Classics: a very short introduction by Mary Beard & John Henderson

Author:Mary Beard & John Henderson [Beard, Mary & Henderson, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Literary Criticism, History, Literature - Classics, Criticism, Literary studies: general, Cultural studies, Performing Arts, History and criticism, Ancient, Ancient & Classical, Dance, Ancient and Classical, Hellenic languages, Other prose: classical; early & medieval, Literary studies: classical; early & medieval, Classical literature, Literary Collections, History Of Civilization And Culture (General), Architecture, History of specific subjects, Ancient; Classical & Medieval, Ancient (Classical) Greek, Classical literature - History (p. 135-142) and criticism, Civilization; Classical
ISBN: 9780192853851
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2000-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

The Art of Reconstruction

The masterplan

Pausanias’ account of Bassae concentrates, as we have seen, on the title given there to the god Apollo: Epikourios, ‘the Helper’. He already promises an explanation of this title at his first reference to the sanctuary – when he is recommending the sight of ‘a four metres tall bronze statue brought [from Bassae] to adorn Megalopolis’, that main town of Arcadia. When his tour reaches the spot, the Guidebook does indeed dwell almost exclusively on the reasons for Apollo’s epithet. Although Pausanias insists in the very next paragraph that his account is the first-hand record of a visit, very little in it is drawn from observation. He tells us quickly that the temple is made of stone, roof and all, and that it ranks second of all temples in the Peloponnese for its beauty and symmetry. But there is precisely nothing about the inside of the temple, except that the statue of the god he saw in Megalopolis is no longer there. Nor does he so much as mention any of the decoration on the outside, whether sculpture or painting, despite the overall star billing he gives the building.

Modern accounts of the site have their own priorities. The salvaging of the frieze, virtually complete, and the almost total loss of the rest of the temple’s sculpture have inevitably focused most attention on the frieze. But there is no consensus on what kind of attention it deserves. Pausanias’ concerns, the specifically ‘religious’ history of the site and 72

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