112 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
Grecian fleet from pursuing the voyage. The calm lasted several months, 
and the gods still refused to. send a prosperous gale. In reply to their 
inquiries, the seer Calchas informed the Greeks, that as Agamemnon had 
offended them they would be appeased only by the sacrifice of his daughter 
Iphigenia. The guilty chief heard the decree with horror and a bleeding 
heart, yet he saw himself compelled to yield to stern necessity. The 
innocent maiden was decoyed into the camp under the pretext of a marriage 
with Achilleus, the handsomest of all the Greeks, and there borne asa 
sacrifice to the altar; but the sufferings of the guiltless victim softened the 
heart of offended Artemis, who enveloped the spot with a dense cloud, and 
removed Iphigenia to Tauris, where she afterwards became her priestess, 
leaving in her stead a hind on the altar, which was found when the cloud 
disappeared, and sacrificed instead of the maiden. 
13. Particutar Groups or THE SupERIor Gops. Before leaving the 
Olympic Assembly, we propose to refer briefly to some representations of 
the groups of the gods, which, from a desire to keep the subjects separate, 
we have thus far left unnoticed. 
Pi. 19, fig. 2, gives a characteristic group of Zeus, Hermes, and Aphro- 
dite. Zeus sits in majesty upon his throne, the rays of divinity encircle his 
head, the left hand grasps the sceptre and the right the thunderbolts, while 
his sacred bird, the eagle, stands at his feet. He directs a commanding 
look at Hermes, who is preparing to depart on an embassy. On the left 
of the king of gods stands Aphrodite, joining eagerly in the conversation, 
while Eros, or Cupid, clings closely to her side. On the edge or rim of the 
picture appear the twelve signs of the zodiac. 
Pl. 27, fig. 28, represents Pallas Athene, Asclepios, and Hygeia. The 
goddess is seated upon the throne, with a simple helmet upon her head, and 
a small gis from which the Medusa’s head is wholly excluded. She 
appears dressed in full vesture, and holds in her right hand thesceptre. At 
her Jeft stands Asclepios, the god of medicine, holding a rod or wand 
around which is coiled a serpent. Hygeia, goddess of health and daughter 
of Asclepios, whose symbol is also the serpent, occupies a position on the 
right. The whole collection is obviously designed to represent Athene in 
her peculiar character and dignity as the preserver of health. 
. Another group, combining Posecdon, Amphitrite, and Eros, is given on a 
cameo (pl. 18, jig. 11); Poseidon, supporting himself on the trident, places 
the left. foot on a rock. On both sides of him stand two horses sacred to 
him. In front a female form is reclining on the ground; it is probably 
Amphitrite, who seems to be sleeping. Behind him sits a child with 
uplifted hands. Above Poseidon’s head a love, probably Eros himself, 
stands upon a pillar or altar; while to the left a manly form hovering in 
the air is offering a child to a female in asimilar position on the right. 
A very beautiful group of the busts of the twelve superior deities, repre- 
senting them as deities of the planets, may be seen on a circular altar (pi. 
19, fig. 1). Apollo (a) occupies the first place, as god of the sun, father of 
the year, and creator of the seasons. His head is encircled with a braided 
bandage. Next to him is Hera (6), whose hair is secured in a similar 
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