by Leucothea, but it is now recognised as a sepulchral relief, in which "the deceased is depicted as a happy mother, seated in a chair and caressing her little daughter. A relative or servant hands her a ribbon, either for her own decoration or that of the child. The two other smaller figures are either older daughters or servant-maids; their outstretched hands seem to express their delight in the gaiety of the little one. The wool-basket below the chair indicates that the deceased was a thrifty and diligent housekeeper" (Helbig). We shall have a good deal to say, in a later room (see Ch. XIII.), about the motives and characteristics of these sepulchral reliefs. Meanwhile we may note in this specimen "a fine example of archaic Greek sculpture at the stage just before it passed to greater freedom, and threw off the restraint which is still marked here in the stiff draperies and uniform lowness of relief.”

Below this relief is the fragment (No. 130) of a foot of a colossal statue of Apollo, which was set up in his sacred isle of Delos by the Naxians. The base, which is still in situ, is

inscribed with the words: "I am of the same stone both statue and base." This fragment was removed from the now (In later years, 1873-88, Delos has See ch. v. in M. Diehl's

deserted island in 1818.

yielded a rich field to the excavator. Excursions in Greece.)

We now turn to the north-west door, leading into the next room. On our left as we approach the door we

may note an archaic female head-also of the sixth century with hollow eyes and three rows of curls, and yet another head of "Apollo" (No. 208), with curious corkscrew curls. It is supposed that this is a later copy of an archaic work in bronze :—

"A really ancient work, or only archaic, it certainly expresses, together with all that careful patience and hardness of workmanship which is characteristic of an early age, a certain Apolline strength-a pride and dignity in the features, so steadily composed, below the stiff, archaic arrangements of the long, fillet-bound locks. It is the exact expression of that midway position, between an involved, archaic stiffness and the free play of individual talent, which is attributed to Canachus by the ancients" (Pater, Greek Studies, p. 257).

The door out of this Room, opposite the one by which we entered, leads to the Ante-Room.

CHAPTER VIII

THE ANTE-ROOM

"The Cnidian shrine had once another treasure, the beautiful melancholy statue of the seated Demeter of the uplifted eyes. Far from the ruins above the sea, beneath the scorched seaward wall of rock: far from the aromatic fragrance of the rock-nourished flowers, from the bees, from the playful lizards, Demeter now occupies her place in the great halls of the British Museum."-ANDREW LANG.

IN this ante-room the most notable objects are two celebrated statues the "Choiseul - Gouffier Apollo," on the left, and "Demeter," on the right.

THE "CHOISEUL-GOUFFIER APOLLO "

This statue (209) is so called after the French Ambassador at the Porte (see p. 150), from whose collection it was purchased in 1818. The statue is fine in itself, and of interest in the historical development of Greek sculpture as representing the culmination of pre-Phidian art :

"The statue is that of a young man, entirely nude, standing still in a restful attitude. Most early statues of single figures in attitudes of rest have the weight poised equally on both legs; this produces an almost exact correspondence on each side of the body. To advance one leg was an obvious improvement; here a further step is reached. The weight is thrown upon the right leg, and while this consequently curves outwards, the body bends slightly the opposite way, and a pleasant variety in the lines of the figure is the result. The waist is spare; the chest very strongly developed and powerfully thrown forward. It may be that this is a survival of the tendency of early sculptors to exaggerate contrasts, to make what is broad too broad, what is narrow too narrow. The arms, the extremities of which are broken, hang downward; the left bends slightly, and certainly held some object, of which there is an indication on the left leg. On the shoulder and upper arms are strongly-marked veins. The legs are long and sinewy (they have been

partially restored); the feet are also long. The head, set very erect upon the finely-developed neck and throat, is small in proportion, and the face has a melancholy expression, due to the downward turn of the corners of the mouth and the drooping eyelids. A similar expression recurs frequently on the frieze of the Parthenon; it may be that here again no particular effect of pleasure or pain was exactly intended, but an expression of some kind, some feeling of life and mobility. The hair is tied in a band made by a plait of hair drawn across the top of the forehead; below this cincture fall ringlets artistically disposed, reminding the beholder of the days when the Greeks, even in war, as at Thermopyla, took pride in their long and carefully-combed hair. A sense of severe dignity pervades this figure, and in spite of faults of proportion and a want of suppleness and grace in the attitude, it is strikingly suggestive of reserved power in rest" (Upcott, Introduction to Greek Sculpture, p. 26).

