DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.973#0038
30 CATALOGUE OF SCULPTTJKE.
On comparing the composition of this triad with that
of the triad placed next to Helios in the opposite half of
the pediment, a curious analogy of treatment may he
observed. The so-called Theseus (D), like the reclining
figure (M), seems to be quite unconscious of the great
event which is being announced, and they are turned
outwards to the groups of Day and Night which bound
the scene on either side. The central figure of either
triad seems only half aroused, while on each side the
figure nearest the central action appears to have heard
the news of the birth. From the time of Visconti
many writers have interpreted this group as the Three
Fates, who would naturally take part in the scene of the
birth of the goddess, and who occur on the puteal at
Madrid (cf. p. 17), and this view is again advocated by the
most recent critics (Furtwaengler, Meisterwerhe, p. 245,
Collignon, ii., p. 30). Against this it is objected that the
place of the Fates would more naturally be in the central
part of the composition, or at least that they might be
supposed to be more on the alert with respect to what
was passing. Various writers have attempted to trace a
connexion with the Moon or with Night. Thus the
three figures have been interpreted (by Welcker) as the
daughters of Cecrops, viz., Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos,
mythic impersonations of the Dew, who have a con-
spicuous place in Attic legend. By Brunn (Bet: d. Tc.
bayer, Akad. Phil. hist. CI., 1874, ii., p. 16) they were
interpreted as personifications of clouds; Furtwaengler
has pointed out that the Fates were daughters of Night.
Among the writers who have regarded K as separate
from L and M, the most common opinion has been
that K is Hestia; L and M have been called Aphrodite in
the lap of Thalassa (Eonchaud), or of Peitho (Petersen), or
Thalassa, the Sea, in the lap of Gaia, the Earth
(Waldstein).
On comparing the composition of this triad with that
of the triad placed next to Helios in the opposite half of
the pediment, a curious analogy of treatment may he
observed. The so-called Theseus (D), like the reclining
figure (M), seems to be quite unconscious of the great
event which is being announced, and they are turned
outwards to the groups of Day and Night which bound
the scene on either side. The central figure of either
triad seems only half aroused, while on each side the
figure nearest the central action appears to have heard
the news of the birth. From the time of Visconti
many writers have interpreted this group as the Three
Fates, who would naturally take part in the scene of the
birth of the goddess, and who occur on the puteal at
Madrid (cf. p. 17), and this view is again advocated by the
most recent critics (Furtwaengler, Meisterwerhe, p. 245,
Collignon, ii., p. 30). Against this it is objected that the
place of the Fates would more naturally be in the central
part of the composition, or at least that they might be
supposed to be more on the alert with respect to what
was passing. Various writers have attempted to trace a
connexion with the Moon or with Night. Thus the
three figures have been interpreted (by Welcker) as the
daughters of Cecrops, viz., Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos,
mythic impersonations of the Dew, who have a con-
spicuous place in Attic legend. By Brunn (Bet: d. Tc.
bayer, Akad. Phil. hist. CI., 1874, ii., p. 16) they were
interpreted as personifications of clouds; Furtwaengler
has pointed out that the Fates were daughters of Night.
Among the writers who have regarded K as separate
from L and M, the most common opinion has been
that K is Hestia; L and M have been called Aphrodite in
the lap of Thalassa (Eonchaud), or of Peitho (Petersen), or
Thalassa, the Sea, in the lap of Gaia, the Earth
(Waldstein).