\ z r ^ ( J -•* | & ) H'Wf ' Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/elginrnarbleswith00burr_0 THE ELGIN MARBLES: WITH AN ABRIDGED historical anti Copograpincal Account OF ATHENS. By the Rev. E. I. BURROW, A.M. F.L.S. MEM. GEOL. SOC. ILLUSTRATED WITH FORTY PLATES DRAWN AND ETCHED BY THE AUTHOR. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY OGLES, DUNCAN, AND COCHRAN, 37 , PATERNOSTER-ROW, AND 295 , HOLBORN. 1817 . PRINTED BY RICHARD AND ARTHUR TAYLOR} SHOE DANE, LONDON. PREFACE. It may be deemed presumption in one who has not enjoyed an opportunity of breathing the intellectual air, and treading the classic ground of Attica, to venture on any thing like a descriptive account of this most interesting country. If the subject to be treated of were connected solely with existing circumstances, it would, indeed, be an insuperable objection to the pretensions of an author, that he pos¬ sessed no personal knowledge of the scene which he undertakes to describe for the be¬ nefit of others. But where the past, rather than the present, is the object of research, a 2 IV and where the traveller can add little to the stock of information which is found already on the book-shelves of the student, some al¬ lowance may be made for an endeavour, how¬ ever humble, to render the writings and ex¬ perience both of cotemporaries and predeces¬ sors conducive to the illustration of a subject which occupies the public mind. If this prin¬ ciple be just in any case, it must be more than usually so, as it regards the history and topo¬ graphy of Athens. All that is known of this celebrated City, previous to its decay and ruin, is more accessible in London than on the Acropolis. The story of its former great¬ ness still lives in the classic page; the ves¬ tiges of its ancient splendour are now scarcely discernible upon the thinly tenanted and bar¬ ren site. If to this we add, that the most im¬ portant monuments of that preeminence to which the arts and sciences had attained in Greece, tvvo-and-twenty centuries ago, are now within the reach, and under- the daily V observation of all who choose to become ac¬ quainted with them, without quitting the me¬ tropolis of England ;—if these things be con¬ sidered, it may appear, that a trip to Greece is not a qualification absolutely requisite to perform so pleasing a task as that which the author has here imposed upon himself. It is no longer a doubtful question, whether a British public be capable of estimating real excellence, though it be not in a fascinating form. No one can now hesitate to believe, that a general sentiment of rational approbation pervades the great majority of those who have visited the collection of sculptured marbles brought to this country by Lord Elgin; although it be accompanied by as universal a feeling of regret, that their sadly- mutilated state deprives us of the more ele¬ vated pleasure which uniformly arises from the contemplation of a work entire and un¬ defaced. VI “ A few artists and soi-disant connoisseurs,” it has, perhaps, been said, “ may think it ne¬ cessary to extol these things, because the voice of former ages, a sort of prescriptive title, will be with them, and because they might trem¬ ble for their authority and fame if placed in opposition to those of Phidias;—but what care the people at large for a parcel of old broken stones ? They judge only of what they see, and do not go back to fusty records for the sake of discovering any imaginary value in fragments which are not fit to or¬ nament a room. Much that they do see is almost shapeless; and there is not a statue in the whole assemblage so like life as num¬ bers that are to be viewed in Westminster Abbey or St. Paul’s.” Thus have we talked at home; and our neighbours on the Continent, who will not give us credit for more taste than we profess, do not, certainly, entertain a very elevated idea of our judgment and abilities in the YU fine arts. We may therefore hail the day as a new sera in national character, when it is proved, that these opinions are ill-founded; and that there is actually as much average taste in all classes of Englishmen, as there is unsophisticated acumen and sound sense in other matters. This question never has been, nor ever could be, so thoroughly put to the test, as by the verdict which the public have been called upon to pronounce with regard to the purchase of the Elgin marbles, as property of the state. The opinions of our first-rate artists, and the discussions in the House of Commons, as w T ell as in private circles, had naturally excited a large share of curiosity; but that something more than curiosity has been gratified by the exhibition of this collection, since its arrangement in the British Museum, no one will deny, who lias, like the author, heard hundreds of remarks from learned and unlearned visitors. That a purer taste and more general em Vlll couragement of the liberal arts,—-that is, of the higher departments of them, especially in Sculpture,—will be the consequence of af¬ fording to all persons frequent opportunities of inspecting the finest models, is more than probable. That a spirit is already kindled in the bosom of our native artists, which, if fanned by the breath of public approbation, may some day shine forth in such immortal works as those which have perpetuated the' glory of ancient Athens; that a spirit of fruitful emulation, even to enthusiasm, has already been excited—we need not hesitate to a (linn. Impressed with a sincere love of the fine arts, anxiously desirous that England should vindicate her character amongst enlightened nations, and convinced that no method could be devised so likely to promote these objects as to diffuse more widely a discriminating knowledge of the excellencies of the Elgin marbles, the author has conceived, that he IX may be able to contribute his small aid to the greatest advantage, by putting together into a concise form the scattered facts which lead the mind to take an interest in every cir¬ cumstance and person connected with the name of Athens;—by way of introduction to a fuller description of the marbles them¬ selves than has yet been presented to the pub¬ lic. With regard to the first part of his plan, the brief digest of the history, chronology, biography, and topography, the Author rea¬ dily confesses that he offers nothing new. The same materials have been at his command with which others have built their houses, and he has used them with equal freedom. His principal difficulty has been to com¬ press the mass of literary matter into a small compass, without losing the character of authenticity; his chief object, to arrange it in an useful and commodious form. The only merit which he arrogates to himself is that of having uniformly gone to the fountain-head X for information, rather than save his trouble by borrowing* from translators. For the ac¬ count of Athens up to the time of Hadrian lie is indebted principally to Herodotus, Plu¬ tarch, and Pausanias ;—for instruction with regard to the more recent state of the Town and Building's, to Sir G. Wilder, Dr. Chand¬ ler, Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Wilkins ;—for ines¬ timable assistance in illustrating the Marbles, to M. Visconti; and for his Mythology, to most well known writers on the subject, from Homer and Hesiod to M. Millin. To these sources the reader is referred for more ample intelligence, if he require it. Whether the portion which is original, the remarks on the qualities and character of each individual fragment, be worthy of hold¬ ing a place in such good company, it is not for the composer of them to judge; but he has spared no pains to give them, at least, the value of accurate surveys. More apology is due for the Plates which XI accompany, and refer to, the work through¬ out. The style in which they have been ex¬ ecuted, is not popular in England, though adopted very generally, and with great suc¬ cess, upon the Continent, There is no book extant which conveys so much information with regard to the arts of painting and satuary as the Annales du 1Mu- see, published at Paris by M. Landon. The immense number of copies from the old mas¬ ters which it affords, at a comparatively small cost, renders it an invaluable treasure either to the amateur or practical professor. By means of this and other similar publica¬ tions the library of the artist may be well fur¬ nished, and that of the antiquary or collec¬ tor much improved, at a price less than that of a dozen finished engravings, as they are sold at the present day. The advantages attending the enormous saving of time and labour, and consequently of expense,—the facility thus acquired of diffusing a general XU and instructed taste for the compositions of the best schools, are too obvious to need any demonstration. If it be said, that, after all, an outline etching* is a poor and unfinished substitute, conveying* but little idea of the original; it is to be replied, that the imitative art of design consists of three distinct degrees, and that perfection is never to be found between either, but stops in its ascent at each. The deline¬ ation of form, that which is, strictly speak¬ ing, effected by outline, is the first step, and the foundation of the other two. Although there be in nature no palpable boundary line, yet mere forms, when transferred to paper, can only be expressed by lines. If the contour of objects is to be accurately re¬ presented, a drawing has more or less merit* as it adheres more or less to the original, and is touched with fluency and truth. It may be perfect as far as it professes to go; and if perfect must be valuable. .: Xlll The next gradation is to light and siiade; and this, to be equally estimable, must be as perfect in its kind as the outline-drawing; for any thing short of truth in the manage¬ ment of chiaro-oscuro derogates at least as much from the merit of the piece, as bad drawing in the outline. What an anomaly, then, is a slightly shaded engraving! Pure form, and the full effects of light and shade, have their prototypes in nature; but by stop¬ ping short of either, you produce a defective representation, or a miserable mixture, in which both styles are spoilt, and in which you must offend against good taste in pro¬ portion as you try to exhibit a thing which cannot exist. To the third and highest rank is to be re-* ferred the picture coloured faithfully, and ac¬ cording to the best rules of art; this neces- sarily comprehends the former steps, of out¬ line, and of shadow. Here may be found the acme of perfection :—but no one ever valued XIV a fine engraving- less, as an engraving, be* cause it. did not possess the harmonious lints of the original picture; neither, by the same rule, is it just to think lightly of an outline draw¬ ing, because it is not shaded. The most im¬ portant quality of a statue is the form, as it is impressed on the retina of the eye; of a picture, the composition, as it embraces the chief exertion of the mental faculty ;—both these can be expressed perfectly by outline. Having thus expressed his conviction of the sufficiency of the style of engraving au trait , such as it is found in the hands of the French artists, especially of M. Normand, it is high time for the designer of the following plates to acknowledge, that the soundness of the prin¬ ciple must not be judged by the specimens which he is able to exhibit. Some little excuse may, perhaps, be pleaded for a Jirst attempt, made with the motive of inducing more able hands to try the same experiment, and to give to the world, as might easily be done in this XV ready mode, the riches of those cabinets of pic¬ tures, sculptures, and various subjects of an- tiquity, which are lost to public admiration from the circumstance of the heavy expense attending their publication. In extenuation of the numerous defects which occur in the execution of these draw¬ ings from the Elgin marbles, the opinion ex¬ pressed by Mr. Hope, in the conclusion of the preface to his elegant and instructive work on “ The Costume of the Ancients,” is too apt to the purpose to be neglected. “.In these,(outline engravings) every part of that outline stands as it were by itself, un¬ assisted and undisguised, in the fullest light, and in the most prominent situation. In these, whatever does not positively add to the merit of the performance, positively detracts from it. In these no part remains indifferent, none can be slighted. In these not a single unmeaning, or tame, or even superfluous stroke of the graver can remain concealed, XV! or can become perceptible, without imme¬ diately offending the eye, and producing de¬ formity. J “ Of this species of engraving, conse¬ quently, no part can be executed mechani¬ cally, or by inferior hands. Every stroke here requires an artist skilled in drawing, and uniting with the most correct eye the most free and masterly touch. Hence many artists, deservedly applauded in shadowed engraving, would appear very contemptible in engraving in mere outline.” CONTENTS. Page: Preface .. .. 