Part 7 (1/2)

The figure on the other side is the messenger G.o.d Hermes, whose mission is to conduct departing spirits to the other world.[33] He has come for Eurydice, and he takes her by the hand to draw her away. For a moment husband and wife gaze into each other's eyes with love and sorrow, while the messenger waits with exquisite courtesy.

[33] See page 61.

Though the Greeks had many tales of sorrow in their poetry and mythology, they did not often ill.u.s.trate them in their art. The subjects of their sculpture are nearly always happy ones. Even here, you see, grief is made so beautiful and dignified that we forget to feel sad about the parting. We think most of the love and devotion between Orpheus and Eurydice.

The simple story of the bas-relief touches us more readily perhaps than the grand statues of the G.o.ds. People like in art something which corresponds to the common human lives of all.

The garment worn by Eurydice seems quite like that of the G.o.ddess Demeter. The drapery is very full in front, falling in long straight folds. At the side it is scantier and shows the motion of the figure in walking. The short tunic worn by the other figures is a picturesque costume, and the mantle swinging over one shoulder is very graceful.

When one contrasts with these cla.s.sical draperies the stiff dress of modern times, one wonders that the sculptor of to-day does not throw down his chisel in despair.

The style of the draperies often enables a critic to decide in what period a work of art was produced. In the best art the folds are always simple: it is a sure sign of declining art when the folds are complicated and broken. Here we see the few simple, severe lines which mark the purest cla.s.sical taste.

XV

NIKE (THE WINGED VICTORY)

Upon the death of Alexander the Great there was much disputing among his generals as to what should become of the various provinces of his empire, including Greece. It was finally decided that the Greek cities should be left free. A general named Ptolemy soon broke this agreement and entered Greece, whereupon another named Antigonus promptly proceeded to punish him. Antigonus had a son Demetrius, who was a skilful engineer, and was called Poliorcetes, ”besieger of cities,” for his success in raising sieges. He was sent to Athens with a fleet of two hundred and fifty s.h.i.+ps, and won the grat.i.tude of the city for delivering it from the hands of Ptolemy. Demetrius next turned his attention to the island of Cyprus, of which Ptolemy was in possession.

The rival forces met off Salamis, 306 B. C., in a fierce sea fight, and Demetrius was victorious.

Now the Greeks were fond of commemorating notable events by the erection of statues, and it was an old custom among them to set up a statue of victory in honor of any success of arms on land or sea. We have seen how natural it was for them to attribute the affairs of life to the agency of the deities. So in war, greatly as they praised their armies and their generals, it was to Nike, the G.o.ddess of victory, that they gave the chief credit of success. This G.o.ddess was conceived as a winged being attendant upon both Zeus and Athena, who, as we have seen, controlled the destinies of war.

To Nike then, this winged G.o.ddess of victory, was due the wonderful success of Demetrius over Ptolemy's fleet before Salamis, and it was fitting that her statue should commemorate the event. The spot chosen for it was the island of Samothrace, which stands so high above water level that it is very conspicuous in the northern Greek archipelago.

The G.o.ddess was represented standing on the prow of a vessel as if leading the fleet to success. It may be that the old Greek idea of a G.o.ddess at the prow was the origin of the ”figure head” for so many years carried by every s.h.i.+p that sailed the seas. The vessels in those old days were called _triremes_, being propelled by rowers who sat at their oars in three _tiers_, or banks, which gave the name to the craft.

The G.o.ddess stood in the middle of what was called the _ikrion proras_, which would correspond to the forecastle deck. In her right hand she held a trumpet to her lips, and in her left she carried a crosstree, the framework of a trophy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Neurdein Freres, Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.

NIKE (THE WINGED VICTORY)

_The Louvre, Paris_]