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Undergraduate
Classics Teaching Collections |
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| Backward |
Forward |
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| Name: |
Harpy
Tomb |
| Picture: |
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| Description: |
West
Frieze. Xanthos, Lycia. London, British Museum. H. 1.5m. Enthroned
queen wearing an Asiatic diadem fastened with tassels over long curling
hair. She wears an ornate gown with a cloak over her left arm. In
her left hand she originally held a sceptre; in her right hand she
holds a libation bowl or kylix. Her feet rest on a footstool. Her
throne is very Asian, with a sphinx decorating the front of the arm-rest. |
| Date: |
500-490 B.C. |
| Discussion: |
The
Harpy Tomb was a tower-tomb, a mode of burial common to certain parts
of Asia Minor. It is executed in the ripe archaic style. Originally
the frieze had a second, facing, enthroned queen, with three maidens
offering eggs, fruit, flowers and a fan to the queens. On the east,
boys offer gifts to a seated male figure. On the north and the south
sides, the Harpies (acting perhaps as psychopomps) carry off or sport
with humans. See Robertson 1981: 147, 150; Stewart 1990: 136. |
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