1 HISTORY of ATHENS, from the fabulous Ages to the Death of Pericles. 1 ATHENIAN BIOGRAPHY to the End of the fifth Century before the Christian /Era .. .. .. 33 THE CITY .78 ACROPOLIS .. .. 114 THE ELGIN MARBLES. REPORT from the Select Committee of the House of Commons.137 CATALOGUE, according to the MS. of M. Vis¬ conti .152 SCULPTURES of the PARTHENON.169 The Eastern Pediment .176 The Western Pediment .. .. 220 The Metopes. .,246 ERRATA. Page xi, line 8, for satuary read statuary, xiv, — 11, — expressed — asserted. 13, — 15, —infringe-infring- 15, — 10, — era — asra. 18, — 16, — ten — a hundred. — — 17, dele these. 28, — 16, for Propylea read Propylaeq. 78, -— 11, —in — on. 128, — 17, dele most fortunately. DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES. Page, Plan of Athens, to follow .... .. .. 80 Choragic Monument of Thrasyllus, to face .. 94 Monument of Philopappus . 99 Arch of Hadrian.102 Choragic Monument of Lysicrates .. .. 104 Tower of the Winds . 106 Plan of the Acropolis . 114 Propylasa. 117 Parthenon .120 Erectheum . 128 Eastern Pediment. 176 Hyperion and Horses . 179 Hercules . 184 Proserpine and Ceres . 191 Iris.200 Victory.20 5 One of the Fates ,. ..208 Two of the Fates. II. Horse of Night .. ,. ,. .. 215 Western Pediment. 220 Ilissus . 223 Apteral Victory .227 Cecrops.232 Minerva .. .« ..234 Neptune .240 Latona.. 244 Metope I.-—XIV. after last page, V . I THE HISTORY OF ATHENS FROM THE FABULOUS AGES TO THE DEATH OF PERICLES. The name of Athens is strongly impress- ed upon the youthful mind from the very ear¬ liest advances which it makes towards the at¬ tainment of classical information, and is asso¬ ciated, through life, with the ideas of whatever is great in political character, or admirable in science. It is not, then, wonderful, that we should anxiously desire to be made acquainted with as much of the primitive history of a peo¬ ple, possessing in after ages most powerful claims on our attention, as the records of their country will afford : but here we have only an 2 ignis fatuus, mythological invention, to mis¬ lead rather than direct our chronological re¬ searches. With regard to the first inhabitants of Attica, and indeed all other nations whose fate was not, on some account, connected with the establishment of the chosen race , the seed of Abraham, nor traced by the unerring pen of the sacred writers,—we find that previous to the era of the Trojan war, or about the time of Jephtha the seventh Judge of Israel, little or nothing can be learned of their affairs which is to be esteemed authentic. The Athenians, not finding, or not choosing to find, any certain traces of their origin, assu¬ med, what could not easily be disproved by do¬ cument, that they were aboriginal natives of the soil; and as a symbol of this proud pre¬ eminence over the less legitimately descended people of the neighbouring states, were accus¬ tomed to wear for ornament the figure of a grasshopper, an insect supposed, like them¬ selves, to have been produced immediately from the earth. There might be indeed some foundation for a prior claim to antiquity on the side of the Athenians, as their district was 3 less exposed,from its situation and sterility, to the incursions of the wandering tribes which probably subdued and peopled the other parts of Greece. It is ascertained from old inscrip¬ tions, from the designation of the famous co¬ lony which the Athenians planted in Asia Minor, and distinctly from the evidence of Herodotus*, that they bore at different pe¬ riods the names of their rulers, and were once called Ionians from Ion the son of Xuthus, grandson of Deucalion, a general of their ar¬ mies. In the year before Christ 1?64 a tremen¬ dous deluge laid waste the countries of Attica and Bceotia. It occurred in the reign ofOgy- Ogyges began . to reign ges,who is said to have been the first king that a.c. 1796. had dominion in Greece, over either Boeotia or Attica, or more probably over both. Of Ogy¬ ges there is a confused tradition, that he en¬ joyed great prosperity and power for two-and- * Herod, viii. 44. ’ k^vouti Ss an) ptav IJahcco'ycuy s^ovfwv rr ; v vvv ’EWaSa xaXstfx.evyv, artxv TlaXoctryo) tvvtpta.'Z.opLavoi Kpa.va.ti’ in) Ss YLtKcono; ^xmXijos, snexXrjdrjtrav Kg xpcitiSai’ sxSsfca.psvtu 'Epey^Yjt; Trjv ccpyrjv, 'Kfyvouoi ^stwvtpLdaS^aa.v' v Iwvo 5 Ss rou Eg u9ol> arparoipysM yavt^ivtu ’AfltjvatWj, ky.\^r l of a severe wound he had received in action. He had formerly held the absolute dominion of the Thracian Chersonesus by inheritance from his brother; and the jealousy, with which the Athenians viewed any possible infringement of their political liberty, contributed, probably, to his downfall. Cimon, the son of Miltiades, after struggling with bad fortune and bad fame for someyears, acquired great credit by a succession of victories over the Persians, both by sea and land. His private virtues were as eminent as his bravery. Notwithstanding these, he was banished by ostracism; but soon recalled, and appointed to the command of an allied fleet. He died A.C. 449. In the same year also died Themistocles, Theraistoclcs. 23 wlio in his youth had degraded himself by ex¬ treme debauchery; but, being roused to ener¬ gy by the fame of Miltiades and the account of his exploits at Marathon, relinquished his disgraceful habits, and became devoted to the service of his country. He increased, by every method, the maritime power of the Athenians, depending on it for support against the over¬ whelming force of the Persian king, rather than on any army which it would be possible to raise. He was at the head of the republic when Xerxes, the successor of Darius, invaded Attica, and by a skilful manoeuvre gained the memorable battle of Salamis, A.C. 480, in which the Persians lost two hundred vessels. In consequence of this splendid victory, the Athenian navy became an object of the great¬ est interest. The port of Pirneus was con¬ structed under the direction of Themistocles, and vessels were built every year. Being ba¬ nished, by the inconstancy of his countrymen, he fled to the king of Persia, who loaded him with benefits, and wished to give him the chief command of the army. Unwilling, how¬ ever, to serve against his native country, or 24 displease bis benefactor, he poisoned himself in the sixty-third year of his age. Cotemporary with the two last great men Aristides, was Aristides, surnamed the Just. Unlike his rival Themistocles in character, he was obliged to submit to his superior popularity, and suf¬ fered banishment A.C. 484. But beino; re- called A.C. 479? he cordially united with his political opponents for the public good, and was conspicuous for talents and bravery in the battles of Salamis and Plataea; which latter was gained over Mardonius the Persian gene¬ ral, and finally delivered Greece from all dread of invasion by the Persian kings, A.C. 479- In this year the city of Athens suffered much from Mardonius; and still more in the one preceding it, when, before his defeat at Salamis, Xerxes had driven the inhabitants to their ships, obtained possession of the place, and destroyed great part of it by fire. By the united talents and successes of Mil- tiades, Themistocles, Aristides, and Cimon, Athens rose to the zenith of her glory, as a commonwealth. The valour, the prudence, the integrity, and the rare combination of 25 great qualities, which severally distinguished these four illustrious men, called forth, as they were, by the most arduous trials, and second¬ ed by the most determined bravery and pa¬ triotism in those whom they commanded, saved, most probably, all the states of Greece from subjugation, and exalted the name of their own republic above the rank of the most formidable rivals with whom thev had acted in alliance. The revengeful perfidy of Hip- pias had first brought the Persian monarch to attempt the conquest of his country; but in the defeat at Marathon, at Salamis, at Pla- tasa, and at Mycale, the eastern multitudes dearly learnt how little was to be effected against a handful of freemen, fighting for their altars and hearths, under the guidance of brave and incorruptible commanders. The spoils of the various Persian armies which had been destroyed, were appropriated to or¬ nament the city of the conquerors; and the cessation of hostilities gave a new life to that taste for the fine arts which had been in some degree excited under the tyranny of Pisis- tratus. 