DOI Kapitel:
Divison D: The Acropolis, from the Propylaea to the statue of Athene Lemnia
DOI Kapitel:Section XVI
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61302#0582
408
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. D
(1) Bronze coins of Athens.
(2) Relief from a marble vase at Athens.
(3) A red-figured oinochoe in Berlin (no. 2418).
(4) Marble statue in the Lateran.
(5) Bronze statuette in the British Museum.
The firot three represent the whole group, the last two the
figure of the Satyr only. One of the coins is of considerable
interest, because, struck as it was at Athens, it is on it we may
look with most certainty for an echo. Athene to the left drops
the flute and turns averse ; the Satyr to the right is in an attitude
of surprise. The coin is, however, badly preserved, and so late
as to be of no use in reconstructing style. The Berlin vase
gives a more vivid picture of the scene : Athene, in helmet and
aegis, leans with her left arm on her long spear ; her right, out-
stretched, drops the flute with a dignified gesture of contempt ;
the Satyr stands back in amazement. The drawing is careless,
but full of vigour. On the marble vase relief the positions of
Athene and Marsyas are reversed (fig. 29). Athene is to. the
right ;* she carries a large shield, and instead of standing calmly,
she also starts away. Of the two statues in the round the marble
statue is certainly nearer in manner to the “time” of Myron ; it
retains something of the archaic manner ; but, as Myron is not
known to have used marble for statues, it can at best be but a
marble copy. Its chief use is not for reconstructing the style of
Myron, but to give us an idea of how the Satyr starting back
would look in the round.
It occurs of course to every one that neither the coin, relief,
nor vase representation tallies closely with the words of Pausanias.
Pausanias says distinctly he saw “ a statue of Athene striking
Marsyas, because he took up the pipes when the goddess meant
them to be flung away.” In all three representations the action
is quite otherwise. Athene stands quietly, or at most (in the
relief) moves away ; she makes no sort of gesture to strike.
There is another account of the Myron group by Pliny which
accords much better with the copies cited. Pliny says (34-57)—
“ (Myron) fecit . . . et Satyrum admirantem tibias et Minervam.”
The words taken alone, without monumental evidence, might be
taken three different ways: (1) Myron made two separate statues
— a Satyr wondering at the flutes, and another statue (quite dis-
tinct) of Minerva ; (2) Myron made a statue of a Satyr wondering
In the cut the positions are reversed.
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. D
(1) Bronze coins of Athens.
(2) Relief from a marble vase at Athens.
(3) A red-figured oinochoe in Berlin (no. 2418).
(4) Marble statue in the Lateran.
(5) Bronze statuette in the British Museum.
The firot three represent the whole group, the last two the
figure of the Satyr only. One of the coins is of considerable
interest, because, struck as it was at Athens, it is on it we may
look with most certainty for an echo. Athene to the left drops
the flute and turns averse ; the Satyr to the right is in an attitude
of surprise. The coin is, however, badly preserved, and so late
as to be of no use in reconstructing style. The Berlin vase
gives a more vivid picture of the scene : Athene, in helmet and
aegis, leans with her left arm on her long spear ; her right, out-
stretched, drops the flute with a dignified gesture of contempt ;
the Satyr stands back in amazement. The drawing is careless,
but full of vigour. On the marble vase relief the positions of
Athene and Marsyas are reversed (fig. 29). Athene is to. the
right ;* she carries a large shield, and instead of standing calmly,
she also starts away. Of the two statues in the round the marble
statue is certainly nearer in manner to the “time” of Myron ; it
retains something of the archaic manner ; but, as Myron is not
known to have used marble for statues, it can at best be but a
marble copy. Its chief use is not for reconstructing the style of
Myron, but to give us an idea of how the Satyr starting back
would look in the round.
It occurs of course to every one that neither the coin, relief,
nor vase representation tallies closely with the words of Pausanias.
Pausanias says distinctly he saw “ a statue of Athene striking
Marsyas, because he took up the pipes when the goddess meant
them to be flung away.” In all three representations the action
is quite otherwise. Athene stands quietly, or at most (in the
relief) moves away ; she makes no sort of gesture to strike.
There is another account of the Myron group by Pliny which
accords much better with the copies cited. Pliny says (34-57)—
“ (Myron) fecit . . . et Satyrum admirantem tibias et Minervam.”
The words taken alone, without monumental evidence, might be
taken three different ways: (1) Myron made two separate statues
— a Satyr wondering at the flutes, and another statue (quite dis-
tinct) of Minerva ; (2) Myron made a statue of a Satyr wondering
In the cut the positions are reversed.