding monument of beauty.
At the funeral games, four renowned rhetoricians
contended for prizes in oratory and poetry, the theme
being a eulogium on the departed prince. In this
competition Theodektes obtained the prize for his
tragedy, " Mausolus," and Theopompus vanquished
his master in rhetoric, Isokrates. This contest
took place B.C. 352.u It is to be regretted that no
fragments of the prize compositions have been pre-
served to us, as they would probably throw light on
the history of the Carian dynasty, and perhaps on
the motive of the sculptures of the Mausoleum.
While rhetoric and poetry were thus invited to
celebrate the memory of Mausolus in fleeting words,
the genius of the most famous architects and sculp-
tors of the day was employed in the construction of
his tomb. This monument was of the class called,
at a later period, Heroon, but surpassing in beauty
of design and sumptuousness of material all similar
monuments in the ancient world. The architects
were Satyros and Pythios, who composed a treatise
on the structure of the edifice, cited by Vitruvius,
but which, unfortunately, has not been preserved.
We learn from Pliny that the tomb was a peristyle
building, surmounted by a pyramid, on the summit
of which was a chariot group in marble. The sculp-
tural decorations were chiefly executed by four
renowned artists, Scopas, Leochares, Pry axis, and
11 See the authorities cited by Clinton, F. H. ii. p. 287.
scope and meaning to Asiatic magnificence, and in
converting an ephemeral and sumptuous pageant
into an abiding monument of beauty.
At the funeral games, four renowned rhetoricians
contended for prizes in oratory and poetry, the theme
being a eulogium on the departed prince. In this
competition Theodektes obtained the prize for his
tragedy, " Mausolus," and Theopompus vanquished
his master in rhetoric, Isokrates. This contest
took place B.C. 352.u It is to be regretted that no
fragments of the prize compositions have been pre-
served to us, as they would probably throw light on
the history of the Carian dynasty, and perhaps on
the motive of the sculptures of the Mausoleum.
While rhetoric and poetry were thus invited to
celebrate the memory of Mausolus in fleeting words,
the genius of the most famous architects and sculp-
tors of the day was employed in the construction of
his tomb. This monument was of the class called,
at a later period, Heroon, but surpassing in beauty
of design and sumptuousness of material all similar
monuments in the ancient world. The architects
were Satyros and Pythios, who composed a treatise
on the structure of the edifice, cited by Vitruvius,
but which, unfortunately, has not been preserved.
We learn from Pliny that the tomb was a peristyle
building, surmounted by a pyramid, on the summit
of which was a chariot group in marble. The sculp-
tural decorations were chiefly executed by four
renowned artists, Scopas, Leochares, Pry axis, and
11 See the authorities cited by Clinton, F. H. ii. p. 287.