Dēmos · Classical Athenian Democracy · a Stoa Publication

[ link colors: Demos | External Source | Citation to Evidence| Word Tools ]

Demos Home

Summary.

Adikia and Dike (Injustice and Justice).

Anangke (Necessity).

Arete (Excellence, Valor).

Basileia (Kingdom, Sovereignty, or Monarchy).

Boule (Council).

Demokratia (Democracy).

Demos (Populace) of Athens.

Demoi of demes.

Demoi of foreign cities.

Eirene (Peace).

Eukleia (Good Repute).

Eunomia (Good Order).

Eutaxia (Good Order).

Hellas (Greece).

Harmonia (Harmony).

Nemesis (Retribution).

Homonoia (Concord).

Oligarchia (Oligarchy).

Peitho (Persuasion).

Philia (Friendship).

Phyle/Phylai (Tribe/s).

Soteria (Salvation).

Themis.

(Agathe) Tyche (Good Fortune).

Further Reading.

Index of Citations

General Index

Demos Home

Athenian Political Art from the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BCE: Images of Political Personifications 

Amy C. Smith, edition of January 18 2003

(Section 1 of 26)

· Summary ·

Plot on a Map
Athens.

During Athens’ democratic era, personifications, or representations of things, places, or abstractions by the human form, appeared at first on vase paintings and eventually on publicly displayed monuments such as free-standing statues, wall paintings, and low relief illustrations on stone stelai. Whereas few personifications in the Archaic period (before 480 BCE). were political in nature, the use of personifications and mythological figures in a politically allusive manner, in the early Classical period (ca. 480-450), paved the way for the explicit use of political personifications during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) and in the fourth century.

This article provides basic information about personifications of political ideas created in the era of the Athenian Democracy (508-322 BCE). The lists of examples of each personification include all known representations in contexts that might be called political, “of, belonging, or pertaining to the state or body of citizens, its government and policy, especially in civil and secular affairs” (OED 2.1074).

[ back to top ]

(Section 2 of 26)

· Adikia and Dike (Injustice and Justice) ·

᾿Αδικία and Δίκη

Plot on a Map
Thrace (in text as “Thracian”).

Discussion: A unique Archaic use of political abstractions in an explicitly political context is the scene of Dike attacking Adikia (“Justice” triumphing over “Injustice”), a scene that appears on two Attic vases dating to the end of the sixth century, as well as on the (lost) “Chest of Kypselos”. Adikia is shown as the uglier of the two, and is even spotted in one representation. Frel 1963 has convincingly argued that her spots are tattoos, meant to resemble those of Thracian (Barbarian) woman. This likening of Adikia to Barbarians is consistent with the Athenian view of the superiority of Athenian justice over Barbarian injustice.

Plot on a Map
Athens.

Despite Dike’s popularity in the literature of fifth century Athens, the pair is not known in Classical Athenian art.

[ back to top ]

(Section 3 of 26)

· Anangke (Necessity) ·

᾿Ανάγκη

Read about the evidence
Herodotus (Hdt.).
Plurtarch (Plut. Them.).
 
Plot on a Map
Andros.
Athens.
Moscow.

Discussion: In the first explicitly political use of a personified abstract in literature, Herodotus (Hdt. 8.111) records that when the Athenian general Themistocles arrived on the island of Andros he reported that he and the Athenians had come with two gods, Peitho (Persuasion) and Anangke, to which the Andrians replied their only gods were Penia (Poverty) and Amechania (Helplessness). A variant story was told by Plutarch (Plut. Them. 21), that the Greek deities were Peitho (Persuasion) and Bia (Strength), and that the Andrian deities were Penia and Aporia (Resourcelessness). It is impossible to know which, if either, story was correct, although Herodotus’ version is more likely, for Bia, a masculine deity, was commonly paired with Kratos in Archaic art. In only one known instance might Anangke be illustrated in the visual arts of Athens: on a lekythos in Moscow. The label that is thought to identify the winged woman with a torch, reads ΑΝΑΝΛΗ, which has been thought to be a misspelling of ΑΝΑΓΚΗ (Anangke). One cannot be sure of the reading, but it is most likely that a personification was intended, as this winged figure is comparable and form and function to the contemporary images of Nikai (Victories); the artist would have added the label to distinguish Anangke from the more popular Nike.

Example:

Moscow II 1, 117: a winged woman, labelled ΑΝΑΝΛΗ, with a torch, on a lekythos in the style of the Providence Painter, ca. 470-460.

[ back to top ]

(Section 4 of 26)

· Arete (Excellence, Valor) ·

᾿Αρετή

Read about the evidence
Bacchylides (Bacchyl. Ep.).
 
Plot on a Map
Aigina.
New York.
Athens.

Discussion: In his 13th Epinician Ode (ca. 481) Bacchylides cites Arete, Eukleia, and Eunomia as the guardians of Aigina (Bacchyl. Ep. 13.183). Arete does not appear with this pair in extant Attic arts, although Arete (as an Amazon) and Eunomia (as a Nereid) appear in different scenes on the bilingual squat lekythos in New York [1]. It is likely that the painter of this vase meant for these to be evocative names, but not labels of meaningful personifications, as neither bears any resemblance to known personifications of these figures in extant visual and literary arts of Athens.

Plot on a Map
Athens.
Macedonia.
Chaironeia.

Pliny reports that the personification of Arete was represented on a wall painting dating by Parrhasios (perhaps originally in Athens [2]), and in a (bronze) colossal statue by Euphranor, which may have been perhaps paired with a similarly colossal statue of Hellas [3]. If the coincidental pairing (by Pliny) of Arete with Hellas, actually corresponds to the original group of which this statue was a part, it might have been created in response to the incursion of Macedonia in the 330s, and particularly the events leading up to the Battle of Chaironeia (338).

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Pliny (Plin. HN).
Pliny (Plin. HN).
 
Plot on a Map
Ephesos.
Athens.

  1. New York 31.11.13: an Amazon, labelled ΑΡΗΤΗ, on a bilingual lekythos, ca. 430-420, attributed to the Eretria Painter (detail shown above).
  2. A wall painting (now lost), dating to the last quarter of the fifth century, by Parrhasios of Ephesos, and later Athens (Plin. HN 35.70).
  3. A colossal (bronze) statue (now lost), dating to the 330s, by Euphranor, perhaps one of a pair, with Hellas (Plin. HN 34.19.78).

[ back to top ]

(Section 5 of 26)

· Basileia (Kingdom, Sovereignty, or Monarchy) ·

Βασιλεία

Read about the evidence
Aristophanes (Aristoph. Birds).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Discussion: Basileia is personified in AristophanesBirds (Aristoph. Birds 1538-41, 1753), where she is presented as the companion to Zeus, the guardian of his treasury, and the promised wife of Peisthetairos, the hero who threatened the gods by depriving them of sacrifices. She also offers numerous gifts, including eunomia (good laws). This representation of Basileia does not seem to bear any resemblance, however, to the story illustrated in her only appearance in Athens’ visual arts, where she attends the punishment of the daughters of King Erechtheus, on a pyxis. The painter of this vase seems to have created Basileia (and Soteria on the same vase) as ephemeral personifications, to suit the particular mythological stories illustrated (in the case of Basileia, her presence reminds of the royal significance of the women shown—daughters of the legendary King Kekrops). There is no known connection of Basileia or Soteria with cults at Athens, any particular deities, or other personifications. Basileia, with its monarchic connotations, would have been particularly unpopular among democrats during the Peloponnesian Wars.

Example:

Athens, Fethiye Djami A 8922: a female figure, labelled ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ, at the punishment of the Kekropids, on the body of a lidded pyxis, painted in a style near the Meidias Painter, ca. 420-410.

[ back to top ]

(Section 6 of 26)

· Boule (Council) ·

Βουλή

Plot on a Map
Athens.
Cambridge.

Discussion: There is no evidence that the personification of Boule (the Athenian Council), received a cult in ancient Athens, but she appeared often (and perhaps exclusively) in the company of Demos (Populace), for whom there was an established cult, particularly on documents ratified by these two legislative bodies. The secure evidence for the personification of Boule (the Athenian Council) is limited to one labelled example, a relief from the second quarter of the fourth century, on which she joins Athena, and probably Demos, to crown an honorand. Carol Lawton has rightly noted that Boule would not appear without Demos, as the Council could not act independently of the Populace in ratifying the documents recorded on the reliefs (Lawton 1995, 58). Yet a number of reliefs are too fragmentary to yield any evidence of the accompanying personification of Demos. In all but two of these reliefs [7 and 14], however, Boule is also accompanied by Athena. The height of Boule is intermediate between those of the mortals and Olympian divinities, although, being a woman, she is generally shown to be a little shorter than Demos. She wears a chiton and a himation, and is veiled, except when her hair is covered by a sakkos [8]. As her appearance is similar to that of the goddess Hera, she sometimes holds her veil in the anakalypsis gesture (covering her face with a veil, or removing the veil [1]). Like Demos, she awards an olive wreath, as a crown, to the honorand. She is sometimes shown with the crown at her side [8] although she is also shown placing it directly on the head of the honorand [16]. Boule is unattested beyond her appearances on document reliefs, but I have suggested on the basis of iconographic comparison to these reliefs, that she is represented, veiled and holding an olive wreath, on a fragment of a monumental relief decorated statue base, now in Cambridge [17] (AJA 101 [1997] 333).

Plot on a Map
Eitea.

The Boule or Council of a particular deme might have been represented in the same manner on deme decrees. Boule might be conjectured as the identity of the woman shown crowning an honorand, Hippokles, on a deme decree from Eitea [15]. While this woman is certainly not a mortal, as she is larger than the honorand, her form does not suit the standard iconography of Boule: her hair is uncovered. Boule’s presence on this relief would be inconsistent, however, as neither the Athenian council nor a local council awarded the honors.

Examples (merely possible examples unless otherwise noted):

Plot on a Map
Eitea.

  1. (Certain example) Athens, NM 1473: a female figure, labelled ΒΟΛΗ, with Athena and perhaps Demos, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree (IG II2, 46k), ca. 375-350 (shown above).
  2. Athens, AM 2552 + AM 2552a: a female figure standing with Hermes, a female (?) mortal, and perhaps Athena, on an relief from an honorary decree stele (IG I3, 191), ca. 420-410.
  3. Athens, AM 2429: a female figure standing with Athena on a document relief, ca. 380-370.
  4. Athens, AM 2549 + AM 2717: a female figure standing with a goddess and perhaps Demos on a document relief, ca. 400-375.
  5. Athens, AM 2427 + AM 2758: a female figure standing with Athena, and perhaps Herakles and Demos, crowning a priestess of Athena (?) on a relief from an honorary decree for a priestess of Athena (?), ca. 400-375.
  6. Athens, EM 2784: a female figure on a relief from a document (IG II2, 90), ca. 400-350.
  7. Athens, NM 2953: a female figure, perhaps crowning a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 400-350.
  8. Athens, AM 2663: a female figure, with Athena and another goddess, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350.
  9. Athens, EM 2791: a female figure, with Demos, honoring a man, on a relief from a proxeny (?) decree (IG II2, 160), ca. 350.
  10. Athens, AM 3006: a female figure, with Athena, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-325.
  11. London, BM 771: a female figure, with Athena, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-325.
  12. Athens, AM 3304: a female figure, with Athena or Demos, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300.
  13. Athens, NM 2404: a female figure, perhaps with Demos, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300.
  14. Berlin Sk 808: a female figure, with Hippothoon, honoring a man on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300.
  15. Athens, EM 13461: a female figure honoring Hippokles, on a relief from a deme decree honoring Hippokles from Eitea (SEG 28.102), 332/1.
  16. Athens, EM 2811: a female figure, perhaps with Demos, honoring Asklepiodoros on a relief from an honorary decree (IG II2 367), 323/2.
  17. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam GR.99.1937: a female figure holding a wreath, on a relief from a statue base, ca. 350-300.

