Such subjects as the foregoing are often placed within an
architectural structure, usually consisting of two pilasters and an
entablature, sometimes surmounted by a pediment. Various theories
have been proposed on the subject. It has been suggested that the
architectural ornament indicates the votive character of the relief
(_Journ. of Hellen. Studies_, v., p. 111), or the home of the dead
person (Pervanoglu, _Grabsteine der alten Griechen_, p. 14), but there
is no evidence of any such special significance attaching to the form.
(Compare Furtwaengler, _Coll. Sabouroff_, i., p. 52.)
_The Sepulchral Banquet._--From the fourth century onwards, a type of
relief commonly known as the Sepulchral Banquet becomes very common in
Attica and elsewhere. In a normal example of the fully developed type,
the chief figure is that of a man recumbent on a couch, holding a cup.
Before him is a table with food. A woman, according to Greek custom,
is seated upright at the foot of the couch. Boys or attendants are
seen drawing wine. The head of a horse is often seen at the back of
the relief. A snake is frequently introduced, and often drinks wine
from a cup held by one of the figures. Further, a group of adorant
figures, usually on a small scale, may be represented about to
sacrifice at an altar, near the foot of the couch.
The meaning of this type has been a subject of long controversy, but
it is best understood if the later reliefs are studied in connection
with the oldest known specimens of the same subject. A series
of archaic reliefs from the neighbourhood of Sparta (_Athenische
Mittheilungen_, ii., pls. 20-25; Furtwaengler, _Coll. Sabouroff_,
pl. 1; _Journ. of Hellen. Studies_, v., p. 123), contains subjects
somewhat of the following character: A male and female figure,
represented on a heroic or divine scale, are seated enthroned, holding
as attributes a large two-handled cup, or a pomegranate. Figures of
worshippers approach, carrying a pomegranate or a cock, and a snake
is sometimes present. The sculptures of the Harpy Tomb (No. 94), have
been sometimes classed with the works here described, but this has not
yet been established.
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