26 Whilst Cimon was employed in directing the operations of the army against the ene¬ mies of his country, the internal affairs of Athens were beginning to assume a new as¬ pect, and the fortunes of an individual seemed to be rising on the ruins of public freedom. Pericles. Pericles was of high extraction, the son of Xanthippus, who conquered at Mycale; among his masters were Zeno and Anaxagoras, and his acquirements soon did credit to their in¬ structions. To great advantages of person he united the most insinuating; manners. He studied to render himself popular by encou¬ raging public spectacles and entertainments, aud obtained an influence over the republican spirit of the citizens, which was little less than monarchical. When Aristides was dead, The- mistocles banished, and Cimon at a distance, finding a strong support in the favour of the people, he contrived to establish his authority by the degradation of the Areopagus, of which he was not a member, and rid himself of a troublesome rival by procuring the banish¬ ment of Cimon. During the Peloponnesian war, which had been caused by the jealousy 27 with which the Spartans beheld the maritime predominance of the Athenians, Pericles com¬ manded the army, and was defeated, notwith¬ standing great personal valour. To satisfy the people, he proposed a decree for recalling Cimon, by whom a peace was effected with Lacedaemon. After the death of Cimon, his brother-in-law Thucydides, the orator, was opposed as a check to the increasing power of Pericles. Between these two ambitious rivals the city was divided into an aristocratical and democratical opposing party; and, with the latter Pericles strove to ingratiate himself by every practicable method. To clear the place of useless and obnoxious persons, he settled colonies in Asia Minor, Thrace, and Italy. “ But that,” says Plutarch, “ which was the chief delight and ornament of Athens and the wonder of strangers, and which alone serves to prove that the boasted power and opulence of ancient Greece is not an idle tale, was the magnificence of the temples and public edi¬ fices.” Against the reproaches of his enemies, who accused him of wasting the public trea¬ sure upon expensive buildings, he advanced 28 the judicious plea, that by thus employing, upon an extensive scale, tradesmen and artifi¬ cers of every denomination, he diffused plenty through all ranks, and acted providently by the state. “ Thus were works raised of an astonishing magnitude and inimitable beauty and perfection, every architect striving to sur¬ pass the magnificence of the design by the elegance of the execution; and yet, after all, the most wonderful circumstance was the expe¬ dition with which they were completed. Many edifices, each of which seems to have required the labour of several successive ages,were finish¬ ed during the administration of a single man.” Under the superintendance of Phidias, and the auspices of his princely patron, arose the Propy- lea, the Parthenon, the long wall designed and begun by Tiiemistocles, and the Odeum, as monuments to future ages of what human skill and perseverance, fostered by public favour and directed by the arm of the civil power, could more than two thousandyearsagoproduce. The public stock was estimated at 1,879?375/. of w'hich Pericles is said to have expended in the magnificent works of the city 71(5,875/. 29 Thucydides sunk at last under the influence of his adversary, and was banished by ostra¬ cism. By this event Pericles became the undisputed master of Attica, its resources, its colonies, and tributary states. From this mo¬ ment his conduct was entirely altered. No longer the familiar and obsequious friend of every one whose vote and interest he desired, no longer, the free republican, he withdrew much more from public notice, and devoted himself to the management of that extraordi¬ nary authority, which he had acquired by his talents and his virtues, and continued to hold for the benefit of his fellow-citizens. With immense treasures at his command, he remained untainted by avarice, and unosten¬ tatious in his domestic expenditure. He pos¬ sessed most eminently the art of ruling; and aborbing all the real influence which was no¬ minally vested in the annual archons, he was in fact an autocrat in a republic for nearly forty years. Prudent in his policy, and careful of the lives of his army, he seldom sustained a defeat in the repeated contests with the Pelo¬ ponnesians which the Spartan rivalry excited, 30 and frequently was crowned with splendid vic¬ tories. In one celebrated expedition, with a hundred ships, he sailed round the coasts of the Peloponnesus, and made incursions into the interior of the country. In one of these he defeated the Sicyonians at Nemea, and erected a trophy in honour of the battle. He visited Asia Minor, and extended the Atheni¬ an colonies. It is said, he entered upon a.war with the Samians to gratify Aspasia, a courte¬ zan as much distinguished for her mental qua¬ lifications as for her personal beauty. This celebrated woman reckoned araono’ the num- O ber of those who found pleasure in her elo¬ quence and wisdom even Socrates himself; and Pericles, after his separation from his first wife, made her by marriage his constant counsellor and companion. After a siege of nine months Samos surrendered, and Pericles destroyed the city and its naval force, treat¬ ing the captives with the greatest rigour, in retaliation for their barbarous conduct to some Athenian prisoners who had fallen into their hands. On his return from this triumphant expedi- 31 lion, he pronounced the well known funeral oration upon those who fell in the Samian war. Soon after this, disputes again arose with La¬ cedaemon, which Pericles rather fomented than assuaged, but with what motive is scarcely as¬ certained. At length the Lacedaemonians and their allies invaded Attica with an army ofsixty thousand men; and Pericles, unable to meet so great a force, shut himself up in Athens. At this time a most violent pestilence broke out, which made dreadful havoc in the army, and among the people who had been driven for protection to the city. To avert the dissatis¬ faction which was accumulating around him, and in some measure to remove the cause, he fitted out a considerable naval equipment against Epidaurus; but thwarted in his mea¬ sures by the ravages of the plague, he totally failed of success in his attempts, and the thun¬ der cloud of public indignation burst upon his head. He was removed from his command, and mulcted with a pecuniary fine. The Athenians, however, soon repented of their unjust behaviour; and having sought in vain for some; one capable of supplying his ar- 32 duous situation in the state, invited him to ac¬ cept his former direction of their affairs both foreign and domestic. He had lost his legi¬ timate sons in the plague, and had suffered se¬ verely in his family. He now procured the repeal of a law, which he had himself enacted, in favour of his illegitimate son, to whom he gave his name; and shortly after, being infected with the prevailing epidemic, he died in the third year of the Peloponnesian war, A. C. 429, justly regretted by those for whom he had laboured during a long and eventful pe¬ riod. “ Pericles undoubtedly deserved admi¬ ration, not only for the candour and modera¬ tion which he ever retained amidst the distrac¬ tions of business and the rage of his enemies, but for that noble sentiment, which led him to think it his most excellent attainment, ne¬ ver during the extent of his power to have given way to envy or anger, nor to have nou¬ rished an implacable hatred against his bit¬ terest foe.” [To be continued .] 33 ATHENIAN BIOGRAPHY TO THE END OF THE FIFTH CENTURY BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN &RA. Before we enter upon an account of the buildings and sculptured ornaments of Athens, it may not be uninteresting to take a short biographical sketch of those eminent indivi¬ duals who contributed, still, more than her splendid porticoes and temples, to adorn this favoured seat of literature and science. We have hitherto spoken of little but poli¬ tical history and civil government, of the kings, magistrates, legislators and generals ; but to understand and estimate duly the precious relics of ancient grandeur which yet remain to us, we must obtain some general D 34 D>t‘du!us. knowledge of the persons by whose hands they were so finely wrought, and of the writers on whose authority we are to rely for intelligence respecting those wonders of art which time has swept away. Arranging, then, our divisions alphabeti¬ cally, for the sake of more easy reference, the distinguished men of genius and learning in the commonwealth, from the earliest ages to the period of the death of Pericles, (at which we terminate our history for the present,) may be found under the following denominations, viz. 1. Architects. 2 . Astronomers. 3 . Dramatic Writers and Actors. 4. Musicians. 5. Orators. 6. Painters. 7 - Philosophers. 8. Poets. 9. Sculptors. Architects . As early as the middle of the thirteenth century before Christ, or in the age of The¬ seus, lived Daedalus, the son of Hymetion, descended from Erectheus king of Athens. He was supposed to have been instructed by 35 Mercury, and was renowned as a skilful ar¬ chitect, sculptor and mechanic. He is said to have invented the wedo;e and other instru- ments, to have substituted the use of sails in vessels instead of oars, and to have formed au¬ tomaton statues, moving by means of quick¬ silver. He was the first Grecian sculptor who detached the hands and feet from the trunk of his figures, which in those days, when the arts were only in their infancy, was no incon¬ siderable improvement. The talents of Talus, or Calus,his nephew, who invented a wheel for potters,excited his jealousy, and he put an end to his rival by throwing him from the house¬ top. For this murder the Areopagus con¬ demned him either to-death, or perpetual ba¬ nishment. He fled to Crete, to the court of Minos, where he constructed the famous La¬ byrinth, after the plan of the Egyptian one, the vestiges of which are yet seen with won¬ der, and denominated by the natives Charon’s palace. Having incurred the displeasure of Minos, he and his son Icarus were shut up in the Labyrinth, with the monster Minotaur, for whom it had been built. From thence d 2 36 they escaped by means, according to the poets, of artificial wings. But Icarus, forget¬ ting his father’s caution, flew too near the sun, and, melting the wax with which his wings M ere put together, fell into the iEgean sea. Daedalus alighted in Sicily, and was granted an asylum by king Cocalus, who eventually stifled him for fear of incurring the vengeance of the powerful Minos. He appears to have enriched Memphis by the exercise of his art, as after his death the inhabitants paid divine honours to his memory. The fable of Daeda¬ lus and his son is supposed to have originated in his adapting sails to the vessel in which he escaped from Crete, when Icarus, less skilled in the management of his boat, was lost. Pausanias says that he, as well as the The¬ bans, believed the old wooden statue in the Temple of Hercules at Thebes to have been the work of Daedalus. Besides this, he men¬ tions a wooden statue, by the same artist, of Trophonius, belonging to the Lebadenses or Chaeroneans of Boeotia; two, also of wood, which w r ere in Crete; a representation of the dance of Ariadne, in white stone; and a small 37 statue of Venus standing on a quadrangular block, instead of feet, found at Delos, which he thinks Ariadne received from Daedalus, and took with her when she followed Theseus. Pausanias was not acquainted with any other statues by Daedalus than the preceding. In the temple of Minerva Polias, on the Acropo¬ lis, was a bed frame constructed by this cu¬ rious mechanic. Speaking of a wooden statue of a naked Hercules at Corinth, which was supposed to be by the same hand, he says, “ Whatever things Daedalus wrought were in¬ deed of very rude execution in appearance, but at the same time had in them something: of divinity.” «/ Pericles employed in the building of the Parthenon two architects, under the superin¬ tendance of Phidias, one of whom was Ictinus, who acquired great reputation by the Temple of Ceres and Proserpine at Eleusis, where the Eleusinian mysteries were celebrated every * Tlcivta. §is~rfs xai Tidrtm eirlirxoTfo; yv auVoD sj Slap, x«iroi u.syd\oup apX'irexrova.; lyortwv xa) rsyvirap rwv epytav. Toy fj.ev yap kxardp.KsSov Uapfeywva KaAAfKsaVijj s'tpyd^sro /.a) I KU'/og. Plut. in Per. Ictinus, 38 year by the Athenians. Ictinus was also the architect of the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, at Phigalia in Arcadia, which surpassed all the sacred buildings of the Peloponnesus in the beauty of its materials and the symmetry of its proportions. Callicrates. Of Callicrates nothing further is known, than that he was the coadjutor of Ictinus in the erection of the Parthenon, and undertook the building of the Long Wall, which Socrates said he heard proposed by Pericles. This probably was the northern of the two walls which united the ports to Athens. The southern one from Phalerum was only finished under Pericles. Mncsicies. As little are we told of Mnesicles. He was the architect of the Propyloea, the superb en¬ trance to the area of the Acropolis; and if it •were his only edifice, it were amply sufficient to establish his renown. He employed five years upon the work ; and during its progress a remarkable event occurred, which proved, as was conceived, that Minerva was propitious to the undertaking. One of the most skilful and active artificers fell by accident from the roof, and was dangerously injured. But the 39 goddess appeared in a dream to Pericles, who grieved for the disaster, and recommended a remedy by ‘which the man was speedily re¬ stored. In memory of this cure a brazen sta¬ tue of “ Minerva of Health” was erected in the Acropolis, not far from the Propyleea. Astronomers. In the year A.C. 432, Meton, whose fa¬ ther’s name was Pausanias, published an as¬ tronomical work entitled “ Enneadecaterides ,” or a Cycle of Nineteen Years, by which he endeavoured to adjust the course of the sun to that of the moon, and to show r that the so¬ lar and lunar years may begin from the same point. This is now denominated “ The golden Number.” Meton, to avoid being sent with a fleet to Sicily, which he, as well as Socrates, foresaw would be an expedition disadvanta¬ geous, if not fatal to the state, is said by some to have counterfeited madness, and seizing a torch to have attempted to set his house on fire; by others, that he actually burned his house, and then entreated the Athenians that his son might be excused from going on the Meton. 