[ back to top ]

(Section 7 of 26)

· Demokratia (Democracy) ·

Δημοκρατία

Read about the evidence
Herodotus (Hdt.).
Thucydides (Thuc.).
Andocides (Andoc.).
Demosthenes (Dem.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Discussion: In the late fourth century Demokratia may have been worshipped with Tyche and Eirene. An inscription records offerings (in 333/2 and 332/1) to these three goddesses, among others (IG II2, 1496.107, 127, 131, 140-41). As with Eirene and Tyche, the term demokratia, δημοκρατία, was first discussed in the middle of the fifth century, when Herodotus connected the establishment of the Athenian democracy with Cleisthenes’ tribal reforms of 508 (Hdt. 6.43.3, 6.131.1). Demokratia became a catchword during the Periclean era (440s-430s), when it came to be defined in opposition to oligarchia (oligarchy): in Pericles’ “Funeral Oration” Thucydides defines demokratia as a form of government “run with a view to the interests of the majority, not of the few” (Thuc. 2.37.1). This polarization of Demokratia and Oligarchia may have been represented in the visual arts, on the “Tomb of Kritias” [1]. This tomb, probably a group cenotaph, was decorated either with a sculpture group or a relief that showed Oligarchia setting fire to Demokratia with a torch. If the scholiast who noted this unusual tomb illustration was right, this earliest known personification of Demokratia would predate our first indication of the worship of Demokratia (in the 330s). Critias died in 403 in the battle against Thrasybulus that brought about the deposition of The Thirty Tyrants who were responsible for the oligarchy at Athens that year. Because of the change in the law codes, the concept of demokratia took on a new significance in the fourth century. The response of the democrats to the terrible reign of the The Thirty was the enactment of legislation which, for the first time, explicitly affirmed a democratic government, in the restored new democracy of 403/2. The decrees of the Boule and Demos were subordinated to the nomoi (established laws) (Andoc. 1.87; cf. Dem. 24.30), and the final validation of the nomoi was relinquished by the Assembly to the Nomothetai, a special board of individuals who had sworn to uphold the established laws (Dem. 20.92-94). Thus in the new democracy, the populace, the Demos, subordinated itself to the Laws themselves.

Plot on a Map
Isthmia.
Athens.
Macedonia.
Chaironeia.

Demokratia was personified on several lost mid-fourth century art works. The most famous is a wall painting in the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios, in the Athenian Agora, by Euphranor of Isthmia, on which Demokratia appeared with Theseus and Demos [2]. According to Pausanias this painting showed that Theseus brought political equality to the Athenians. It is indeterminate whether this message was effected by the illustration of Theseus giving Demokratia (in marriage) to Demos, or Demokratia crowning Demos, as shown on the anti-tyranny decree from the Agora [3]. That relief, which Anthony Raubitschek thought might be a reflection of Euphranor’s painting, decorates a decree of the Nomothetai. The decree prohibited the Areopagus from functioning under a tyrant and reflects the paranoia of the democrats in the aftermath of Athens’ defeat by Macedonia in the battle of Chaironeia (338). Whether or not it mimicked the image on Euphranor’s painting, the illustration of Demos and Democracy on this relief is appropriate given the repeated pairing of the two political entities in the text of the attached decree.

An inscribed statue base, also found in the Athenian Agora, attests a statue of Demokratia that was set up in 333/2, coincidentally at the same time as the earliest attestation of Demokratia’s cult [5]. Despite this coincidence of dates, the statue base cannot be attributed with any certainty to the worship that Demokratia may have received in the Agora. Although Olga Palagia suggested that the monumental Agora torso [4] might have been this same statue of Demokratia (Palagia 1982, 111), she has since recanted, as the statue would have been too large for the base (Palagia 1994, 117).

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Scholia (Sch. Aeschin.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

  1. Oligarchia setting fire to Demokratia, on a grave monument (a statue or a relief), on the tomb of Critias at Athens, after 403 (Sch. Aeschin. 1.39).
  2. A wall painting in the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios (Agora, Athens), by Euphranor of Isthmia, ca. 350 BCE, with representations of Demokratia and Demos (Paus. 1.3.3-4).
  3. Athens, Agora I 6524: a female figure crowning Demos on a relief from a decree of the nomothetai (SEG 12.87), an Athenian law against tyranny, 337/6.
  4. Agora S 2370: colossal statue of a goddess, ca. 335-330, perhaps Demokratia, Themis, or Tyche (shown above).
  5. Athens, EM 3913: inscribed base (IG II2, 2791) for a statue dedicated in 333/2, probably representing Demokratia. (Although the dedicatory inscription does not specify a statue of Demokratia, another inscription, Athens, EM 12749, a slightly later decree of 306/5, mentions a statue of Demetrios Poliorketes to be placed next to a statue of Demokratia in the Agora).

[ back to top ]

(Section 8 of 26)

· Demos (Populace) of Athens ·

Δῆμος

Read about the evidence
Aristophanes (Aristoph. Kn.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Discussion: Demos ( δῆμος) was used through the middle of the fifth century to refer to commoners. But in fifth century Athens demos also meant the sovereign body of free citizens. As commoners comprised a good part of the citizenry in the democracy, the two definitions—commoners and citizens—coexisted through the Classical period. It is the sovereign Demos that would have been revered in the cult with the Nymphs, on the Acropolis at Athens: an inscription dating to 462 attests a joint sanctuary of Demos and the Nymphs, who may have been the Horai (Seasons) and/or Charites (Graces) (IG I2, 854). Certainly in the second half of the fifth century, demos sometimes took on negative connotations, and the demos is increasingly represented as gullible and fickle, capable of being deceived by politicians, as exclaimed by the chorus of aristocratic cavalrymen in AristophanesKnights (in 424), for example (Aristoph. Kn. 1111-18). (Aristophanes was probably the first to personify Demos, but similar characters may have been portrayed in the lost comedies of Eupolis and Cratinus.) Tension between the two views of demos—the commoners who are ridiculed, on the one hand, and the sovereign people, who warrant respect—seems to have been reflected in the personification of Demos on stage and in visual arts. In Knights Aristophanes is also sympathetic, and clearly sees the demos as capable of reform, for the crux of the play is Demos’ rejuvenation. The youthful Demos at the end of the play vows to restore old-fashioned ways in the government, a solution for which the democrats frequently yearned.

Read about the evidence
Pliny (Plin. HN).

It is in the last quarter of the fifth century that the first known personification of Demos in visual arts was created, in a painting by Parrhasios [1]. Pliny’s testimony makes it clear that Parrhasios effectively reflected the divergent views of demos in his representation (Plin. HN 35.69). It is indeterminate whether Euphranor’s mid-fourth century representation of Demos (with Demokratia, and Theseus [2]), copied this prototype.

Read about the evidence
Demosthenes (Dem. 18).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Chersonnesos, Thrace (in text as “Chersonnesos”).
Sestos.
Elaius.
Madytos.
Alopekonnesos.
Macedonia (in text as “Macedonian”).

Although the creators of the restored democracy of 403/2 subordinated the power of the demos to the power of nomos, the increasing disdain for demos expressed by some Athenians toward the end of the fifth century subsided, perhaps because of the reconciliation of aristocratic and democratic interests in the restored democracy. The people may also have taken a more protective attitude toward the political entity, demos, in the aftermath of the tyranny of the Thirty. At any rate, the demos seems to have gained more respect in fourth century Athens, which is reflected in the common citation or invocation of demos (or the “Good Fortune of the Demos…”) in decrees and other documents. In the mid-fourth century the Athenian Demos seems to have been worshipped outside of Athens, by other poleis, as attested in Demosthenes’ speech On the Crown (delivered in 330): Demosthenes states that the cities of the Thracian Chersonnesos (Sestos, Elaius, Madytos, and Alopekonnesos) dedicated altars to the Athenian Demos and Charis (Grace) in response to Macedonian approach (Dem. 18.92).

Plot on a Map
Athens.
Byzantium.
Perinthus.

The new found respect for demos is also reflected in the common personification of Demos in public arts of fourth-century Athens. In the visual sources he is a bearded (i.e., mature, not necessarily old) Attic countryman, wearing a himation, often holding a staff. In this personified form he seems to be represented, with honorands, deities or personifications, on as many as 25 reliefs decorating inscriptions that recorded decrees approved by the Ekklesia, the Assembly of the demos of Athens. These representations began to appear in the first quarter of the fourth century, with most dated to the middle quarters of that century. He is labelled on as many as four [4, 5, 28, and Aixone 2]. His appearance may have been similar on the lost monumental paintings [1-2] and statues [3 and 7] at Athens. The monumental statue group of the Demoi of Athens, Byzantium, and Perinthus, that was to be erected at Byzantium [6] may have been inspired by these monuments at Athens (and probably even created by Athenian artists). Despite Demosthenes’ recording of the resolution (by the people of Byzantium and Perinthus) to grant the Athenians the right to erect these statues, they were probably never created, given the submission of the Athenians, and all Greeks, to the Macedonian rulers in the subsequent decade (320s).

Demos is generally shown awarding honors to individuals. He also appears with Boule (the Council that also ratified decrees), when both award crowns to honorands [11, 12, 16, 24, 27, and 34]. On only one of these documents [12] does the honorand seem to be a woman, probably a priestess of Athena. Demos is standing on all of these examples, except [26] (the placement of the seated Demos’ foot on that of the honorand suggests that the artist had been constricted by the small compositional space available). Demos is seated in two other examples, in both of which cases he may serve as a representative of the Athenian people, in a general sense: (1) on [13] he is shown in the guise of Zeus, reaching his hand to Korkyra, whose appearance here is akin to that of Hera, as she holds her veil in an anakalypsis gesture ; (2) he is seated in a throne, while Demokratia crowns him, on the anti-tyranny decree [30]. In another unique appearance [36] Demos is shown with Eutaxia (Good Order), who is labelled on this relief. On all of these reliefs, the mature, bearded Demos wears a himation draped over his left shoulder and holds a staff and sometimes an olive crown with which he awards the honorand. It has been postulated that Demos is the similarly dressed, bearded man represented on the reliefs decorating some treasury documents. As Lawton has argued, however, the bearded man on these reliefs should rather be interpreted as Erechtheus, the legendary hero whose relevance to Athena and the Acropolis is made explicit in the reliefs with images of Athena, her olive tree, and perhaps even Erechtheus’ daughters.

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Pliny (Plin. HN).
Pausanias (Paus.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
Demosthenes (Dem. 18).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Piraeus.
Byzantium.
Perinthos.
Chersonnesos.
Delos.
Euboia.
Lemnos.
Korkyra.
Pelagonia.
Croton.
Crimean Bosporos.
Bosporos (in text as “Bosporan”).
Andros.
Sikyon.

