DISKOBOLOI. 221 
480 B.C. This little masterpiece of the transition period of Attic 
art, still disclosing archaic traits, represents a diskobolos standing 
firmly on both legs, the nght being slightly advanced, and holding 
with the left hand the diskos level with the head. That he is pre- 
paring for intense action is seen by the way in which the toes catch 
the ground. Though the right arm ‘is broken off from below the 
shoulder, we can infer from vase-paintings which show diskoboloi in 
the same position! that it was lowered and bent at the elbow and 
the hand left open. From this position the diskos will be raised 
high above the head with both hands, as in a bronze in Athens,” 
which illustrates Gardiner’s second position. 
The movement is carried a little further—showing the moment 
of transition to the downward swing or third position—in a fifth-cen- 
tury B.C. bronze in the British Museum.’ Here a nude, beardless 
athlete is represented standing with the right foot advanced and holding 
the diskos in both hands before him above the head. The right hand 
grasps the quoit underneath and the left at the top.’ The third posi- 
tion is well illustrated by the tiny archaic bronze on the cover of a lebes 
in the British Museum,* which represents a nude and beardless youth 
standing with the left foot advanced and with the left hand raised, 
while the right holds the diskos. Almost the same pose is also seen in 
a small bronze in the Antiquarium, Berlin.® 
Two archaic statuettes from the Akropolis, now in the National 
Museum in Athens, and recently published, should be mentioned in this 
connection.’ The more archaic of these represents a youth in an atti- 
tude which has been misunderstood. De Ridder interpreted it as a 
dancing man, while Stais thought it represented a youth walking along 
with his left hand raised as if to ward off a blow. White, however, 
1f. g., on ar.-f. krater in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, no. 561; on another in Munich: cf. 
J. D. Beazley, J. H. S., XXXI, 1911, Pl. VIII, 2; both quoted by Miss Richter, /. ¢. 
2In the National Museum, no. 7412; Stais, Marbres et Bronzes, p. 321 and fig. on p. 270. It 
was found in the sanctuary of the Kabeiroi in Beeotia and is 0.19 meter high. Cf. a similar 
position on a r.-f.. amphora in Munich painted by Euthymides: no. 374; published by Hoppin, 
Euthymides and his Fellows, 1917, Pl. Il; Furtwaengler-Reichhold, Griech. Vasenmaleret, 
Piste Al: 
3B. M. Bronzes, no. 675; J. H. S., XXVII, p. 22, fig. 11; Murray’, 1, p. 274, fig. 59; Gardiner, 
p. 330, fig. 84; Reinach, Rép., II, 2, 544,10. It is 6.5 inches tall. 
4Cf. also two very rude bronzes in the British Museum representing diskoboloi: B. M. Bronzes, 
nos. 502 (diskos held up in right hand), 504 (diskos in right hand), the first 3.37 inches tall, the 
other 4.87 inches; the latter has a fillet in the hair and so represents a victor. 
5B. M. Bronzes, no. 559; J. H. S.,1.c., p. 17, fig. 6. As the whole lebes is only 18.5 inches tall, 
this lid figure is very small. 
64. A., 1904, p. 36, fig. 8. Inventar, no. 8569. It is 0.115 meter high. 
7Published by H. G. E. White in J. H. S., XXXVI, 1916, pp. 16f., Pls. I, I] and 3 figs. in text. 
Pl. is the more archaic: Museum no. 6615; Arch. Eph., 1883, p. 86; Stais, Marbres et Bronzes, 
p. 267; de Ridder, pp. 281-2, no. 757, and fig. 265. Pl. II is the less archaic: Museum no. 6614; 
Arch. Eph., 1883, p. 46; J. H. S., X, 1889, pp. 268-9 (E. A. Gardiner); Stais, op. cit., p. 267; 
de Ridder, pp. 275-7, no. 750, and fig. 257. 
