Bronze statue of the satyr Marsyas
Bronze statue of the satyr Marsyas, portrayed making the fateful decision to pick up and play the aulos (double pipes) discarded by the goddess Athena. Unfortunately, he challenged the god Apollo to a music contest, and Apollo - playing the kithara (a large lyre) - won, as judged by the Muses (who were answerable to Apollo - rigged!). As a punishment for his hubris, Apollo demands that Marsyas be flayed alive, his skin made into a wineskin (that last bit was courtesy of Plato).
Roman, 50 BCE-50 CE, from Patras, Greece.
Height: 76.20 cm (30 in.)
British Museum, London (1876,1125.1)
Bronze statue of the satyr Marsyas
Bronze statue of the satyr Marsyas, portrayed making the fateful decision to pick up and play the aulos (double pipes) discarded by the goddess Athena. Unfortunately, he challenged the god Apollo to a music contest, and Apollo - playing the kithara (a large lyre) - won, as judged by the Muses (who were answerable to Apollo - rigged!). As a punishment for his hubris, Apollo demands that Marsyas be flayed alive, his skin made into a wineskin (that last bit was courtesy of Plato).
Roman, 50 BCE-50 CE, from Patras, Greece.
Height: 76.20 cm (30 in.)
British Museum, London (1876,1125.1)