40 campaign, to afford him comfort in his di¬ stress. By this artifice he succeeded in pro¬ curing his exemption. Dramatic Writers and Actors. The inventor, or rather the reformer, of Tra- Thespis. gedy was Thespis, an Athenian poet who flou¬ rished A.C. 536. He introduced the novelty of an actor to recite between the choral hymns. He stained the faces of his perform¬ ers with the lees of wine, and carried them about from village to village on a moveable stage. Solon went to see Thespis perform, as was customary with the poets of those days, in his own tragedy; and was much dissatisfied with the fictions which were related, observing, that, if such falsehoods were connived at, they would soon creep into the intercourse of social life. No remains of his poetical compositions have reached our age. iEschyiuj. iEschylus was descended from one of the most illustrious families in Attica, and united the valour of a soldier with the talents of a poet. He distinguished himself in the battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea, but is less 41 celebrated for bis heroism than bis dramatic poetry. He brought the Greek Tragedy, which Thespis had invented, to a state of great per¬ fection ; he gave his actors a mask, appro¬ priate dresses, and the cothurnus or buskin ; and erected for them a more convenient stage. iEschylus retained the pre-eminence in dra¬ matic representations, till Sophocles disputed with him, and obtained a prize. He could not endure the shame of being vanquished by a younger man, and retired to the court of Hiero, king of Syracuse, the patron of men of learn¬ ing. He is said to have lost his life by an ex¬ traordinary accident; for, having been warn¬ ed that he should die by the fall of a house, he deserted the city; and sleeping one day in the open fields, an eagle let a tortoise drop upon his bald and unprotected head, mistak¬ ing it, probably, for the point of a rock on which he wished to crush his prey. iEschy¬ lus was killed by the blow A.C. 456, aged 69. Having in one of his tragedies alluded to the Eleusinian mysteries, he was condemned as impious by a court of justice, and was saved by Amynias his brother, who in his defence 42 uncovered his arm, which was mutilated in the service of his country, and pleaded his bra¬ very and meritorious conduct. The defence of Amy nias would not, however, have been effectual, had not iEscbylus proved that, being uninitiated in the mysteries of Ceres, he could not possibly reveal them. He, by this means, escaped the vengeance of the peo¬ ple, who were waiting at the door of the tribu¬ nal to execute the judgement of stoning him to death. Out of ninety-seven compositions which were written by AEschylus, but seven have come down to us: Prometheus, Septem Duces apud Thebas, Persee, Agamemnon, Eu- menides, Supplices, and Choephori. The tra¬ gedies possess much energy and sublimity of thought, but sometimes degenerate into bom¬ bast and wild obscurity. His fictions are often unnatural, and his characters terrific. Pausa- nias mentions that iEschylus wrote a poem on the battle of Marathon, to which he sub¬ scribed his own name, and that of his country, although he had never alluded to himself in any of his other works. He adds, “ The poet re¬ ports of himself, that when a youth, watching 43 in the fields, he was commanded by Bacchus, in a vision, to write tragedies, and as soon as the morning came he immediately made the attempt with great success/’ There w'ere in ex¬ istence a statue and picture relating to the ex¬ ploits of /Eschylus, which were supposed to have been executed some time after his death. About the year A.C. 446 flourished Aristo- Ai -istophanes. phanes, the son of Philip of Rhodes, famous as a comic poet. His dramatic pieces drew down the plaudits of the theatre, and the Athenian people decreed him a crown of the sacred olive, in acknowledgement of the talents with which he lashed the vices of the great. Neither So¬ crates, nor Euripides, nor even his own family, escaped his poignant irony. Against the phi¬ losopher he wrote a comedy entitled “Nubes,” tvhich exposed to ridicule his character, ha¬ bits, and opinions; his birth, parentage, and education, were all converted into food for sa¬ tire. Aristophanes not only vented his sar¬ casms against Socrates, Euripides, and Sopho¬ cles, but also against the chief rtien in the republic, especially Cleon, who was extremely popular. The workmen having refused to 44 make a mask of him, and the performers to re¬ present him, Aristophanes had the impudence to take upon himself the resemblance, for the purpose of making it ridiculous. Eleven of his comedies* out of fifty-four are at present in existence. In these, his peculiar and admira¬ ble acuteness of well directed raillery is often disgraced by the atrocious libels and obsce¬ nity with which it is intermixed. Two of his pieces were written in derision of the gods ; and nothing can be more reprehen¬ sible than the manner in which he speaks of Socrates, one among the most virtuous of men. Plato particularly delighted in the wit of Aristophanes, and at his death this poet's works were discovered in his bed. It is not known in what year he died. Cotemporary with the last-mentioned dra- Euripides. malic writer was Euripides, the tragic poet, who was born at Salamis A. C. 480, the glo¬ rious year in which the fleet of Xerxes was de¬ stroyed before that place. He was the dis¬ ciple of Prodicus in eloquence, of Socrates in * Plutus, Nules, Ranee, Equites, Acharnenses, Vespa, Aves, Pax, Concionantes, Cereris sacra colentes , Lysistrata. 45 moral philosophy, and of Anaxagoras in phy¬ sics. Being, however, disgusted with philoso¬ phy, he devoted himself entirely to dramatic composition ; and shutting himself up in a lonely cavern, he only issued forth to produce to the people his inimitable tragedies. When the Athenian army, commanded by Nicias, was vanquished in Sicily, the soldiers obtained their liberty by reciting the verses of Euripi¬ des. The emulation which subsisted between this poet and his rival Sophocles showed itself for some time in decided enmity, which afford¬ ed subject of animadversion to the sarcastic Aristophanes, no less than the circumstance of Euripides being twice married, notwithstand¬ ing his ill opinion of the female sex. Against the criticisms of the audience at the theatre he contended stoutly, but was at length obli¬ ged to yield to the jests and .ridicule with which he was overwhelmed, and sought a peaceful retirement in the court of Archelaus, king of Macedonia. It is believed that he met with a melancholy fate, that of being acciden¬ tally tom to pieces by the dogs of Archelaus, as he. was walking in a wood. His death took 46 place A. C. 407, and his bones were refused to the request of his countrymen, by the king, in whose friendship he had found tranquillity and protection. He was buried at Arethusa in Macedon. The disciple of Anaxagoras, and the friend of Socrates, he infused the les¬ sons of both into his poetical compositions, and was justly denominated the Philosopher of the Drama. Orators were charmed by his eloquence. Demosthenes and Cicero made his works their frequent study. The latter was reading the plays of Euripides, when he was assassinated by Popilius A. C. 43. Of this author’s tragedies, only nineteen re¬ main. It was said, that, after his death the tomb of Euripides was struck by lightning; a supposed token of deification which had been granted only to Lycurgus, and was con¬ sidered by his friends as a subject of highest joy and exultation. A sepulchre or tumulus was also erected to the memory of Euripides at Athens, among those of other eminent men, in the way, between the Long Walls, from Piraeus to the Citv. */ The formidable competitor' of Euripides, 47 who endeavoured to wrest from him the palm of dramatic supremacy, was Sophocles, sur- Sophocles, named, from his talents, the Attic Syren. He was born at Colorus, a village of Attica, A. (X 494. His father was the master of a forge in the neighbourhood of Athens. Sophocles was distinguished for his superior capacity in civil affairs; and being raised to the dignity of archon, he commanded the Athenian armies, conjointly with Pericles, in so brave and skil¬ ful a manner as to obtain universal credit.. His first attempt at dramatic writing was high¬ ly honourable to his abilities. When the bones of Theseus were brought to Athens from the Isle of Scyros by Cimon, who had dis¬ covered the tomb of the hero, the event was appointed to be solemnized by annual games and sacrifices, at which a prize was instituted for poetical effusions. For this, Sophocles,, then a young man, entered the lists with his master iEscbylus, and was successful. Elated with this auspicious beginning, he strove to add to the honour of the Athenian stage, and shared the applauses of the people with Euri¬ pides. These eminent rivals, after having 43 handled different subjects, selected the same ground, and struggled for superiority with the same intellectual weapons. The jealousy of these great tragedians was elevated into a noble emulation; and they became devoted friends. Their tragedies were equally admired for different qualities, each excellent of their kind. The spirit of Sophocles was sublime, that of Euripides, pathetic. The children of Sophocles, impatient to in¬ herit their father’s property, most ungratefully accused him of having fallen into a state of childishness and imbecility in the regulation of his affairs. To disprove such malicious calum¬ ny,he produced to the judges his “CEdipus,” which he had just completed. The evidence was amply sufficient to establish his capa¬ bility, and to shame his unnatural accusers. Historians are not agreed with respect to the cause of the death of Sophocles : some report that he overstrained his lungs in repeating his “Antigone;” others, that he died for joy at having gained the prize at the Olympic games; and Lucian tells us, that he was choked while eating a grape. He died at a great age, A.C.406*. 