Acropolis 625: the Endoios Athena

by: Marx, P.A.

An interdisciplinary in-depth study of an important Archaic statue of Athena, carved in c. 525 BC. The author?s detailed examination reveals that, unlike earlier seated statues, it is an active figure – a fully armed image of Athena Polias as defender of the city-state.

Acropolis 625: The Endoios Athena is an interdisciplinary in-depth study of an important Archaic statue of Athena, carved in c. 525 BC. The author?s detailed examination reveals that, unlike earlier seated statues, it is an active figure. For this reason the right stool seat was pieced on by the sculptor himself. The author deduces that the goddess was a fully armed image of Athena Polias as defender of the city-state. Having escaped destruction during the Persian Invasion of c. 480-79 BC, the statue sustained severe damage in Late Antiquity, most likely during the Herulian Invasion of c. AD 267. Afterwards it was built into a memorial wall on the north slope of the Acropolis, right side up and facing forward. This wall was placed directly below that portion of the north citadel wall containing part of the entablature of the Late Archaic temple of Athena Polias destroyed by the Persians. The Endoios Athena was seen by Pausanias in c. AD 150-55, and he mentions it directly prior to the Erechtheion. Pausanias?s route on the top of the Acropolis citadel and the various suggestions for the location of the Erechtheion are examined in detail. The author opts for the traditional interpretation that the Erechtheion was located in the Karyatid Temple and offers an educated guess as to where Pausanias saw the Endoios Athena.

Contents
Foreword and acknowledgments ;

Introduction: The Endoios Athena and Acropolis 625 ;

Part One: The Statue ;

Chapter I: Condition, composition and overview ;

Chapter II: The statue from top to bottom: Description, analyses and comparanda ;
Head, neck and hair ;
Aegis and Gorgoneion, upper torso ;
Chiton and its relationship to Athena?s body ;
Arms and hands ;
Feet and sandals ;
The stool ;
The central support ;
The plinth ;
Summary and overall analysis ;
Conclusion: Athena as an armed Goddess ;

Chapter III: Measurements ;
Introduction ;
Measurements of the right side (figure 1) ;
Measurements of the front (figure 2) ;
Measurements of the left side (figure 3) ;
Vertical measurements of the back (figures 1 and 3) ;
Horizontal measurements of the back (figure 4) ;
Drill holes on the Aegis: Depth and location (plates 13-15) ;
Measurements of the scallops on the Aegis: Length and location (plates 13-15) ;
Size of Athena relative to The Stool seat ;
Comparisons to other archaic seated figures ;
Conclusions ;

Chapter IV: Proposed reconstruction in words and images ;
Method ;
Head, neck, face, hair and helmet ;
Aegis and Gorgoneion ;
Chiton ;
Forearms and hands, spear and shield ;
Feet and sandals ;
Stool and plinth ;
Archaic colors: Paint and metal ;
Summary and conclusions ;

Chapter V: The statue, summary and conclusions ;

Part Two: The Statue on the Acropolis ;

Chapter I: The Greek revolution and the reported findspot ;

Chapter II: The findspot of Acropolis 625 and its significance ;
Sir William Gell (1777-1836) ;
Turkish fountain, Hypapanti wall, Aghios Nikolaos and Stuart and Revett ;
Edward Dodwell (1777-1832) ;
Richard Chandler (1737-1810) ;
John Cam Hobhouse (1786-1869) ;
The date of the find ;
The significance of the true findspot and the late antique wall ;

Chapter III: The findspot summary and conclusions ;

Chapter IV: Pausanias and the Endoios Athena ;
Pausanias on top of the Acropolis Citadel (1.22.4 through 1.28.3) (figures 20-21, plate 44) ;
The Erechtheion: Herodotos and Pausanias ;
Chapter V: Where was the Erechtheion? ;
The modern controversy over the identification and location of the Erechtheion ;
Robertson?s Erechtheion (SE building) (figure 21.K-L and figures 22-23) ;
Mansfield?s and Pautasso?s Erechtheion (Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus) (figure 21.I-J) ;
Jeppesen?s Erechtheion (?House of the Arrephoroi? and the Mycenaean Fountain) (Figure 21.O) ;
Pirenne-Delforge on the Erechtheion ;
Van Rookhuijzen?s Erechtheion ;
The Archaic temple of Athena Polias: Dörpfeld and Ferrari (figures 26-27 and plate 47) ;
One temple or two?: The testimony of Himerios and Plutarch ;

Chapter VI: The Karyatid Temple and the Erechtheion ;
The case for the Erechtheion and the temple of the Polias together in one structure ;
The Karyatid Temple ;

Chapter VII: Pausanias and the Endoios Athena. Summary and conclusions ;
The location of the Erechtheion: A summary ;
The probable location of the Endoios?s Athena in Pausanias?s day c. AD 155-60 ;

Overall summary: Acropolis 625: The Endoios Athena ;

Plates ;

Bibliography ;

Index of selected people, places and things

Acropolis 625: the Endoios Athena

by: Marx, P.A.

• ISBN-13: 9781803272535 / 978-1-80327-253-5
• ISBN-03: 1803272538 / 1-80327-253-8
• Archaeopress, Oxford, 2022