Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/218

 194 HISTORY OF ART IN PIICENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. Cyprus disguised themselves as Pharaohs. The figures of those who were not of royal blood were smaller and less magnificent in costume, but both prince and subject followed the same fashion, taking it altogether. On those two occasions when the Greeks of the Island attempted to throw off the yoke of the East and to unite themselves more closely to their brothers of Ionia and Greece proper, it is possible that an Onesilaus, an Evagoras, or some other phil- Hellenic prince, set up in the precincts of the Cypriot temples some statue of himself in which he was portrayed as a Greek soldier. But no such figure has come down to us ; in none of those large Cypriot statues which may be ascribed to the date in question do we encounter either the military costume or the heroic nudity of Greece ; it is always the civil or priestly dress, the long, fine tunic and mantle in which the figure is some- times draped, like the yEschines and Aristides of our museums. But in default of statues, Cyprus has yielded the statuette of a Greek hoplite, of one of those men of bronze from the sea, who appeared on all the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean in the seventh century (Fig. I3O). 1 Its execution is heavy and halting, but the sculptor has imitated the metal armour he had before his eyes with great care. His work would be sufficient to restore the suit in its smallest details if the legs and arms had not been broken. The helmet is a great advance upon the metal bonnet of Assyria. Besides the cap there are various pieces for the pro- tection of the face and neck. Judging from the statuette, the cheek pieces, TrapayvaQties as the Greeks called them, were attached with hinges, which gave them some lateral play. 2 The helmet comes down over the nape of the neck, where it is even covered by the upper edge of the back piece. In front the cuirass does not reach so high. There are two large shoulder pieces held together on the chest by a crescent-shaped clasp. From the belt, which is a narrow band of metal, hang strips perhaps of leather covered with metal plates, and affording a good protection to the lower part of the body. The lower part of the figure is missing, so that we can only guess at the form of the leg armour. Perhaps here was hardly the place to speak of this curious little 1 XaX*cOt avSpes aTriy/xtvot diro OaXdcroy;. HERODOTUS, II. 152. 2 This figure was first published by M. HEUZEY in his Memoirs sur un petit vase en forme de tete casqu'ee portant tine inscription hieroglyphique ( Gazette arch'eologique, 1880).