49 He was crowned twenty times as a victorious candidate for fame, and wrote one hundred and twenty-seven tragedies, of which we now possess but seven. Plutarch relates, that So¬ phocles during his lifetime was said to have been favoured by the converse of the deity Esculapius, and that another of the divinities obtained his burial; for, when the Lacedaemo¬ nians invaded Attica, at the period of the death of Sophocles, Bacchus appeared at their head, and commanded them to pay to “ the new Syren” all the honours which they cus¬ tomarily rendered to the dead. Phrynicus, the son of Polyphradmon, and disciple of Thespis, made considerable ad¬ vances in the dramatic art. Pie first intro¬ duced female performers on the stage, and adapted his style of versification to the nature of the scene. At the time when the festivals were celebrated at Athens in honour of the triumphs of Themistocles, Phrynicus pre¬ sented to the assembly his tragedy of “ the taking of Miletus.” Pie obtained the prize, and the name of the poet was inscribed upon the commemorative marble with that of the E Phrynicu 50 successful general. The spectators were melt¬ ed into tears at the representation, and the author was fined for having exhibited, in too strong colours, the evils which the Athenians ought to have prevented. This punishment was, surely, no less honourable than the prize which was assigned him. Other plays of his are mentioned by classic authors, viz. the Pheni- cians, Actaeon, Alcestis, and the Danaides. About the same period, at which the drama was most highly esteemed and cultivated, Pbilocles. flourished Philocles, the tragic poet. His style was crude and inelegant; and yet a strange taste among the Athenian critics decided in his favour, when Sophocles, in competition, presented his most famous tragedy, the CEdi- pus Coloneus. It was not, indeed, easy to at¬ tain to the respective excellencies of Sopho¬ cles and Euripides,—to the epic sublimity, the chaste harmonious versification, of the former; or to the elegant and pathetic phrase¬ ology, the philosophical refinement, of the lat¬ ter : but the works of Philocles fell, probably, far short of these exalted standards, as little is known either of them or of the author. 51 One of the most eminent comic writers of Athens, was Eupolis, who flourished about the year A.C. 440. He attached himself to the theatre from the age of seventeen, and was several times crowned, as the victor in dramatic contests. It has been said, that Al- cibiades procured his death, in revenge for having been made by him the subject of some calumnious verses; but, with much greater probability, that he was killed in a naval bat¬ tle with the Lacedaemonians; since his fellow- citizens, on the occasion of his death, made a decree to exempt poets in future from bear¬ ing arms. A. small work entitled “ Sent entice” is all that remains of his compositions. Plu¬ tarch mentions a play by him, the “Marica from which he quotes a passage, relative to the character of Nicias. Musicians. One of the tutors of Pericles, whose name was Damon, combined in his instructions the sister accomplishments of Poetry and Music. He was born at Oa, a village of Attica, and was learned in politics, philosophy, and e 2 Eupolis. Damon, 52 rhetoric. Being perfect master of the practice of music, he cultivated its more abstruse princi¬ ples, and endeavoured to prove the sympa¬ thetic influence of rythm, or cadence, on mo¬ ral agents; and consequently its efficacy in the education of youth, and the formation of their manners. He was equally speculative in political affairs, and asserted, that innova¬ tions and changes in music had considerable effect even upon the laws and constitutions of empires. The invention of the “ hypolidian mode” is attributed to Damon. Having at¬ tached himself to the government and princi¬ ples of Pericles, he was banished by ostra¬ cism, for being too favourable to tyrannj', about the year A.C. 430. It is probable, as Plutarch supposes, that being versed in poli¬ tical ceconomy, his lessons on the lyre were given rather as a cloak for more important subjects*, and that to him Pericles owed much of the success which attended his sy¬ stem of public conduct, for so long a period. * 'O Se AatjMv eoinev, ccxpos wv cropHTTy;, xafuSvEirOai y.ev e); TO Trjs l^OVTlKYjS OYOIMOL, rffOS T0V$ TtOXXOV; EtUpVTCTOp-EVO; TrjV hivoTrjTa.. Plut. in Per. 53 The names of others might perhaps be men¬ tioned here, who assisted in bringing the science of music gradually to perfection. To Pythagoras of Samos, has been attributed the first most important discovery, that air is the vehicle, and vibration the cause, of sound. He is said to have regarded music as endued with singular powers over the human mind; and his disciples made the study of it so much a part of essential discipline, that many of them have left a distinct treatise on the subject. Damon was probably a Pythagorean, but was distinguished from cotemporary philosophers at Athens, by making his philosophy subser¬ vient to the profession of music, rather than considering the theory of acoustics a subordi-? nate branch of natural philosophy. Orators . The Athenian orator, Andocides, was born about the year A.C. 468, the son of Leogo- ras. He w r as distinguished for his eloquence, and was enabled, by means of this prevailing talent, to procure his own release from ba¬ nishment, the penalty of which he more than Andocides. 54 once incurred. Plutarch relates, that Ando- cides was implicated with Alcibiades in a charge of mutilating the Hermae, or statues of Mercury, which were placed in the streets of the city ; and that during his imprisonment he was persuaded, by one Timaeus, falsely to accuse himself and certain others, that he might obtain the impunity promised by the decree, to any one who should discover the offenders. It was remarkable, that the only terminal statue which did not suffer, was that which was consecrated by the tribe of iEgeis, and was placed before the house of the orator: it was afterwards called “ the Mercury of An- docides.” As he devoted those, against whom his unjust information lay, to capital punish¬ ment, the story tells little to his honour. Four of his orations are still extant; of these the one which he delivered against Alcibiades is the most celebrated. His style is generally simple and unadorned. Cotemporary with the last-mentioned ora- Autiphon. tor, was Antiphon, born at Rhamnusia, in Attica, from whence he derived the surname of “ Rhamnusian,” and from his wisdom, that 55 of Nestor. He is said to have been the first to reduce the practice of oratory into a regu¬ lar art, and to give instructions in it for emo¬ lument. Among his pupils was Thucydides. He likewise introduced the custom of pleading in the courts of justice, as a professional em¬ ployment. We have sixteen orations which bear his name, but they have been supposed apocryphal. He also wrote a treatise upon the art of oratory, in three books. Having been condemned to death for favouring the establishment of the “ Four Hundred,” he pronounced, according to Cicero, a most ad¬ mirable discourse in justification of himself, which, nevertheless, failed of success; and he died about the year A.C. 411. Painters. Panaenus, the brother of the celebrated Pansen us sculptor Phidias, was eminently skilled in painting; he contributed likewise to the em¬ bellishment of the Temple of Jupiter, at Olym¬ pia. In this splendid edifice, he painted a representation of Atlas supporting the Earth and Heavens, and being relieved of the burthen 56 by the hero Hercules, who is accompanied by Theseus and Pirithous. Besides this pic¬ ture, were others—of Greece and Salamis personified : of Hercules and the Nemrean lion; of the deliverance of Prometheus by Hercules; of Ajax and Cassandra; of Hippo- damia and her mother; of Penthesilea ex- pi ring in the arms of Achilles ; and of the two Hesperides with the golden apples. In the Ptecile, or portico denominated 44 various,” at Athens, he drew the battle of Marathon, with the figures of the principal generals of both armies in the foreground. About the beginning also of the fifth cen- Apoiiodorus. lury before the Christian sera, flourished Apol- lodorus, who, perhaps, may be considered as the father of improved painting. He is be¬ lieved to have first tried the experiment of colouring after nature, and of giving some grace and truth to his figures, by represent¬ ing the arms and feet in action, and not at¬ tached to the clumsy trunk, after the Egyp¬ tian manner which universally obtained in the earliest ages of the arts. Apollodorus was the preceptor of Zeuxis, and two of his perform-* 57 ances are mentioned by Pliny, as existing in his time at Pergamus. This ingenious artist had a propensity very inimical to his fame, that of destroying his own pictures in the heat of passion. Towards the end of the fifth century, in which painting had been first cultivated with success in Greece, flourished Micon, one of the most renowned of ancient artists. He was denominated “ the prince of Athenian painters,” and was intrusted with the execu¬ tion of the works destined to beautify the su¬ perb portico which is known by the name of the Paecile. In these he was gratuitously as¬ sisted by Polygnotus, who, though not an Athenian, but of Thasos an island in the Aegean sea,contributed many of the finest pic¬ tures which adorned the public buildings of the city of Athens. The paintings of the Paecile were not, however, the only works in which the superior talents of Micon were dis¬ played: he enriched the walls of the Temple of Theseus with pictures of the battles be¬ tween the Athenians and Amazons; and be¬ tween the Centaurs and Lapithac; the third, Micon. 58 in the age of Pausanias, was nearly unintelli¬ gible from the effects of time; in this, it is sup¬ posed, Micon received assistance from other hands. He painted the heroes of the Argo- nautic expedition in the Temple of Castor and Pollux; and at Olympia there was a statue of Callis, the Athenian pancratiast, which testi¬ fied that Micon was an adept in sculpture as well as painting. The pictures of the daugh¬ ters of Pelias, at Mantinea, were, it is said, inscribed with the names of Asteropea and Antinoe, by Micon, who may therefore be supposed the painter of them. His son Ona- tas likewise distinguished himself in the same art with his father. Pliny speaks of another Micon, the younger, who left a daughter named Timaretes, the first of her sex that ac¬ quired renown by the success of her pencil. Philosophers. The first philosopher of whom Greece could Draco, boast, was Draco, the Athenian legislator. Of his life and death we have already spoken in the historical department. As a mora¬ list we may consider him, more properly, in 59 the constitution and tendency of his laws (de¬ nominated Of these a perfect synop¬ sis is given in his own words: being asked, why he punished all crimes indiscriminately with death, he replied, “ Small offences deserve it, and for the worst of crimes there is no greater penalty.” This answer will evince the very small progress which Draco had made in the knowledge of human nature, and con¬ sequently in true philosophy. Of the improvements in legislation which were suggested by the wisdom of Solon, and recommended by his moderate and prudent conduct, we have already given a general outline. When the democracy was subverted by Pisistratus, Solon’s laws (called vopoi to distinguish them from those of Draco) were