  1. A wall painting (now lost), perhaps in the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios (in the Agora of Athens), with a representation of Demos, ca. 420, by Parrhasios of Ephesos (Plin. HN 35.69) [certain example].
  2. A wall painting (now lost), in the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios (in the Agora of Athens), by Euphranor of Isthmia, ca. 350 BCE, with representations of Demokratia and Demos (Paus. 1.3.3-4) [certain example].
  3. A statue of the Demos of Athens (now lost), ca. 350 BCE, at Piraeus, by Leochares (Paus. 1.1.3) [certain example].
  4. Athens, EM 2791: a male figure, labelled ΔΗΜΟΣ, probably with Boule, honoring a man, on a relief from a proxeny (?) decree (IG II2, 160), ca. 350 (shown above) [certain example].
  5. Athens, NM 2407: a male figure, labelled ΔΗΜΟ[Σ], with Athena and possibly Herakles, crowning a man on a relief from an honorary (?) decree (IG II2, 4630), ca. 350-325 [certain example].
  6. A colossal statue group (now lost) with a representations of the Demoi of Athens, Byzantium, and Perinthos, in a Colossal group dedicated by the cities of the Chersonnesos (Dem. 18.90) [certain example].
  7. A statue (now lost) with a representation of Demos (of Athens), in the Bouleuterion (Athens, Agora), by Lyson (Paus. 1.3.4) [certain example].
  8. Warsaw 142458: a male figure, labelled ΔΗΜΩΝ, dancing with personifications of Delos, Euboia, and Lemnos, on a cup attributed to the Eretria Painter, c. 430-420 BCE [possible example].
  9. A male figure on a relief (whereabouts unknown, formerly in the Piraeus Museum) from an inscription concerning the cult of Bendis (IG I3, 136), 432-411 [possible example].
  10. Athens, AM 2552 + AM 2552a: a female figure standing with Hermes, a female (?) mortal, and perhaps Athena, on an relief from an honorary decree stele (IG I3, 191), ca. 410-400 [possible example].
  11. Athens, AM 2549 + AM 2717: a male figure standing with a goddess and perhaps Boule on a document relief, ca. 400-375 [possible example].
  12. Athens, AM 2427 + AM 2758: a male figure standing with Athena, and perhaps Herakles and Boule, crowning a priestess of Athena (?) on a relief from an honorary decree for a priestess of Athena (?), ca. 400-375 [possible example].
  13. Athens, NM 1467: a seated male with a female figure, perhaps the personification of Korkyra, on a relief from an alliance decree (IG II2, 97) between Athens and Korkyra, probably after 375/4 [possible example].
  14. Athens, EM 2796: a male figure, standing with Athena, crowning a man, on a relief from an unidentified decree (IG II2, 167), probably regarding a treaty or alliance, ca. 400-350 [possible example].
  15. Athens, EM 7024: a male figure standing with Athena, crowning Menelaos, on a relief from a decree honoring Menelaos of Pelagonia (IG II2, 110), ca. 375-350 [possible example].
  16. Athens, NM 1473: a male figure with Athena and Boule, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree (IG II2, 46k) ca. 375-350 [possible example].
  17. Athens, EM 2788: a male figure crowning a man on a relief from an honorary decree (?), ca. 350 [possible example].
  18. Athens, EM 2798: a male figure on a relief from an unknown document, ca. 350 [possible example].
  19. Athens, Agora S 1139: a male figure, with Athena, on a relief from an unknown document, ca. 350-325 [possible example].
  20. Athens, AM 6787: a male figure, with Athena, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-325 [possible example].
  21. Athens, NM 2952 + NM 2961: a male figure, with Athena, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-325 [possible example].
  22. Athens, NM 2985: a male figure, with Athena, on a relief from a decree (IG II2, 406) honoring a man from Croton (?), ca. 350-325 [possible example].
  23. Athens, NM 2986: a male figure, with perhaps Athena or Hera, and a smaller male figure, on a relief perhaps from an honorary decree, ca. 350-325 [possible example].
  24. Athens, AM 3304: a male figure, with Athena or Boule, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300 [possible example].
  25. Athens, AM 7231: a male figure, with Athena, crowning a man on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300 [possible example].
  26. Athens, EM 2809: a seated male figure crowning a smaller man on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300 [possible example].
  27. Athens, NM 2404: a male figure, with perhaps Boule, honoring a man, on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300 [possible example].
  28. Athens, NM 2946: a male figure, with Athena, crowning a military man on a relief from an honorary decree, ca. 350-300 [possible example].
  29. Athens, NM 1471: a standing male figure, with two seated male figures, perhaps two of Leukon’s sons), on a relief from a document honoring Spartakos II, Pairisades I, and Apollonios of the Crimean Bosporos, the sons of Leukon, ruler of Bosporan kingdom (IG II2, 212), 347/6 [possible example].
  30. Athens, Agora I 6524: a male figure being crowned by Demokratia on a relief from a decree of the nomothetai (SEG 12.87), an Athenian law against tyranny, 337/6 [possible example].
  31. Athens, EM 7155: a male figure, perhaps crowning a smaller male figure, Amphis (Anphis) of Andros (IG II2, 347), 332/1 [possible example].
  32. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam GR.13.1865: a male figure, with Athena and perhaps Protesilaos, on a relief from an Athenian decree, ca. 330 [possible example].
  33. Athens, Agora I 4224C: a male figure, with Athena, on a relief from an unknown document, 324/3 [possible example].
  34. Athens, EM 2811: a male figure, perhaps with Boule, honoring Asklepiodoros on a relief from an honorary decree (IG II2 367), 323/2 [possible example].
  35. Athens, NM 1482: a male figure, with a groom and a horse, as well as Athena, honoring a man on a relief from a decree originally honoring Euphron of Sikyon and his descendants (IG II2, 448), 323/2-318/7 [possible example].
  36. Athens, NM 2958: a male figure with Eutaxia, honoring a man, on a relief, probably from a catalogue of liturgists (IG II2, 417), ca. 325-317 [possible example].

[ back to top ]

(Section 9 of 26)

· Demoi of demes ·

Δῆμοι

Plot on a Map
Aphrodisias.
Eleusis.
Athens.

Discussion: The earliest extant image of Demos may be a young, unbearded youth on a relief decorating a document from Eleusis, the “Rhetoi Bridge Decree” [3]. In this relief the youthful male figure, dressed in a himation, stands with the Eleusinian divinities, Demeter and Persephone, and the city goddess, Athena. If the male figure was meant to represents Demos, as originally suggested by Olga Alexandri-Tzachou (in LIMC 3, 378-79 s.v. “Demos” no. 42), he would not represent the Athenian Demos, for his appearance is far too youthful, but rather the Demos of the deme of Eleusis, invented for this particular purpose. The illustration of the youthful Demos of Eleusis might have been intended to indicate that the deme of Eleusis was relatively young, as were the demoi of Roman cities such as Aphrodisias (see LIMC 3, 376 nos. 1-2, pl. 271). Since Eleusis and Athens were joined before the seventh century, the distinction between the Demoi of Eleusis and Athens seems inconsequential. A simpler explanation is that he represents one of youths that we encounter elsewhere in Eleusinian iconography—Ploutos (Wealth) or Triptolemos. Ploutos may be eliminated from consideration as he is usually nude. This figure would have been recognizable as Triptolemos, however, if he held sheaves of grain in his clenched left hand.

Plot on a Map
Aixone.
Athens.

A labelled Demos is shown on a the relief of a decree probably from the deme Aixone [2], and it is thought that he must then represent the Demos of Aixone. The Demos of Acharnai is conjectured to be represented on [1]. In these reliefs the Demoi, whose forms are similar to that of the Demos of Athens on decree reliefs, represent the political assembly of the local deme, and serve the same representative function as the Demos of Athens on the Panathenian honorary decrees.

Examples:

Plot on a Map
Menidi.
Attica.
Trachones.
Attica.

  1. Acharnai

    Plot on a Map
    Menidi.
    Attica.

    A relief (in the Church of St. Lydakis, Athens) found at Menidi, Attica, from an honorary deme decree, probably from Acharnai, ca. 330-320, illustrating a male probably the Demos of Acharnai, crowning a man.

  2. Aixone

    Plot on a Map
    Trachones.
    Attica.

    A relief (now lost) found at Trachones, Attica, from an honorary deme decree, ca. 350-300, illustrating Demos, labelled ΔΗ[ΜΟΣ] (probably the Demos of Aixone), crowning a man.

  3. Eleusis

    Eleusis 5093: a youthful male figure, standing with Demeter, Persephone, and god, on a relief from a building decree regarding the Rhetoi Bridge (IG I3, 79), 422/1.

[ back to top ]

(Section 10 of 26)

· Demoi of foreign cities ·

Δῆμοι

Plot on a Map
Chersonnesos.
Byzantium.
Perinthos.
Troizen.
Samos.
Athens.

Discussion: Athenian sculptors may have occasionally represented Greek cities with the Demoi of their respective peoples (rather than with a tutleary deity, eponymous hero/ine, or personification). The most secure attestation of this approach is Demosthenes’ record of the agreement made between Athens and the poleis of the Chersonnesos [3] to represent the Demoi of Athens, Byzantium, and Perinthos in a colossal statuary group (it is indeterminate whether this group was ever erected). The Demoi of foreign cities—Troizen and Samos—may also be represented on fourth century decrees [1-2], which cannot be securely associated with Athens or Athenian artists.

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Demosthenes (Dem. 18).
 
Plot on a Map
Troizen.
Plataiai.
Samos.
Kardia.
Athens.
Byzantium.
Perinthos.
Chersonnesos.

  1. Poros 575: a relief depicting Athena and Demos (of Troizen?), on a decree (ca. 320) regarding a law regarding a certain Echilaos from Plataiai (Meyer 1989, 318 N 10, pl. 54.1, 55.1; LIMC 2, 35 no. 238 s.v. “Aphrodite” [A. Delivorrias]) (shown above).
  2. Samos J 837A: a relief depicting a seated Demos (of Samos) and an honorand, on a decree (314-306) honoring a man from Kardia (Meyer 1989, 319 N 12, with previous bibliography).
  3. A colossal statue group (now lost) with a representations of the Demoi of Athens, Byzantium, and Perinthos, in a Colossal group dedicated by the cities of the Chersonnesos (Dem. 18.90).

[ back to top ]

(Section 11 of 26)

· Eirene (Peace) ·

Εἰρήνη

Read about the evidence
Hesiod (Hes. Th.).
Bacchylides (Bacchyl. 14).
Pindar (Pind. O. 9).
Pindar (Pind. O. 13).
 
Plot on a Map
Miletos.
Athens.
Brauron.

Discussion: Hesiod regarded Eirene, Eunomia (Good Order), and Dike (Justice) as the Horai (Seasons), daughters of Themis (Law) (Hes. Th. 901-902). Fifth century poets followed this genealogy (e.g., Bacchyl. 14.59 and Pind. O. 9.22-24, 13.6-8). In Persai, delivered at Athens after 408, Timotheos of Miletos prays for Apollo to send Eirene and Eunomia to relieve the populace (of Athens?) (Timoth. Pers. fr. 791.240 Page, PMG). Eirene presumably represented the harvest season, and it is thus no surprise that she appears with her Aristophanic companion, Opora (Harvest, Autumn) (see AristophanesPeace), exclusively in the circle of Dionysos on Attic vases from the last third of the fifth century. Eirene also appears on a fragmentary altar at Brauron, dating to the early fourth century, on which she joins several other figures, including Eunomia (or Theoria), in a Dionysiac procession [3]. Otherwise Eirene’s role as one of the Seasons is virtually ignored. Erika Simon has tentatively identified the seated woman surrounded by three dancing women, on the East frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis (after 421), as Themis with the HoraiDike, Eirene, and Eunomia (see LIMC, 3, 703-704 s.v. “Eirene” no. 9). The figures are so fragmentary, however, that it is impossible to identify them with any certainty. The absence of comparable representations of this particular grouping of the Horai in Classical art makes this identification even more tenuous.

Read about the evidence
Plutarch (Plut. Cim.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Eurymedon.
Sparta.

It comes as no surprise that the personification of Eirene temporarily disappears from extant sources after 400: the agreements made at the end of the Peloponnesian War neither brought a lasting peace to the Greeks nor immediate hope for peace. When she returns, in the form of a Kephisodotos’ statue of Eirene and Ploutos (Peace and Wealth) [4], Eirene is still a fertility deity, but no longer a maenad; she is rather presented as the mature mother or nurse of (agricultural) wealth. The evidence for Eirene’s worship at Athens before the fourth century is limited to Plutarch’s attestation of an altar dedicated to her after the Battle of the Eurymedon (467) (Plut. Cim. 13.6). As Alan Shapiro suggests, it is likely that Plutarch confused the Battle of the Eurymedon with Timotheos’ peace of 375/4, when both the altar and Kephisodotos’ statue would have been put up to commemorate a peace treaty with Sparta (Shapiro 1993, 45).

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
 
Plot on a Map
Paris.
Munich.
Athens.

  1. Vienna IV 1024: a calyx krater attributed to the Dinos Painter, ca. 420-410, with representations of Eirene, labelled ΕΙΡΗΝΗ and Opora.
  2. A pelike, once in Paris (Raoul-Rochette Collection), attributed to the Group of Naples 3235, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eirene, labelled ΙΡΗΝΗ and Pannychis (All-night Revel) (ARV2, 1316.3; LIMC, 7, 171-72 s.v. “Pannychia,” “Pannychis” no. 4).
  3. Brauron 1170: a fragmentary round altar or statue base, ca. 400, with representations of Eirene, labelled ΕΙΡΗΝΗ and perhaps Eunomia or Theoria (Festival), and Opora (Harvest, Autumn), probably in a Dionysiac procession (images of the altar and a detail of Eirene).
  4. Eirene and Ploutos type: a free-standing statue (lost, but known from several painted copies and sculpted copies, such as that in Munich, detail and full figure shown above), erected between the Tholos and the Temple of Ares, in the Agora, Athens, between 374 and 371, of Eirene holding the baby Ploutos, by Kephisodotos of Athens (Paus. 1.8.3; see also Paus. 9.16.2).
  5. Statue of Eirene (now lost) in the Prytaneion, in the Agora of Athens (Paus. 1.18.3).

[ back to top ]

(Section 12 of 26)

· Eukleia (Good Repute) ·

Εὔκλεια

Read about the evidence
Sophocles (Soph. Aj.).
Plutarch (Plut. Arist.).
 
Plot on a Map
Boiotia.
Athens.

Discussion: In Greek literature eukleia referred to the personal qualities that brought a person a good reputation, as well as the reputation itself. In earlier Greek literature, eukleia, εὔκλεια, refers to the glory and fame that results from military victories. This is also the meaning of eukleia in mid-fifth century tragedies, e.g. SophoclesAjax (produced in 442 or 441), when Ajax bemoans his bad fortune (Soph. Aj. 462-64). In this and other contexts eukleia, one’s own reputation, is connected with good ancestry, and thus takes on an aristocratic connotation, as the good repute that comes from noble birth. It is perhaps in this regard that Eukleia became involved with marriage preparations, at least in Boiotia, Athens’ neighbor and long-term rival, where she was worshipped as an epithet of Artemis. Plutarch notes that Artemis Eukleia had an altar in each Boiotian agora, and that affianced boys and girls would make sacrifices to her in preparation for their weddings (Plut. Arist. 20). Eukleia’s meaning as the good reputation of private individuals becomes more prominent in the literature of the later fifth century, although it is never personified in Classical Athenian literature.

Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
 
Plot on a Map
Plataia.
Marathon.
Boiotia (in text as “Boiotian”).
London.
Leuven.
Athens.

The origin of Eukleia’s cult at Athens is a matter of debate. Perhaps Eukleia was brought over from Boiotia to Athens at the time of the Persian Wars, when Athens was closely allied with Plataia: Pausanias records that a temple to Eukleia was erected on the edge of the Athenian Agora as a thank-offering for the victory over the Persians who landed at Marathon (490) (Paus. 1.15.4). Martin Nilsson has suggested that during this transference of the cult, Eukleia became detached from Artemis Eukleia (only Boiotian sources connect Artemis with Eukleia), and was henceforth worshipped independently at Athens (Nilsson 1955, 494). In her cult at Athens Eukleia may have retained her importance for fiances, since the sophist Antiphon mentions Eukleia in his discussion of marriage in On Concord. A joint cult of Eukleia and Eunomia is not evidenced at Athens in the late fifth century, but is rather inferred on the basis of their appearances together in vase painting, and later attestations of their worship together. Whereas Eunomia appears in several scenes apart from Eukleia, there are only two extant visual sources on which Eukleia may appear without Eunomia. In each of these cases the label identifying Eukleia is lost or incomplete. The first is the Heimarmene Painter’s name vase [10], where Eukleia may represent the good reputation that Helen is about to cast aside. Eukleia may also refer to Helen’s reputation in an illustration of Helen’s bridal bath, on a squat lekythos once in London, in the manner of the Meidias Painter [4]. Eukleia’s relevance in these two instances may also result from her cult significance in bridal preparations. On a plate now in Leuven, attributed to the Meidias Painter, and dated to 420-410 [1], Eukleia is probably the character who joins Eudaimonia (Prosperity/Happiness) in welcoming Asklepios (shown in the arms of Epidauros) to Athens. In this context Eukleia might serve as an indicator of the good pedigree of the Asklepios cult.

Examples (all are certain examples, unless otherwise noted):

Plot on a Map
London.

  1. Leuven KUL-A-1000: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥ[ΚΛΕΙΑ], resting on the shoulders of Eukleia, on a plate attributed to the Meidias Painter, ca. 420-410 (shown above).
  2. Berlin F 2705: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΚΛ[Ε]ΙΑ, on a squat lekythos (tallboy) attributed to the Painter of the Frankfort Acorn, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eunomia.
  3. Budapest T 754: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΚΛ[Ε]ΙΑ, on an oinochoe in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eunomia.
  4. A seated female figure, labelled ΕΥΚΛΕΙΑ, holding a wreath, on a squat lekythos (tallboy), formerly in the Embiricos Collection, London, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eunomia or Peitho.
  5. Naples SA 316: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΚΛΕΙΑ, holding fronds, on a lekanis lid, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eunomia, Harmonia, and Pannychis (All-night Revel).
  6. Mainz 118: a standing female figure, labelled Ε[Υ]ΚΛΕΙΑ, holding a large box, on a lekanis lid in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eunomia, and Paidia (Play) shown here.
  7. Ullastret 1486: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΚΛΕΑ, holding a necklace out to Nikopolis, on a lekanis lid in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eunomia.
  8. New York 09.221.40: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΚΛΕΑ, holding a basket, on a pyxis, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Happiness), Eunomia, Hygieia (Health), Paidia (Play), and Peitho.
  9. A seated female figure, labelled [Ε]ΥΚΛΕ[Ι]Α, on a kalpis hydria once in the Hope Collection, ca. 425-400, with representations of Peitho and probably Eunomia.
  10. [Possible example] Berlin 30036: a standing female figure, labelled [Ε]Υ[ΚΛ]Ε[ΙΑ] (which has also been restored as “Tyche”), on the name vase (a pointed amphoriskos) of the Heimarmene Painter, ca. 430-420, with representations of Nemesis, Peitho, Heimarmene, and perhaps Themis.
  11. [Possible example] Kansas City 31.80: a seated female figure holding a bird, on a white-ground squat lekythos attributed to the Eretria Painter, ca. 420-410, with representations of Peitho, Eunomia, and Paidia (Play).

[ back to top ]

(Section 13 of 26)

· Eunomia (Good Order) ·

Εὐνομία

Read about the evidence
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Hesiod (Hes. Th.).
Sophocles (Soph. Aj.).
 
Plot on a Map
Sparta.
Athens.

Discussion: Whereas the evidence for Eukleia’s cult comes earlier than her representation as a personification, the opposite is true for Eunomia. Eunomia’s cult at Athens, which in the late fifth century has been inferred from her inclusion on vase paintings, with or without Eukleia, is not documented until a reference in a fourth century lawcourt speech to a shared altar of Eunomia, Dike, and Aidos (Reverence) (Ps.-Dem. 25.35). Also unlike Eukleia, Eunomia is extremely popular in Greek literature. Her earliest appearance is as one of the Horai, along with Dike and Eirene, in Hesiod’s Theogony (Hes. Th. 901-902). The noun Eunomia, εὐνομία, stems from the verb εὐνομέομαι, meaning to have good laws. Eunomia refers not just to the condition of having good laws, but adherence to those laws. In SophoclesAjax, for example, Eunomia means loyalty to divine law (Soph. Aj. 713). In the seventh century, the elegiac poet Tyrtaios of Sparta connected this divine law with human law, when he eulogized Eunomia as the divine right by which kings rule (Tyrtaios frs. 1-4 West, IE2.). In a democratic polis, such as Athens, eunomia also came to refer to the citizen’s obeisance to the laws (nomos), which creates good order. At the beginning of the sixth century, the Athenian statesman Solon eulogized Eunomia as a civic virtue (Solon fr. 4.31-38 West, IE2).

Plot on a Map
Sparta (in text as “Spartan”).
Aitna.
Corinth.
Opus.
Aigina.
Athens.

Although the concept is equally applicable to monarchic and democratic poleis (city states), eunomia seems to have retained an aristocratic connotation, which may have stemmed from her Spartan roots. Tyrtaios (cited above), became the classic Spartan poet, for example, and his poems were recited to Spartan troops as late as the fourth century. Eunomia’s association with oligarchies throughout the Greek world is attested by Pindar, who invoked her as the guardian of Aitna, Corinth, Opus, and Aigina, cities in which oligarchic systems prevailed (Pind. N. 9.29). The fifth century Athenian conception of aristocratic eunomia as the opposite of democratic isonomia (equality of rights) may have also derived from these monarchical Spartan roots, through the influence of the pro-Spartan oligarchs at Athens. In an interesting twist the Ionian cities rejected the Athenian oligarchs’ offer of eunomia (in 411), in favor of Spartan eleutheria (freedom). This use of eunomia certainly suggests that the concept was regarded as an oligarchic prerogative at the end of the fifth century.

Read about the evidence
Homer (HH 30).
Bacchylides (Bacchyl. Ep. 13).
 
Plot on a Map
Paris.
Baltimore.

Eunomia also played a generalized, nonpartisan role, as a virtue that gave rise to prosperity. Eunomia’s connection to civic prosperity was expressed as early as the seventh century, in the Homeric Hymn to Ge (Earth) (Hymn. Hom. 30.11-15). And in the early fifth century Bacchylides said that Eunomia received Thaleia (Bounty) as her lot (Bacchyl. Ep. 13.186-187). On a squat lekythos, once in Paris [7], Eunomia is actually shown with Thaleia. The hope for prosperity and other joys that come with good order is also reflected on vase paintings that picture Eunomia with Eudaimonia or Eutychia (both of whom represent Prosperity) and Paidia (Play): a squat lekythos in Baltimore [2], a squat lekythos in London [6], and a lidded pyxis in London [11]. In her role as a bringer of prosperity, one might have expected Eunomia to have been connected with Eirene and Opora, personifications in the circle of Dionysos that are likewise related to (agricultural) prosperity. Anneliese Kossatz-Deissmann has even suggested that the popularity of Eunomia, on these vases produced during the Peloponnesian War, was a sign of the longing for eirene. Eunomia and Eirene are never represented together, however, in the last quarter of the fifth century.

Read about the evidence
Bacchylides (Bacchyl. Ep. 13).
Aristotle (Aristot. Ath. Pol.).
 
Plot on a Map
Aigina.
Mainz.
Athens.

Eunomia and Eukleia may have been related in cult at Aigina before 480. As mentioned above, ca. 481 Bacchylides cites Eukleia, Eunomia, and Arete as the guardians of Aigina (Bacchyl. Ep. 13.183). Roland Hampe has suggested that the cult of Eukleia was transferred from Aigina to Athens after Aigina’s forcible incorporation into the Athenian Empire (458/7), and that the cult of Eunomia followed in the late fifth century, when it may have been joined to the Athenian cult of Eukleia (Hampe 1955, 123). He has even postulated that Eukleia’s welcoming of Eunomia is expressed on a lekanis lid in Mainz [9]. Although the generic nature of the decoration on such lids [8 and 10] indicates that this reading might be too specific, Elke Böhr has now added a supporting point, that the bird held by Eunomia, a nightingale, is a symbol of welcoming into society (in CVA Mainz University 2 [1993] 45). Regardless of how and when their cults were transferred to Athens, Eukleia and Eunomia were certainly worshipped there together by the fourth century, as the kosmetes (decorators) who were responsible to the priests of Eukleia and Eunomia are mentioned in the Athenaion Politeia (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 42).

On the basis of representations in which they are part of Aphrodite’s entourage [5, 8, and 11], one might infer that Eukleia and Eunomia were also associated with the cult of Aphrodite Pandemos, but there is no other indication of such a cult connection.

Examples (all examples are certain unless otherwise noted):

Plot on a Map
Paris.
London.

  1. New York 31.11.13: a nereid, labelled ΕΥΝ[ΟΜΙΑ], riding a dolphin on a white-ground frieze on a bilingual lekythos attributed to the Eretria Painter, ca. 430-420.
  2. Baltimore, Walters 48.205: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, on a squat lekythos attributed to the Makaria Painter, ca. 420-410, with representations of Eutychia (Prosperity/Success) and Paidia (Play).
  3. Berlin F 2705: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, on a squat lekythos (tallboy) attributed to the Painter of the Frankfort Acorn, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eukleia.
  4. Budapest T 754: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, on an oinochoe in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eukleia.
  5. Kansas City 31.80: a standing female figure, labelled Ε[ΥΝ]ΟΜΙΑ, on a white-ground squat lekythos attributed to the Eretria Painter, ca. 420-410, with representations of Peitho, Paidia (Play), and perhaps Eukleia.
  6. London E 697: a standing woman, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, leaning on Paidia (Play), on a squat lekythos, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Prosperity, Happiness) and Peitho.
  7. A standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, holding a garland, on a squat lekythos (tallboy), once in the Bauville Collection, Paris, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400.
  8. Naples SA 316: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, holding vessels, on a lekanis lid, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eukleia, Harmonia, and Pannychis (All-night Revel).
  9. Mainz 118: a seated female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, holding a bird, on a lekanis lid in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eukleia, and Paidia (Play) (shown above).
  10. Ullastret 1486: a standing female figure, labelled ΟΝΨΜΙΑ, holding perhaps a flower and a necklace, on a lekanis lid in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eukleia.
  11. London E 775: a seated female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, on a lidded pyxis in the manner of the Meidias Painter, c. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Prosperity/Hapiness), Harmonia, Hygieia (Health), and Paidia (Play).
  12. New York 09.221.40: a standing female figure, labelled ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑ, holding a basket, on a pyxis, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Happiness), Eukleia, Hygieia (Health), Paidia (Play), and Peitho.
  13. [Possible example] A standing female figure, perhaps Eunomia, on a kalpis hydria, once in the Hope Collection, ca. 425-400, with representations of Peitho and Eukleia.
  14. [Possible example] A seated female figure, perhaps Eunomia or Peitho, on a squat lekythos (tallboy), formerly in the Embiricos Collection, London, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eukleia.
  15. [Possible example] Brauron 1170: a standing female figure, labelled [...]ΙΑ, perhaps Theoria (Spectacle) or Eunomia, in a Dionysiac procession on a fragmentary round altar or statue base, ca. 400, with a representation of Eirene (image of the altar).

