Classical Sculpture from the Athenian Agora, Part 1: The Pediments and Akroteria of the Hephaisteion

by Andrew Stewart

Hesperia, Volume 87, Issue 4
Page(s): 681-741
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.87.4.0681
Year: 2018
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ABSTRACT:

This article attributes 25 fragmentary sculptures from the Agora excavations to the pediments and akroteria of the Hephaisteion on the basis of their compatibility with the akroterion bases and the sockets in the pediment floors, and their poses, identities, findspots, marble, scales, weathering, styles, and technique. Comprising, in the pediments, the Birth of Athena (east) and the Return of Hephaistos to Olympos (west), and, as akroteria, the Nereids Thetis and Eurynome (west) accompanied by Nikai, the two ensembles are dated to ca. 430 and ca. 420-413 B.C., and their religious and cultic significance is examined in the context of the temple's sculptured kosmos as a whole.