repealed, but again restored to action by Clisthenes. They were committed to writing, on tablets of wood, so formed as that they might be turned round in their cases for in¬ spection. It was ordained that no magis¬ trate should act on an unwritten law. As the foundation and safeguard both of civil and moral duties, Solon inculcated a deep vene- Solon, 6'0 ration for the gods, and a strict conformity with all the prescribed ceremonies and insti¬ tutions of exterior religion. In consequence of these and other precautions, the statutes were preserved, and continued in force for four hundred years; commanding the admira- tion and obedience not only of the Athe¬ nians, but of other states of Greece, and even of proud Rome herself. Besides his emh nence as lawgiver and magistrate, Solon ac¬ quired by his attainments the honourable title of one of the seven wise men of Greece ; of whom it may be remarked, that not an indi¬ vidual was strictly speaking an Athenian by birth. Solon was born at Salamis, educated indeed at Athens, and endowed with the privi¬ leges of a citizen, as descended from Codrus; but of the other six, Thales was of Miletus; Epimenides, of Crete; Bias, of Priene, an Athenian colony in Asia Minor; My son, of Sparta; Pittacus, ofMitylene; and Anacharsis, of Scythia. In this constellation of illustrious philosophers, Solon shone, perhaps, the most brilliantly as the benefactorof the human race; for, however much the arts and sciences may 61 conduce to the comfort, and 44 soften the man¬ ners,” of mankind, still all the advantages of society and mutual protection must depend on a wise enactment, and due execution, of civil laws and regulations. Anaxagoras was born at Clazomene in Anaxagoras. Ionia; but having settled at Athens, and be¬ come the preceptor of Pericles, he may fairly be classed among the philosophers of that city. He was the pupil of Anaximenes, and devoted himself entirely to the study of na¬ ture, abstracting himself from the cares of social life. Notwithstanding his idea, that he was sent into the world merely to contem¬ plate the sun, moon, and stars, he assisted Pe¬ ricles with his advice in the affairs of govern¬ ment, and at the same time supposed the sun to be about the size of Peloponnesus, the moon to be inhabited, and the heavens to be made of stone! Plis singularities, or perhaps his connection with Pericles, created him many enemies. He was accused of impiety, and condemned to death for contumacy; he escaped, however, to Lampsacus, whither his scholars followed him, and died there, in the 62 seventy-second year of his age, A.C. 428, de¬ siring, as the greatest mark of respect which the inhabitants could offer to his memory, that the boys might be allowed in future to play on the anniversary of his death. Among the disciples of Anaxagoras was Archelaus. Archelaus, surnamed Physicus, on account of his having introduced from Ionia the study and practice of physic. He followed the phi¬ losophical system of his master, but engrafted on it certain doctrines of his own; he taught “ that all actions are, intrinsically, indifferent, and that they are just or unjust, as law and custom render them/' He was principally distinguished as having been the preceptor of Socrates. Poets. As far back as the heroic age, or rather w ithin the fabulous, in the reign of Pandion, Museeus. fifth king of Athens, lived Musaeus, justly ce¬ lebrated as one, if not the very earliest, of poetic writers. Virgil in his sixth AEneid makes the Sibyl thus address to Musaeus her inquiries, in the Elysian Fields, after the Tro¬ jan patriarch Anchises: 63 “ Quos circumfusos sic est adfata Sibylla; Musaeum ante omnes: medium nam plurima turba Hunc habet, atque humeris exstantem suspicit altis: Dicite, felices animae, tuque, optime vates ; Quae regio Anchisen, quis habet locus ?” Pausanias mentions a hymn to Ceres which was composed by Musaeus for the Lycomedce. It is difficult to discriminate between this Musaeus, whom some suppose to have lived, not at the early date above assigned him, but soon after the Trojan war, and one of the same name who flourished as late as the fourth cen¬ tury before the Christian sera, who was the au¬ thor of the poem of “Hero and Leander,” and perhaps the prophet spoken of by Herodotus. The expression of Virgil seems to imply that Musaeus was the father of poetry, and at any rate to place him in a supereminent point of view. He was antecedent therefore, we may infer, to Homer. The burial place of Musaeus, at Athens, acquired, and still retains, the name of “ the Museum/’ Ty rtaeus, a native of Attica, and son of Ar- chimbrotus, flourished about the year A.C. 680. He held for some time a school at Athens, and, as a poet, was chiefly remark- Tyi’tteus, 64 able for celebrating martial exploits. In the war between the Lacedaemonians and Messe- nians, the former were directed by the oracle of Delphos to apply to the Athenians for a leader. Tyrtseus was selected for the pur¬ pose, and was beaten in three several con¬ flicts by the enemy. In consequence of this, the Spartan troops were about to be with¬ drawn; but the poet, faithful to the oracle and his trust, roused the courage of the soldiers by reciting his verses at the head of the despond¬ ing army. They produced the desired effect, kindled the latent patriotism of the Spartans, and induced them to rush with redoubled furv */ on the foe. The victory then gained, de¬ cided the fate of the war in favour of Lacedae¬ mon, and Tyrtoeus was rewarded by the right of citizenship, the greatest honour that could be conferred upon him. But a few fragments of the writings of this poet are extant at the present day, and these chiefly elegiac. Sculptors. The name of Phidias is more justly placed in a catalogue of sculptors, than in one of Phidias. 65 architects; because, although he was master of both the arts, of statuary and building, he stands unrivalled in the former*. He is also reported to have been originally a painter, and to have made a portrait of “ Olympius,” or Pericles, who was thus surnamed. Of his works, at Athens, we shall have occasion to speak more particularly in our description of the or¬ naments of the Parthenon, and other edifices raised under his inspection. Of his life it is recorded, that he was the son of Charmidas, the pupil of Eladas of Argos, and of Hippias of Elis. His chef-d’oeuvres possess intrinsic evidence, that he spared no pains to store his mind with all the treasures of history, poetry, geometry, and optics. Phidias was the first who diffused among his countrymen a true taste for the beauties of sculptured forms, detached and in relief-p, and taught them the value of a faithful imitation of nature in all her exquisite variety, He is, perhaps, the only artist who * Ante omnes tamen Phidias Atheniensis, Jove Olympic facto, ex ebore quidem et amo ; sed et ex sre signa fecit. Plin. Jib. xxxiv, t Pnmusque artem toreuticen apcruisse atque demonstr?,sse tperito jjadicatur. Idem. P 66 united complete perfection with unparalleled facility. The number of his works is almost inconceivable ; for, independent of those which were dispersed through the different states of Greece*, there were at Athens many of his finest specimens of sculpture p, as well as others which were, perhaps, only finished by his hand, and held a second rank. Pos¬ sessed of a vigorous and exalted imagina¬ tion, and a highly cultivated mind, Phidias excelled in representing the heathen deities, or mortals deified. He was singled out by * Among the most remarkable of these are, a “celestial” Venus and a Minerva of ivory and gold, at Elis; a Minerva of the same materials, at Pellene. At Delphos, several statues of gods and heroes in bronze, from the tenth of the spoils of Ma¬ rathon 5 an Amazon in brass in the Temple of the Ephesian Diana ; in marble, the Mercury surnamed Pronaos at Thebes j the statue of Minerva at Plataea, of which the face, hands and feet were marble, the remaining parts of wood ; an Urania and a Rhea : to these may, perhaps, be added the statue of Neme¬ sis, which was formed out of a block of marble brought by the Persians to Marathon, and which bore the name of Agoracritus. f In brass, a Minerva formed of the spoils taken at Mara¬ thon, of so colossal a size that the tops of her spear and helmet were seen from the southernmost point of Attica; the Lem- nian Minerva, and Apollo Parnopius; in marble, a “ celestial” Venus, and most probably , the chief ligures in the Tympana of the Parthenon. The Venus “ in the gardens ” by Alcamenes was said to have received the finishing touch of Phidias. 67 the discriminating eye of Pericles to super¬ intend the execution of his magnificent de¬ signs, and, as might be expected, impressed upon each the seal of extraordinary talents. But, as too often happened in the fickle and jealous commonwealth of Athens, his supe¬ rior abilities and distinction led to his dis¬ grace. He was commissioned to carve a co¬ lossal statue of Minerva, to be placed in the Parthenon at the dedication. It was con¬ structed of ivory and gold, twenty-six cubits high, and was indeed more precious on ac¬ count of the excellence of its workmanship than the costliness of its materials*. Phidias was, however, forbidden to put his name upon the statue; and by way of evading the letter of the law, he carved the portraits of Pericles and himself upon the shield of the virgin god¬ dess. This was objected to him as an impious deed ; and Menon, one of his pupils, at the same time, ungratefully accused him of having converted to his own profit, a part of the forty- four talents of gold which had been appro- * T'nCfei Tgiroyivsia. Mpvtrtraou tzcrrsi |xscrtY)vtov) the loft for machinery j besides these, [Tfoipacniijviov) the dressing- room ; {itpo. Part of a Doric Entablature, plain. 159 I. —7. Two Tiles, from the roof of the Ambulatory of the Temple of Theseus. From the TEMPLE of ERECTIIEUS and adjoining Buildings: also Specimens of Ionic Architecture. J. — 1. One of the Caryatides, which supported a roof under which the Olive-tree sacred to Minerva was sup¬ posed to have been preserved. 2. Part of a Column from the Temple of Erectheus, of the Ionic order. 3. Base of ditto. 4. Capital of ditto. 5 . Detached part of the rich Frize from the same Temple. 6. Four fragments of ornamented Ionic Entablature. 7. Three large ditto. 8. One small ditto. 9. One large fragment with inscriptions. 10. Ditto, ditto, Ionic Entablature. 11. Three upper parts of Columns of the Ionic order. 12. Three large pieces of fluted Ionic Shaft. 13. One ditto, short. 14. Two pieces of small Ionic Shaft, fluted and reeded, 15. One Capital of Ionic pilaster. 16. Two Ionic Capitals. 17- Two parts of Ionic Entablature. IS. One large Ionic Capital. MONUMENTS appertaining to the Worship and the Theatre of BACCHUS. K. — 1. A colossal Statue of Bacchus, which was placed over the Theatre. 1 GO K. —2. A Sun-dial, from the same. 3. A complete Series of Casts from the Bas-reliefs on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. 4. A Bas-relief with four figures, representing a Bac¬ chanalian dance. DETACHED HEADS. L. —1. Portrait larger than nature, with long beard, and deeply cut eyes, a diadem round the hair; perhaps Sophocles. 2. Portrait somewhat similar to the preceding one. 3. Fragment of Augustus. 4. Fragment: the style, times of the Republic. 5. A bearded Hercules. 6. Same subject, smaller size. 7. Bacchus crowned with ivy. 8. Female Head. 9. One half of a Head, without any beard, with long hair, in the costume of Alexander, or of the Dio¬ scuri. 