DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4263#0049
4a OF THE OCTOGON TOWER OF ANDRONICUS CYRRHESTES.
at Athens to contribute to fertility and abundance, or as Dervish Mustapha used to express himself;
' this is a divine wind, it wafts the blessings of God to us from Mecca'.
Mons. Le Roy says, ' Apcliotes, ou le Vent de Levant, est Wheler's translator describes this wind in the following words,
exprime par la figure'd'un jeune homme avec des Ailes, portant ' C'est la figure d'un jeune homme avec des Ailes, portant dans le
dans le pli de son manteau des pommes de grenades, et toutes pli de son manteau des pommes, des citrons et des grenades, et
tes de fruits, pour montrer que ce Vent rendoit le pays fer- toutes sortes de fruits, pour montrer que ce vent rendoit ce Pays
fertile,' &c.
sor
tile.'
Neither Wheler nor Spon have mentioned the ears of corn or the honey-comb which Apeliotes
carries in his mantle. Mons. Le Roy has likewise omitted them.
Fig. 4. ETPnr, Euitus, the south-east wind; which at Athens is sultry and gloomy, and
brings much rain. It is represented by an old man with a morose countenance; he is, more than any
other of these hVures, wrapt up in his mantle ; his right arm and hand is entirely hid in one part of it,
and the other part which conceals his left arm, is held up before his face; his vest is considerably
longer than that belonging to any other of these figures.
But Mons. Le Roy, who with Wheler and Spon has really Both Wheler and Spon are strangely mistaken in their descrip-
described this figure when he should have described Boreas, here tion of Eurus: the words by which Wheler's translator has ex-
tells us that Eurus is naked. ' Euros,' says he, ' on le Vent de pressed him, are, ' II est reprcsente en jeune homme, avec des
Sud-Est, a des Ailes; il est nud, et ne porte rien.' Ailes, nud, et ne portant rien.'
Fig. 5. NOTOS, Notus, the south wind, is sultry and very wet. The sculptor has represented
this wind, by the figure of a young man emptying a jar of water.
Fig. 6. APF2, Libs, the south-west wind, blows directly across the Saronic Gulf, full on that
shore of Attica which extends from the Isthmus of Corinth to the Promontory of Sunium ; and right
into the Pirseus. This wind is represented by the figure of a robust man, bearing in his hands the
aplustre a of a ship, which he seems to push before him; but whether this symbol denotes the facility
with which ships, by means of this wind enter the Pirasus, or whether it characterizes him a destroyer
of ships, as that coast of Attica" becomes a dangerous lee-shore when this wind blows, is not perhaps
easily determined.
Wheler and Spon have not described the figures which represent, these last mentioned winds,
Libs and Notus; nor indeed was it possible they should; they did not see them ; for when Wheler
and Spon were at Athens, these figures were enclosed in the wall of a house adjoining to the tower
of the winds. Mons. Le Roy found this obstacle removed, and might have seen them to advantage,
but he has nevertheless omitted the description of them; he tells us however, that these figures like-
wise have allegories; but adds, that he could not distinguish them, so well as he has distinguished
the others.
Fit
ZE*IPI22, Zephyrus, the West Wind, in the summer brings very sultry weather, but
a The Aplustre, or as the Grecians called it, the Aphiaston,
is mentioned by many ancient authors; and is represented in
many of the ancient sculptures and paintings. By them we find,
that the Aplustre was generally placed on the upper extremity
of the ship's stern; but its use does not seem to be any where
clearly described'.
b Herodotus relates that after the battle of Salamis, the greater-
part of the broken vessels of Xerxes's fleet were driven by a
westerly wind to the shore of Colias in Attica. See Herodotus
Book VIII. Now the Promontory of Colias is part of that shore
which, it is already observed, exactly faces Libs or the south-west
wind. In another part of the same Book VIII, we find that the
Grecians returned to Salamis (where they had before brought all
1 The "ApAao-rov or Aplustre very probably answered the purpose of a vane in the
Arts par Millin, 1806.
the wreck, which continued floating about that coast), and having
first separated that part of the Persian spoils, which they designed
to dedicate to the gods, they divided the rest of the booty amongst
themselves. That part of the spoils which they dedicated to
Apollo at Delphi, was formed into a statue twelve cubits high,
holding the prow of a ship in his hand. These spoils were, per-
haps, the brazen beaks and aplustra of the ruined Persian ships,
and the statue formed out of them might be the figure of Libs,
the wind which had driven those wrecks on the coast of Attica.
The aplustre with which Libs is here figured on the tower of the
winds, may be designed to commemorate the same event. But
this, it must be owned, is mere conjecture.
shipping of the ancients. See Potter's Archseologia Grreca, and Diet, des Beaux-
f*n,]
t$
(0G°!
to*v
JJB
0*
vota'
ble
to
eeiflS
toB
vcge
/i
Vs
ed*'11
V*l*+*
isay,
the stomacb
and**
s#>
neat^
m
the ci
8
n the h*
M™
OS VI
B
^.grdBCUSKf1
rcsenta
Schiro
jUetteboUines,P^
^Sdtoiito have a-w
s.teiBse it never raios at.
is from Spon; I
ays he," this wii
:obe just; for
[buskins, They
is.Le Roy's de
atiilelei and Spoi
^lesion, is somewl
: he says, «th
Stj.01 excuse his
'4*u sculpture, ar
Worthy
^tkfetparuf
'Mi;.:,
3 Present stat
',4«Mat
■ks
1
■"i -Ai
^lru.x
at Athens to contribute to fertility and abundance, or as Dervish Mustapha used to express himself;
' this is a divine wind, it wafts the blessings of God to us from Mecca'.
