DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0076
4o
HOMERIC ART.
The next most important link in the chain which connects Homeric
decorative art with that of a later age is the well-known
Chest of Cypselus,
which is circumstantially described by Pausanias.1 Cypselus, surnamed
from the chest (/cv^jrsX-r]) in which his mother Labda is said to have con-
cealed him from the Bacchiadae who sought his life, reigned in Corinth
during the latter half of the seventh century B.C. The chest, which was
supposed to be of a much earlier date, was placed in the Opisthodom
(back-chamber) of the Heraion'2 (temple of Here) at Olympia, where
Pausanias saw it. This writer ascribes the inscription on the chest
to the poet Eumelus, who flourished about 760 B.C.; but it has been
noticed that, in the reliefs, Heracles has his usual weapons (the club and
bow), which were not generally given him before 01. 30 (660 B.C.).
The chest, which was of cedar, was oblong in form, three feet in height,
and four feet broad, and rested on feet.3 As it was placed against the
wall it was only ornamented with reliefs on three sides, or, as some
maintain, only in front.4 The reliefs were partly carved in the cedar
itself and partly on pieces of gold and ivory, which were fastened on
to the surface of the chest. It was divided into five narrow stripes
(wpai), in the same way as the Homeric shield, only, of course, into
parallel straight bands instead of concentric circles. Only the middle
stripe contained a single scene, while the other four were occupied
by from four to thirteen scenes each. In the first, third, and fifth
stripes the figures moved from right to left; in the second and fourth,
from left to right.5 We gather from the minute description of
Pausanias that the same principle of risponsioii and parallelism
prevailed in these reliefs as in earlier and later Greek works of a similar
nature, and that prominence was given to the central and corner
groups. Mythology, as might be expected, has already become the
prevailing element in the subjects chosen. Inscriptions are very freely
17- 5. 2 Chrysostom, Oral. ii. 45. ' Bnmn, A nns/ bci Homer.
'• Jahn> Popul. Aufsuizc, p. 202. s O. Miiller, Arch. d. A'unsl, Sec. 57.
HOMERIC ART.
The next most important link in the chain which connects Homeric
decorative art with that of a later age is the well-known
Chest of Cypselus,
which is circumstantially described by Pausanias.1 Cypselus, surnamed
from the chest (/cv^jrsX-r]) in which his mother Labda is said to have con-
cealed him from the Bacchiadae who sought his life, reigned in Corinth
during the latter half of the seventh century B.C. The chest, which was
supposed to be of a much earlier date, was placed in the Opisthodom
(back-chamber) of the Heraion'2 (temple of Here) at Olympia, where
Pausanias saw it. This writer ascribes the inscription on the chest
to the poet Eumelus, who flourished about 760 B.C.; but it has been
noticed that, in the reliefs, Heracles has his usual weapons (the club and
bow), which were not generally given him before 01. 30 (660 B.C.).
The chest, which was of cedar, was oblong in form, three feet in height,
and four feet broad, and rested on feet.3 As it was placed against the
wall it was only ornamented with reliefs on three sides, or, as some
maintain, only in front.4 The reliefs were partly carved in the cedar
itself and partly on pieces of gold and ivory, which were fastened on
to the surface of the chest. It was divided into five narrow stripes
(wpai), in the same way as the Homeric shield, only, of course, into
parallel straight bands instead of concentric circles. Only the middle
stripe contained a single scene, while the other four were occupied
by from four to thirteen scenes each. In the first, third, and fifth
stripes the figures moved from right to left; in the second and fourth,
from left to right.5 We gather from the minute description of
Pausanias that the same principle of risponsioii and parallelism
prevailed in these reliefs as in earlier and later Greek works of a similar
nature, and that prominence was given to the central and corner
groups. Mythology, as might be expected, has already become the
prevailing element in the subjects chosen. Inscriptions are very freely
17- 5. 2 Chrysostom, Oral. ii. 45. ' Bnmn, A nns/ bci Homer.
'• Jahn> Popul. Aufsuizc, p. 202. s O. Miiller, Arch. d. A'unsl, Sec. 57.