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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4266#0041
8 ATHENIAN SEPULCHRAL MARBLES.
not to have been hitherto ascertained whether it resulted from the imitation of any particular prototype
in nature, or only from observation of the general principles of vegetation.
As it so happens that the chief feature of such decoration much resembles our familiar flower
of the woodbine, English architects have been induced to term it the " Honeysuckle Ornament,"
an appropriation concurred in by foreign antiquariesa; but as we do not learn from ancient
authors that this shrub, named clymenos and periclymenosb, was held in any great honour by the
Greeks, and as the ornament in question, although assimilating to it in form, was rarely, if ever, repre-
sented by them in conformity with the parasitical property of the woodbine in interweaving itself with
adventitious support, we conclude consequently that it was no direct imitation of that plant.
With regard to the Italian and French designation, • Palmette,' we have to remark, that in
Stuart's Athens c there is represented the upper part of a stele, seen at Vari, in Attica, of a similar
description to those we have delineated, where on each side of the ornament a stag was sculptured
bounding from behind the stems beneath the radiating leaves. Now if this foliage were intended to
bear any proportion to the magnitude of the accompanying animals, there would be reason to suppose
that the expanding leaves might have reference to the branches of the great palm tree, the </>om£
of the Greeks; but the tortuous nature of the stems and the introduction of tendrils, by which they
are usually attended, characteristic of climbing plants, gives no encouragement to assume that
any allusion was meant to that exotic to Greece. The animals however, probably had relation
(somewhat in the manner of the origin of modern supporters) to the pursuits of the deceased as a
sportsman in hunting wild deer amid the steeps and thickets of Parnes and Hymettus.
It might also be supposed, that such foliage, so frequently met with on tombs, was imitative
of the plants devoted to the ceremonies or mysteries of sepulture; and we find that the asphodel,
which was sacred to Pluto, and also the myrtle and the mallow d, were cultivated on the graves of
the ancients, in the same manner that the Turks at present rear the amaryllis luteac on the tombs of
their deceased relatives and friends. The Greek Ornament however, does not represent either of
those sepulchral plants, or others less frequently alluded to by classic authors, and its universal
application to ancient decoration, both sacred and domestic, would indicate that its adoption as a
monumental embellishment does not convey its imitative origin. It therefore can only be considered
that it was introduced on tombs as an emblem of the brevity of existence, or as associated with
the feelings of satisfaction entertained by sensitive persons in adorning the last abode of the mortality of
those whom they regarded during life, with evergreen and flowering vegetation. The Turkish females,
in the Fields of the Dead round Stamboul, are in this respect as sentimental as the fair depo-
sitaries of affection seen suspending wreaths or planting violets at the Parisian Cemetery of
Pcre la Chaise. This custom was so very generally prevalentf among the ancients, that on some
» M. Millcngen observes, " Parmi ccsornemcnsundcs plusfre- " On the outside I have the mallow and the asphodel, within I
quena est celui nomine ordinairement palmette, d'aprcs la ressem- enclose a dead body." We cannot avoid remarking the very sin-
blance qu'on a cru y voir avec la feuille du palmier. Mais M. gular record of the existence of a nearly similar sepulchral inscrip-
Carelli pense que cet ornement est plutot imite du chevre-feuille. tion written on a stele in a painting with figures, at the re-
L'opinion de cc savant paroit fort vraisemblable." Vases Grecs, verse of a Grecian fictile vase, recently discovered in Magna
Rome, 1813, Introd. p. 13, n. 1. Graecia, and now in the possession of Cav. Carelli at Naples,
b Plinii Nat. Hist. 1.27. sec. !)4. n. Harduini. " Periclymenos which is as follows. The tomb is supposed to speak as before,
—nascitur in arvis ac sepibus, convolvens se adminiculis quibus- saying :
cumque."—It appears to have been described nearly in the same Nwto ft«v y.a.hi.xw TE xai t*v<P°$&oii noxififyv,
words by the Greek physician Dioscoridcs, 1. 4. c. 14. KoXttu ¥ OlSt-zoSar Aaiov l'.oi i^w.
c Vol. III. p. 17, of the first Edit., and PI. 15, Fig. 1, of the „ n , , „ w, ., , , ,
_., ,__K. " On my back arc mallows and the many-rooted asphodel;
new Edit. 1827. t, • , T i m- ^ <• r • ..
,, TT _ ' _„,, „_„ ._ . ,. . , But in my bosom I enclose LLdipus the son of Lams.
11 Horn. Ouyss. A. vv. :>38. 572, n. 13; in speaking of the J
realms of Hades, says, w oo^e&xJn Xapwcc,—which Pope has V. Ancient Unedited Monuments, by M. Millengcn, 1826,
rendered Painted Greek Vases, Part II. PI. 36. •
In ever-flowery meads of asphodel— e Sibtliorp's Notes on the Plants of Greece, in Walpole's Me-
the supposed origin of which expression is related by Dio- moirs on Turkey, p. 243. Sibthorpii Flora Grecca, Vol. IV.
dorus Sic. L. 1. Sec. 96. Observe Note in Walpole's Memoirs Tab. 310.
on Turkey, Vol. I. p- 243, from Vossius de Idol. 665, and from f Nicolai dc Grnccorum Luctu, Cap. XVII. dc Coronandis
Heinsius on Hcsiod. E. xa) h. 1. 41.— See also the epitaph from Tumulis et Phyllobolia.