10. Fragment of an old Head, larger than nature. 11. Fragment of a Head with a beard; it has a conical cap ; perhaps Ulysses or Vulcan. 12. Female Head, smaller than nature; the head-dress of one of the Muses. 13. Female Head, smaller than nature. DETACHED PIECES OF SCULPTURE. M. —1. Small Female figure erect, in the costume of the Muse Polymnia : found at Thebes. 2. Torso of a Male figure, found at Epidauria. 3. Statue: supposed to be Cupid. M.— 4 . A Choragic Bas-relief, on which is represented a Temple of Apollo, with two figures. 5. Bas-relief of a Quadriga, in which is a Female figure; a Victory in air is approaching to crown her. 6. Female Figure without a head; small size. 7. Figure of a Telesphorus, attendant of.-Esculapius; without a head. 8. Fragment of a Bas-relief, on which is a young Man, who appears to be on a chariot led by Vic¬ tory. 9. Fragment of a Boy in alto relievo. 10. Bas-relief representing a young Wrestler, with his Preceptor. 11. Bas-relief, representing Minerva in armour and a young Athenian. 12. Fragment of a Bas-relief; a Sacrifice, of which a Hog is the victim. 13. Ditto, in which the victim is a Ram. 14. Two Divinities; Jupiter seated, a Goddess stand¬ ing up. 15. Two Goddesses taking a young Athenian under their protection. 16. Fragment of a Bas-relief, on which are two young Greeks, one holding an instrument of sacrifice, called by the Romans capeduncula. 17. Small round Altar: four Female figures, sculptured on the four sides of it, are dancing holding each other’s hands; the first seems to be playing on a lyre. 18. Torso of a Female figure in drapery. 19. Figure of an Horseman, apparently an ancient imi- 162 tation of part of the Frize of the Parthenon in smaller proportions. M.—20. Figure of a young Divinity, probably Bacchus, taking a young Athenian under his protection; the latter of smaller dimensions. 20. b. Minerva standing up in a kind of small temple. 21. Figure of Hygeia: she is offering her cup to the Serpent, which is her symbol; she is holding in her left hand a kind of fan in the form of leaves of ivy; her head is covered with the high dress called tutulus. 22. Bas-relief, on which are represented five Figures : in the midst is a Goddess on a kind of throne, the other four are smaller; three of them are im¬ ploring the Goddess on behalf of their children, whom they carry in their arms; the fourth is bringing oblations and votive offerings. This bas- relief is from Cape Sigeum, near the plain of Troy. 23. Fragments similar to Nos. 12 and 13. There are five Figures, of which two are Youths preparing to celebrate a sacrifice; the last of the large fi¬ gures has a basket on its head. 24. One small Bas-relief: one sitting, two standing figures. 25. One Female figure sitting (much mutilated). 26. One Trunk, with drapery (a young Man). . 27. Two Fragments of Grecian ornaments. 28. One Grecian fragment, with Vase in bas-relief. 29. One Fragment, with two Figures in high relief. 30. One Grecian Pilaster, with Corinthian Capital. 31. Fragment of a Female. M.—32. Fragment of a Female figure enveloped In dra* pery. 33. Sundry small Fragments. 34. Egyptian Scarabaeus from Constantinople. URNS, a. (Marble.) N.—1. Solid Urn i, with Group in bas-relief, superscribed. 2. Ditto ditto ditto. 3. Ditto ditto ditto. 4. Ditto ditto ditto. 5. Ditto ditto ditto. G. Ditto ditto ditto. 7. Ditto ditto ditto. 8 . Ditto ditto ditto. 9. One ditto ditto ornamented Sepulchral Urn. 10. Small fragment of a Vase with figures. 11. Spherical Sepulchral Urn, broken in pieces. N. B. This contained the Bronze Urn (No. 12.) URNS, b» (Bronze.) 12. Richly wrought Urn from the tomb called 32. Decree of the general Council of Boeotia. S3. Inscription of the Gymnasiarch Gorgias. 34* The other part of No. 17- 35. Catalogue of the Public and Sacred Treasures at Athens. 36. Ditto of ditto. 37. Ditto of ditto. 38. Ditto of ditto. 83. Fragment of a Treaty between Athens and Rhe- gium. 40. Ditto of a Column which supported the Statue of Piso. 41. Ancient Sepulchral Inscription. 42. -43. Catalogue of precious objects in the Opistho- domus. 44. Treaty between Orchomenos and Elatea, 45. Similar to No. 42. 43. 46. Similar to the preceding. 47- Fragment of a Decree. 48. Ditto of a Decree, from Corinth. 49. Ditto with the name of Hiera Pytna. 50. Catalogue of Public Treasures, more recent than No. 42. 43. &e. 61. Decree in honour of Bacchus and Antoninus Pius. 62. Sepulchral Stele, with the names Hippocrates and Baucis, 167 R. -—33. Sigean Inscription, commonly called the Roustro- phedon. 54. Sepulchral Inscription on an Entablature. 55. Sepulchral Column of Biottus. 56. Ditto .... of Mysta. 57. Sepulchral Column ofThrason. 58. Stele of Asclepiodorus. 59. Sepulchral Column of Aristides. 60. Eleven Votive Inscriptions consecrated to Jupiter Hypsistos, bearing respectively the Names of Clau¬ dia Prepusa, Eutrodus, Psedaros Philematium, Onesime Isias, Eutychis, Olympias, Tertia, Syn- trophus. 61. Fragment of a Decree between Athens and some other People. 62. Sepulchral Column of Botrichus. 63. Public Act of Athens respecting the Roads. 64. Epitaph in twelve elegiac verses in honour of those Athenians who were killed at the Siege of Poti- daea in the year 432 B.C. 65. Sepulchral Stele in honour of Aristocles. 66. Ditto in honour of Aphrodisias of Salamis. DRAWINGS. S. — 1. Plans and Elevations of the Temple of Minerva and Theseus at Athens. 2. Architectural details of the Temples of Minerva and Theseus; of Minerva at Sunium; Plan of the Pnyx; Plans and Drawings of the Theatre of Bac¬ chus. 3. Drawings of the Sculpture on the Temples of Mi¬ nerva and Theseus; on the Temple of Victory; on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. 168 •4. Ground-plan of Athens, marking the Walls, and the site of the existing Ruins: Drawings of the Tower of Anclronicus Cyrrhestes; of the Propylaea; of the Triple Temple of Minerva Polias, Erectheus, and Pandrosus. 5. A Series of Drawings and Plans of Ancient Remains in many parts of Greece, taken in the year 1S02. ADDENDA. One Lyre in Cedar-wood; and, Two Flutes of the same material: found during the excavations among the tombs in the neighbour¬ hood of Athens, 169 SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON, To the preceding Report from the Select Com¬ mittee of the House of Commons, detailing the official history of the acquisition, and esti¬ mated value of the collection of sculptured marbles brought from Athens by Lord Elgin, has been added, as a demi-official document, the Catalogue formed by M. Visconti during a visit to this country, and prefixed to the Memoir which was written by him upon the subject, and read before the Royal Institute of France. We may proceed now to the further con¬ sideration of this matchless prize, with refe¬ rence to its general merits; and afterwards to the interesting scrutiny of each separate frag¬ ment. Fragments alas! of greater or less dimen¬ sions, are all that we have to contemplate: but it were unavailing to indulge regret for heads and limbs lost beyond recovery. We 1/0 have enough left to serve as an abundant source of admiration and delight, as an ac¬ knowledged standard of pure taste, and as the finest models for those who would strive to earn themselves a name by becoming dis¬ ciples of the Grecian school. We must, in¬ deed, consider it as one of the greatest excel¬ lences of this collection, that no hand, skil¬ ful or otherwise, has been permitted to mis¬ place modern members on ancient trunks, or to distract the attention of the true lover of science from the genuine work of the best artists, in the best eera of the art—by supply¬ ing the deficiencies which two-and-twenty cen¬ turies have produced, with such crude, in¬ congruous, imaginary attributes, as are too often called, by a sad misnomer, restorations . It is, surely, no trifling intellectual gratifica¬ tion to gaze on the same statue on which Pericles and the Athenian critics most as¬ suredly bestowed their approbation, and Phi¬ dias, most probably, some portion of his in¬ comparable skill. A feeling sui generis , inde¬ scribable, but allied to awe, is excited by the reflection that these carved stones, untouched m by any chisel since their original creation, as organized, as almost living forms, link, as it were, the ages that are long past with the present passing day; and having stood in their elevated stations, alike insensible to the applause and contempt of Heathens, Moham¬ medans, and Christians, of race succeeding race, have at last been brought, by English enterprise and patriotism, to adorn, a second time, the metropolis of a free and illustrious country. With regard to the contested point, whether the sculptures of the Parthenon be the work of Phidias himself, it is so nearly connected with the exalted interest which we must be allowed to feel in their possession, that it is worthy of some attention. But, as we have no positive testimony to the fact, we must abide by the sort of evidence which we are able to produce. It is very obvious, that neither the superior, or indeed any other single artist employed upon the Parthenon did or could execute the whole of the exterior deco- rations. The several Metopes, and different portions of the Frize, are of very unequal merit; 172 and though perhaps designed by one, must have been wrought by various sculptors* It is easily to be ascertained by minute and par¬ ticular examination, that the same facility of hand and intrinsic marks of professional know¬ ledge are not to be found in all alike. The statues on the Tympana, with perhaps one exception, appear to be the productions of the same mind, and to be finished by the same tool. It is fair to ask those who tell us, that “ we may venture to check that mistaken enthusiasm, which venerates the sculptures as the work of Phidias*”—it is but reasonable to ask them, to whom we may, with any show of probability, attribute these statues, that is, the best of them, if not to Phidias? We can¬ not, it is true, read inscribed upon the marble, tpsidlag p \ r !to'i‘/](fz jy oVi ys ov it dp EXXyvuiv sXa£ov rouvo^a, t'ou 'HpayXsop Alyuirnoi, dXXaL *EXXYjvs; fiaXXov nag Alyvitt'uov. + Pausan. ix. 19. + Ibid v. 7. 