restored, and they are now among the most interesting monuments at the Glyptothek.

The slabs themselves originally formed two corresponding groups in the Tympana of the Temple of Athene, of which that to the West was the most complete; but the Eastern the larger and the better executed. The subject of the Eastern pediment has been supposed to be the expedition of the Eacidæ (or Æginetan warriors) against Troy, under the guidance of Athene herself: that of the Western is probably the Contest of the Greeks and the Trojans over the body of Patroclus. Ajax, assisted by Teucer and Diomed, endeavours to recover the body; Hector, Paris, and Æneas to carry it off. There is a certain parallelism between the groups on these two pediments: thus in the Eastern one, Heracles stands in the same relation to Telamon, the acid-the archer to the heavy-armed soldier-that Teucer does to Ajax in the West. The form and costume of Heracles remind us of his type on the coins of Thasos. Paris wears the archer costume, described in different places in Herodotus.' Originally gilded bronze was attached to the marble, the holes which still remain enabling us to determine how and where it was placed. The hair also has been partly composed of wire, and traces of colour remain on the weapons, clothes, eyeballs, and lips. The disposition of the figures is simple and regular, and the anatomy carefully and faithfully rendered, but the artist had not yet acquired that mastery over his material which gives to the works of PHEIDIAS such ease and grace of movement. The date of the execution of these sculptures is probably about Ol. 75, B.C. 480. The Temple which they decorated was built of yellowish sandstone, the roof and cornice of marble. The cella was painted red; the tympanum blue, with yellow and green foliage on the architrave. On the Acroteria stood females in antique drapery and attitude. It was probably erected shortly after the Victory over the Persians at Salamis.

To what Deity this temple was dedicated has been a subject of much dispute; and many have asserted that the worship of Zeus Pan-Hellenios was celebrated within it. We are inclined, however, to doubt the correctness of this view, and to think that Dr. Wordsworth, who has examined the localities with the eye of a scholar and historian, has satisfactorily demonstrated that the marbles came from the Temple of Athene, and not from that of

1 Her. i. 71; v. 49; vii. 61.

Zeus Pan-Hellenios. There appear to have been three principal Temples in the Island of Ægina: the 1st on the shore, of which only a single shaft still stands, and which Dr. Wordsworth determines, from two inscribed stones which he found there, to be not earlier than the Peloponnesian War; the 2nd, the beautiful ruin from which these marbles have been procured, which was situated at the N.E. corner of the island; and the 3rd, on the summit of the only high hill in the island, which Dr. Wordsworth has, we think, shown to have been the site of the real temple of Zeus PanHellenios.

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Dr. Wordsworth argues in favour of the second temple being that of Athene, on the ground, 1. That in these sculptures that Goddess is evidently the prominent personage, while no figure exists which can be identified with Zeus. 2. Because he discovered in its immediate neighbourhood a slab built into a modern Greek church, containing the words HΟΡΟΣ ΤΕΜΕΝΟΣ ΑΘΕΝΑΙΑΣ— The limit of the Sacred precinct of Athene;" and 3. That the position of the building, which is eight miles from the principal town, exactly opposite to Athens, leads to the natural inference that it was erected by the Athenians when in possession of the island—a fact which the above inscription, written not in the native Doric, but in Attic Greek, would lead one to anticipate.'

3. Bas-reliefs from the Temple of Apollo at Phigaleia in Arcadia.

These sculptures were found by Mr. Cockerell and other gentlemen in the year 1812, a short distance from the modern town of Paulizza, which is believed to be at present the site of the ancient Phigaleia. The ancient name of the place where the temple was situated was Bassæ, on the slopes of Mount Cotylium. It was originally about 125 feet in length, and 48 in breadth, and had six columns at either front, and 15 on either side.