In this same alcove there are two heads which are clearly replicas of the statue just described. No. 210 was found in the Temple of Apollo at Cyrenè; No. 211 was found in 1882 at a cottage at Ventnor, whither its owner had doubtless brought it from Greece. At Athens ("Apollo on the Omphalos," National Museum, No. 45) there is a version of the whole statue, and there is another at Rome (Capitoline Museum). It is clear from these numerous copies that the original was famous, but there has been much discussion among archæologists as to the subject of the statue and the school of art to which it should be referred. The sculptors commonly suggested are Calamis and Callimachus, artists of the transitionary period immediately preceding Phidias. It is generally supposed that the figure is an Apollo; though some have argued that it must be a pugilist, since "the proportions are rather suited to a patron of pugilism than to the leader of a celestial orchestra." Such wide differences as thiş between able critics in their interpretation of ancient statues are not uncommon, and illustrate a general characteristic of Greek art, at any rate in its earlier phases. As Ruskin pointed out, Greek art seldom aims at the expression of personal character; "and, continually, it becomes a question respecting finished statues, if without attributes, Is this Bacchus or Apollo, Zeus or Poseidon?" (Aratra Pentelici, § 193). The statue before us is a development of the early type of "Apollo statues" which we discussed in the last room; and, as we have seen, it exhibits in the bodily forms a great advance. In the statue which we have next to examine, and which belongs to a later period, we shall

find a study in expression which, for subtlety and refinement, recalls the Florentine School.

We may, however, first call attention to the collection of small heads and other pieces of sculpture in wall-cases in the Apollo alcove. They come mostly from Cyrenè. One is especially fine (1454).

THE DEMETER OF CNIDUS

In the opposite alcove is one of the principal treasures of the British Museum-the beautiful Demeter (1300), from the ruins of Cnidus, the little town in Caria, Asia Minor, famous in ancient times for its statue of Venus by Praxiteles. This Demeter was found by Sir Charles Newton in the spring of 1858 among the ruins of a small temple of the goddess. He first discovered the little statue of Persephonè, presently to be described. Next he unearthed the base of a statue with an inscription recording the dedication of a temple and statue to Demeter and Persephone by Chrysina, wife of Hippocrates and mother of Chrysogone. A large number of antiquities further identifying the place as a temple of Demeter surrounded by its sacred precinct was found at the same time. Some are in this alcove; of the remainder the most important are a standing statue of Demeter in the Hall of Inscriptions, and a statuette of Persephone in the Ephesus Room. We shall notice these sculptures together here, as they illustrate in a deeply interesting way one of the most beautiful of Greek myths :

"The song of Demeter and her daughter Persephone (Proserpine), whom Aidoneus (Pluto) carried away by the consent of Zeus, as she played apart from her mother, gathering flowers in a meadow of soft grass, and above all the strange flower of the narcissus which the earth brought forth for the first time, to snare the footsteps of the flower-like girl. She stretched forth her hands to take the flower; thereupon the earth opened, and the king of the great nation of the dead sprang out with his immortal horses. He seized the unwilling girl, and bore her away weeping on his golden chariot. . The peaks of the hills and the depths of the sea echoed her cry. And her mother heard it. A sharp pain seized her at the heart; she plucked the veil from her hair, and cast down the blue hood from her shoulders, and fled forth like a bird, seeking Persephone over dry land and sea. Then a more terrible grief took possession of Demeter, and, in her anger against Zeus, she forsook the assembly of the gods and abode among men, for a long time veiling her beauty under a worn countenance, so

that none who looked upon her knew her, until she came to the house of Celeus, who was then king of Eleusis. She seemed as an aged woman whose time of child-bearing is gone by, and from whom the gifts of Aphrodite have been withdrawn, like one of the hired servants who nurse the children in kings' palaces. (And there she consented to remain, and become the nurse of the young child whom Metaneira had lately borne to Celeus. But Metaneira suspected her, and the goddess was wrath.) . So, all night, trembling with fear, they sought to propitiate the glorious goddess; and in the morning they told all to Celeus. And he, according to the commands of the goddess, built a fair temple; and all the people assisted. Then Demeter returned, and sat down within the temple walls, and remained still apart from the company of the gods, alone in her wasting regret for her daughter Persephone. And, in her anger, she sent upon the earth a year of grievous famine, and the whole human race had like to have perished, unless Zeus had interfered. Zeus sent Hermes into the kingdom of the dead, and Aidoneus bade Persephone return. And Persephone arose up quickly in great joy; only, ere she departed, he caused her to eat a morsel of sweet pomegranate, designing secretly thereby that she should not remain always upon earth, but might some time return to him. And Hermes brought Persephone to the door of the temple where her mother was. Then Zeus ordained that Persephone should remain two parts of the year with her mother, and onethird part only with her husband in the kingdom of the dead. So Demeter suffered the earth to yield its fruits once more, and the land was laden with leaves and flowers and waving corn" (From the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Pater's translation).

Mr. Pater points out that in all Greek myths we may trace three successive phases. Thus the myth of Demeter-goddess of corn and fruits-is primarily a legendary description of the order of summer and winter. Then the myth passes into the hands of the poets, who elaborate its human interest and weave around it a pathetic story of mother and daughter. Lastly, the myth enters upon an ethical phase. Demeter becomes the type of Divine Grief; Persephonè, the goddess of death, but with a promise of life to come.1 We shall find traces of all these three influences in the beautiful sculptures which we are now to examine.

The Standing Demeter (1301, in the Hall of Inscriptions). Found by Newton in the sacred enclosure of Demeter at Cnidus:

1 This is an account of the myth in its literary phases. For rival theories of its origin, the reader should consult Mr. Frazer's Golden Bough and Mr. Lang's criticism of that work. See also an introductory essay in the latter's Homeric Hymns (1899).