[ back to top ]

(Section 14 of 26)

· Eutaxia (Good Order) ·

Εὐταξία

Discussion: Eutaxia is shown with Demos on one document relief, a catalog of liturgists. As Eutaxia is unparalelled elsewhere, she seems to have been created spontaneously for this particular context. Here Eutaxia seems to point to a list of participants in a tribal event, while Demos may be shown standing in his customary pose, about to crown the representative of the victorious phyle.

Example:

Athens, NM 2958: a standing female figure with Demos, honoring a man, on a relief, probably from a catalogue of liturgists (IG II2, 417), ca. 325-317 (shown here).

[ back to top ]

(Section 15 of 26)

· Hellas (Greece) ·

῾Ελλάς

Plot on a Map
Olympia.
Delphi.
Athens.

Discussion: Hellas is the most inclusive geographical personification known from the Classical period. According to Pausanias, she was shown with Salamis, in the high Classical period, on the fences in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia [1]. Here Salamis was shown with Hellas. Although Pausanias does not discuss why Salamis and Hellas were shown together in this composition, among gods and heroes, he does mention that Salamis bore the ornament from the ships’ prows, probably the same aphlaston held by the Salamis at Delphi (Hdt. 8.121). The obvious political point is that Hellas was victorious at Salamis, for which reason the painting was an appropriate decoration for a Panhellenic sanctuary. On a slightly subtler level, the monument advertises the importance of Athens’ role in the battle, for Salamis was under Athenian control at this time. As these paintings were creations of Panainos of Athens, brother of Pheidias, they can be considered Athenian products, perhaps intended as propaganda to emphasize Athens’ role as a naval power in the 440s and 430s.

Plot on a Map
Greece.
Athens.

Despite the desire on the part of most fourth-century Athenians, and other Greeks, for Panhellenic unity, a united Greece eluded them in the Classical period: accordingly, Hellas—the personifications of all of Greece—is only known once in the arts of late Classical Athens [2].

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
Pliny (Plin. HN).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Olympia.

  1. A panel painting (now lost) depicting Hellas and Salamis, by Panainos of Athens, ca. 440-430, on the fences in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (Paus. 5.11.5).
  2. A colossal (bronze) statue, dating to the 330s, by Euphranor, perhaps one of a pair, with Arete (Plin. HN 34.19.78).

[ back to top ]

(Section 16 of 26)

· Harmonia (Harmony) ·

῾Αρμονία

Read about the evidence
Hesiod (Hes. Theog.).
 
Plot on a Map
Thebes (in text as “Theban”).
Attica (in text as “Attic”).
Peloponnese.

Discussion: The myth of Theban Harmonia, the wife of Kadmos, goes back to the epics: in Hesiod’s Theogony, she is the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite (Hes. Theog. 937). In this myth she is already a personification, as she represents the noun for which she is named, being the product of the union of antithetical forces (war and love, the respective spheres of her parents). It is likely, therefore, that the mythological heroine and personification are the same character, as Alan Shapiro has argued (Shapiro 1993, 95). The myth of Kadmos and Harmonia is illustrated in the Archaic period in Attic art, and on monuments from the Peloponnese. The scene of the meeting of Kadmos and Harmonia, at the spring guarded by the dragon, becomes more popular in the second half of the fifth century, with little variation. Harmonia is one of only three labelled personifications who appears as a participant in a traditional mythological story in the Archaic period (the other two are Peitho at the Judgment of Paris and and Themis at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis).

Read about the evidence
Aeschylus (Aesch. Supp.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Harmonia retained her connection with Aphrodite at Athens, and was commonly shown in her circle, in illustrations on painted vases, seemingly as a personification of marital as well as civic Harmony. Already in the first half of the fifth century, Harmonia is revered as a marital virtue, perhaps an aspect of Aphrodite, by the chorus in AeschylusSuppliant Maidens (Aesch. Supp. 1039-43). When Harmonia is shown separately from Kadmos in fifth century Athens, she appears in bridal scenes, where her primary role must be as the personification of an idealized Marriage, a particular type of Harmony. Fifth century writers used the verb harmozein, ἁρμόζειν, to mean “to become engaged” or (in the middle voice) “to marry.” The bridal preparations of Harmonia constitute one of three bridal scenes shown on the epinetron of the Eretria Painter [1]. In the Harmonia scene on one of the long sides (A), the bride is attended by her mother, Aphrodite, who holds the fateful necklace created for the bride by Hephaistos, and by her attendants, Peitho, Eros (Love), and Himeros (Desire). Harmonia gazes at Kore (Maidenhood) and Hebe (Youth), the two qualities that she is about to abandon. The Eretria Painter has represented Harmonia’s many aspects in this composition. She is the heroine who was betrothed to Kadmos, and typifies the hesitant bride who is comforted by Aphrodite and Peitho. Simultaneously she is the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, the personification of the harmonious union of antithetical forces, in a marriage that is influenced by Peitho. The relation of peitho to harmonia (and to eris [discord]) is expressed by Richard Buxton: “In the right place—marriage—Peitho brings men and women harmonious delight; in the wrong place—illicit sexual relationships—Peitho can be an agent of discord and catastrophe” (Buxton 1985, 37).

Read about the evidence
Aeschylus (Aesch. PB).

The role of the personification, Harmonia, was not limited to marriage in fifth century Athens. Like Peitho she bridges the private world of the bride and the public world of the polis. In the sixth century, the concept harmonia, whether or not personified, is considered by the presocratic philosophers as a force of union, close in meaning to philia (friendship). Herakleitos discusses her as a force of equilibrium between contrary tensions (DK, 22 B 51), while Empedokles discusses it as a force that coheres natural elements (DK, 31 B 27.3, 96.4, 122.2). In the fifth century harmonia, h( a(rmoni/a, pertained to order and stability in the polis. In Aischylos’ Prometheus Bound, for example, harmonia is a covenant set by Zeus (Aesch. PB 550-51). Here the meaning of harmonia is akin to eunomia (good laws): personifications of these two concepts are represented together on several late fifth century vases [3-4]. On these vases, and perhaps also on [5], Harmonia is joined by other political personifications; Peitho [5] and Eukleia [3], in non-narrative scenes that advertise virtues that may be useful to the polis. Harmonia is particularly suitable as an advertisement of civic virtues on vases that may have been used as wedding gifts, as she, like the gift itself, bridges the realms of public and private, and represents marriage as well as civic harmony.

Read about the evidence
Euripides (Eur. Med.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
New York.
Attica (in text as “Attic”).
Eleusis (in text as “Eleusinian”).

Another mythological aspect of Harmonia, as the mother of the Muses, suits her third role as a personification of musical Harmony. In an ode in praise of Athens in Medea (produced in 431, just before the Peloponnesian War) Euripides calls Harmonia the mother of the Muses, and implies that their birth was an Athenian event (Eur. Med. 830-32). The association of Harmonia and the Muses is made slightly later (420-410) on the A side of a pelike in New York [2]. This illustration shows Harmonia and some of the Muses at a performance by the Attic (Eleusinian) singer Mousaios, as well as his wife, Deiope, his son, the hero Eumolpos (shown as a baby), Aphrodite, and Peitho. The inclusion of Mousaios and Eumolpos brings an element of Athenian civic pride to this scene, so that the personifications, Harmonia and Peitho, are understood here in their civic contexts, as the forces that bring about civic unity.

Examples (all examples are certain unless otherwise noted):

  1. Athens, NM 1629: a seated female figure, labelled ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ, attended by Peitho and others, before her wedding, on the name vase (an epinetron) by the Eretria Painter, ca. 430-420.
  2. New York 37.11.23: a standing female figure, labelled ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ, watching a performance of Mousaios, on a pelike attributed to the Meidias Painter, ca. 420-410, with a representation of Peitho (shown here).
  3. Naples SA 316: a seated female figure, labelled ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ, holding a box, on a lekanis lid, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eukleia, Eunomia, and Pannychis (All-night Revel).
  4. London E 775: a seated female figure, labelled ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ, on a lidded pyxis in the manner of the Meidias Painter, c. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Prosperity/Hapiness), Eunomia, Hygieia (Health), and Paidia (Play).
  5. [Possible example] Louvre MNB 1320: a standing female figure, perhaps Harmonia, on an acorn lekythos in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with possible representations of Hygieia (Health), Peitho, and Tyche.

[ back to top ]

(Section 17 of 26)

· Nemesis (Retribution) ·

Νέμεσις

Read about the evidence
Athenaeus (Athen.).
 
Plot on a Map
Smyrna.

Discussion: Nemesis was known as a goddess by the seventh century: after she was raped by her father Zeus, Nemesis gave birth to Helen, according to a fragment of the Kypria (Kypria fr. 7 [=Athen. 8.334b]). In this tale she transforms herself into many types of creatures to escape from this incestuous incident, because of her feelings of nemesis ( νέμεσις), righteous indignation, as well as aidos ( αἰδός), shame. Despite her shape changing, which is only mentioned in the Kypria, this Nemesis is indeed a personification, as her basic form is that of a woman whose character is, in part, represented by her name. As Alan Shapiro has noted, the aitiological aspect of this story suggests that she was here personified for the first time (Shapiro 1993, 173). By the third quarter of the sixth century, Nemesis was worshipped and personified, seemingly in a different form, in a sculpture by Boupalos at Smyrna (Paus. 1.33.7 and 9.35.6).

Plot on a Map
Attica (in text as “Attic”).
Rhamnous.
Plataia.
Marathon.

Personified Nemesis does not appear in Attic art or literature until the fifth century (when she appears only twice, in the 430s and 420s), although she was worshipped with Themis (Laws) in the Attic deme of Rhamnous, probably from the sixth century. Margaret Miles maintains that funds were allocated for the building of a temple to Nemesis at Rhamnous in the 470s, following the Persian Wars, but that the extant Classical temple was not built until the 420s (Miles 1989). This roughly matches the chronology of the cult statue of Nemesis [1], according to Pausanias, who explains that Pheidias made this Nemesis out of the block of Parian marble brought to Marathon by the presumptious Persians, who had planned to use it in construction of their anticipated victory monument. A likely explanation for the delay of both projects to approximately sixty years after the Battle of Marathon is the post-Persian War cessation of temple building on account of the “Oath of Plataia.” The creation of the statue and temple seems to have coincided with, and may have been instigated by, the resurgence of Athenian nemesis against enemies past and present at the outset of the Peloponnesian War. By the fifth century nemesis had come to mean (divine) retribution warranted by righteous indignation, such as the punishment that the Persians received at the hands of the Greeks at Marathon.

Plot on a Map
Ethiopia (in text as “Ethiopians”).

The cult statue of Nemesis, which is plausibly attributed to Agorakritos [1], is now well known through Giorgos Despines’ reconstruction of the original fragments, as well as Roman copies. Nemesis’ attributes are identified and partially explained by Pausanias. The deer on her headdress and the apple branch that she holds in her lowered left hand point to her origin as a chthonic or nature divinity. The Nikai (Victories) that also decorate her crown are relevant to her aspect as an avenging goddess, as they indicate the righteous victory that she will exact. The phiale (a ritual vessel), which she holds in her outstretched left hand points to her righteousness, which is perhaps relevant to her connection with Themis, the personification of Law. And the Ethiopians that are said to have been illustrated on this phiale point to her broad-reaching power, as the Greeks regarded them as the people from the ends of the earth.

Plot on a Map
Rhamnous.
Berlin.

Nemesis role as Helen’s mother was not entirely forgotten by Attic artists in visual media who, like the writers, seem to have used the tale of Helen, and of the entire Trojan myth, as a moralizing parable. As the Trojan myth was a paradigm of victory over the Persians, in the context of the story of Helen Nemesis is the avenger of political as well as personal indignation. The cult statue base of Nemesis at Rhamnous [2], which has now been reconstructed by Basilis Petrakos, illustrated some part of this myth of Helen, and thereby incorporates this allusively political identity of Nemesis into her cult at Rhamnous. The figures that decorate the front and two sides of the base have been variously identified, but there is no reason to doubt Pausanias testimony that the central scene illustrates Leda bringing Helen to Nemesis, either at Helen’s marriage to Menelaos or after the Trojan War. A related story is shown on the Heimarmene Painter’s name vase, a pointed amphoriskos in Berlin [3]. Here Nemesis is joined by several other personifications—Peitho, Heimarmene (Destiny), probably Themis, and perhaps Eukleia. Peitho consoles and persuades Helen, who is seated in Aphrodite’s lap, moments before her abduction by Paris, who is being simultaneously persuaded by Himeros (Longing) on the opposite side of the vase. The role of Nemesis here is emphatically allegorical, as Alan Shapiro has explained (Shapiro 1993, 194-95 and Shapiro 1986, 11-14). She stands at the far left with a figure whose label is badly preserved, perhaps Eukleia, pointing an accusing finger at Helen, Paris, and their persuaders. She simultaneously points to Helen’s Destiny, embodied in the figure of Heimarmene, whose unique appearance in Attic visual arts is on this vase.

