Cleobis and Biton
The Myth.
Cleobis and Biton were the sons of Cydippe, a priestess of Hera at Argos; Herodotus, who has recorded their beautiful story, makes Solon relate it to Croesus, as a proof that it is better for mortals to die than to live.
On one occasion, says Herodotus (i. 31), during the festival of Hera, when the priestess had to ride to the temple of the goddess in a chariot, and when the oxen which were to draw it did not arrive from the country in time, Cleobis and Biton dragged the chariot with their mother to the temple. The priestess, moved by the filial love of her sons, prayed to the goddess to grant them what was best for mortals. When the festival was over, the two brothers went to sleep in the temple and never rose again. The goddess thus showed, says Herodotus, that she could bestow upon them no greater boon than death.
The Argives made statues of the two brothers and sent them to Delphi. Pausanias (ii. 20. § 2) saw a relief in stone at Argos, representing Cleobis and Biton drawing the chariot with their mother.
The Sarcophagus.
This photo shows a remarkable sarcophagus, the unique that identifies a woman with the mother of Cleobis and Biton. The figures of the two youths are given portrait features, while their mother shows the hairstyle of the younger Faustina, suggesting a date in the 160s. The sarcophagus’ bass-relief would appear to commemorate the tomb of two sons set up by their mother. This can be seen as a form of visual consolation: grave poetry and inscriptions often feature the theme that those the gods love die young as well as the idea that those who meet an untimely death will be whisked away to dwell with the gods in the heavens.
The imagery of this relief asserts a similar message in visual form, offering the hope that the boys will be received into a happy afterlife, while stressing their pietas toward their mother and the gods and the love shared between the family, who are shown embracing at the far right of the scene.
(Source: Elsner J., Huskinson J., Life, death and representation : some new work on Roman sarcophagi)
The carved story is arranged in three scenes; while the first and second scene might be easily related to the myth of Cleobis and Biton, the third is not absolutely clear and a different interpretation of the final scene could be done. This scene shows young children, rather than the strapping young men whom Herodotus describes and are to be seen in the left part, and the narrative ends with their running to their mother's arms. We may conclude that this sarcophagus belongs to a deceased woman who had lost two young sons with whom she is now reunited in death.
(Source: Zanker P., Ewald B.W., Mit Mythen leben. Die Bilderwelt der römischen Sarkophage)
Marble Roman sarcophagus
about 160 AD
Legato Giovanni Grimaldi
Venice, National Archaeological Museum
Cleobis and Biton
The Myth.
Cleobis and Biton were the sons of Cydippe, a priestess of Hera at Argos; Herodotus, who has recorded their beautiful story, makes Solon relate it to Croesus, as a proof that it is better for mortals to die than to live.
On one occasion, says Herodotus (i. 31), during the festival of Hera, when the priestess had to ride to the temple of the goddess in a chariot, and when the oxen which were to draw it did not arrive from the country in time, Cleobis and Biton dragged the chariot with their mother to the temple. The priestess, moved by the filial love of her sons, prayed to the goddess to grant them what was best for mortals. When the festival was over, the two brothers went to sleep in the temple and never rose again. The goddess thus showed, says Herodotus, that she could bestow upon them no greater boon than death.
The Argives made statues of the two brothers and sent them to Delphi. Pausanias (ii. 20. § 2) saw a relief in stone at Argos, representing Cleobis and Biton drawing the chariot with their mother.
The Sarcophagus.
This photo shows a remarkable sarcophagus, the unique that identifies a woman with the mother of Cleobis and Biton. The figures of the two youths are given portrait features, while their mother shows the hairstyle of the younger Faustina, suggesting a date in the 160s. The sarcophagus’ bass-relief would appear to commemorate the tomb of two sons set up by their mother. This can be seen as a form of visual consolation: grave poetry and inscriptions often feature the theme that those the gods love die young as well as the idea that those who meet an untimely death will be whisked away to dwell with the gods in the heavens.
The imagery of this relief asserts a similar message in visual form, offering the hope that the boys will be received into a happy afterlife, while stressing their pietas toward their mother and the gods and the love shared between the family, who are shown embracing at the far right of the scene.
(Source: Elsner J., Huskinson J., Life, death and representation : some new work on Roman sarcophagi)
The carved story is arranged in three scenes; while the first and second scene might be easily related to the myth of Cleobis and Biton, the third is not absolutely clear and a different interpretation of the final scene could be done. This scene shows young children, rather than the strapping young men whom Herodotus describes and are to be seen in the left part, and the narrative ends with their running to their mother's arms. We may conclude that this sarcophagus belongs to a deceased woman who had lost two young sons with whom she is now reunited in death.
(Source: Zanker P., Ewald B.W., Mit Mythen leben. Die Bilderwelt der römischen Sarkophage)
Marble Roman sarcophagus
about 160 AD
Legato Giovanni Grimaldi
Venice, National Archaeological Museum