_Drapery, &c._--All the figures on this tomb, except the
"Harpies," the diminutive figures connected with them, and the
warrior, are draped in chiton, and himation or peplos. The figures
borne by the "Harpies" and the figure crouching in grief wear long
chitons only. The "Harpies" wear chitons, of which the sleeves
alone are indicated. All the principal figures wear shoes or
sandals, so far as the feet are preserved, with the exception of
the second figure behind the throne on the east side. The women on
the west side, and the seated figure on the south side wear shoes
with pointed toes. The remaining figures wear sandals only. All
the figures on the east side had metal taeniae or stephanae, the
holes for the attachment of the metal being still visible. The
youth on the east side, as already stated, held a metal object in
his hand.
_Colouring._--The following indications of colour can be traced.
The ground of the reliefs was bright blue. Part of the colour
remains round the profile of the youth on the east side, and under
the right wrist of the first figure behind the throne on this
side. Birch (_Archæologia_, xxx., p. 192) states that he has seen
scarlet on the crest of the helmet, and Scharf (_Mus. of Class.
Antiq._, i., p. 252) that there were "traces of red in the hollow
of the shields and upon sandals." Elsewhere the colour must be
inferred from the inequalities of the surface of the marble, due
to the unequal protecting powers of the different colours.
There was an egg and tongue pattern on the lower moulding, and a
maeander pattern on parts of the upper moulding. On the west side
the chair of the figure on the right was painted with palmette
ornament. On the east side there was also a palmette pattern on
the side of the throne.
_Interpretations._--The interpretations of this monument,
that have been proposed, may be divided into three groups--
(1.) According to the first commentators, the subject represented
was the rape of the daughters of Pandareos, king of Lycia, by the
Harpies (Homer, _Od._ xx., l. 66. Gibson, in Fellows, _Lycia_, p.
171; Birch, _Archæologia_, xxx., p. 185.) The objections to this
view are that the subject is an improbable one for representation
on a tomb, that the "Harpies" evidently stand in a kindly relation
towards the persons whom they carry, and that the reliefs do not
agree well with the literary form of the myth. It is also doubtful
whether the "Harpies" were imagined with bird-bodies at the period
of these sculptures. (Furtwaengler, _Arch. Zeit._, 1882, p. 204.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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