DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0590
554
PLASTIC ART IN PERGAMON.
front, by the rude and powerful form of one of the Cabciri} He
carries- his attribute, the hammer, which he is aiming at the most
monstrous form in the whole frieze. This is a Giant who has not
only the legs of a serpent, but tlie hump and ears of a buffalo. He has
thrown his huge bulk on his enemy, who drives his sword up to the
hilt into the monster's body.
The chief enigma in this great work is a beautiful female figure,
whom the Germans call by the wonderful name of Scldangcntopfivcr-
ferin (thrower of the snake-vase). Dressed in a chiton, and with a
mantle over her shoulders, she is striding to the left to attack
a Giant who has fallen on one knee. She seizes his shield with
her left hand, and attempts to drag it away, and her right hand
holds a round vase encircled by snakes, which she is about to hurl at
him. She wears a short fluttering veil, and her hair is confined by a
simple band. The beauty of her face and her rich dress have pro-
cured for her the name of Apliroditc ; others sec in her a Nereid; but
the riddle of her attribute—the snake-encircled vase—remains un-
solved. The figure is the more interesting because, in a painting of
the Gigantomachia by Giulio Romano, in the Palazzo del Tc, near
Mantua, we see four or five female figures hurling similar vases, which
arc not, however, encircled by serpents. If we accept the name of
Aphrodite, which I am hardly inclined to do, the utter inadequacy of
such a brittle weapon might suggest the lines of Claudian :—
Kwrpif 8' ovt( /Sf'Xor tptptv, ov8' 077X01/• oXX' eKo'/iifcy
'AyXatrfv-"
Of one combatant on the side of the Gods, as essential to a Giganto-
machia as Zeus himself, viz. Heracles, no certain traces have as yet
been found. There is, indeed, a male figure with the typical lion's
skin and club, but it is probably that of a Giant attacking a lion to
his left. If so, Heracles must have been represented in another part
of the battle. With that strange inconsistency which pervades the
whole of Greek mythology, the success of the immortal and omni-
potent Gods was made contingent, by a higher law promulgated
1 Diodor. v. 51. I.ucian, Dca Syr. xv. 97.
a Cypris nequc telum fcrcbat necjuc anna ; led Rcrcbat
/ enuttatt-ttt.
PLASTIC ART IN PERGAMON.
front, by the rude and powerful form of one of the Cabciri} He
carries- his attribute, the hammer, which he is aiming at the most
monstrous form in the whole frieze. This is a Giant who has not
only the legs of a serpent, but tlie hump and ears of a buffalo. He has
thrown his huge bulk on his enemy, who drives his sword up to the
hilt into the monster's body.
The chief enigma in this great work is a beautiful female figure,
whom the Germans call by the wonderful name of Scldangcntopfivcr-
ferin (thrower of the snake-vase). Dressed in a chiton, and with a
mantle over her shoulders, she is striding to the left to attack
a Giant who has fallen on one knee. She seizes his shield with
her left hand, and attempts to drag it away, and her right hand
holds a round vase encircled by snakes, which she is about to hurl at
him. She wears a short fluttering veil, and her hair is confined by a
simple band. The beauty of her face and her rich dress have pro-
cured for her the name of Apliroditc ; others sec in her a Nereid; but
the riddle of her attribute—the snake-encircled vase—remains un-
solved. The figure is the more interesting because, in a painting of
the Gigantomachia by Giulio Romano, in the Palazzo del Tc, near
Mantua, we see four or five female figures hurling similar vases, which
arc not, however, encircled by serpents. If we accept the name of
Aphrodite, which I am hardly inclined to do, the utter inadequacy of
such a brittle weapon might suggest the lines of Claudian :—
Kwrpif 8' ovt( /Sf'Xor tptptv, ov8' 077X01/• oXX' eKo'/iifcy
'AyXatrfv-"
Of one combatant on the side of the Gods, as essential to a Giganto-
machia as Zeus himself, viz. Heracles, no certain traces have as yet
been found. There is, indeed, a male figure with the typical lion's
skin and club, but it is probably that of a Giant attacking a lion to
his left. If so, Heracles must have been represented in another part
of the battle. With that strange inconsistency which pervades the
whole of Greek mythology, the success of the immortal and omni-
potent Gods was made contingent, by a higher law promulgated
1 Diodor. v. 51. I.ucian, Dca Syr. xv. 97.
a Cypris nequc telum fcrcbat necjuc anna ; led Rcrcbat
/ enuttatt-ttt.