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
Pliny (Plin. HN).
Zeno (Zen.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
 
Plot on a Map
Paros.
Naples.

  1. Cult statue of Nemesis of Rhamnous: a standing female figure, holding a phiale and an apple branch, by Agorakritos of Paros (or perhaps Pheidias) ca. 430-420 (Paus. 1.33.7-8; Plin. HN 46.17; Zen. 5.83) (lost but known through copies such as that in Naples, shown here).
  2. Statue Base of Nemesis of Rhamnous: Nemesis and others (at Helen’s marriage, or the return of Helen) on a relief-decorated base, by Agorakritos of Paros (or perhaps Pheidias) of the cult statue of Nemesis, ca. 430-420 (Paus. 1.33.7-8).
  3. Berlin 30036: a standing female figure, labelled ΝΕΜΕΣΙΣ, on the name vase (a pointed amphoriskos) of the Heimarmene Painter, ca. 430-420, with representations of Peitho, Heimarmene, Tyche or Eukleia, and perhaps Themis.

[ back to top ]

(Section 18 of 26)

· Homonoia (Concord) ·

῾Ομόνοια

Read about the evidence
Aristotle (Aristot. Ath. Pol.).
Demosthenes (Dem. 18).
Demosthenes (Dem. 20).
Isocrates (Isoc. 8).
Lysias (Lys. 18).
Plato (Plat. Alc.).
Thucydides (Thuc.).
 
Plot on a Map
Aigospotami.
Athens.

Discussion: Homonoia ( ὁμόνοια) concord, was much discussed by the fifth-century sophists and other pre-Socratic thinkers, generally in political contexts (see, e.g., Antiphon, “On Concord,” in DK, 87 B 44a; Aristot. Ath. Pol. 40.3; Dem. 18.164, 20.12; Gorgias, “On Concord,” in DK, 82 B 8a; Isoc. 8.13, 217; Lys. 18.17; Plat. Alc. 126c; Thuc. 8.75, 93). Homonoia was the international equivalent of philia, a bond that could bring together otherwise unrelated or unallied groups of individuals; accordingly at the end of the Peloponnesian War the Greeks aimed for homonoia, to which they swore allegiance after the Battle of Aigospotami (405). Although there are no extant Attic representations of Homonoia, she was probably personified in Classical Athens, as was Philia, given her popularity in literature, and her later appearances in non Attic art.

Read about the evidence
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
 
Plot on a Map
Apulia (in text as “Apulian”).

Homonoia is represented and labelled on a fragmentary Apulian pelike, in Malibu 87.AE.23, attributed to the workshop of the Darius Painter (340-330) (shown here). It is interesting to note also that the antonyms of Philia and Homonoia, neikos and stasis, hatred and faction, respectively, are two of the four otherwise unattested “personifications” cited by Pseudo-Demosthenes as “companions whom painters couple with the damned souls in hell” (Ps.-Dem. 25.52).

[ back to top ]

(Section 19 of 26)

· Oligarchia (Oligarchy) ·

᾿Ολιγαρχία. See discussion of Demokratia

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Scholia (Sch. Aeschin.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Oligarchia setting fire to Demokratia, on a grave monument (a statue or a relief), on the tomb of Kritias, Athens (Sch. Aeschin. 1.39).

[ back to top ]

(Section 20 of 26)

· Peitho (Persuasion) ·

Πειθώ

Read about the evidence
Hesiod (Hes. WD).
Hesiod (Hes. Th.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Discussion: Peitho is principally the personification of erotic Persuasion, but also came to represent rhetorical Persuasion, and she is implicated as a civic divinity in both of these aspects. Unlike most personifications, she appeared as a goddess (she is first mentioned by Hesiod: Hes. WD 73 and Hes. Th. 349) before the noun peitho ( πειθώ) was used in Greek literature. Peitho’s name was never joined as an epithet to that of Aphrodite, but she was rather an attendant to Aphrodite, in cult and in art. Pausanias reports that after the synoikismos (political unification) of Athens Theseus set up a cult of Aphrodite Pandemos (Aphrodite of all the People) and Peitho on the South slope of the Akropolis at Athens. An alternative explanation for the origin of this cult is equally political: that the demos traditionally assembled by this sanctuary. There is little physical evidence for such an early date for the cult: Erika Simon has suggested that it existed by the end of the sixth century (when Cleisthenes’ tribal organizations recalled Theseus synoikismos), on the grounds that Aphrodite Pandemos and Peitho may have appeared as Janus-headed goddesses on Athenian coins (Simon 1970, 12-13, pl. 2.4). Peitho was most popular in the art of Athens at the end of the fifth century, by which time she had acquired a political meaning and was shown in connection with other personifications in the circle of Aphrodite.

Read about the evidence
Aeschylus (Aesch. Supp.).
Pindar (Pind. fr. 122).
Plutarch (Plut. Mor.).

Peitho is Aphrodite’s daughter according to several ancient sources (Aesch. Supp. 1039; Pind. fr. 122.2-5), which in part explains her worship with Aphrodite, and her involvement in Aphrodite’s sphere of influence—sex, marriage, and childbirth. Her importance as a matrimonial divinity, the force that persuades lovers to marry, is later noted by Plutarch, who lists her as one of five divinities invoked by new couples, along with Zeus Teleios, Hera Teleia, Aphrodite, and Artemis (Plut. Mor. 264b), and one of the divinities invoked by fiancées, along with Aphrodite, Hermes, the Charites and the Muses (Plut. Mor. 138c-d). In the latter reference, Plutarch connected the erotic aspect of Peitho with her rhetorical and political powers, explaining that the Greeks set up statues of Peitho and the Graces near Aphrodite “…so that married people should succeed in attaining their mutual desires by persuasion and not fighting or quarreling.” As Alexander Mourelatos has suggested, the conception of peitho as an agreeable compulsion that was associated with erotic inducement probably underscored the development of rhetorical peitho (in The Route of Parmenides [New Haven 1970] 139). Peitho’s erotic and rhetorical powers are not mutually exclusive. Peitho’s appearances solely with matrimonial divinities are excluded from this discussion, as those images are not revealing with regard to Peitho’s political aspect.

Read about the evidence
Aeschylus (Aesch. Eum.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Peitho, πειθώ, is a multifaceted word which derives from the verb πείθειν, to persuade, and is etymologically related to the Latin fido, to trust, have faith ; persuasion and faith are thus modes of the same concept to the Greeks. With this in mind it is possible to understand Peitho as she was regarded by the ancient Greeks: a civic as well as personal virtue, the consensual force that joins people together in civilized society, through trust and faith in each other, as well as the persuasiveness, inducement, and obedience of individuals. In AeschylusEumenides (produced in 458), Athena lauds the worship of Peitho, on behalf of the city of Athens, in her successful attempt to persuade the chorus to accept the jury’s decision regarding Orestes (Aesch. Eum. 885-91).

Read about the evidence
Isocrates (Isoc. 15).
Euripides (Eur. Antigone).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

The popularity of Peitho’s cult in Athens by the fourth century is attested by Isocrates, who condemns the worship of Peitho as a sign of the negative influence of the sophists (Isoc. 15.249). Despite Isocrates’ complaint, Peitho is neither personified nor divinized in extant sophistic fragments. Although Peitho was often personified by Attic tragedians, a fragment of EuripidesAntigone provides a strong indication that Peitho was not regarded as a divinity by all of the Athenians at the end of the fifth century (Eur. Antigone fr. 170 N2).

Rhetorical Peitho is implicated in personal, erotic matters, as well as civic concerns. Gorgias mentions peitho (not personified) as an evil force in his late fifth century Encomium of Helen, although he suggests that the logoi (arguments) induced Helen to follow her destiny (DK, 82 B 11.14).

Plot on a Map
Würzburg.
Cambridge.
London.

Peitho is present in many visual representations of the Helen myth throughout the late Archaic and Classical periods. On the Heimarmene Painter’s name vase [3], Helen is shown dressed as a bride, in the lap of Aphrodite, while Peitho holds a small box (wedding presents?), perhaps as an inducement. In earlier representations Peitho also attends Helen. The erotic role of Peitho is emphasized in most Attic representations, including mythological scenes that concern courtship and marriage. She attends the union of Ariadne and Dionysos on a cup in Würzburg, attributed to the Kodros Painter [2]; the wedding of Harmonia on the Eretria Painter’s epinetron [4]; and the marriage of Thetis and Peleus, on an aryballos once in Cambridge [11]. Peitho flees from the “scene of the crime,” the rape of the Leukippidae, on the Hamilton hydria, in London [6]. The implication here may have been that she was guilty of convincing Leukippos’ daughters to elope with the Dioskouroi (the women certainly appear to be happy with the results!). Peitho’s dramatic escape also implies that she did not condone this union in accordance with Athenian standards; the scene thus serves as a counterexample of the ideal marriage.

Plot on a Map
New York.

Even in non-mythological scenes, Peitho was probably meant to be an erotic personification, for she is shown in her generic role, attending Aphrodite and/or brides on vases from the end of the fifth century and the fourth century. Alan Shapiro has proposed that Peitho is the unlabelled attendant on contemporary vases illustrating bridal scenes (Shapiro 1993, 195). In labelled representations, Peitho prepares a kanoun (sacrificial basket) on a squat lekythos in London [8]; arranges fronds on a squat lekythos in New York [13]; and holds a footed chest and a sash toward Aphrodite, on a pyxis in New York [9]. Her civic importance is implicit in her appearance with other personifications of civic virtues in late fifth century vase painting, particularly those in the circle of the Meidias Painter: she appears with Eudaimonia (Happiness) on [8-9], Eukleia on [9], [10], [15] and perhaps also on [3] and [5], Eunomia on [8], [9], and Themis on [3].

Plot on a Map
Kansas City.
New York.

Peitho appears twice on late fifth century Attic vases dating to 420-410, in the context of childrearing: on the white-ground squat lekythos in Kansas City [5], which has been interpreted, on the basis of a misread label, as a representation of the childhood of the Attic hero Kephalos (I. Jucker, “Kephalos im Göttergarten,” Zur griechischen Kunst. Festschrift H. Bloesch. AntK-Beih. 9 [1973] 63); and with Aphrodite and the Muses, in the presence of the baby Eumolpos, another Attic hero, on a pelike in New York [7].

Scholars have interpreted Peitho as a democratic prerogative, as she is rooted in the origins of Athenian democracy through her cult association with Aphrodite Pandemos. But her role as the symbol of the political behavior that enabled the Athenian democracy (persuading the demos of one’s own view), is not explicit in any extant visual representations of the goddess. Athenian politicians, whether democrats or oligarchs, effected their will through peitho, so that it seems unnecessary to ally her to a particular political party. Peitho could fit into any political system, and was revered for the various applications, in private and public life, of the virtues that she represented—persuasion, persuasiveness, inducement, faith, trust, and even obedience. Her persistent appearance in the circle of Aphrodite, with other personifications of civic virtues, simply reinforces her cult association with Aphrodite Pandemos, and her importance to the whole city.

Examples (all examples are certain unless otherwise noted):

Plot on a Map
Cambridge.
London.

