DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18217#0048
34
CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURE.
Mr. B. Gibson (Mm. of Class. Antiq., i., p. 141), basing
himself on the fact that the animals connected with the
figures occur on Ionian and iEolian coins, e.g., the lion
on coins of Miletus, the seal (phoca) on coins of Phocaea,
the crab, dolphin, and shell on those of Cos, Myrina and
Pyrnus respectively, regarded the statues as ' personifica-
tions of the cities and people of Ionia and ZEolia, who
furnished the contingents to augment the army of
Harpagus.' The suggestion, however, is generally
regarded as untenable, since the correspondence of the
accessories with the coins is imperfect, and there is no
parallel for such an extensive use of attributes in a
heraldic sense.
If they are to be regarded as Nereids, it has been
suggested that they are connected with the reproductive
powers of nature (Watkiss Lloyd, Xanthian Marbles, p. 58) ;
that they have been disturbed in the sea by a naval battle
which was fought near Xanthos, and was supposed to be
commemorated in the monument (Welcker, in C. 0.
Midler's Handbucli, 3rd ed., p. 130) ; that they had come up
from the sea to view the victory close at hand (Urlichs,
p. 65); that they are engaged in a dance of victory and
joy, or else are the escort of the deceased hero to the
Isles of the Blessed (Michaelis, Annali dell' List., 1875,
p. 180). They have also been more specially connected
with the groups above the pediments, on the analogy of
vases, in which the Nereids are seen running in alarm
from the struggle of Peleus and Thetis. On this suppo-
sition the two acroterial groups might be Peleus and
the Nereid Thetis, Boreas and the Nereid Oreithyia
(Koscher's Lexikon, in., p. 231). It is difficult, however,
to regard the Nereids as mere accessory figures to the
smaller and less conspicuous groups on the acroteria.
More recently it has been suggested that these figures
represtnt deities of air, not of water, and that they are
CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURE.
Mr. B. Gibson (Mm. of Class. Antiq., i., p. 141), basing
himself on the fact that the animals connected with the
figures occur on Ionian and iEolian coins, e.g., the lion
on coins of Miletus, the seal (phoca) on coins of Phocaea,
the crab, dolphin, and shell on those of Cos, Myrina and
Pyrnus respectively, regarded the statues as ' personifica-
tions of the cities and people of Ionia and ZEolia, who
furnished the contingents to augment the army of
Harpagus.' The suggestion, however, is generally
regarded as untenable, since the correspondence of the
accessories with the coins is imperfect, and there is no
parallel for such an extensive use of attributes in a
heraldic sense.
If they are to be regarded as Nereids, it has been
suggested that they are connected with the reproductive
powers of nature (Watkiss Lloyd, Xanthian Marbles, p. 58) ;
that they have been disturbed in the sea by a naval battle
which was fought near Xanthos, and was supposed to be
commemorated in the monument (Welcker, in C. 0.
Midler's Handbucli, 3rd ed., p. 130) ; that they had come up
from the sea to view the victory close at hand (Urlichs,
p. 65); that they are engaged in a dance of victory and
joy, or else are the escort of the deceased hero to the
Isles of the Blessed (Michaelis, Annali dell' List., 1875,
p. 180). They have also been more specially connected
with the groups above the pediments, on the analogy of
vases, in which the Nereids are seen running in alarm
from the struggle of Peleus and Thetis. On this suppo-
sition the two acroterial groups might be Peleus and
the Nereid Thetis, Boreas and the Nereid Oreithyia
(Koscher's Lexikon, in., p. 231). It is difficult, however,
to regard the Nereids as mere accessory figures to the
smaller and less conspicuous groups on the acroteria.
More recently it has been suggested that these figures
represtnt deities of air, not of water, and that they are