Echoes of Greek Tragedies on a Roman Sarcophagus - I.
The lower frieze of the sarcophagus summarizes the story of Orestes told by two Aeschylus’ tragedies: Choëphóroi, Eumenides.
The story, according to Aeschylus‘ “Libation bearers” (Choëphóroi), begins on the left side of the front panel: the spirit of the murdered King Agamemnon stands wrapped in a shroud at the entrance of the stone vault. Orestes stands in front of the entrance wanting to bid farewell and embrace his father, while Pylades stands there with his right arm raised in a gesture of honor. Both are portrayed in the nude with only a chlamys draped around the neck and over the shoulder. Below, a seemingly sleeping yet always-watchful Erinys leans in front of the entrance with the large axe that slay King Agamemnon.
The large, central, scene depicts the murder of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. The murder is in Aeschylus‘ tragedy only narrated, while it is actually executed in the palace and thus is not seen on stage. The actual murder, unseen in the tragedy, here becomes the main artistic theme. The left part of the scene depicts Orestes pulling Aegisthus from the throne and killing him turning his head aside during the act of murder. The woman to Orestes‘ right, is his nurse also turning aside and covering her face with her hand. The right half of the scene depicts Orestes, in a similar pose as a naked athlete, having pushed his mother, who has exposed her right breast and extended her right hand in a pleading defense, on the floor. To the right of Clytemnestra a frightened servant takes cover near the ground and raises a small chair high above his head in defense. These are cruel scenes, appropriate for Roman eyes so accustomed to bloody battles in the arena.
Behind Orestes there is the first of two Erinyes, a large snake coiled around her right and reaching out towards Orestes‘ head. The second Erinys can be seen in back, emerging from behind the extended carpet - “the parapetasma".
The central scene proceeds directly into the third scene of Orestes in Delphi. The scene concludes to the far right with a tripod on a square base and with an omphalos, wrapped in a cloth, above the tripod. A bay-tree expands above this holy symbol of Delphi. The still half insane Orestes, who according to Aeschylus‘ version of the myth never entirely recuperated in Delphi, raises a sword in his right hand and holds the empty sheath of a sword in his left behind his head: he carefully steps over the sleeping Erinys and sets forth from Delphi back to the left.
The upper relief on the front panel summarizes the plot of Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris. The frieze is also divided into three parts. Nevertheless, the difference in composition is considerable: all the scenes in Argos flow into one another below; the three scenes in Tauris - the meeting between Iphigeneia and Orestes in front of Artemis‘ temple, the scene portraying the transport of Artemis‘ statue to its washing in the sea and the scene depicting the Greeks fleeing from Tauris - are distinctly and visibly separated from each other.
The first scene shows a temple with folding, closed doors. The temple is simplistic and there are only delineated trees. They are indubitably bay-trees, as Artemis is the sister of Apollo and bay-trees denote the sacred tree of these two gods. A fire is alight on a round altar in front of the temple before which four individuals stand: Iphigeneia handing a letter to the timorous Pylades, a “capsa” in the shape of a jug for letter scrolls is at his feet. Orestes stands behind Pylades, who holds him back, calms him and holds his hand. Behind Orestes is a Taurian guard.
This scene is parted from the next by a tree. Five individuals appear in this scene. Iphigeneia is again to the left, in a somewhat more ceremonious dress and with a diadem in her hair. She holds Artemis‘ wrapped xóanon, simulacrum, which she will carry to the sea under the pretense that she is washing it and thus the Greeks will be able to reach the seashore undisturbed. Orestes in front of Pylades, now stands before her. His hands are chained behind his back. A guard wearing a Scythian cap and trousers stands behind the two. The fifth character follows: the Taurian King Thoas. He carries a long, strong stick of an entirely theatrical form in his left hand.
The third, and final, scene on the right depicts the Greeks fleeing from Tauris. The right side portrays the stern of a ship on billows and Iphigeneia safe behind the railing on board. Iphigeneia clutches Artemis‘ xóanan in her right hand. The gangway, upon which Pylades ascends with a raised sword, has yet to be drawn aboard. Orestes fights two Taurians in the opposite direction. One Taurian with a long, oval shield has already fallen, while the other with a long, rhombus shaped shield is defending himself.
Source Kastekic J., Arheolski vesnik 50, 1999, str. 259.286
Marble sarcophagus
130-140 AD
Vatican City State, Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano
Echoes of Greek Tragedies on a Roman Sarcophagus - I.
