The friezes, however, which had been built into a wall near the Propylaea, one pilaster capital and one angle capital, had been already removed by Lord Elgin.

The date of the temple, and its relation to the adjoining wing of the Propylaea, has been the subject of much controversy. The only external evidence is contained in an inscription (found in 1897) of about 450 B.C., which orders the erection of a temple to Athena Nike, by Callicrates, an architect who is known to have been employed in public works under Pericles (Ephemeris Archaiologikè, 1897, pl. 11). If the temple was put in hand at the time of the inscription, it would be about twenty years older than archeologists had been previously inclined to suppose.

Four marble slabs of the frieze were in the collection of Lord Elgin. These have been arranged in combination with five casts from slabs now at Athens (the whole being placed as far as possible in the order of Prof. Kekule).

North Side. Slab with combat of Greeks against Greeks, over the body of a fallen Persian; two riderless horses springing away.

West Side. 421, 422, and a short return slab. Scenes of combat between Greeks and Greeks. In 421 a trophy has been erected, consisting of a helmet, shield and cuirass, attached to the trunk of a tree.

South Side. 423-425 and another cast. Scenes of combat between Greeks and Persians, who are both mounted and on foot.

East Side. Slab from a scene with the gods assembled in council. It is thought that the whole frieze may represent in idealized fashion the victory of the Greeks over the Persians and their Greek allies, at the battle of Plataea.

425a. Ionic angle capital, recently identified as a part of the temple of Wingless Victory. From Lord Elgin's collection. 436. Capital of one of the pilasters of the temple.

GREEK RELIEFS, SEPULCHRAL AND VOTIVE.

The remaining objects exhibited in this room are principally single reliefs, the intention of which was either sepulchral or votive.

SEPULCHRAL RELIEFS.

It will readily be seen from a study of the grave-reliefs collected in the room that all degrees of merit are present, and that Greek tombstones may be either elaborate and beautiful sculptures, or slight and hasty sketches representing a well-worn theme.

When we see them together in great numbers, as in the Museum at Athens, we feel that there is a want of variety, and that much of the work is of inferior merit. At the same time, however, the

grave-reliefs, even when of minor interest, are nearly always pervaded by a sentiment of dignified and reticent melancholy, which appeals with force to the modern spectator. They show also the instinctive grace and skill of subordinate Greek craftsmen, even in hastily executed and unimportant works.

These monuments are of several fairly distinct types. 1. The tablet (or stelè) crowned with an ornament. The simplest and earliest form of gravestone is a plain flat tablet for the names of the deceased and of his father. Such a stone is naturally completed with decoration at the top, which sometimes becomes elaborate. See for examples :

599. Stone of Smikylion, son of Eualkides, with a palmette springing from a base of acanthus leaves, and with two rosettes on the shaft. (West side.)

605. Stone of Eumachos, son of Euthymachos, of the deme of

YMAхо
ΕΥΘΥΜΑΧΟ
ΛΩΡΕΛΗ

Fig. 34.-Sepulchral Stone of Eumachos, No. 605.

Alopekè, with a central palmette, and two half palmettes, springing from acanthus leaves. (In middle; fig. 34.)

600. Stone of Hippocrates and Baukis, surmounted by a palmette in low relief. The flat surface below the stone may have

been painted. (West side.)

2. Tablets, with scenes from the ordinary life of the deceased. These tablets are usually set in an architectural frame, with side pilasters, and a small pediment.

The finest and most pathetic of this class are those of women. See for examples :

2231. Stone of Glykylla. The seated lady is putting on a

twisted bracelet, which she has taken from the box held by her maid. (North side; fig. 35.)

2232. Stone of a lady (her name is not inscribed) who appears to have died leaving a young child to the care of a nurse. (North side; fig. 36.)

Among the subjects from the daily life of youths and men, see for examples :

626. Stone of Tryphon, son of Eutychos. He carries his

strigil, an instrument used for scraping off the oil and sweat of the gymnasium. (East side.)

627. Stone of a youth, who carries a pet bird in his left hand. (East side.)

628. Stone of Xanthippos. An elderly figure seated on a chair holds a foot in his right hand. A diminutive woman and girl raise their hands with gestures of surprise. Various attempts have been made to explain this singular subject, and while some interpreters explain the foot as a votive foot, commemorating some

remarkable cure experienced by Xanthippos, others take it to be a shoemaker's last, and a symbol of the calling of the deceased. (North side.)

629. Stone of Jason, a physician. He examines a patient, a boy who is shown to be suffering by his swollen belly and wasted legs. (North side.)

3. Vases, in the round, or in relief.

These are a common form of monument at Athens. Their origin is probably derived from the vessels of pottery placed upon the tombs.

681. Plain sepulchral vase (lekythos) in low relief. (West side.)

4. Figures clasping hands. In Attic reliefs, chiefly of the fourth and subsequent centuries, the two principal persons are often represented clasping right hands together, and such scenes are commonly known as Scenes of Parting. It is, however, not clear that the clasped hands refer to the long separation of death. The gesture probably makes allusion to intimate friendship rather than to separation.

On the north side of the room is the large relief of Archagora. A seated lady, so named in the inscription, clasps the hand of a

bearded man, standing before her, who is no doubt the husband. Between the two, a second woman, perhaps a daughter, stands with hand raised to her chin in a thoughtful attitude. (Plate VII., fig. 1.)

On the floor of the room is the relief of the family of Epichares. The wife of Epichares (her name is lost) sits clasping the hand of her daughter Aristeis, who stands before her. Between the two is Epichares, turned to the front and looking towards his wife. The execution is somewhat hasty in both of these sculptures, but they show the tender and pathetic sentiment characteristic of the group of reliefs. Both are from Attica. [Plate VII., fig. 2.]

689. Part of a sepulchral vase, with relief. Two women, Callistratè (?) and Demostratè, stand with right hands joined. Behind them are a girl and boy, making gestures of grief.

In many examples, as in the above, the type of figures clasping hands is combined with the sepulchral vase.

680. In the middle of the room is a figure of a bull, lying down, executed in the round, which probably crowned an Athenian monument.

Near it is a figure of a mourning woman (Plate VIII.), closely draped in a large mantle and finely composed. In Roman times the statue appears to have been set in its present plinth, and to have been inscribed on the base with the name of Maximina, (?) wife of Sextilius Clemens. The sculptural type, however, and, according to some critics, the statue also are much older, and may go back to the fourth century B.C. From the collection of the Duke of Sutherland at Trentham Hall.

VOTIVE RELIEFS.

A votive offering is, in its essence, a present made to a god or to a superior being, in order to secure some favour in the future, or to avert anger for a past offence, or to express gratitude for a favour received. The last purpose includes offerings made in fulfilment of a vow, the vow being a kind of contract between the individual and the god. Votive reliefs are usually of the latter kind. Those exhibited in this room are for the most part offerings made by victors in athletic and other contests. [A group of votive offerings of a more personal kind, for cures to diseased parts of the body, etc., are shown in the Room of Greek and Roman Life, see p. 150.]

7*. Votive relief in honour of the Thracian goddess, Artemis Bendis (Plate IX.). The goddess receives the adoration of two elderly men, one of whom carries a torch, and of a company of youths. The former are probably persons who had charge of the festival, or who provided and trained the victorious company in the torch race, now standing behind them. The relief is a well-preserved example of a rare subject, and there is an admirable freshness and variety in the poses of the youths. The date is the first half of the fourth century B.C.