The Atarbos base
Base dedicated by the team sponsor, Atarbos, to the winners of the military Pyrrhic dance contest and of the circular dance contest. The two blocs of the base supported three bronze statues of different sizes.
The relief on the left bloc [Bloc A] represent seven men arranged in two groups of similar figures, moving towards a female figure; the rightmost group is adjacent to a woman portrayed with her head turned 3/4-view to right; her left leg supports the weight, while the right one is relaxed; she wears a long-sleeved chiton, a himation draped over her left shoulder and around her torso, falling back over her bent left arm; the right hand is near to her side.
On the right, Bloc B, there is a female character taller and slimmer than the previous one: she could be the personification of Panathenaia. The woman is portrayed standing 3/4-view to the right, the weight on her left leg, the right one is relaxed. Her clothing is similar to that of the woman portrayed in the Bloc A. In front of her there are eight nude youths arranged in two groups of four. Each one has the weight on his right foot and the bent left leg pulled behind it. The youths wear a small (Attic) helmet; their slightly bent right arm, with clenched fist, is close to side; they hold a sharply foreshortened round shield on their outstretched left arm. The shields of the dancers overlap by a different degree.
Two narrow bands (ca. 3 cm.) above the reliefs of the two blocs bear an inscription reading:
Block A: νική[σας κυκλίωι χο]ρῶι.
Block B: [πυρριχ]ισταῖς νικήσας Ἄταρβος Λυ[σιστράτου. -- Κ]ηφισό[δ]ωρο[ς ἦρχε]
[IG 2.2, 3157]
Block A: Having won with a cyclic chorus.
Block B: Having won with pyrrhic dancers, Atarbos son of Ly[sistratos] (dedicated). Kephisodoros [was archon].
Thus, as indicated by the inscription, the pose and the attire of the dancers, the scene carved on the Bloc B represents the pyrrhic dance, one of the earliest contests in the "Panathenaia" . The figures on the Bloc A are harder to identify. According to the inscription carved on the base, some scholars suggest that they are the participants in the "Dithyramb", a tribal contest first instituted in Athens as a tribal event at Great "Dionysia" in 509/508.
Source: www.perseus.tufts.edu
Marble from Penteli
Height: 32.5 cm; length: 189 cm; width: 71.5 cm.
323 - 2 BC
Athens, Acropolis Museum, Inv. no. Ακρ. 1338
The Atarbos base
Base dedicated by the team sponsor, Atarbos, to the winners of the military Pyrrhic dance contest and of the circular dance contest. The two blocs of the base supported three bronze statues of different sizes.
The relief on the left bloc [Bloc A] represent seven men arranged in two groups of similar figures, moving towards a female figure; the rightmost group is adjacent to a woman portrayed with her head turned 3/4-view to right; her left leg supports the weight, while the right one is relaxed; she wears a long-sleeved chiton, a himation draped over her left shoulder and around her torso, falling back over her bent left arm; the right hand is near to her side.
On the right, Bloc B, there is a female character taller and slimmer than the previous one: she could be the personification of Panathenaia. The woman is portrayed standing 3/4-view to the right, the weight on her left leg, the right one is relaxed. Her clothing is similar to that of the woman portrayed in the Bloc A. In front of her there are eight nude youths arranged in two groups of four. Each one has the weight on his right foot and the bent left leg pulled behind it. The youths wear a small (Attic) helmet; their slightly bent right arm, with clenched fist, is close to side; they hold a sharply foreshortened round shield on their outstretched left arm. The shields of the dancers overlap by a different degree.
Two narrow bands (ca. 3 cm.) above the reliefs of the two blocs bear an inscription reading:
Block A: νική[σας κυκλίωι χο]ρῶι.
Block B: [πυρριχ]ισταῖς νικήσας Ἄταρβος Λυ[σιστράτου. -- Κ]ηφισό[δ]ωρο[ς ἦρχε]
[IG 2.2, 3157]
Block A: Having won with a cyclic chorus.
Block B: Having won with pyrrhic dancers, Atarbos son of Ly[sistratos] (dedicated). Kephisodoros [was archon].
Thus, as indicated by the inscription, the pose and the attire of the dancers, the scene carved on the Bloc B represents the pyrrhic dance, one of the earliest contests in the "Panathenaia" . The figures on the Bloc A are harder to identify. According to the inscription carved on the base, some scholars suggest that they are the participants in the "Dithyramb", a tribal contest first instituted in Athens as a tribal event at Great "Dionysia" in 509/508.
Source: www.perseus.tufts.edu
Marble from Penteli
Height: 32.5 cm; length: 189 cm; width: 71.5 cm.
323 - 2 BC
Athens, Acropolis Museum, Inv. no. Ακρ. 1338