The lower frieze of the sarcophagus summarizes the story of Orestes told by two Aeschylus’ tragedies: Choëphóroi, Eumenides.
The story, according to Aeschylus‘ “Libation bearers” (Choëphóroi), begins on the left side of the front panel: the spirit of the murdered King Agamemnon stands wrapped in a shroud at the entrance of the stone vault. Orestes stands in front of the entrance wanting to bid farewell and embrace his father, while Pylades stands there with his right arm raised in a gesture of honor. Both are portrayed in the nude with only a chlamys draped around the neck and over the shoulder. Below, a seemingly sleeping yet always-watchful Erinys leans in front of the entrance with the large axe that slay King Agamemnon.
The large, central, scene depicts the murder of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. The murder is in Aeschylus‘ tragedy only narrated, while it is actually executed in the palace and thus is not seen on stage. The actual murder, unseen in the tragedy, here becomes the main artistic theme. The left part of the scene depicts Orestes pulling Aegisthus from the throne and killing him turning his head aside during the act of murder. The woman to Orestes‘ right, is his nurse also turning aside and covering her face with her hand. The right half of the scene depicts Orestes, in a similar pose as a naked athlete, having pushed his mother, who has exposed her right breast and extended her right hand in a pleading defense, on the floor. To the right of Clytemnestra a frightened servant takes cover near the ground and raises a small chair high above his head in defense. These are cruel scenes, appropriate for Roman eyes so accustomed to bloody battles in the arena.
Behind Orestes there is the first of two Erinyes, a large snake coiled around her right and reaching out towards Orestes‘ head. The second Erinys can be seen in back, emerging from behind the extended carpet - “the parapetasma".
The central scene proceeds directly into the third scene of Orestes in Delphi. The scene concludes to the far right with a tripod on a square base and with an omphalos, wrapped in a cloth, above the tripod. A bay-tree expands above this holy symbol of Delphi. The still half insane Orestes, who according to Aeschylus‘ version of the myth never entirely recuperated in Delphi, raises a sword in his right hand and holds the empty sheath of a sword in his left behind his head: he carefully steps over the sleeping Erinys and sets forth from Delphi back to the left.
The upper relief on the front panel summarizes the plot of Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris. The frieze is also divided into three parts. Nevertheless, the difference in composition is considerable: all the scenes in Argos flow into one another below; the three scenes in Tauris - the meeting between Iphigeneia and Orestes in front of Artemis‘ temple, the scene portraying the transport of Artemis‘ statue to its washing in the sea and the scene depicting the Greeks fleeing from Tauris - are distinctly and visibly separated from each other.
The first scene shows a temple with folding, closed doors. The temple is simplistic and there are only delineated trees. They are indubitably bay-trees, as Artemis is the sister of Apollo and bay-trees denote the sacred tree of these two gods. A fire is alight on a round altar in front of the temple before which four individuals stand: Iphigeneia handing a letter to the timorous Pylades, a “capsa” in the shape of a jug for letter scrolls is at his feet. Orestes stands behind Pylades, who holds him back, calms him and holds his hand. Behind Orestes is a Taurian guard.
This scene is parted from the next by a tree. Five individuals appear in this scene. Iphigeneia is again to the left, in a somewhat more ceremonious dress and with a diadem in her hair. She holds Artemis‘ wrapped xóanon, simulacrum, which she will carry to the sea under the pretense that she is washing it and thus the Greeks will be able to reach the seashore undisturbed. Orestes in front of Pylades, now stands before her. His hands are chained behind his back. A guard wearing a Scythian cap and trousers stands behind the two. The fifth character follows: the Taurian King Thoas. He carries a long, strong stick of an entirely theatrical form in his left hand.
The third, and final, scene on the right depicts the Greeks fleeing from Tauris. The right side portrays the stern of a ship on billows and Iphigeneia safe behind the railing on board. Iphigeneia clutches Artemis‘ xóanan in her right hand. The gangway, upon which Pylades ascends with a raised sword, has yet to be drawn aboard. Orestes fights two Taurians in the opposite direction. One Taurian with a long, oval shield has already fallen, while the other with a long, rhombus shaped shield is defending himself.
Source Kastekic J., Arheolski vesnik 50, 1999, str. 259.286
Marble sarcophagus
130-140 AD
Vatican City State, Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano