Greek Sculpture Part 7

The figure on the other side is the messenger G.o.d Hermes, whose mission is to conduct departing spirits to the other world.[33] He has come for Eurydice, and he takes her by the hand to draw her away. For a moment husband and wife gaze into each other's eyes with love and sorrow, while the messenger waits with exquisite courtesy.

[33] See page 61.

Though the Greeks had many tales of sorrow in their poetry and mythology, they did not often ill.u.s.trate them in their art. The subjects of their sculpture are nearly always happy ones. Even here, you see, grief is made so beautiful and dignified that we forget to feel sad about the parting. We think most of the love and devotion between Orpheus and Eurydice.

The simple story of the bas-relief touches us more readily perhaps than the grand statues of the G.o.ds. People like in art something which corresponds to the common human lives of all.

The garment worn by Eurydice seems quite like that of the G.o.ddess Demeter. The drapery is very full in front, falling in long straight folds. At the side it is scantier and shows the motion of the figure in walking. The short tunic worn by the other figures is a picturesque costume, and the mantle swinging over one shoulder is very graceful.

When one contrasts with these cla.s.sical draperies the stiff dress of modern times, one wonders that the sculptor of to-day does not throw down his chisel in despair.

The style of the draperies often enables a critic to decide in what period a work of art was produced. In the best art the folds are always simple: it is a sure sign of declining art when the folds are complicated and broken. Here we see the few simple, severe lines which mark the purest cla.s.sical taste.

XV

NIKE (THE WINGED VICTORY)

Upon the death of Alexander the Great there was much disputing among his generals as to what should become of the various provinces of his empire, including Greece. It was finally decided that the Greek cities should be left free. A general named Ptolemy soon broke this agreement and entered Greece, whereupon another named Antigonus promptly proceeded to punish him. Antigonus had a son Demetrius, who was a skilful engineer, and was called Poliorcetes, "besieger of cities," for his success in raising sieges. He was sent to Athens with a fleet of two hundred and fifty s.h.i.+ps, and won the grat.i.tude of the city for delivering it from the hands of Ptolemy. Demetrius next turned his attention to the island of Cyprus, of which Ptolemy was in possession.

The rival forces met off Salamis, 306 B. C., in a fierce sea fight, and Demetrius was victorious.

Now the Greeks were fond of commemorating notable events by the erection of statues, and it was an old custom among them to set up a statue of victory in honor of any success of arms on land or sea. We have seen how natural it was for them to attribute the affairs of life to the agency of the deities. So in war, greatly as they praised their armies and their generals, it was to Nike, the G.o.ddess of victory, that they gave the chief credit of success. This G.o.ddess was conceived as a winged being attendant upon both Zeus and Athena, who, as we have seen, controlled the destinies of war.

To Nike then, this winged G.o.ddess of victory, was due the wonderful success of Demetrius over Ptolemy's fleet before Salamis, and it was fitting that her statue should commemorate the event. The spot chosen for it was the island of Samothrace, which stands so high above water level that it is very conspicuous in the northern Greek archipelago.

The G.o.ddess was represented standing on the prow of a vessel as if leading the fleet to success. It may be that the old Greek idea of a G.o.ddess at the prow was the origin of the "figure head" for so many years carried by every s.h.i.+p that sailed the seas. The vessels in those old days were called _triremes_, being propelled by rowers who sat at their oars in three _tiers_, or banks, which gave the name to the craft.

The G.o.ddess stood in the middle of what was called the _ikrion proras_, which would correspond to the forecastle deck. In her right hand she held a trumpet to her lips, and in her left she carried a crosstree, the framework of a trophy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Neurdein Freres, Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.

NIKE (THE WINGED VICTORY)

_The Louvre, Paris_]

The figure is in an erect poise with the chest held high. You will notice that a walker making his way against the wind bends the body forward to resist its force, while one who is borne along on some vehicle in the face of the wind steadies himself upright. So with Nike; the att.i.tude expresses the sense of exhilaration from the rush of wind in the face of one borne along on a moving vessel. The breeze beats the thin drapery back upon her, outlining the beautiful curves of bust and limb, and fluttering behind her in the air. The broad pinions which would r.e.t.a.r.d the s.h.i.+p's motion if spread open are folded to cut the air like the prow.

When the statue was set up and the colossal figure in white marble was seen against the blue sky of a southern land, what an inspiration it must have been as a symbol of success! What discouraged heart could look at such a figure and not be thrilled with new ambition! The statue of Nike was not the only tribute to the victory of Demetrius. Some special coins were struck in honor of the event, including gold staters and silver tetradrachms, specimens of which still exist. The design on the obverse of these coins represented the statue of Nike.

