DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0423
THE EROTES OF SCOPAS.
387
Goddess, called Parcgoros (the Consoler).1 The Eros of Scopas stood
opposite to his mother, Aphrodite, while his sons, or satellites, faced
the two female statues by Praxiteles.'- We are not to think of these
Erotes of Scopas as the little playful boys of Alexandrian art, but
rather as tender youths just merging into manhood, such as we see in
the group of Deities in the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum
and in the so-called ' Genius ' of the Vatican.3
Aphrodite and Pothos {or Phaethon) in Samothrace.4—The reading
of the passage in which this group is mentioned is uncertain. But if
we prefer ' Phaethon ' we must think not of the presumptuous son of
Helios and Clymene, who tried to drive the horses of the Sun, but of
the son of Cephalus and Eos, whom Aphrodite carried off and made
guardian and priest of her temple. The island of Samothrace was
intimately connected with Athens, and was the chief seat of the
worship of the Cabeiri5 (Kufisipoi), and of holy mysteries only second
in sanctity and importance to those of Eleusis.6 It was for this
place that Scopas made the group of Aphrodite and Pothos (or
Phaethon), ' who were worshipped with the holiest ceremonies.'7
Artemis Euklcia in Thebes.8 Bceotia received the first impulse in
the direction of plastic art from the school of Sicyon—Dipcenus, Scyllis,
and others; and Canachus made a temple-statue of the Ismenian Apollo
for Thebes, and was the teacher of the Theban artist Ascarus.9 But after-
the Persian wars, and especially between the years 01. ico. 3—102. 4
(B.C. 378-369), many works of art were made for Thebes by Athenian
artists, and among others by Calamis, Myron, and Pheidias himself.
Scopas, too, was employed by the Thebans to make a statue of
Pausan. i. 43. 0. them as Lemnian deities, who concerned
Urlichs, Tfrtjm. p. 89. themselves with the produce of the fields,
Call. ilfllc Statue, No. 250. and es]>ecial!y the vineyards. Vid. l.obeck,
' Plin. A'. II, xxxvi. 25. If Pothos was Aglaofh. p. 1202. The Cabeiri only appear
here represented standing beside the goddess, in works of art as local deities. On a coin
!''<.' composition was new to statuary, although of Thessalonica (with Cybele on the reverse)
" "ad already appeared in reliefs. they ap| ear with the Kliyton (drinking horn)
* Herodotus (iii. 37) mentions these mys- in the right hand, and a hammer in the left
'•■nous deities, and says that (hey were wor- (A'urn. Brit. 5. 3; K. O. Midler, Arch. </.
sl"l»ped at Memphis as sons of Hepl :estus, K. sec. 395. 5).
and were like the dwarf gods of the Phoeni- * Aristophanes, 7'ax, 277.
cians. The Cabeiri are first mentioned in ' Plin. A\ II. I.e. Conf. Schelling, Utter
j1 drama of /Kschylus, in which they are Jit Goiter v. Sanwlhrake.
.'"'■tight into connexion with the Atfianaatt 1 Pausan. ix. 17. I.
111 Lemnos, and yfcsclule.s seems to regard ' Ibid. ii. 10. 5, and v. 24. 1.
387
Goddess, called Parcgoros (the Consoler).1 The Eros of Scopas stood
opposite to his mother, Aphrodite, while his sons, or satellites, faced
the two female statues by Praxiteles.'- We are not to think of these
Erotes of Scopas as the little playful boys of Alexandrian art, but
rather as tender youths just merging into manhood, such as we see in
the group of Deities in the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum
and in the so-called ' Genius ' of the Vatican.3
Aphrodite and Pothos {or Phaethon) in Samothrace.4—The reading
of the passage in which this group is mentioned is uncertain. But if
we prefer ' Phaethon ' we must think not of the presumptuous son of
Helios and Clymene, who tried to drive the horses of the Sun, but of
the son of Cephalus and Eos, whom Aphrodite carried off and made
guardian and priest of her temple. The island of Samothrace was
intimately connected with Athens, and was the chief seat of the
worship of the Cabeiri5 (Kufisipoi), and of holy mysteries only second
in sanctity and importance to those of Eleusis.6 It was for this
place that Scopas made the group of Aphrodite and Pothos (or
Phaethon), ' who were worshipped with the holiest ceremonies.'7
Artemis Euklcia in Thebes.8 Bceotia received the first impulse in
the direction of plastic art from the school of Sicyon—Dipcenus, Scyllis,
and others; and Canachus made a temple-statue of the Ismenian Apollo
for Thebes, and was the teacher of the Theban artist Ascarus.9 But after-
the Persian wars, and especially between the years 01. ico. 3—102. 4
(B.C. 378-369), many works of art were made for Thebes by Athenian
artists, and among others by Calamis, Myron, and Pheidias himself.
Scopas, too, was employed by the Thebans to make a statue of
Pausan. i. 43. 0. them as Lemnian deities, who concerned
Urlichs, Tfrtjm. p. 89. themselves with the produce of the fields,
Call. ilfllc Statue, No. 250. and es]>ecial!y the vineyards. Vid. l.obeck,
' Plin. A'. II, xxxvi. 25. If Pothos was Aglaofh. p. 1202. The Cabeiri only appear
here represented standing beside the goddess, in works of art as local deities. On a coin
!''<.' composition was new to statuary, although of Thessalonica (with Cybele on the reverse)
" "ad already appeared in reliefs. they ap| ear with the Kliyton (drinking horn)
* Herodotus (iii. 37) mentions these mys- in the right hand, and a hammer in the left
'•■nous deities, and says that (hey were wor- (A'urn. Brit. 5. 3; K. O. Midler, Arch. </.
sl"l»ped at Memphis as sons of Hepl :estus, K. sec. 395. 5).
and were like the dwarf gods of the Phoeni- * Aristophanes, 7'ax, 277.
cians. The Cabeiri are first mentioned in ' Plin. A\ II. I.e. Conf. Schelling, Utter
j1 drama of /Kschylus, in which they are Jit Goiter v. Sanwlhrake.
.'"'■tight into connexion with the Atfianaatt 1 Pausan. ix. 17. I.
111 Lemnos, and yfcsclule.s seems to regard ' Ibid. ii. 10. 5, and v. 24. 1.