DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18218#0263
APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER.
249
the figure in the cave is a Muse, one of the other figures
must he differently named. It has therefore heen pro-
posed (by Cuper, by Goethe and by S. Eeinach) to call the
standing figure, nearest to Zeus, Mnemosyne (Memory),
who was accounted the mother of the Muses, Zeus being
their father. Pausanias (i. 25) mentions a group at
Athens which contained Zeus, Mnemosyne and the Muses.
The position of Mnemosyne is next in rank to that of
Zeus, and she is of a larger scale than the Muses. The
remaining names to be assigned are Thalia, Melpomene,
and Calliope. The standing figure in the upper tier, who
seems to be listening to Clio, might be either Calliope or
Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy. The latter is, perhaps,
to be preferred. The figure who is seen on the right
running quickly down the rocky staircase might be
Thalia, Muse of Comedy, or Calliope. Reinach suggests
Calliope, quoting Horace, "Descende . . . caelo Calliope."
The left arm of this figure, which is modern, appears to
have been restored in a way that exaggerates the violence
of the movement. If the names proposed above are
correct, the female figure within the cave must be Thalia.
On the question of how far names can properly be
attached to the different types before the Roman Empire,
compare No. 1106.
All the Muses in this relief and also the Mnemosyne
wear the long tunic, with mantle variously disposed over
it. Mnemosyne wears a veil over the back of her head.
The hair of Polyhymnia is drawn back from her face, and
the tresses are tied in a knot behind.
At the top of the relief, Zeus is seated in a reclining
attitude on a rocky throne, draped in a mantle which is
wrapped about his legs. He holds a sceptre by the
middle in his right hand and looks towards Mnemosyne.
The eagle stands on the left.
Immediately below the figure of Zeus the name of the
249
the figure in the cave is a Muse, one of the other figures
must he differently named. It has therefore heen pro-
posed (by Cuper, by Goethe and by S. Eeinach) to call the
standing figure, nearest to Zeus, Mnemosyne (Memory),
who was accounted the mother of the Muses, Zeus being
their father. Pausanias (i. 25) mentions a group at
Athens which contained Zeus, Mnemosyne and the Muses.
The position of Mnemosyne is next in rank to that of
Zeus, and she is of a larger scale than the Muses. The
remaining names to be assigned are Thalia, Melpomene,
and Calliope. The standing figure in the upper tier, who
seems to be listening to Clio, might be either Calliope or
Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy. The latter is, perhaps,
to be preferred. The figure who is seen on the right
running quickly down the rocky staircase might be
Thalia, Muse of Comedy, or Calliope. Reinach suggests
Calliope, quoting Horace, "Descende . . . caelo Calliope."
The left arm of this figure, which is modern, appears to
have been restored in a way that exaggerates the violence
of the movement. If the names proposed above are
correct, the female figure within the cave must be Thalia.
On the question of how far names can properly be
attached to the different types before the Roman Empire,
compare No. 1106.
All the Muses in this relief and also the Mnemosyne
wear the long tunic, with mantle variously disposed over
it. Mnemosyne wears a veil over the back of her head.
The hair of Polyhymnia is drawn back from her face, and
the tresses are tied in a knot behind.
At the top of the relief, Zeus is seated in a reclining
attitude on a rocky throne, draped in a mantle which is
wrapped about his legs. He holds a sceptre by the
middle in his right hand and looks towards Mnemosyne.
The eagle stands on the left.
Immediately below the figure of Zeus the name of the