Siphnian Treasury, VI – East Pediment

The Athenian tyrant Peisistratos himself may be alluded to on the prominent east pediment of the Treasury. In the center of the scene, Zeus physically intervenes in the struggle for the Delphic tripod, grasping the arm of Apollo (who is assisted by Artemis and the tripod carried by Herakles. As is conventional in pedimental scenes, Zeus, the central figure, faces the victor Apollo who will retain the tripod, the sign of his oracular power. This scene is based on a story that Herakles had come to Delphi for a prophecy (or purification), and had been refused by the oracle, whereupon he had violently carried off the tripod in order to establish an oracular shrine of his own. Thus ensued the struggle over the tripod. Apollo was said to retrieved the tripod through the intervention of Zeus.

The scene of the struggle for the tripod first appears in vase painting after 560 B.C. but only becomes popular after the erection of the Treasury pediment, which inspired a long series of Attic vase paintings. If Boardman's connection of Herakles and Peisistratos is accepted, then perhaps the pediment of the Siphnian Treasury may be interpreted as a reference to the contemporary rivalry between Peisistratos (He- rakles) and Delphi (Apollo), and to the tyrant's attempt to usurp the god's authority by setting up a rival oracular establishment at Athens. In the pediment, the outcome of the rivalry is made explicit by the intervention of Zeus, whose will Apollo prophesies. The scene provides a visual justification for the oracular authority of Delphi, as do certain literary passages."

 

Source: Livingston Vance Watrous, “The Sculptural Program of the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi”

 

Greek high-relief

High Arcaic Period

530 BC - 525 BC

Siphnian Treasury

Delphi, Archaeological Museum

 

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