  1. Boston 13.186: a standing female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, at the abduction of Helen, on a skyphos by Makron, ca. 490-480, with a representation of Peitho.
  2. Würzburg L 491: a standing female figure, labelled ΠΕΘΩΝ, leaning on the shoulder of Pothos (Longing), on a cup attributed to the Kodros Painter.
  3. Berlin 30036: a standing female figure, labelled ΠΕ[Ι]Θ[Ω], holding a box, on the name vase (a pointed amphoriskos) of the Heimarmene Painter, ca. 430-420, with representations of Nemesis, Heimarmene, Tyche or Eukleia, and perhaps Themis (shown above).
  4. Athens, NM 1629: a standing female figure, labelled [Π]ΕΙΘΩ, holding a mirror for Harmonia, before Harmonia’s wedding, on the name vase (an epinetron) of the Eretria Painter, ca. 430-420.
  5. Kansas City 31.80: a standing female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, on a white-ground squat lekythos attributed to the Eretria Painter, ca. 420-410, with representations of Eunomia, Paidia (Play), and perhaps Eukleia.
  6. London E 224: a female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, fleeing from the rape of the Leukippidai, on the name vase (hydria) of the Meidias Painter, ca. 420-410, with a representation of Hygieia (Health).
  7. New York 37.11.23: a standing female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΟΘΩ, with the Muses and baby Eumolpos, on a pelike attributed to the Meidias Painter, ca. 420-410, with a representation of Harmonia.
  8. London E 697: a standing woman, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, holding a basket, on a squat lekythos, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Prosperity, Happiness), Eunomia and Paidia (Play).
  9. New York 09.221.40: a standing female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, holding a basket, on a pyxis, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with representations of Eudaimonia (Happiness/Prosperity), Eukleia, Eunomia, Hygieia (Health), and Paidia (Play).
  10. A standing female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, on a kalpis hydria, once in the Hope Collection, ca. 425-400, with representations of Eukleia and perhaps Eunomia.
  11. A female figure, labelled ΠΕΙΘΩ, on an aryballos once in a private collection in Cambridge, ca. 400-390.
  12. St. Petersburg, St. 1793: a female figure, perhaps Peitho, leaning on the shoulder of Aphrodite, on a Kerch pelike attributed to the Eleusinian Painter, ca. 340-330.
  13. [Possible example] New York 11.213.2: a female figure, probably Peitho, with a basket, on a squat lekythos, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Pompe (Procession).
  14. [Possible example] Louvre MNB 1320: a standing female figure, perhaps Peitho, on an acorn lekythos in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with possible representations of Harmonia, Hygieia (Health), and Tyche.
  15. [Possible example] A seated female figure, perhaps Eunomia or Peitho, on a squat lekythos (tallboy), formerly in the Embiricos Collection, London, in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with a representation of Eukleia.

[ back to top ]

(Section 21 of 26)

· Philia (Friendship) ·

Φιλία

Read about the evidence
Isocrates (Isoc. 15).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Discussion: Like Agathe Tyche, Philia was at times political, but not always. Philia ( φιλία) “the natural force which unites discordant elements and movements” (LSJ) could refer to friendship between household members or between neighboring households. In his poem On the Nature of Things, Empedocles (early fifth century) wrote of philia as the polar force that opposed neikos (τό νεῖκος), strife, feud, or hostility (DK, 31 B 16, 18-20). Philia was then taken to be domestic political force, that which joined demesmen, and citizens. In the late 320s, the demesmen of Kollytos resolved “…to sacrifice to all their gods and heroes and above all to Good Fortune for the safety of the city” (IG II2, 1195, Agora I 5825, and Agora I 6630). This Agathe Tyche represented the combined fortune of individuals in a household, deme, or the city herself, which is naturally linked to Philia, the spirit of Friendship that joined those groups of individuals. By the late fifth and fourth centuries Philia could also be used to refer to the force that joined Athens to her allies: in his Antidosis (ca. 390) Isocrates substituted misos (τό μῖσος), hatred, for neikos, as the force opposed to philia, in praising the Athenian general Timotheos for his friendly stance toward other city states (Isoc. 15.122).

Plot on a Map
Copenhagen.
Acropolis, Athens (in text as “Acropolis”).
Athens.

The only evidence of the cult status of Philia is Hesychius’ mention (s.v. αἰδοῦς βωμός) of an altar to Philia on the Athenian Acropolis. Although Agathe Tyche was more commonly worshipped alone, she seems to have been worshipped also with Philia and Zeus. The secure evidence for Zeus’ association with Philia and Agathe Tyche is restricted to one inscribed votive relief in Copenhagen [3]. The relief illustrates a family of worshippers approaching a pair of deities on a couch. The accompanying inscription explains “Aristomache… dedicates to Zeus Epiteleios Philios and to Philia, the mother of the god, and to Agathe Tyche, the wife of the god” (IG II2, 4627). The reclining male god shown must then be the primary recipient of the dedication, Zeus (Epi)teleios (Zeus who brings things to completion), the patron of matrimonial concord, along with Hera Teleia. Since only one of the two named goddesses is shown, it is most likely that she is meant to be Zeus’ consort (according to the inscription), Tyche—which might explain why Zeus here carries the keras of Tyche. Philia is shown with Agathe Tyche and Agathos Daimon on a mid-fourth century relief decorated statue base from the Athenian Acropolis [2]. The label is missing for Philia, who is illustrated to the right of Agathe Tyche. She bears no attributes or identifying characteristics, but on comparison with the dedicatory inscription of [4], might be taken to be Philia. Zeus/Agathos Daimon, Agathe Tyche, and Philia, may be among the gods represented on a fragmentary, contemporary votive relief in Athens [3]. Although no sources indicate the direct relationship of Philia to Agathe Tyche, their joint association in cult implies a civic dimension that went beyond the traditional household reverence for Agathos Daimon and Agathe Tyche.

Philia’s civic nature is implied in her earliest representation (440-430), as a maenad, on the name vase of the Eupolis Painter [1]. Here she advances, along with the generically named Satyra (female satyr), in what seems to be a civic festival procession (Philia holds a barbiton, while Satyra holds libation vessels), led by a torch-bearing satyr boy named Eupolis. Eupolis’ name is best translated adjectivally, “abounding in cities,” and at least conjures the mood of civic pride. As neither of her companions are true personifications, this Philia may have been given this euphemistic name merely to emphasize the civic nature of processions, and probably was not intended as a personification of civic friendship. This single vase is the only hint of a personified Philia in the fifth century; the fourth century references have been noted above.

Examples:

  1. Vienna IV 1772: a standing maenad, labelled ΦΙΛΙΑ, on the name vase (a bell krater) of the Eupolis Painter, ca. 440-430.
  2. Athens, Acropolis 4069: a standing female figure, probably Philia, on a relief decorated statue base, ca. 360-350, with representations of Agathe Tyche.
  3. Athens, NM 1459: a standing female figure, probably Philia, holding a phiale and a scepter (?), on a votive relief, ca. 350, with a representation of Tyche.
  4. Copenhagen, NCG 1558: a seated female figure on a votive relief dedicated to Philia and other gods (IG II2, 4627), ca. 350 (shown here).

[ back to top ]

(Section 22 of 26)

· Phyle/Phylai (Tribe/s) ·

Φυλή/Φυλαί

Plot on a Map
Munich.
London.
Athens.
Attika.

Discussion: A way of representing a subsection of Attika, the region around Athens, or of the people of Attika, is the representation of the Phylai into which the population of Attika had been divided in 508/7. The Phylai are not labelled on any extant Attic images but are thought to be represented in the context of victories celebrating tribal contests. Arthur Milchhöfer first suggested Phyle as an identification of the wingless woman opposite a winged Nike, decorating bulls’ horns with ribbons, in celebration of a dithyrambic victory on a stamnos in Munich attributed to the Hector Painter [1]. He suggested the same identification for two similar figures decorating bull’s horns, on a contemporary amphora in London [2]. Beazley has proposed Phyle for the identification of a woman with an olive wreath, running to a bull in celebration of a victory in a torch race, another tribal event, on a much later vase, a calyx krater [3]. The women shown on these three vases are iconographically as well as functionally similar, and may represent the same figure. The representation of two such figures on [2] adds further support to the idea that Phylai are represented, because Phyle is a figure who would lend herself to multiplication, as there were ten tribes in Classical Athens. The use of personifications of Phylai on these victory illustrations would also be a good way of emphasizing the importance of the Phylai in the organization of events, and thereby advertising the special political organization of Attika, of which the Athenians were proud. Although the same effect could be gained from representation of the tribal heroes, who are amply illustrated throughout Classical Athenian art, the generic Phylai might have better suited the needs of artists who prepared the vases in anticipation of the event, when the actual victorious Phyle would not have been known.

Plot on a Map
Athens.

Scholars have also proposed the presence of Phylai in Attic sculpture. Angeliki Kosmopoulou has recently argued that the otherwise unidentified women on the “Atarbos Base,” in the Akropolis Museum [4], may represent Phylai (Kosmopoulou 1998). The inscription on this statue base records that the choregos Atarbos erected this monument to celebrate his musical victories. The male figures represented are pyrrhic dancers and (as Kosmopoulou has suggested) participants in the dithyramb—both events which were contested by representatives of the different phylai. The inclusion of personifications of Phylai in this context is thus appropriate, although speculative: there are no sure comparanda for Phylai in the arts of Athens. The female figures on the “Atarbos Base” are indeed shown to be larger than the male (mortal) participants, so that they should be either personifications or goddesses. In the case of the relief illustrating Eutaxia, however, Demos and Eutaxia honor the victorious phyle/ai, represented by individual mortals (shown on small scale).

Possible examples:

  1. Munich J 386: a standing female figure, perhaps Phyle, holding a white fillet, on a stamnos attributed to the Hector Painter, ca. 440-430, showing a Dithyrambic victory.
  2. London E 284: two female figures, possibly Phylai, adorning bulls at a dithyrambic victory, on an amphora by the Nausicaa Painter (Polygnotos III), ca. 430-420.
  3. Mannheim Cg 123: a running female figure, perhaps Phyle, celebrating a torch race on a calyx krater near the Painter of Athens 12255, ca. 400-390.
  4. Athens, AM 1338: two standing female figures, possibly Phylai, on “The Atarbos Base,” a relief decorated statue base (IG II2 3025) (shown here).

[ back to top ]

(Section 23 of 26)

· Soteria (Salvation) ·

Σωτηρία

Plot on a Map
Athens.

Discussion: Soteria is personified only once in Athenian visual arts, on a lidded pyxis in Athens, on which Basileia is also shown [1]. There is also no known connection of Basileia or Soteria with cults at Athens, any particular deities, or other personifications. One might have expected soteria ( σωτηρία) to be popular at Athens throughout the Classical period, as salvation and deliverance were what the city most needed.

Examples:

  1. Athens, Fethiye Djami A 8922: a female figure, labelled ΣΩΤΗΡΙΑ, at the birth of Erichthonios, on the body of a lidded pyxis, painted in a style near the Meidias Painter, ca. 420-410.

[ back to top ]

(Section 24 of 26)

· Themis ·

Θέμις

Read about the evidence
Hesiod (Hes. Theog.).
Homer (Hom. Od.).
Homer (Hom. Il.).
 
Plot on a Map
Attika.
Rhamnous.
Greece.
Delphi.
Berlin.
Argos (in text as “Argive”).
Malibu.

Discussion: Although the worship of Themis (Law) in Attika is not attested before her fourth century association with Nemesis at Rhamnous, she was well known in early art and literature throughout Greece. Hesiod calls her a sister of the Titans, daughter of Ouranos and Ge (Heaven and Earth), and the second wife of Zeus, with whom she gave birth to the Horai (Seasons)—Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene—and Moirai (Fates) (Hes. Theog. 901). In the epics she plays roles that are true to her name—which also means law, justice, privilege, and authority—convening assemblies of mortals (Hom. Od. 2.68-69), or of the gods, at the bidding of Zeus or Hera (Hom. Il. 20.4 and Hom. Il. 15.95). Before Delphi was given to Apollo, Themis held the oracular seat there. This explains her labelled appearance as a Pythian priestess, with Aigeus, on the tondo of the Kodros Painter’s cup in Berlin [3]. She is veiled, as befits a priestess, so the conflation between the figure we would expect to see in this pose (a Pythian priestess seated on the Delphic tripod) and the character identified by the label must have been intended. In Themis’ early Classical appearance, between Balos and Epaphos, Argive kings, on Syriskos’ calyx krater in Malibu [1], she also carries libation instruments, a phiale and an oinochoe. Her placement between two Argive kings does not correspond to any known mythological episode. Rather, her presence was meant to emphasize the legitimacy of their rule.

Plot on a Map
Thrace (in text as “Thracian”).
Athens.
Verona.
Tübingen.

Themis is also shown as the personification of religious Laws on two vases related to the Phiale Painter, who was contemporary with the Kodros Painter [2] and [4]. On a skyphos in Tübingen [2], Themis greets Bendis (an imported Thracian divinity), although it is Themis who holds Bendis’ torch, as well as a traditional kanoun (offering basket). Erika Simon has plausibly explained that this scene shows Themis in a capacity as paredros of Delphic Apollo, sanctioning the establishment of the new cult of Bendis at Athens. The Bendis-Themis connection is repeated on a pair of stemless cups in Verona, also attributed to the Phiale Painter: Bendis is illustrated on the tondo of one cup, and the tondo of the other [4] illustrates a woman whose appearance is similar to that of Themis on the Tübingen skyphos [2].

Plot on a Map
Cleveland.
Berlin.
Rhamnous.

