DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0300
264
THE SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON.
A great difference of opinion among commentators prevails also
respecting the locality in which the scene is enacted—a point of great
importance in its connexion with the characters themselves. Is it
Heaven or Earth, or both ? And are the forms before us those of the
Olympian Gods alone, or are some of them local deities or national
heroes ? The only two figures which present no difficulty are those
of the Rising sun ^Helios) in the left, and the Setting moon {Selene)
in the right corner, by which the scene is closed on either side in
the same way as the Birth of Aphrodite on the basis of the statue of
Zeus at Olympia.1 We are inclined to the opinion that the place is
the rock of Olympus, and that Helios and Selene indicate the firma-
ment of Heaven in which they move, and the new and brighter day
which dawned upon the world at the advent of Athene.2
EXTANT FIGURES OF THE E. PEDIMENT.
Beginning at the left corner we find :—
I. The powerful arms and neck of Helios (fig. 104) just emerging
from the sea, and before him
II. The heads of his immortal steeds, straining wildly at the bit
with a fiery ardour which the outstretched arms of the God himself
can hardly curb. The head of the off-horse is turned to the right by
the sharply tightened rein, and protrudes beyond the line of the geison.
We see from the sketch of Carrey that the two other horses of the
quadriga were represented in relief on the tympanum.
III. 1 Theseus' (?) (fig. 105). Next to the impetuous horses of the
Sun God lies in perfect repose the godlike form, generally known
under the name of Theseus. This figure is the object of wondering
and despairing study to countless artists ; and from the ease and
majesty of the attitude, the extraordinary perfection of the anatomical
structure, and the matchless skill with which the texture and elasticity
of the skin and muscles are represented, justly ranks as the greatest
marvel of plastic art.
1 See the same motif on a vase in the brit. Mus, (Table-case F, No. 174).
• Michael. J'arlh. 167.
THE SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON.
A great difference of opinion among commentators prevails also
respecting the locality in which the scene is enacted—a point of great
importance in its connexion with the characters themselves. Is it
Heaven or Earth, or both ? And are the forms before us those of the
Olympian Gods alone, or are some of them local deities or national
heroes ? The only two figures which present no difficulty are those
of the Rising sun ^Helios) in the left, and the Setting moon {Selene)
in the right corner, by which the scene is closed on either side in
the same way as the Birth of Aphrodite on the basis of the statue of
Zeus at Olympia.1 We are inclined to the opinion that the place is
the rock of Olympus, and that Helios and Selene indicate the firma-
ment of Heaven in which they move, and the new and brighter day
which dawned upon the world at the advent of Athene.2
EXTANT FIGURES OF THE E. PEDIMENT.
Beginning at the left corner we find :—
I. The powerful arms and neck of Helios (fig. 104) just emerging
from the sea, and before him
II. The heads of his immortal steeds, straining wildly at the bit
with a fiery ardour which the outstretched arms of the God himself
can hardly curb. The head of the off-horse is turned to the right by
the sharply tightened rein, and protrudes beyond the line of the geison.
We see from the sketch of Carrey that the two other horses of the
quadriga were represented in relief on the tympanum.
III. 1 Theseus' (?) (fig. 105). Next to the impetuous horses of the
Sun God lies in perfect repose the godlike form, generally known
under the name of Theseus. This figure is the object of wondering
and despairing study to countless artists ; and from the ease and
majesty of the attitude, the extraordinary perfection of the anatomical
structure, and the matchless skill with which the texture and elasticity
of the skin and muscles are represented, justly ranks as the greatest
marvel of plastic art.
1 See the same motif on a vase in the brit. Mus, (Table-case F, No. 174).
• Michael. J'arlh. 167.