Years pa.s.sed, and at length the independence of the Greeks was crushed under the heel of the Roman conqueror. Many places were laid waste throughout the peninsula and the Greek islands. Temples were destroyed and pillaged, and statues were thrown from their pedestals and buried beneath the soil and debris. Our statue of Nike shared the sad fate which befell so many other great works of art. For centuries it lay in fragments in the ruins surrounding a temple in Samothrace. Then came the explorer with pickaxe and shovel, some of the precious bits were recovered, and learned men set to work to put them together again. The coins of Demetrius were their guide, and the tiny figure of Nike engraved thereon was the model after which the great statue was reconstructed.

The head and arms are still missing, and a fanciful conceit might suggest that these losses were the marks of a hard-fought battle.

Success has been dearly bought, but the G.o.ddess emerges, erect and undaunted, her tattered wings beating the air victoriously. As we look at the statue we think less of what it lacks than of what it is. Perhaps if head and arms were there we should not have eyes for the glorious lines in the figure itself. One particularly fine line is the continuous curve running across the bust and the arched top of the wings.

The figure gives us a sense of motion which fairly quickens the blood in our veins. We, too, seem to feel the strong salt breeze in our faces, speeding through the air with courage high, and hope steadily set toward victory.

XVI

PERICLES

In the history of ancient Greece the half century included between the years 480 and 430 B. C. is called the Age of Pericles. During forty years of this period Pericles was the political leader of Athens. Under his guidance the city reached the height of her power as the capital of an empire composed of tributary states. Nor was political power the chief glory of Athens at this time. She was the centre of arts and science for the whole world. This was the age of great Greek literature, when aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides wrote their immortal dramas. It was also the age of great oratory, when the Athenians constantly heard "the purest lessons of patriotism put forth in the loftiest forms of eloquence." Finally, it was the age of great art, when architecture and sculpture attained perfection and when Phidias, the foremost Greek sculptor, produced his masterpieces.

Pericles was the dominating spirit in all this brilliant company. It was his able statesmans.h.i.+p which made and executed the ambitious plans for the aggrandizement of the city. It was, moreover, his generals.h.i.+p which carried out successfully so many military expeditions. His eloquence gave him great influence over the people. He had the art of controlling men and moving their pa.s.sions as a musician plays on the strings of his instrument. Upon his return from the Samian war he delivered a remarkable funeral oration on those who had fallen in battle. Still again, his oration in honor of the heroes of the Peloponnesian war was a n.o.ble eulogy of Athens and the Athenians.

The part of Pericles' career which interests us most in our study of Greek art is his zeal in beautifying Athens with works of architecture and sculpture. He covered the Acropolis, as the great hill in Athens was called, with beautiful buildings richly adorned with sculpture. He appointed Phidias superintendent of all the public edifices, and employed the most skilled workmen. Besides many temples, a theatre for music, called an _odeum_, was built, and Pericles introduced into the Panathenaic festival a contest in music held in this place. In addition to the public buildings erected, Pericles caused a long wall to be built to surround the city with fortifications.

It may be supposed that all these improvements cost a great deal of money, and there were not lacking men who criticised Pericles for extravagance in the use of public funds. In an a.s.sembly of the people, the great statesman called upon them to say if they thought he had spent too much. "Yes," came the answer. "Then," said he, "be it charged to my account, not yours, only let the edifices be inscribed with my name, not that of the people of Athens." At this they cried out that he might spend all he pleased of the public funds, and the criticism was silenced. The story shows the quick wit of the orator, as well as his knowledge of human nature. He knew he was safe in appealing to the pride of the people in their city.

At the close of his long career Pericles was seized with the plague, and lay sick unto death. As his friends gathered about his death-bed they recounted his great deeds and many victories. Suddenly he interrupted them by exclaiming that they were praising only those qualities in which he was no greater than other men. In his own estimate, the most honorable trait of his character was that "no Athenian through his means had ever put on mourning."

Pericles was in fact a true patriot and a benefactor of his people. In the administration of public affairs he showed an upright and honorable character. Though all his life handling the public funds and increasing the wealth of the state, it is said that he added not one drachma to his own estate. He managed his private fortune with great prudence and dispensed many charities to the needy. His manners were calm and moderate, and he never gave way to envy or anger. His biographer, Plutarch, has written of him that "where severity was required, no man was ever more moderate, or if mildness was necessary, no man better kept up his dignity than Pericles."

Pericles was a man of fine and striking presence, with a countenance cast in the mould we have come to know as the typical Greek. His head was somewhat abnormally long, and the nickname "onion head" was given him on this account. Plutarch says that this peculiarity accounts for the fact that he was always represented in portraits as wearing a helmet.

We have reason to believe that the bust reproduced in our frontispiece was made soon after his successful war against Samos. It represents him then in the fullness of his manhood and at the height of his success and popularity. The handsome face is full of refinement and shows the calm, equable temperament which made him a leader. His qualities of statesmans.h.i.+p strike us most forcibly in the portrait. We should hardly suspect that this was a great military commander. Yet that here is a master of men, we can easily believe. One can imagine him standing before a great mult.i.tude, moving them with the power of his eloquence.