DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.973#0035
EASTEEN PEDIMENT OF PARTHENON. 27
version of the myth, this was done by Hephaestos (to
whom this massive torso would be appropriate), but Attic
tradition preferred to attribute the deed to Prometheus.
The original, which was discovered on the east side of
the Parthenon in 1836, is at Athens.
Michaelis, pi. 6, figs. 13, 13a; Furtwaengler (_Meisterwerhe, p. 244)
compares the pose with that of the Marsyas of Myron (Bronze
Room, No. 269), but this view of the position of the left arm
seems inadmissible.
Nike, or Victory. Torso of a female figure, moving
rapidly to the front, and to our left, with the right arm
extended in the same direction. The figure wears a short
sleeveless chiton with a diploidion which is confined under
the girdle, to facilitate rapid motion. A piece of bronze,
which is fixed in the marble about the middle of the left
thigh, may have served for the attachment of a metallic
object, perhaps a taenia held in the left hand. At the
back the drapery is tied together, so as to leave the
shoulder-blades bare. On each shoulder-blade is a deep
oblong sinking, which can only have served for the in-
sertion of the wings, which must have been attached by
large dowels. It may be inferred from the size of these
sinkings that the wings were of marble, not metal.
The attempts, however, which have been made to insert
the wings described below (No. 339, 4, 5) have not been
successful.
It has generally been taken for granted, that this figure
belongs to the eastern pediment, and it has been inferred
from its height that it was not placed much nearer the
centre than its present position. This depends, however,
on the original position of the wings. If they were
raised above the head, the figure must have occupied a
place nearer to the centre than it does at present.
It should be observed, that in Carrey's drawing of the
version of the myth, this was done by Hephaestos (to
whom this massive torso would be appropriate), but Attic
tradition preferred to attribute the deed to Prometheus.
The original, which was discovered on the east side of
the Parthenon in 1836, is at Athens.
Michaelis, pi. 6, figs. 13, 13a; Furtwaengler (_Meisterwerhe, p. 244)
compares the pose with that of the Marsyas of Myron (Bronze
Room, No. 269), but this view of the position of the left arm
seems inadmissible.
Nike, or Victory. Torso of a female figure, moving
rapidly to the front, and to our left, with the right arm
extended in the same direction. The figure wears a short
sleeveless chiton with a diploidion which is confined under
the girdle, to facilitate rapid motion. A piece of bronze,
which is fixed in the marble about the middle of the left
thigh, may have served for the attachment of a metallic
object, perhaps a taenia held in the left hand. At the
back the drapery is tied together, so as to leave the
shoulder-blades bare. On each shoulder-blade is a deep
oblong sinking, which can only have served for the in-
sertion of the wings, which must have been attached by
large dowels. It may be inferred from the size of these
sinkings that the wings were of marble, not metal.
The attempts, however, which have been made to insert
the wings described below (No. 339, 4, 5) have not been
successful.
It has generally been taken for granted, that this figure
belongs to the eastern pediment, and it has been inferred
from its height that it was not placed much nearer the
centre than its present position. This depends, however,
on the original position of the wings. If they were
raised above the head, the figure must have occupied a
place nearer to the centre than it does at present.
It should be observed, that in Carrey's drawing of the