Part 2 (1/2)
[9] Iliad, Book xix., lines 427-429.
[10] Iliad, Book v., lines 309 and 352.
[Ill.u.s.tration: D. Anderson, Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.
ATHENA GIUSTINIANA (MINERVA MEDICA)
_Vatican Gallery, Rome_]
To Athena Ulysses owed his safe return to Ithaca after the adventures related in the Odyssey. It was her adroit planning which brought together the long lost father and his son Telemachus, with the faithful wife Penelope. She also found ways to help Jason when he went in search of the golden fleece; she aided Hercules in his labors and guided the hand of Perseus when he cut off the Gorgon's head.
Athena was also the patroness of the industrial arts. She was skilful in weaving and needlework, making both her own and others' beautiful robes and teaching the craft to some favored mortals. She was, in short, the personification of ”inspired and impulsive wisdom in human conduct and human art, giving the instinct of infallible decision, and of faultless invention.”[11] Finally, and not least important, Athena was one of the agencies in the productiveness of the earth, and hence the patron G.o.ddess of farmers.
[11] From Ruskin's _Queen of the Air_.
Our statue shows as many as possible of the attributes of the G.o.ddess.
The figure is tall and stately and magnificently developed. The Greek ideal of beauty was to let nature have its way in the human body, unhindered by any such restraints of clothing as our modern fas.h.i.+ons have invented. The broad shoulders and ample waist bespeak the splendid strength of the G.o.ddess.
The neck rises from the shoulders like a column to support the well-set head. A tunic falls in straight folds to the feet, and over this is worn a long mantle gathered over the left shoulder. Upon her breast hangs the s.h.i.+eld, here made very small, and the helmet and spear complete her equipment as a G.o.ddess of war. At her side coils the emblematic serpent.
Her aspect is far from warlike. The face is intellectual and the expression thoughtful. This is the G.o.ddess of wisdom reflecting upon grave concerns. The mouth is set somewhat proudly, and the countenance is full of a dignified reserve. The masterful element, so strong in her character, is admirably expressed. There is something almost austere in the beauty of this virgin G.o.ddess. A majestic being like this is not one to be familiarly approached.
III
HORs.e.m.e.n FROM THE PARTHENON FRIEZE
To understand the history and meaning of the bas-relief reproduced in our ill.u.s.tration, we must first learn something of the wors.h.i.+p of Athena in her chosen city of Athens. An annual festival was held here in her honor, and every four years occurred a very elaborate celebration called the Panathenaea. The Panathenaea lasted several days, and attracted throngs of people from all parts of Greece. There were contests in gymnastics and music, torch-races, horse-races, feasts and dances.
Sacrifices of oxen were offered on the altar of the G.o.ddess, every state having to furnish an ox for the purpose. The climax was reached on the last day, when a great procession started at sunrise and traversed the streets of the city to the temple of Athena. It is with this procession that the bas-relief of our picture is connected, as we shall presently see.
Some time before the festival a group of Athenian maidens of the n.o.blest families had made and embroidered for Athena a beautiful robe called the _peplos_. This was carried above the procession, stretched like a sail on the mast of a s.h.i.+p which was rolled through the street on wheels. The pageant was made up of many different companies. There were the Athenian magistrates, grave and dignified, maidens carrying sacrificial vessels, men bearing trays of cakes, citharists (harpists) and flute-players, old men with olive branches, four-horse chariots with armed warriors, rows of young men mounted on prancing steeds, and attendants with the cattle for the sacrifice.
During the invasion of Greece by the Persians, the temple of Athena in Athens was destroyed by fire. Later, on its site, was erected another to replace it, called the Parthenon. The city was now at the height of its prosperity under the statesman Pericles. At this time also lived the great sculptor Phidias, and to him Pericles intrusted the decoration of the new temple.
The Parthenon was built of Pentelic marble, and the temple proper was surrounded by a portico supported on rows of columns. The outside of the building was richly adorned with bas-reliefs. There were designs in the triangular s.p.a.ces under the roof called _pediments_. Above the columns ran a series of panels called _metopes_. Finally, there was a _frieze_ extending around the temple wall, to be seen from within the portico. It is a bit of this frieze which is reproduced in our ill.u.s.tration.
[Ill.u.s.tration: London Stereoscopic Co., Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.
HORs.e.m.e.n FROM THE PARTHENON FRIEZE
_British Museum, London_]
The Panathenaic procession is the subject carried the entire length of this bas-relief decoration. On the portion running across one end were depicted the scenes of preparation. Men are in the act of mounting their horses, some having spirited animals to deal with, and all making ready for the start. At the opposite end is the scene of the arrival at the temple. Here sit the G.o.ds to receive the sacrifice, while the magistrates stand ready to perform the rites, and maidens approach with the vessels. On the two long sides the procession is seen actually in motion. Here are represented all the figures which took part in such occasions; old men and maidens, musicians, hors.e.m.e.n, charioteers, and sacrificial animals, all moving forward on their way. Group follows group, with that contrast and variety which give interest to a pageant, and with the proper orderliness to give it unity.
Our panel shows us a line of hors.e.m.e.n riding four abreast. Though it is broken and defaced, we catch at once the spirit of the work. The horses are splendid animals; with dilated nostrils, and necks proudly arched, they seem to prance to the music of the flutes. Though they are well matched in size and type, no two are really alike. Every one has as distinct a character as a human being, and lovers of horses might choose each his own favorite from the four.
Only two of the riders fall within our range of vision. They are handsome youths, with the perfectly formed head and finely cut profile which we learn to recognize as the Greek ideal of beauty. The line across forehead and nose is perfectly straight, and the line connecting nose and chin forms a corresponding angle. Both faces bear the stamp of refinement and high breeding which mark them as belonging to the cla.s.s of Athenian n.o.bles.