Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

Retrospect 853
in three registers, of which the lowest shows the vast resources
available for the expedition. The royal treasurer is seated at a
table, on which are letters corresponding with our £ s. d} His
right hand arranges the pebbles in their proper columns. His
left holds an open wax-diptych inscribed ' lOO talents-.' From
both sides approach the satraps : one brings a pile of golden bowls,
another a sack full of money, while three others empty-handed
prostrate themselves in attitudes of grovelling submission. We
gather that tribute will be exacted to the uttermost farthing : the
royal project must be carried out, cost what it may. The second
register reveals the king in council. In the centre is Dareios himself,
serene and splendid. He is seated, with tiara, sceptre, and sword,
on a throne worthy of a god. Indeed we recall how Aischylos
described him as 'peer of the gods^' and how Gorgias called his
son ' the Persian Zeus^' To left and right are grouped five of his
chosen councillors, partly in Greek, partly in oriental, attire: their
faces display eager interest and concern, not unmixed with doubt.
Before Dareios on a circular plinth of gold stands an anxiouslooking
man in traveller's dress, who uplifts a warning hand. He
alone dares to dissuade the king from his purpose. If successful,
he will receive the brick of gold as his reward, but will be scourged
for opposing the king's expressed intents If unsuccessful,—there
waits the executioner with a drawn sword in his hand. In the
council-chamber, then, there is debate and foreboding. The third
register transports us to a higher level, where the issue has been
already determined. We see the gods assembled on the summit of
Olympos, here indicated simply by the rising ground-line and a
couple of stars. Above the head of Dareios is seated the genuine
Zeus, a thunderbolt winged for swift service at his side. Nike,
leaning on his lap, points to a stately draped figure led forward by
Athena. She is Hellas, presented to Zeus as the coming victor.
1 The letters are M (fJ-vpioi), ^ (x^Xtoi), H (iKarbv), [> (Se/ca), P {Trivre), O (d^oXos),
^ {i]/xiiiipi\iov), T {reTapTy}ix6pi.ov). The western ^ is retainedas a numeral, though super-
i
seded for alphabetic purposes by the eastern X (Furtwangler—Reichhold op. cit. ii. 148).
2 The inscription should be read TA A N TA : H, that is T6\[a)v\ra. : (iKardv) (P. Kretschmer
Die Griechischen Vaseninschriften Giitersloh 1894 p.
^ Aisch. Pers. 633 fiaKapiras Icrodaifiuv ^aaiKevs.
213).
* Gorg. /;-a^. 2 Thompson a/. Longin. de siMiin. 3. 2 Sep^s 6 twv llepawv Zei/j
{supra i. 338 n. 2).
5 Ail. var. hist. 12. 62. So Com. Quaranta in the Bull. Arch. Nap. Nuova Serie
1854 ii. 170, H. Heydemann in the Ann. d. Inst. 1873 xlv. 30, A. Baumeister in his
Denkm. i. 408. But A. Furtwangler op. cit. ii. ufii. objects that the circular plinth is of
the wrong shape for a brick of gold and must be viewed as an orator's platform (/S^/xa).
Furtwangler's objection would, I think, apply at least as forcibly to his own proposal. .