Evelyn Harrison has proposed that Themis may be identified by the distinctive “shoulder-cord” with which the sleeves of her garments are bound in many of these representations (Harrison 1977). But many woman on Classical Attic vases also wear this shoulder-cord, including Eris on the Karlsruhe Paris and as many as seven of the nine unlabelled personifications elucidated by Jenifer Neils on the Meidian lekythos in Cleveland (Neils 1983, 21). Yet Harrison’s iconographic observation might encourage us to identify the unlabelled woman standing with Heimarmene (Destiny), on the far right of the Heimarmene Painter’s Berlin amphoriskos [5] as Themis. Themis’ role in the Helen story is unprecedented and unexpected. Her inclusion in this scene might indicate, however, that the abduction and subsequent tragedies occurred because Heimarmene (Destiny) had temporarily distracted Themis. The similarity of shoulder-cords has also led Harrison to identify figure L, in whose lap Aphrodite reclines, on the East Pediment of the Parthenon, as Themis (Harrison 1977, 159). The shoulder cord is not enough to justify speculation that two torsos ([5] and New York 03.12.17) dating from the second quarter of the fourth century represent Themis, although, as Harrison notes, they are comparable to the third century statue of Themis found at Rhamnous (Athens, NM 231).

Examples:

  1. [Certain example] Malibu 92.AE.6: a female figure, labelled ΘΕΜΙΣ, holding sacrificial vessels and standing between Balos and Epaphos, on a calyx krater signed by Syriskos, ca. 470-460.
  2. [Certain example] Tübingen S./10 1347: a female figure, labelled ΘΕΜΙΣ, standing with Bendis, on a skyphos related to the Phiale Painter, ca. 440-430.
  3. [Certain example] Berlin F 2538: a female figure, labelled ΘΕΜΙΣ, seated on a tripod opposite Aigeus, on a cup attributed to the Kodros Painter, ca. 440-430 (shown here).
  4. [Possible example] Verona 25653: a standing female figure with a libation oinochoe (jug) and a processional kanoun (basket), on the tondo of a stemless cup attributed to the Phiale Painter, ca. 440-430.
  5. [Possible example] Berlin 30036: a standing female figure, holding a bird, on the name vase (a pointed amphoriskos) of the Heimarmene Painter, ca. 430-420, with representations of Nemesis, Peitho, Heimarmene, and Tyche or Eukleia.
  6. [Possible example] Agora S 2370: colossal statue of a goddess, ca. 335-330, perhaps Demokratia, Themis, or Tyche.

[ back to top ]

(Section 25 of 26)

· (Agathe) Tyche (Good Fortune) ·

᾿Αγαθὴ Τύχη

Read about the evidence
Pindar (Pind. Hymn. fr.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
Aeschylus (Aesch. Ag.).
Euripides (Eur. Cycl.).

Discussion: As early as the mid-fifth century Tyche is noted as a civic deity by Pindar (Pind. Hymn. fr. 39 Snell-Mihler [=Paus. 4.30.6]). In Agamemnon (produced in 458) Aeschylus infers that she is a savior goddess (Aesch. Ag. 664). Tyche is not personified or deified in pre-Socratic fragments, except Empedocles' On the Nature of Things, where he notes that “…all things are conceived in the will of Tyche” (DK,1 B 103). She is most prominent in the works of Euripides (e.g. Eur. Cycl. 607). Even that author continues the sophistic trend of regarding Tyche as a force that is important, but separate from the gods.

Whereas the Classical authors expound on Tyche's fickle ways, and the good and bad luck that is granted in certain situations, or to certain individuals, the Tyche noted in Attic inscriptions always bears the epithet Agathe (Good); it is natural that her worshippers would have supplicated her good side. In the first half of the fourth century Tyche becomes the recipient of dedications and sacrifices (IG II2, 4564 notes a dedication to the twelve gods and to Agathe Tyche).

Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
Hesiod (Hes. WD).
Sophocles (Soph. OC).
Euripides (Eur. Hipp.).
Scholia (Sch. Aesch.).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

Finally, by the last quarter of the fourth century Agathe Tyche became a goddess in her own right: in his speech regarding his administration, Lycurgus makes reference to the Temple of Tyche, which was repaired as part of his renewal of the city, according to a contemporaneous inscription (IG II2, 333.19-20 [335/4]). We cannot be sure of the location of Tyche's sanctuary at Athens, although an inscription indicates that it was located at some point along the Long Walls. It is tempting to place her in the Agora, given the prominence of the concept of tyche in Pausanias' discussion of the altars to Eleos (Mercy), and to Aidos (Reverence), Pheme (Rumor), and Horme (Impulse), all located in the Agora (Paus. 1.17.1). Pausanias does not mention a cult to Agathe Tyche in Athens; it is interesting also to note that, of the cult personifications he does mention in this passage, none are known in extant Greek art, and only one, Aidos ( Αἰδός), is personified in Classical Greek literature (Hes. WD 200; Soph. OC 133; Eur. Hipp. 78; Sch. Aesch. PB 12).

Plot on a Map
Athens.

Tyche's civic nature, for which she became extremely popular in the Graeco-Roman period, is not explicit in fifth century Attic literature. Starting in the middle of the fourth century, however, she is certainly revered, if not worshipped, as a protector of civic fortune: more than a thousand inscriptions dating from 360 to 318 invoke Agathe Tyche, in many of which the “Good Fortune of the Demos of Athens” is specified.

Read about the evidence
Aelian (Ael. VH).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Megara.
Agora, Athens (in text as “Agora”).
Copenhagen.

Classical Attic representations of the personification Tyche are limited to the fourth century. Agathe Tyche appears on six Attic reliefs [1], [2], [3], [9], [10], and [11]. On [1], probably a votive relief, she is labelled with an inscription on the upper moulding. In this representation she carries the keras (cornucopia), the fertility attribute that she shares with Ploutos, in both hands. A female figure, seated but otherwise identical to the Tyche on [1], is illustrated on a contemporary votive reliefs, [2] and [10]. The diminutive honorand approaches the seated goddess who is labelled on [2]. Tyche's cult status is inferred in these representations, because the honorand raises his right hand in the common gesture of worship. Other lost fourth century representations of Tyche are the statues by Xenophon of Athens [4], and at least two by Praxiteles of Athens, [5] and [6]. [5] served a cult statue in the Sanctuary of Tyche at Megara. The existence of Praxiteles' Athenian statue in the Agora (Aelian locates it in the Copenhagen: Ael. VH 9.39) has encouraged Olga Palagia to identify as Tyche a monumental fourth-century female statue found in the Agora [12].

Plot on a Map
Copenhagen.
Piraeus.

An inscribed votive relief in Copenhagen [3], dated to the middle of the fourth century, attests Zeus' association with Agathe Tyche and Philia. The relief illustrates a family of worshippers approaching a pair of deities on a couch. The accompanying inscription explains “Aristomache… dedicates to Zeus Epiteleios Philios and to Philia, the mother of the god, and to Agathe Tyche, the wife of the god” (IG II2. 4627). The reclining male god shown must then be the primary recipient of the dedication, Zeus (Epi)teleios (Zeus who brings things to completion), the patron of matrimonial concord, along with Hera Teleia. Since only one of the two named goddesses is shown, it is most likely that she is meant to be Zeus' consort (according to the inscription), Tyche—which might explain why Zeus here carries the keras of Tyche. On a mid-fourth century votive relief in Piraeus [10], Tyche alone is approached by the pair of worshippers, yet the dedication is to the Good Gods, Agathei Theoi, which probably refers to Agathe Tyche and Agathos Daimon together. Agathos Daimon is shown with Agathe Tyche (and Philia) on a mid-fourth century relief decorated statue base from the Athenian Acropolis [2]. Once again, the male figure, who is here identified as Agathos Daimon, bears the keras; Agathe Tyche, also identified by inscription, bears no attributes, but holds her veil toward Agathos Daimon in the anakalypsis (unveiling) gesture that suggests her status as his consort.

Examples:

Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
Pausanias (Paus.).
Aelian (Ael. VH).
Pliny (Plin. HN).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.
Thebes.
Megara.

  1. [Certain example] Athens, NM 1343: standing female figure, holding a keras (cornucopia), labelled [ΑΓΑ]ΘΗ [ΤΗ]ΧΗ, on a votive relief (IG II2, 4644), ca. 380-370.
  2. [Certain example] Athens, Acropolis 4069: a standing female figure on a relief decorated statue base dedicated to Agathos Daimon and Agathe Tyche, ca. 360-350, with a possible representation of Philia.
  3. [Certain example] Copenhagen, NCG 1558: a seated female figure on a votive relief dedicated to Agathe Tyche and other gods (IG II2, 4627), ca. 350.
  4. [Certain example] Acrolithic statue of Tyche, with Ploutos (Wealth), in the Sanctuary of Tyche, Thebes, by Xenophon of Athens and Kallistonikos of Thebes, ca. 350 (Paus. 9.16.2).
  5. [Certain example] Statue of Tyche, in the Sanctuary of Tyche, Megara (near the Aphrodite Temple), by Praxiteles, ca. 350 (Paus. 1.43.6).
  6. [Certain example] Statue by Praxiteles, ca. 350, near the Athens, Athens (presumably in the Agora at Athens (Ael. VH 9.39; Plin. HN 36.23).
  7. [Possible example] Berlin 30036: a standing female figure, labelled ...Υ...Ε... (which may be restored as “Eukleia,” but has also been restored as “Tyche”), on the name vase (a pointed amphoriskos) of the Heimarmene Painter (name vase), ca. 430-420, with representations of Nemesis, Peitho, Heimarmene, and perhaps Themis.
  8. [Possible example] Louvre MNB 1320: a standing female figure, perhaps Tyche, on an acorn lekythos in the manner of the Meidias Painter, ca. 410-400, with possible representations of Harmonia, Hygieia (Health), and Peitho.
  9. [Possible example] Athens, NM 1459: a standing female figure, probably Tyche, holding a phiale and a keras (?), on a votive relief, ca. 350, with a probable representation of Philia (shown above, under Philia).
  10. [Possible example] A female figure on a votive relief (IG II2, 4589), in the Piraeus Museum (no inv. no. known), ca. 350.
  11. [Possible example] A female figure on a votive relief (Schöne 1872, 54, no. 107, pl. 26.), formerly in the Archaeological Society, Athens, ca. 350.
  12. [Possible example] Agora S 2370: colossal statue of a goddess, ca. 335-330, perhaps Demokratia, Themis, or Tyche (shown above, under Demokratia).

[ back to top ]

(Section 26 of 26)

· Further Reading ·

  • R.G.A. Buxton, Persuasion in Greek Tragedy (Cambridge 1985).
  • J. Frel, “Dike and Adikia,” Geras (Prague 1963).
  • A. Kosmopoulou, “The Relief Base of Atarbos, Akropolis Museum 1338,” in K. Hartswick and M. Sturgeon eds., Stephanos. Studies in Honor of Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway (Philadelphia 1998).
  • C.L. Lawton, Attic Document Reliefs. Art and Politics in Ancient Athens (Oxford 1995).
  • D. Metzler, “Eunomia und Aphrodite. Zur Ikonologie einer attischen Vasengruppe,” Hephaistos 2 (1980) 73-88.
  • E.B. Harrison, “The Shoulder-Cord of Themis,” in U. Höckmann and A. Krug eds., Festschrift für Frank Brommer (Mainz 1977).
  • M. Meyer, Die griechischen Urkundenreliefs. AM-BH 13 (Berlin 1989).
  • M.M. Miles, “A Reconstruction of the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous,” Hesperia 58 (1989) 226-35.
  • J. Neils, “A Greek Nativity by the Meidias Painter,” BullClevelandMus 70 (1983) 274-89.
  • M.P. Nilsson, “Kultische Personifikation,” Eranos 50 (1952) 31-40.
  • O. Palagia, “A Draped Female Torso in the Ashmolean Museum,” JHS 95 (1975) 180-82.
  • O. Palagia, “A Colossal Statue of a Personification from the Agora of Athens,” Hesperia 51 (1982) 99-113.
  • O. Palagia, “No Demokratia,” in O. Palagia, W.D.E. Coulson, T.L. Shear, Jr., H.A. Shapiro, and F.J. Frost eds., The Archaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy (Oxford 1994) 113-22.
  • J.J. Pollitt, “Pots, Politics, and Personifications in Early Classical Athens,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 40 (1987) 9-15.
  • H.A. Shapiro, Personifications in Greek Art. The Representation of Abstract Concepts. 600-400 B.C. (Zurich 1993).
  • E. Simon, “Aphrodite Pandemos auf attischen Münzen,” SNR 49 (1970).
  • E. Simon, “Eirene und Pax. Friedensgöttinnen in der Antike,” Sitzungsberichte der Wissenschaften Gesellschaft an der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main 24 (1988) 55-69.
  • A.C. Smith, Political Personifications in Classical Athenian Art (Diss. New Haven 1997).
  • T.B.L. Webster, Art and Literature in Fourth Century Athens (London 1956).

[ back to top ]