186 us, that “when Jupiter was born, Rhea, the mother of the boy, committed him to the care of the Idaean Dactyli, who are also called Curetes: they came from Ida, a mountain of Crete ; and were named Hercules, Paeeneus, Epimedes, Jasion, and Idas.” It is further related, that to the Idrean Hercules is attri¬ buted the honour of having first proposed the Olympic games, and selected, as a reward, the crown of olive: the periodical renewal of these games was appointed every fifth year, to commemorate, it is said, the number of the Dactyli. To the same Hercules, with the surname “ Auxiliator,” an altar was erected in Olympia by his descendant Clymenus*, only fiftyyears after the deluge of Deucalion, long previous to the age of Theseus. At Megalo¬ polis in Arcadia there was a statue of the Idaean Hercules “ one cubit high.” Of all the gods, demi-gods, and heroes who have borne the name of Hercules, the Idaean is unquestionably the best pourtrayed by the statue, of which we now speak. Three individuals are enumerated by Diodorus: the * Pans, vii. 31 , 187 Egyptian? who raised the famous columns at the entrance of the Mediterranean; the Cretan, who founded the Olympic games; and the Theban, who was the son of Jupiter and Alc- mene. Six are mentioned by Cicero: the son of Jupiter and Lysidia; the Egyptian; the Idsean ; the son of Jupiter and Asteria (or the Ty rian); the Indian, surnamed Belus; and the Theban: and a long catalogue of mortals are thus named by different writers. Underneath the drapery, or chlamys, on which the figure lies, is discovered one of the attributes of Alcides, the lion’s skin, which is spread over the rugged rock and shows only the feet and claws. It is sufficient to distinguish this god from his fellow-deities. His exploits in Elis were probably of the same nature with those of the Boeotian demi-god, and he was equally renowned for extraordinary strength and prow¬ ess. The club is omitted, possibly on purpose to mark a difference, which is still more illus¬ trated by the proportions of the limbs, and the youthful graces of the head. The form is athletic, but not Herculean, as this term is defined by the Farnese statue, of Glycom, or 188 the quiescent Torso, of Apollonius. The mus¬ cles are, it is true, in celestial repose; but they have evidently never received the extension caused by incessant labours; and the Theban hero was not deified at so young an age as is expressed by the face and hair of the figure now before us. The ears are not those of a Pancratiast, nor is the hair curled and stiff'. It is to be remembered too, that the subject of the composition is taken entirely from the history of Olympus ; and therefore no one, who could not boast of early and pure ex¬ traction, would be admitted to so solemn an operation as that of cleaving the skull of Ju¬ piter. This rule we shall see strictly adhered to in the other personages, whose remains are distinguishable; they constitute, indeed, just such a family-party as might be expected on such an extraordinary occasion. Of the superlative merit of the statue it can¬ not be necessary to say much. To the anti¬ quary, the artist, and anatomist, it will afford a treat w'hich they can hardly find in any of those works of antiquity which have been long- ranked in the very first class of sculptures. 189 Possessing none of that commanding influence- which is the effect produced by heroic atti¬ tude, superhuman perfection, and artful com¬ bination of outline,—producing none of that painful wonder which is excited by the Bel- videre Apollo, or of the horror which is caused by the tragic death of the Laocoon*, the un¬ aspiring specimen of Grecian taste and skill before us, is in every sense instructive . The truth of the representation identifies the ori ginal, and introduces to us the rare character —an amiable heathen god. Those who have drawn from it, can best tell how inimitable are the beauties of the contour, and the ex¬ pression of living substance; but these per¬ fections are, to a certain degree, obvious to every eye. The quality, however, in which this, in com¬ mon with all the male figures of the Pediments, excels, perhaps, every work in marble which time has spared,—even the famous Borghese Gladiator of Agasias the Ephesian sculptor, the Dying Herald,or the Discobolus of Myron, * Opus omnibus et picturae et statuaries artis praeponendum. Plin. xxxvi. ii. c. 5. 190 —is the extraordinary management of the material, in exhibiting the very action of the muscles and projection of the bones, under¬ neath the integuments which form the sur¬ face of the body. The expansion of the ribs appears, as in a breathing man, to stretch the elastic cutis; and the depression of the ab¬ domen permits the skin to fold, as if it were in¬ deed loose from the subjacent muscles. The heavy pressure of the trunk is wonderfully dis¬ covered in the laxity of the parts above the hip (obliquus abdominis externus). The po¬ sition throws up the scapula of the left arm, and the muscles on that side are as plainly acted upon by the elevation, as if they were exhibited by a demonstrator of anatomy; and yet without any extravagance or unnatural distention. In the modelling of this statue the object has clearly been, not to display the greatest possible number of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, by forced and artifi¬ cial means; but simply to let the chisel tell “ the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to show the real, not the ima¬ ginary effects of a familiar, yet elegant, po- 191 sition on every atom of the marble. The height of the figure, if perfect and erect, would be about eight feet; the extreme length of the fragment in a horizontal line is 5' —8", and its height 4'—3 The group which is placed next in order, represents two female figures seated, that on the left hand of the spectator being so dis¬ posed, as to exceed the highest point of the Hercules but little in elevation. The first ap¬ pearance of this composition, even at a con¬ siderable distance, is remarkably striking: the dignity of attitude and broad casting of the draperies, which are still distinguishable even in the broken limbs and interrupted folds, render this, as a fragment, the most noble and imposing of any in the collection. So little remains of the uncovered parts of either person, and so little information is to be obtained from the mere form of the garments, that in the total absence of all distinctive at¬ tributes, we must rather presume, than as¬ sert, that M. Visconti is right when he deno¬ minates them Proserpine and Ceres: he offers no reason for his belief, but says onlv, “ Je 9 * v O 1 Proserpine and Ceres. 192 crois qu’il representoit les deux grandes dr¬ esses dont le culte et les mysteres 6toient c6- lebres dans 1’Attique; Proserpine et sa mere, C6 res.” On further investigation, however, this opinion is much corroborated by the de¬ tails. The lower figure, or that nearer to the extremity of the Pediment, is somewhat of less stature than her companion, if they were both erect, about four inches; and it is plain, from the attitude, that some intimate connec¬ tion is supposed to subsist between them. It appears, that they were also intended to re¬ present divinities of a high rank, from the construction of the seats on which they are placed. Such stools, although of the most simple pattern, may be considered as thrones, and in ancient sculptures are found to de¬ note the quality of Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto, Cybele, and Juno: but that they are by no means appropriated solely to the twelve prin¬ cipal deities is proved in the present instance; for both the females could not*, though one * Neither Juno, Venus, nor Vesta would correspond with the figure in question : if it were absolutely necessary to restrict it to one of the twelve, Diana would offer the most probable 193 Tnay be, and probably is, a member of the upper house. The seats are very nearly si¬ milar : what ornament there is, a small boss, being given to that of the less dignified per¬ sonage of the two. They are both covered with folded carpets, but one is raised above the other by an additional cushion, of a dif¬ ferent construction. We may conclude that the mother occupies the elevated, and there¬ fore more honourable, situation; and that it is the daughter, who with filial tenderness sup¬ ports her arm upon the shoulder of her parent. If indeed we may suppose them to hold a high station in Olympus, as, considering their ex¬ pressive character and the scene in which they bear a part, we can hardly doubt—then are there no other mythological characters, Y o whom we can assign the portraits with any to¬ lerable consistency. The probable cause of their having been int roduced into the presen t coterie, and their right and title to be so, will appear similitude. We find, however, in the Frize of the Parthenon^ that iEsculapius and his daughter, as well as the Dioscuri, are furnished with stools of the same form with those of Ceres ancj Mifierva, (3 194 from the account transmitted to us of their birth, parentage, and education. Ceres was one of the illustrious children of Saturn, sister to Jupiter and niece to Hype¬ rion, of whom we have already spoken. She became the mother of Proserpine by Jupiter, and of Plutus, the god of riches, by a mortal, Jasion. It is said, that being ashamed of hav¬ ing also had a daughter by Neptune, she re¬ tired into a cavern, and remained there so long, that the world was nearly exhausted bv famine; for as she w 7 as the goddess of agri¬ culture and corn, sterility was to be expected from her total absence. At length Pan disco¬ vered her retreat in Arcadia, and informed Jupiter of the important secret, who, at the intercession of the Fates, mitigated her re¬ morse, and restored the benefit of her super¬ intendance to the earth. Having taken up her abode in Sicily, her beautiful daughter Pro¬ serpine attracted the notice of Pluto the god of the infernal regions, who hurried her away, while walking with her companions in the flowery meads of Enna, to share his throne in the less agreeable territories over which he 195 ruled. When Ceres was informed of the ac¬ cident which had befallen her daughter, she lighted a torch at Etna, and set forward to seek her favourite child by night as well as day: having suspected her destiny from find¬ ing her veil in the lake of Syracuse, through which Pluto had opened himself a passage, and being confirmed in her suspicions by the nymph Arethusa, she applied to Jupiter for the release of his niece and daughter. Pie as¬ sured her, that Proserpine should be restored, if she had observed a strict abstinence in the infernal regions. Having, however, been de¬ tected in eating some seeds of a pomegranate, the newly constituted queen of Hades was only permitted to spend six months of the year in Olympus with her mother. Ceres, satisfied with the decree of Jupiter, proceeded with all possible diligence to repair the evils which her abstraction from the world bad caused. The first place she visited was Eleusis in Attica, where she instructed Tri- ptolemus in the arts of agriculture, and sent him forth in her own car, to teach the inha¬ bitants of Europe and Asia these valuable o 2 196 processes. The Athenians thus pre-eminently favoured, not only appointed sacrifices to their benefactress, but instituted the famous Eleu- sinian mysteries, in her honour. The first Greeks who were initiated in these mysteries were, besides Triptolemus, Celeus, Diodes, and Eumolpus, the son of Musseus the poc-t ? and author of a hymn to Ceres. There was sufficient reason, therefore, to allow the god¬ dess of fertility, so much venerated at Athens, to occupy a foremost place in the decora¬ tion of the Parthenon, accompanied by her daughter, whose worship was connected with the Eleusinian rites, and formed the foundation of the lesser mysteries. But besides this, there might be a covert reason for placing Proser¬ pine immediately next to Hercules; for we are told, that on a statue found at Rome was a representation of Pluto carrying away Pro¬ serpine, and preceded by Hercules covered with a honks skin; an allegorical allusion to the labour necessary to fructify the corn, which is hidden in the ground by tillage. We may thus have a perfect symbolic concatena¬ tion from the statue of Hvperion or the Sun, 197 tlirough Hercules and Proserpine, to Ceres the goddess of abundance ; each being of pri¬ maeval origin, each acknowledged in the re¬ ligious code of Athens, and each appropriate composition. The drapery* of the Proserpine consists of * The costume of Grecian females was extremely elegant, capable of much variety and display of taste, and yet was com¬ posed of only two or, at most, three separate garments. The inner one, or that which was uniformly worn next the person, was denominated j/>s rjXQe w>iia J lpiz, Il«f A log &.'iyisy i oio )