1 Indeed, the only evidence in favour of the temple, which we have called that of Pallas, being the Pan-Hellenion, consists in a tradition that the words AII ПANEAAHNIQI were once inscribed on its portico. But if this be true, the dialect would show the inscription to have been a forgery. The Greek Deities did not write their names over the doors of their temples, "comme les marchands les leurs sur les portes de leur boutiques." Dio. Chrysost. remarking - τοὺς Θεοὺς (ἓν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐπιγράφειν οὐκ ἔστιν εικός.

The bas-reliefs, which consist of twenty-three slabs, were arranged along the interior of the Cella, at a height of nearly 23 feet from the ground, and were supported by Ionic semi-columns, which projected from the walls. The entire length of the Frieze which has been preserved is ninety-six feet, nearly the whole of which was found among the ruins of the Temple. One portion of the Frieze was obtained subsequently by Mr. Stanhope, and presented by him to the Museum, and two other fragments by Chev. Bröndsted.

Two subjects are represented upon these sculptures-one the Battle between the Centaurs and Lapithæ, occupying eleven slabs in the direction from right to left. The other, that between the Greeks (Athenians) and Amazons, comprised in twelve slabs, in direction from left to right. One slab appears to be wanting from the first group.

It is unnecessary to enter at any length into the myths of the Centaurs or the Amazons. Suffice it to say, that the Centaurs appear to have been a race, leading a rude and savage life, originally among the mountains and forests of Thessaly, and subsequently in Arcadia. The battle between these mythic people and the Lapithæ, represented on the Phigaleian marbles, is said to have taken place at the marriage-feast of Peirithous, King of Thessaly, and Hippodameia; the cause of quarrel being either the attempt of the Centaurs to carry off some of the women present at the solemnity, or to chastise the injustice of Peirithous, who had deprived them of a portion of the kingdom which they claimed. They appear under two forms, either as men down to the legs and feet, but the hind part consisting of the body, tail, and hind-legs of a horse (as we see them on archaic vases, and as they are described by Pausanias), or, as on these marbles, in human forms from the head to the loins, with the body of a horse, its four legs and tail.

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This combat was a favourite subject in decorations of ancient works of art. Thus it is found upon the Metopes of the Parthenon, and on the Frieze of the Posticum of the Theseion at Athens and it is said to have been one of the subjects on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, to have been painted on the walls of the Theseion, and to have been worked as an ornament on the sandals of the statue of Athene Parthenos.

With regard to the Amazons, they are said to have been a warlike race of females who came originally from the country about the Caucasus and the banks of the Thermodon, and to have at various

times invaded Thrace, Asia Minor, the islands of the Egean, and Greece.

The subject of the contest between the Greeks and Amazons was, like that of the battle between the Centaurs and Lapithæ, of frequent occurrence among the works of antiquity. Pausanias states that this subject was represented on the base of the statue of Zeus at Olympia, and painted on the walls of the Theseion; and Pliny adds, that it was engraved on the shield of Athene in the same temple. Both subjects were naturally dear to the Athenians, as their mythical King Theseus was connected with both in their national legends. Thus, in the combat between the Centaurs and Lapithæ, Theseus fights on the side of the latter, as the friend and guest of Peirithous; while in the contest between the Athenians and the Amazons, he heads his own people.

In describing the individual slabs, we take first, The Combat of the Centaurs and Lapitha.'

The First slab represents a Centaur who has been thrown down, and who is held by one of the Lapitha by the hair of his head from

in front, while a second is attacking him from behind. A second Centaur has seized the uplifted arm and the shield of the second Lapith.

The Second represents two Centaurs and two Lapithæ. One of the former is lying on the ground dead, his limbs stretched out, and his body foreshortened. A second Centaur is biting the neck of one of the Lapithæ, who is piercing him with a poignard. The Cen

taur is striking with his hind hoofs the shield held up in defence by another Lapith.

The Third represents a female who has fallen into the power of a Centaur, from whose grasp she is She is carrying in her left arm a child.

trying to extricate herself. On the right of the marble