Mons. Le Roy says, ' Apcliotes, ou le Vent de Levant, est Wheler's translator describes this wind in the following words,
exprime par la figure'd'un jeune homme avec des Ailes, portant ' C'est la figure d'un jeune homme avec des Ailes, portant dans le
dans le pli de son manteau des pommes de grenades, et toutes pli de son manteau des pommes, des citrons et des grenades, et
tes de fruits, pour montrer que ce Vent rendoit le pays fer- toutes sortes de fruits, pour montrer que ce vent rendoit ce Pays
fertile,' &c.
sor
tile.'
Neither Wheler nor Spon have mentioned the ears of corn or the honey-comb which Apeliotes
carries in his mantle. Mons. Le Roy has likewise omitted them.
Fig. 4. ETPnr, Euitus, the south-east wind; which at Athens is sultry and gloomy, and
brings much rain. It is represented by an old man with a morose countenance; he is, more than any
other of these hVures, wrapt up in his mantle ; his right arm and hand is entirely hid in one part of it,
and the other part which conceals his left arm, is held up before his face; his vest is considerably
longer than that belonging to any other of these figures.
But Mons. Le Roy, who with Wheler and Spon has really Both Wheler and Spon are strangely mistaken in their descrip-
described this figure when he should have described Boreas, here tion of Eurus: the words by which Wheler's translator has ex-
tells us that Eurus is naked. ' Euros,' says he, ' on le Vent de pressed him, are, ' II est reprcsente en jeune homme, avec des
Sud-Est, a des Ailes; il est nud, et ne porte rien.' Ailes, nud, et ne portant rien.'
Fig. 5. NOTOS, Notus, the south wind, is sultry and very wet. The sculptor has represented
this wind, by the figure of a young man emptying a jar of water.
Fig. 6. APF2, Libs, the south-west wind, blows directly across the Saronic Gulf, full on that
shore of Attica which extends from the Isthmus of Corinth to the Promontory of Sunium ; and right
into the Pirseus. This wind is represented by the figure of a robust man, bearing in his hands the
aplustre a of a ship, which he seems to push before him; but whether this symbol denotes the facility
with which ships, by means of this wind enter the Pirasus, or whether it characterizes him a destroyer
of ships, as that coast of Attica" becomes a dangerous lee-shore when this wind blows, is not perhaps
easily determined.
Wheler and Spon have not described the figures which represent, these last mentioned winds,
Libs and Notus; nor indeed was it possible they should; they did not see them ; for when Wheler
and Spon were at Athens, these figures were enclosed in the wall of a house adjoining to the tower
of the winds. Mons. Le Roy found this obstacle removed, and might have seen them to advantage,
but he has nevertheless omitted the description of them; he tells us however, that these figures like-
wise have allegories; but adds, that he could not distinguish them, so well as he has distinguished
the others.
Fit
ZE*IPI22, Zephyrus, the West Wind, in the summer brings very sultry weather, but
a The Aplustre, or as the Grecians called it, the Aphiaston,
is mentioned by many ancient authors; and is represented in
many of the ancient sculptures and paintings. By them we find,
that the Aplustre was generally placed on the upper extremity
of the ship's stern; but its use does not seem to be any where
clearly described'.
b Herodotus relates that after the battle of Salamis, the greater-
part of the broken vessels of Xerxes's fleet were driven by a
westerly wind to the shore of Colias in Attica. See Herodotus
Book VIII. Now the Promontory of Colias is part of that shore
which, it is already observed, exactly faces Libs or the south-west
wind. In another part of the same Book VIII, we find that the
Grecians returned to Salamis (where they had before brought all
1 The "ApAao-rov or Aplustre very probably answered the purpose of a vane in the
Arts par Millin, 1806.
the wreck, which continued floating about that coast), and having
first separated that part of the Persian spoils, which they designed
to dedicate to the gods, they divided the rest of the booty amongst
themselves. That part of the spoils which they dedicated to
Apollo at Delphi, was formed into a statue twelve cubits high,
holding the prow of a ship in his hand. These spoils were, per-
haps, the brazen beaks and aplustra of the ruined Persian ships,
and the statue formed out of them might be the figure of Libs,
the wind which had driven those wrecks on the coast of Attica.
The aplustre with which Libs is here figured on the tower of the
winds, may be designed to commemorate the same event. But
this, it must be owned, is mere conjecture.
shipping of the ancients. See Potter's Archseologia Grreca, and Diet, des Beaux-
f*n,]
t$
(0G°!
to*v
JJB
0*
vota'
ble
to
eeiflS
toB
vcge
/i
Vs
ed*'11
V*l*+*
isay,
the stomacb
and**
s#>
neat^
m
the ci
8
n the h*
M™
OS VI
B
^.grdBCUSKf1
rcsenta
Schiro
jUetteboUines,P^
^Sdtoiito have a-w
s.teiBse it never raios at.
is from Spon; I
ays he," this wii
:obe just; for
[buskins, They
is.Le Roy's de
atiilelei and Spoi
^lesion, is somewl
: he says, «th
Stj.01 excuse his
'4*u sculpture, ar
Worthy
^tkfetparuf
'Mi;.:,
3 Present stat
',4«Mat
■ks
1
■"i -Ai
^lru.x