of the Greco-Roman Era in certain ancient Sites of Asia Minor. 65 
whilst viewing them, of the deliverance of Hesione, but from the absence of the 
heroine, and the by no means Herculean characteristics of the principal combat- 
ant, I relinquished this idea.* 
We now come to the last of the sculptures, which represents the death. The 
wild animal has been at length overcome, and the hounds which have fastened 
upon him are completing the work which their owners had begun. 
The course which lies immediately above these sculptures has been decorated 
with wreaths and volutes, all occupying a very conspicuous position on the wall. 
But in consequence of the accumulation of rubbish, and the fall of its materials, 
much of this is underground, and in all probability, excavations around the 
ramparts, carried on with judgment and caution, would open a mine of yet un- 
discovered treasures. 
* The myth of Perseus and Andromeda (Ovid. Metam. iv. 669, ss.) was also present to my re- 
membrance whilst examining this singular group of reliefs. But the essential characteristics are not 
to be traced, at least in the sculptures which present themselves to view on the wall. 
The likelihood is, that this part of the fortification had been pieced with friezes taken from two 
distinct temples ; the hunting scene very probably was a decoration of a temple of Diana, the ex- 
istence of which I cannot, however, prove from the memorials of Aphrodisias ; the two interposed 
sculptures, in which the sea-monsters are introduced, were, perhaps, members of another series 
wherein some allegorical conception had been worked out, but whether connected with the Aphro- 
disiac rites, must remain a matter of uncertainty, 
The sea-origin of the tutelary deity of the city may be thought by some to supply a ground for 
conjecture. Was the immolation of these Tritons intended to express the decline of her worship ? 
Do we owe these works of art to the Christian inhabitants of Aphrodisias ? 
It would be an interesting occupation for the future traveller in these parts to examine (if ne- 
cessary, by excavation), whether any reliefs coordinate to those I have here given an account of are 
yet extant. The part of the wall, where they are visible, has been in a great measure concealed by 
a quantity of loose stones piled up against its face ; these should be removed, in the first instance ; 
but even this, independently of the additional trouble of opening the foundations, would be a labour 
of some weeks. 
VOL. XXI, I 
