Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum

A 142
Dionysos and two Satyrs. Pergamon Altar, Great Frieze. Berlin.

Marble
Frieze
H: 230 cm; W: 117 cm

From Pergamon. Excavated by C. Humann between 1879 and 1886 for the Royal Museums in Berlin. Since then in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
Germany, Berlin, Staatl. Museen. Antikensammlung (Pergamonmuseum)
High Hellenistic, after 180/160 BC

Preservation:
The arms of all figures have broken off below the shoulders, the tips of their feet are missing. The heads of Dionysos and the left satyr have broken off, of the right satyr only the face is preserved. The figures are chipped in places.

Description:
Depicted are three figures moving to the right, carved in high relief. The tallest figure is on the right side of the slab. It shows a man with long hair, traces of an ivy wreath are preserved on the relief ground next to his head. He is clad in a short chiton that is belted twice (below the overfold at the waist, and on the outside over the chest). A nebris (deer skin) is draped over his right shoulder and diagonally across chest and back, and a billowing mantle over both shoulders. He wears high boots and has his left leg set forward in order to charge to the right. Both arms were raised, the right higher than the left. Behind this figure on the left are two satyrs. They are much smaller than the other figure and stand so close that one is almost entirely hidden behind the other’s body, with only his head and left arm visible.

Discussion:
The Great Altar was one of the key monuments of Pergamon, the capital of the Attalid kingdom in western Asia Minor. It consisted of a large platform set on a high podium with projecting wings, between which a wide stairway led to an enclosed court with the sacrificial altar proper. The outside of the Altar was decorated with a continuous frieze in high relief representing a gigantomachy (A 142-144; 159), while the inside of the interior court had a smaller frieze representing the life of Telephos, the mythical founder of Pergamon and the Attalid dynasty (see A 145). Work on the Altar was begun at some point between 180 and 160 BC, following an Attalid victory over invading Gauls (of which there where several during this period), or, according to another theory, as a gift to the gods for the rescue of the King from an assassination attempt. The gigantomachy as such was a very traditional iconographic motif: the victory of the Olympian gods had established the Greek order of things and the gigantomachy could therefore be read as an allegory of any historical defence of that order. It had been used particularly by Classical Athens in that sense, and for the Attalids could be used as a metaphor for their triumphs over the Gauls, in continuation of the Athenian defence of Greek civilization against barbarism. The great frieze was 2.30 m high and about 110 m long, made up of some 120 narrow panels of varying width. About three quarters of the frieze are preserved. The Altar was first approached from the east, where the main Olympian gods were depicted. The figures of Zeus and Athena, to whom the altar was probably dedicated, made direct reference to the west pediment of the Parthenon. Gods of light and the heavens were depicted on the south side, dark forces on the north. The west side featured sea creatures on the north projection, and Dionysos and his entourage on the south. The primordial chaos of the battle was depicted with great skill and variety. The almost baroque style of the frieze with its heavily muscled figures, heavily animated faces and the wide use of pathos formulae became the hallmark of the mid-hellenistic period. This slab from the western face of the south projection shows Dionysus accompanied by two Satyrs (the word ‘satyroi’ was inscribed on the lintel). His enemy is not preserved, but his mother Semele was depicted on a neighbouring slab. Dionysus was one of the most crucial gods in the gigantomachy, and his cult was particularly important at Pergamon. The combination of billowing drapery, shown in great detail, and powerful action pose illustrates the grand design of the frieze.

Bibliography:
, Beschreibung der Skulpturen aus Pergamon. I. Gigantomachie (Berlin 1902) esp. 14 One of the first detailed descriptions of the frieze after its installation in the Pergamon Museum.
H. Kähler, Der grosse Fries von Pergamon (Munich 1946) esp. 49 pl. 21 Detailed discussion of the frieze, its history and art-historical context.
E. Schmidt, The Great Altar of Pergamon (London 1965) esp. 17 pl. 27 Description of the frieze and its context, good illustrations.
E. Simon, Pergamon und Hesiod [Schriften zur antiken Mythologie III] (Mainz 1975) esp. 30-33; 49-50 pl. 28 Proposes that the depiction of the gods on the frieze is based on Hesiod’s Theogoneia.
R. R. R. Smith, Hellenistic Sculpture. A Handbook (London 1991) 157-166 figs. 193-199 Good summary on the frieze and its context.