Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/261

Rh PHEIDIAS. •where, speaking of the commencement of the war, he says : — Upwra juex' yip vp^eu ar-qs *ei8/as Trpd^as Kaiccos ' clra UepiKAevs (poSv^^U fXT^ ix^raax^'- '^VS rvxvs, ras (pva^is v/xwv SeSoiKws koi rov avroZa^ Tpdirov^ •jrplu iraQetv ri h^ivov, avTos 6|e<^A6|€ Tr]u ttoAiv, flxSaXwu a-TTivdTJpa jxiKpov MeyapiKov ^-rj^iVyuaros, Kd^i(pvar]aev roaovTov 'Tr6€i.iou, k. t. A. From this passage we learn, not only that Pheidias suffered some extreme calamity at the hands of the Athenians, but that the attack upon him was of such a nature as to make Pericles tremble for his own safety, and to hurry the city into war by the passing of the decree against Megara, which decree was made not later than the beginning of B. c. 432. It is clear that Pericles was at that period ex- tremely unpopular with a large party in Athens, who, thinking him too powerful to be overthrown by a direct attack, aimed at him in the persons of his most cherished friends, Pheidias, Anaxagoras, and Aspasia. This explanation is precisely that given by Plutarch {Perie. 31), who furnishes us with particulars of the accusation against Pheidias. At the instigation of the enemies of Pericles, a certain Menon, who had been employed under Pheidias, laid an information against him for peculation, a charge which was at once refuted, as, by the advice of Pericles, the gold had been affixed to the statue in such a manner that it could be removed and the weight of it examined (comp. Thuc. ii. 13). The accusers then charged Pheidias with impiety, in having introduced into the battle of the Amazons, on the shield of the goddess, his own likeness and tliat of Pericles, the former as a bald old man*, hurling a stone with both his hands, and the latter as a very handsome warrior, fighting with an Amazon, his face being partially concealed by the hand which held his uplifted spear, so that the likeness was only visible on a side view. On this latter charge Pheidias was thrown into prison, where he died from disease, or, as the less scrupu- lous partizans of Pericles maintained, from poison. The people voted to his accuser Menon, on the proposal of Glycon, exemption from taxes, and cliarged the generals to watch over his safety. Plutarch then proceeds (c. 32) to narrate, as parts of the same train of events, and as occurring about the same time, the attacks upon Aspasia and Anax- agoras, and concludes by distinctly affirming that the attack on Pheidias inspired Pericles with a fear, which induced him to blow into a flame the smouldering sparks of the coming war ('Xls Se Sid r-npiov, /jLeWovra tqv iroKiuov koX VTroTV(p6pLfVOV f^cKavaev, eA.TnXwf diaaKeddaeiif rd lyKKi^fA-ara^ KctX Tan€ivci(Teiv tov (pdovov). To complete the evi- dence, Philochorus, though he (or the scholiasts who quote him) has made a confusion of the facts, may be relied on for the date, which he doubtless took PHEIDIAS. 249 dence respecting the age of Pheidias ; and Thiersch regards it as the hinge on which the whole question turns ! But very little can be inferred from it. It may even be doubted whether Pheidias really was bald, or whether the baldness of the figure was not an intentional disguise, like the uplifted hand and spear of Pericles, But, suppose the fact to be taken literally, can it alone decide whether he was tifty or seventy ? from official records, namely the archonship of Py- thodorus, or b. c. 432. The death of Pheidias hap- pened about the time of the completion of the last of those great works which he superintended, namely, the Propylaea, which had been commenced about the time when he went to Elis, b. c. 437. It will be useful to give a synopsis of the events of the life of Pheidias, according to their actual oi probable dates. B. C. 01. 490 72. 3 Battle of Marathon. 488 73. 1 Pheidias born about this time. 468 77. 4 Cimon commences the temple of Theseus. 464 7.9. 1 Pheidias studies under Ageladas, probably about this time, having previously been instructed by Hegias. Aet. 25. 460 80. ] Pheidias begins to flourish about this time. Aet. 29. 457 80. 3 The general restoration of the temples destroyed by the Persians com- menced about this time. 444 84. 1 Sole administration of Pericles. — Pheidias overseer of all the public works. Aet. 44. 438 85. 3 The Parthenon, with the chrys- elephantine statue of Athena, finished and dedicated. Aet. 50. 437 85. 4 Pheidias goes to Elis. — The Propy- laea commenced. 436 86. 1 Pantarces Olympic victor. 433 86. 4 The statue of Zeus at Olympia com- pleted. 432 87. 1 Accusation and death of Pheidias. The disciples of Pheidias were Agoracritus, Alcamenes, and Colotes (see the articles). II. Ilis Works. — The subjects of the art of Pheidias were for the most part sacred, and the following list will show how favourite a subject with him was the tutelary goddess of Athens. In describing them, it is of great importance to ob- serve, not only the connection of their subjects, but, as far as possible, their chronological order. The classification according to materials, which is adopted by Sillig, besides being arbitrary, is rather a hindrance than a help to the historical study of the works of Pheidias. 1. The Athena at Pellene in Achaia, of ivory and gold, must be placed among his earliest works, if we accept the tradition preserved by Pausanias, that Pheidias made it before he made the statues of Athena in the Acropolis at Athens, and at Plataeae. (Paus. vii. 27. § 1.) If this be true, we have an important indication of the early period at which he devoted his attention to chryselephan- tine statuary. This is one of several instances in which we know that Pheidias worked for other states besides his native city and Elis, but unfor- tunately we have no safe grounds to determine the dates of such visits. 2. It cannot be doubted that those statues which were made, or believed to have been made, out of the spoils of the Persian wars, were among his earliest works, and perhaps the very first of his great works (at least as to the time when it was undertaken, for it would necessarily take long to complete), was the group of statues in bronze, which the Athenians dedicated at Delphi, as a votive oifering, out of the tithe of their share of
 * €i5iou Trpoo-eTTTOio-e rc^ Srj^ijw, (po§r}9es to St/catr-
 * This is another piece of circumstantial evi-