History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 2 (of 2) by Walters et al.

life of the Greeks. THE OLYMPIAN DEITIES One of the oldest and most continuously popular subjects is the =Gigantomachia=, or Battle of the Gods and Giants, which forms part of the Titanic and pre-heroic cosmogony, and may therefore take precedence of the rest. The Aloadae (Otos and Ephialtes), strictly speaking, are connected with a different event—the attack on Olympos and chaining of Ares; but the scenes in which they occur are so closely linked with the Gigantomachy proper that it is unnecessary to differentiate them. We also find as a single subject the combat of Zeus with the snake-footed Typhon.[37] The _locus classicus_ of Greek art for the Gigantomachia is of course the frieze of the great altar at Pergamon (197 B.C.), but several vases bear representations almost as complete, though it is not as a rule possible to identify the giants except where their names are inscribed.[38] Most vases give only one to three pairs of combatants. [Illustration: FIG. 111. GIGANTOMACHIA, FROM IONIC VASE IN LOUVRE.] Some pairs are found almost exclusively together, _e.g._ Athena and Enkelados, or Ares and Mimas; Artemis and Apollo are generally opposed to the Aloadae Otos and Ephialtes, Zeus to Porphyrion, and Poseidon to Polybotes (Fig. 112) or Ephialtes. Hestia alone, the “stay-at-home” goddess of the hearth, is never found in these scenes, but Dionysos, Herakles, and the Dioskuri all take their part in aiding the Olympian deities. Zeus hurls his thunderbolts[39]; Poseidon is usually depicted with his trident, or hurling the island of Nisyros (indicated as a rock with animals painted on it) upon his adversary[40]; Hephaistos uses a pair of tongs with a burning coal in them as his weapon[41]; and Dionysos is in some cases aided by his panther.[42] Aeolus occurs once with his bag of winds.[43] [Illustration: FIG. 112. POSEIDON AND THE GIANT POLYBOTES, FROM THE KYLIX IN BERLIN.] The following groups can be identified on vases by inscriptions or details of treatment:— Zeus and Agasthenes, Hyperbios, and Ephialtes: Louvre E 732 (Fig. 111). Zeus and Porphyrion: Berlin 2531. Hera and Harpolykos: Louvre E 732. Hera and Rhoitos (miswritten Phoitos): Berlin 2531. Poseidon and Polybotes: Louvre E 732; Berlin 2531 = Fig. 112. Poseidon and Ephialtes: Reinach, ii. 188. Apollo and Ephialtes: Berlin 2531. Artemis and Otos: Reinach, ii. 164. Artemis and Aigaion: Berlin 2531. Hephaistos and Euryalos: B.M. E 47. Hephaistos and Klytios: Berlin 2293. Athena and Enkelados: B.M. B 252; Louvre E 732; _Él. Cér._ i. 8. Ares and Mimas: Berlin 2531; B.M. B 617. Hermes and Hippolytos: Berlin 2293. Hermes and Polybios (?): Louvre E 732. Dionysos and Eurymedon: _Bull. de Corr. Hell._ xx. pl. 7. Athena with arm of Akratos: Berlin 2957 = _Él. Cér._ i. 88. Death of Otos (supposed): Bibl. Nat. 299 = Reinach, ii. 255. Among scenes supposed to take place in Olympos, the most important is the =Birth of Athena= from the head of Zeus.[44] Usually she is represented as a diminutive figure actually emerging from his head, but in one or two instances she stands before him fully developed,[45] as was probably the case in the centre of the east pediment of the Parthenon. This subject is commoner on B.F. vases, and does not appear at all after the middle of the fifth century.[46] In most cases several of the Olympian deities are spectators of the scene; sometimes Hephaistos wields his axe or runs away in terror at the result of his operations[47]; in others the Eileithyiae or goddesses of child-birth lend their assistance.[48] On a R.F. vase in the Bibliothèque Nationale Athena flies out backwards from Zeus’ head.[49] In accordance with a principle already discussed (Vol. I. p. 378), the composition or “type” of this subject is sometimes adopted on B.F. vases for other groups of figures, where the absence of Athena shows clearly that the birth scene is not intended, and no particular meaning can be assigned to the composition.[50] Representations of the =Marriage of Zeus and Hera= cannot be pointed to with certainty in vase-paintings. On B.F. vases we sometimes see a bridal pair in a chariot accompanied by various deities, or figures with the attributes of divinities[51]; but the chief figures are not in any way characterised as such, and it is better to regard these scenes as idealisations of ordinary marriage processions. On the other hand, there are undoubted representations of Zeus and Hera enthroned among the Olympian deities or partaking of a banquet.[52] [Illustration: FIG. 113. THE BIRTH OF ATHENA (BRIT. MUS. B 244).] The story of the enchaining of Hera in a magic chair by Hephaistos, and her subsequent liberation by him, is alluded to on many vases, though one episode is more prominent than the others. Of the expulsion of Hephaistos from heaven we find no instance, and of the release of Hera there is only one doubtful example[53]; but we find a parody of the former’s combat with Ares, who forces him to liberate Hera.[54] The