SCULPTURE. — 37 
_ With the fable of Eros we connect also Hymenzus, who appears as a 
more serious and larger Eros, and is at the same time related to Comus, 
the leader of the joyous festal throng. A favorite subject of later art, 
when it had become effeminate and luxurious, was Hermaphroditus, a 
creation of artistic fancy rather than a svmbol of nature, who sometimes 
stretches himself restlessly in sleep, as the Hermaphrodite on a lion’s skin 
in the Florentine Museum, and that from the Villa Borghese now in Paris, 
restored by Bernini and reclining on a pallet (pl. 3, jig. 3), and sometimes 
stands wondering at his own enigmatical nature, or in various groups with 
Erotes and Satyrs. 
The Charites (Graces), as social deities allied to Aphrodite, were sculp- 
tured in the earlier times in elegant forms, and sometimes lightly draped, 
although usually entirely naked. They are characterized by mutual 
embracing and joining of hands. In pl. 9, jig. 3, we give Canova’s 
Graces; and in jig. 5, Thorwaldsen’s Graces, which, although belonging 
to modern times, are not inappropriate here, as conceived in the genuine 
spirit of antiquity. 
ce. The Muses. The ancient artists recognised only three Muses, among 
whom they distributed the principal instruments of music; and it was not 
till Apollo became the leader of the Muses, that they appeared, nine in 
number, as draped figures, with fine intellectual countenances, and nicely 
distinguished from each other by expression, attributes, and sometimes by 
attitude. Still the parts performed by individual Muses are not so 
accurately distinguished in ancient art, but that many deviations may be 
discerned. Sometimes the Muses appear adorned with plumes; and this is 
explained by their victory over the Sirens, which are seldom represented 
as entirely human, but often as virgins with birds’ legs and wings, or as 
birds with virgins’ heads, and furnished with various instruments. 
d. Gods of Health. Asklepius, among the Romans sculapius, receives 
in art most commonly the form of a mature man, of a Zeus-like but less 
sublime presence, with a mild, benevolent expression, his copious hair 
encircled by a fillet, a himation about his left arm and passing across under 
his heart, and in his hand a staff enwreathed with a serpent. But besides 
this there was a youthful bearded Asklepius. With him is grouped Hygeia, 
the goddess of health, a virgin of a particularly blooming appearance, who 
is usually giving drink to a serpent from a patera. Along with Asklepius 
is also frequently found Telesphorus, a little masked demon, the spirit of 
the hidden vital power. 
e. The Primeval World. The Creation of Man. Representations of 
the older gods who are closely connected with the obscure origin of things, 
Uranus, Gea, and the Titans, occur rarely or not at all as separate statues, 
although they find a place in reliefs and paintings. Kronos, however, 
makes his appearance, characterized by his veiled head and often also by 
his straight-hanging hair and sickle. Rhea acquired a greater significance, 
and Phidias sculptured her with the attributes of a mural crown, a timbrel, 
and a span of lions. Atlas,the Titanian bearer of the heavens, appears only, 
under an almost comical aspect, on reliefs and vase-paintings ; and the fable 
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