DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0178
142
ARCHAISTIC ART.
The Wedding of Zeus and Here
is the subject of a relief on a four-sided marble altar in the Villa
Albani at Rome. Here, as in the wedding of Heracles and Hcbc,
described above, the skSoctis, the solemn procession which accompa-
nied the bridal pair into the house of the bridegroom, is represented.
The subject, which is also treated on old Greek vases, is the more
interesting because it is taken from scenes of actual Greek life.
Artemis precedes as Goddess of Marriage, torch in hand because the
ceremony took place in the evening. Next to her comes her mother
Leto (or, as some conjecture, Here's mother Rhea, or her nurse Te-
thys), then the majestic bridal pair—Zeus with thunderbolt and royal
sceptre, and Here veiled as a bride and holding a sceptre, with the
proud eyes cast down, for once, in maiden modesty. Behind them walk
Poseidon ; Demetcr bearing her attributes, ears of corn and poppies,
and wearing the modius (fruit-measure) on her head, the symbol of
her beneficence ; Dionysus wearing his leopard's skin ; Hermes; and
another figure, of which only the arm is preserved. The remnant of a
garment at the head of the procession may have belonged to Apollo,
who would most appropriately lead the way and chant the hymeneal
song.1
The Three-sided Basis or Pedestal,
at Dresden, probably intended to bear a tripod gained by the victor
in some musical contest, and offered by him to Apollo. All the
three reliefs by which it is ornamented have reference to the Delphian
ritual. One of these represents the contest of Heracles and Apollo1
(fig. 59) for the Delphian tripod, which Heracles carried off when the
Pythia refused to answer his questions. The strife between such
1 Friederichs, BauiUine, p. Si.
2 The Phocians dedicated a tripod at
Delphi or. which the contest of Heracles and
Apollo for the tripod was represented. It
was offered in honour of their victory under
Tellias over the Thessalians (Herod. viii.
28, and I'ausan. x. 13. 4). Vide tupra,
p. 92.
ARCHAISTIC ART.
The Wedding of Zeus and Here
is the subject of a relief on a four-sided marble altar in the Villa
Albani at Rome. Here, as in the wedding of Heracles and Hcbc,
described above, the skSoctis, the solemn procession which accompa-
nied the bridal pair into the house of the bridegroom, is represented.
The subject, which is also treated on old Greek vases, is the more
interesting because it is taken from scenes of actual Greek life.
Artemis precedes as Goddess of Marriage, torch in hand because the
ceremony took place in the evening. Next to her comes her mother
Leto (or, as some conjecture, Here's mother Rhea, or her nurse Te-
thys), then the majestic bridal pair—Zeus with thunderbolt and royal
sceptre, and Here veiled as a bride and holding a sceptre, with the
proud eyes cast down, for once, in maiden modesty. Behind them walk
Poseidon ; Demetcr bearing her attributes, ears of corn and poppies,
and wearing the modius (fruit-measure) on her head, the symbol of
her beneficence ; Dionysus wearing his leopard's skin ; Hermes; and
another figure, of which only the arm is preserved. The remnant of a
garment at the head of the procession may have belonged to Apollo,
who would most appropriately lead the way and chant the hymeneal
song.1
The Three-sided Basis or Pedestal,
at Dresden, probably intended to bear a tripod gained by the victor
in some musical contest, and offered by him to Apollo. All the
three reliefs by which it is ornamented have reference to the Delphian
ritual. One of these represents the contest of Heracles and Apollo1
(fig. 59) for the Delphian tripod, which Heracles carried off when the
Pythia refused to answer his questions. The strife between such
1 Friederichs, BauiUine, p. Si.
2 The Phocians dedicated a tripod at
Delphi or. which the contest of Heracles and
Apollo for the tripod was represented. It
was offered in honour of their victory under
Tellias over the Thessalians (Herod. viii.
28, and I'ausan. x. 13. 4). Vide tupra,
p. 92.