Eustathius in Lex. Horn. Dammii in v. aQohhbc, rendered thus:
not to have been hitherto ascertained whether it resulted from the imitation of any particular prototype
in nature, or only from observation of the general principles of vegetation.
As it so happens that the chief feature of such decoration much resembles our familiar flower
of the woodbine, English architects have been induced to term it the " Honeysuckle Ornament,"
an appropriation concurred in by foreign antiquariesa; but as we do not learn from ancient
authors that this shrub, named clymenos and periclymenosb, was held in any great honour by the
Greeks, and as the ornament in question, although assimilating to it in form, was rarely, if ever, repre-
sented by them in conformity with the parasitical property of the woodbine in interweaving itself with
adventitious support, we conclude consequently that it was no direct imitation of that plant.
With regard to the Italian and French designation, • Palmette,' we have to remark, that in
Stuart's Athens c there is represented the upper part of a stele, seen at Vari, in Attica, of a similar
description to those we have delineated, where on each side of the ornament a stag was sculptured
bounding from behind the stems beneath the radiating leaves. Now if this foliage were intended to
bear any proportion to the magnitude of the accompanying animals, there would be reason to suppose
that the expanding leaves might have reference to the branches of the great palm tree, the </>om£
of the Greeks; but the tortuous nature of the stems and the introduction of tendrils, by which they
are usually attended, characteristic of climbing plants, gives no encouragement to assume that
any allusion was meant to that exotic to Greece. The animals however, probably had relation
(somewhat in the manner of the origin of modern supporters) to the pursuits of the deceased as a
sportsman in hunting wild deer amid the steeps and thickets of Parnes and Hymettus.
It might also be supposed, that such foliage, so frequently met with on tombs, was imitative
of the plants devoted to the ceremonies or mysteries of sepulture; and we find that the asphodel,
which was sacred to Pluto, and also the myrtle and the mallow d, were cultivated on the graves of
the ancients, in the same manner that the Turks at present rear the amaryllis luteac on the tombs of
their deceased relatives and friends. The Greek Ornament however, does not represent either of
those sepulchral plants, or others less frequently alluded to by classic authors, and its universal
application to ancient decoration, both sacred and domestic, would indicate that its adoption as a
monumental embellishment does not convey its imitative origin. It therefore can only be considered
that it was introduced on tombs as an emblem of the brevity of existence, or as associated with
the feelings of satisfaction entertained by sensitive persons in adorning the last abode of the mortality of
those whom they regarded during life, with evergreen and flowering vegetation. The Turkish females,
in the Fields of the Dead round Stamboul, are in this respect as sentimental as the fair depo-
sitaries of affection seen suspending wreaths or planting violets at the Parisian Cemetery of
Pcre la Chaise. This custom was so very generally prevalentf among the ancients, that on some
» M. Millcngen observes, " Parmi ccsornemcnsundcs plusfre- " On the outside I have the mallow and the asphodel, within I
quena est celui nomine ordinairement palmette, d'aprcs la ressem- enclose a dead body." We cannot avoid remarking the very sin-
blance qu'on a cru y voir avec la feuille du palmier. Mais M. gular record of the existence of a nearly similar sepulchral inscrip-
Carelli pense que cet ornement est plutot imite du chevre-feuille. tion written on a stele in a painting with figures, at the re-
L'opinion de cc savant paroit fort vraisemblable." Vases Grecs, verse of a Grecian fictile vase, recently discovered in Magna
Rome, 1813, Introd. p. 13, n. 1. Graecia, and now in the possession of Cav. Carelli at Naples,
b Plinii Nat. Hist. 1.27. sec. !)4. n. Harduini. " Periclymenos which is as follows. The tomb is supposed to speak as before,
—nascitur in arvis ac sepibus, convolvens se adminiculis quibus- saying :
cumque."—It appears to have been described nearly in the same Nwto ft«v y.a.hi.xw TE xai t*v<P°$&oii noxififyv,
words by the Greek physician Dioscoridcs, 1. 4. c. 14. KoXttu ¥ OlSt-zoSar Aaiov l'.oi i^w.
c Vol. III. p. 17, of the first Edit., and PI. 15, Fig. 1, of the „ n , , „ w, ., , , ,
_., ,__K. " On my back arc mallows and the many-rooted asphodel;
new Edit. 1827. t, • , T i m- ^ <• r • ..
,, TT _ ' _„,, „_„ ._ . ,. . , But in my bosom I enclose LLdipus the son of Lams.
11 Horn. Ouyss. A. vv. :>38. 572, n. 13; in speaking of the J
realms of Hades, says, w oo^e&xJn Xapwcc,—which Pope has V. Ancient Unedited Monuments, by M. Millengcn, 1826,
rendered Painted Greek Vases, Part II. PI. 36. •
In ever-flowery meads of asphodel— e Sibtliorp's Notes on the Plants of Greece, in Walpole's Me-
the supposed origin of which expression is related by Dio- moirs on Turkey, p. 243. Sibthorpii Flora Grecca, Vol. IV.
dorus Sic. L. 1. Sec. 96. Observe Note in Walpole's Memoirs Tab. 310.
on Turkey, Vol. I. p- 243, from Vossius de Idol. 665, and from f Nicolai dc Grnccorum Luctu, Cap. XVII. dc Coronandis
Heinsius on Hcsiod. E. xa) h. 1. 41.— See also the epitaph from Tumulis et Phyllobolia.
Eustathius in Lex. Horn. Dammii in v. aQohhbc, rendered thus: