File:Report on the investigations at Assos, 1882, 1883, pt. I (1898) (14577544407).jpg

Identifier: reportoninvestig00clar (find matches)
Title: Report on the investigations at Assos, 1882, 1883, pt. I
Year: 1898 (1890s)
Authors: Clarke, Joseph Thacher
Subjects: Assos (Extinct city)
Publisher: New York : The Macmillan co.
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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f less than half thesize of the hero. This want of scale results from the de-signer having adhered to the conventional principle knownas isocephalism : a method of composition regardlessly fol-lowed in many archaic works, and often recognizable, thoughskilfully disguised, even in reliefs of the perfected style. Inthis case the naive violation of relative proportions is notwithout advantage; for the figures of the chief actors in thescene are thus rendered prominent in the same striking fash-ion as are the heroes of those monumental wall-paintingsand reliefs of Egyptian and Assyrian art, in which a giantking strides victorious through hosts of pygmy assailants, andwarriors outtop the fortification towers which they defend. The surface of the stone is so chipped and corrodedthat it is scarcely possible to determine the sex of the sixretreating figures. Texier^ and Clarac^ describe them as 1 Texicr, Description de VAsie Mineure, vol. ii. 2 Clarac, Miisie de Sadpture, vol. ii. 14 i 1^1. ^
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INVESTIGATIONS AT ASS OS, 1883. 21 I female; De Witte, as male.^ The writer inclines to theformer view, and it is at least certain that the engravingspublished in \.\\q. Mommtenti^ are incorrect in showing thesebodies as nude. As indicating the terror inspired by thestruggle, these fugitives effectively emphasize the main ac-tion. In decorative respects, they contrast strikingly withthe slanting trunks of the combatants, being erect, or slightlyinclined from the group, the arms of the first five outstretchedin a contrary direction, while those of the last, terminatingthe relief, are held vertically aloft. The regularity of thepostures is almost that of a conventional ornament; eventhe turn of the heads, towards or from the dreaded spectacle,is in unvaried alternation.^ The attacking hero, though entirely naked, bears upon hisback a quiver, seemingly rather as an attribute than as part ofhis equipment, and is thus sufficiently designated as Herakles.Such was not, however, the identific

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