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Smith, Arthur H. [Editor]; British Museum <London> / Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities [Editor]
Catalogue of sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities (Band 3) — London, 1904

DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18218#0264
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CATALOGUE OF SCULPTUEE.

artist, Archelaos, son of Apollonios, of Priene, is inscribed
on an oblong tablet in the rock, partly covered by the
flute of Euterpe :—

One figure remains to be described, which probably
contains the clue to the intention of the entire com-
position. To the right of the cave and immediately below
the rocky staircase is the representation, not of a poet,
but of a statue of a poet. The statue stands on a square
moulded plinth. It is draped in a tunic with short
sleeves like that of Homer, and a mantle which passes
about the body, under the right arm and over the left
shoulder. The figure has a scroll in the right hand.
Immediately behind is a large tripod with rings, and a
domed cover (cf. No. 515). The head, being a restoration,
must be disregarded. Among the names proposed are
those of Homer, of Hesiod, as the chief rival of Homer,
and of Orpheus, the inventor of poetry. [For Hesiod on
Helicon, accompanied by a tripod, the emblem of a victory
over Homer, compare v. Wilamowitz, Arch. Anzeiger,
1903, p. 119.] The most j>robable explanation appears
to be that which was first proposed by Goethe, namely,
that this is the portrait of a poet who won a tripod in a
contest, and who celebrated the event by a votive relief,
on which he is shown as the dedicator. In the same
manner the reliefs of Apollo and Nike are thought to be
dedications by a successful poet (cf. Nos. 774, 775), and
in mediaeval pictures portraits of the dedicator and his
family are introduced as if present at sacred events.

The general meaning of the relief is clear, although the
exact relations of some of the parts are uncertain, and

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