Nos. 3751 and 3712 probably have reference to the same subject, the former being rather more perfect than the latter. On both Athene appears in the act of crowning some person, the helmet and shield clearly indicating that Goddess. No attribute remains whereby we can identify the other divinity in No. 375; nor have we any means of ascertaining to what event either of these reliefs refers. The general character of Athene is well given in No. 371, which is in this respect better preserved than the other relief. Having now described individually the more important bas-reliefs, we will indicate the position of the remainder by the following numbers : Nos. 204, 224, 241 (a female head about the age of Antoninus Pius), 280, 335, 336 (a fragment bearing the names of Aristodice, Aristarchus, and Athenais, natives of Sestos), 419, 420, 423, 430-1 (from Laconia), 432, 436 (bearing the name of Epicrates, the son of Cephisus), 440 (bearing that of Timon); and 433, 434, 435, and 439, which are casts lately received from Athens. III. VOTIVE MEMORIALS. These memorials almost entirely consist of tablets, which it was customary in ancient times to suspend or affix to the walls of the temples or other suitable edifices. They consist either of representations of the part of the body which having been diseased was recovered by prayer to the Gods, or of inscriptions which record the name of the offerer and that of the divinity to whom the offering is made. The majority of those in the Museum were offered to Zeus, having been found in a spot which was most probably consecrated to him, in cavities and recesses cut in the face of the rock, on either side of the Bema or Pnyx at Athens. They were discovered when the earth which covered and concealed the steps leading up to the Bema was removed at the expense of the Earl of Aberdeen. The three first of these votive memorials, Nos. 209, 210, 211,3 are representations of the female breast, of which No. 210 is the best preserved. They were offered by three females, whose names are Eisias, Eutychis, and Onesime respectively. The first and third are in white, the second in dark coloured marble. They are offered to Zeus Hypsistos (the Highest), but are of the late or Roman period. Nos. 214, 215, 217, 218, respectively, have representations of 6 1 Engr. Museum Marbles,' Part 1x. pl. xxxv. fig. 4. 2 Ibid., pl. xxxvi. fig. 1. 3 Ibid., pl. xli. figs. 1, 2, 3. 4 Ibid., figs. 4, 5, 6, 7. 215 a pair of eyes, arms from the shoulders to the elbows, a portion of a naked foot, and the lower part of a face, with the names of the offerers, Claudia Prepusa and Tertia, attached to Nos. 215 and 218 respectively. Nos. 212 and 2131 contain remains of their inscribed portions only, and we have therefore no means of ascertaining for what diseases they were offered. The names on the tablets are— on No. 212, Syntrophus; and on No. 213, Euphrosynus. There are some varieties in the forms of the Greek inscriptions which we need not advert to here. Claudia and Tertia were, no doubt, Roman ladies; and the character of the letters of all the inscriptions points to that age for the period of their execution. 1 Engr. 'Museum Marbles,' Part 1x. pl. xli. figs. 8, 9. 213 Besides these, there are some other inscriptions which are clearly of a votive character. Thus, No. 174 is the offering of some sailor to the Apollo of Tarsus. No. 202 is one dedicated by Gorgias the Gymnasiarch. No. 298 is a votive inscription, in two Greek verses, stating that Horarius had dedicated some lamps which he had won in the Games to Hermes and Heracles; a bas-relief has surmounted this inscription, which is now almost entirely broken away. No. 374 is a votive inscription of Antisthene, the priest of Pandion; and No. 4291 is a votive offering by two females and a child to Eilithyia, the patroness of childbirth. No. 199***, which is a circular altar adorned with the heads of bulls from which festoons are suspended, most likely belongs to the class of votive memorials. It bears an inscription in Greek, containing a prayer for the prosperity and health of a person named Calliarax. IV.-ALTARS. The Altars in the Elgin Room are arranged under the Nos. 179, 187**, 199***, and 330:* the third we have already described under the head of votive memorials, and only mention it here because this monument has been generally considered an altar. Nos. 179 and 187** are both from the island of Delos, and are ornamented, like 199***, with festoons of fruit and flowers suspended from the head of bulls. No. 330 is a fragment of a quadrangular object which has probably been once an altar. What may have been its original dimensions, or how many figures have been sculptured upon it, cannot now be ascertained. All that at present remains are portions of two female attendants on Dionysus, engaged in the vehement dance which characterized his festivals. The righthand figure brandishes the thyrsus. V.-SEPULCHRAL MEMORIALS. The Sepulchral memorials preserved in the Elgin Room, of which there is a large collection, admit of a threefold division These memorials, which in ancient times answered the purpose of our gravestones, are generally of two kinds, square or round: when square, they are generally ornamented with mouldings; when round, they terminated in a peaked or rounded cap. 7 No. 1231 is a sepulchral stele of a columnar form, bearing the name of Anaxicrates, an Athenian, the son of Dexiocus. Underneath the inscription is sculptured an urn of rather unusual form. It is not known to whom the monument refers. No. 2292 is a stele of a semi-oval form, plain at the top, and bearing on it, sculptured in low relief, the figure of an elderly man leaning on a column, and much resembling the magistrates upon the Panathenaic frieze. It is inscribed with the names of Erasippos, son of Kallinicos, of Crioeis, a demos of Antiochis. No. 2583 is a stele surmounted by a very elegant ornament, commonly called the honeysuckle ornament or fleuron, the diverging leaves of the upper part of this embellishment bearing considerable resemblance in form to a cluster of unopened red petals of that plant. The names on this monument are Asclepiodorus, an Olynthian, son of Thraso, and Epicydes, an Olynthian, the son of Asclepiodorus. No. 290, bearing the name of Chabrias Salyprianos (of Selymbria ?), and No. 351, inscribed with those of Hippocrates and Baucis, bear a great resemblance in form to No. 258. Both have been engraved in Museum Marbles, Part 1x. No. 373 is of nearly the same form as No. 229, but has a different subject sculptured upon it, representing three figures-one a female seated on a chair, and holding the hand of another female who is apparently taking leave of her: an old man stands by the seated female, holding in his hand what is probably a sepulchral urn. The name Hermodorus and portions of two others appear upon it above the sculpture. No. 351, with the names of Hippocrates and Baucis. No. 331,5 again, though it bears some resemblance to No. 259, differs considerably in form from the preceding. At the top of the block is a butterfly resting on a pile of fruit. On the architrave is sculptured, in letters of a rather late period, the name Musônias; underneath are some other letters partially obliterated. No. 1916 is a fragment representing the honeysuckle ornament, but containing no inscription or name. No. 2597 resembles No. 331 in shape, but, unlike it, is quite plain at the top, except an ornament resembling a zigzag: the block appears to have been once considerably larger. It bears now only 1 Engr. 'Museum Marbles,' Part 1x., pl. xxxiv. fig. 2. 4 Ibid., pl. xxx. fig. 4. 3 Ibid., pl. xxix. fig. 2. 5 Ibid., fig. 2. 7 Ibid., fig. 1. |