The Glory That Was Greece: a survey of Hellenic culture and civilisationStobart, J. C. (John Clarke)
History
The Glory That Was Greece: a survey of Hellenic culture and civilisation
Stobart, J. C. (John Clarke)
Art, Greek; Greece -- Civilization -- To 146 B.C.
Our museums also contain a great number of the marble slabs, decorated
in high relief, which formed the ordinary tombstone of the Athenians
buried in the cemetery of Cerameikos, outside the Dipylon Gate at
Athens. A few of them are still _in situ_, and present a remarkable
picture as they stand. One of the most famous is the tomb of Hegeso, in
the Athenian Museum. But there are a great many more, less known but
equally beautiful, both there and elsewhere. None of them are, so far as
we know, the work of named artists. The great works constructed under
Pericles and Pheidias on the Acropolis must have collected dozens of
competent minor craftsmen to Athens, and given them a noble training in
their craft. Some show the round contours and delicate drapery of the
Pheidian style, some the heavy muscularity of Polycleitus, and some show
the small, finely poised heads of the school of Lysippus.
The subjects represented on the lecythi generally depict some part of
the funeral rites, and the sepulchral slabs generally exhibit a scene of
departure, which is always treated with extraordinary dignity and
reserve. Not a lamentation is uttered, not a tear falls. Perhaps the
gaze of our athlete’s father is more searching and intense than if it
were a mere earthly separation from his stalwart son. There is, I think,
no portraiture even here. If it is a woman who has gone to her long
home, she is sometimes shown putting away her jewels for the journey. On
one archaic relief now at Rome, a mother, with a smile upon her face, is
placing her child on the knees of Persephone. A very beautiful one, also
at Rome, bears the mythological scene of the parting between those types
of married love and constancy, Orpheus and Eurydice. The head of Orpheus
is bent a little, but Eurydice is smiling farewell, and the hand of
Hermes, the Escort of Souls, is very light upon her wrist.[75] Most
typical of all, perhaps, is the Mourning Athena,[76] which was probably
a public memorial of soldiers fallen in the wars, since it was found
built into a wall on the
[Illustration: FIG. 1
FIG. 2
PLATE LX. TWO TOMBSTONE RELIEFS, FROM THE CERAMEIKOS, ATHENS]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account