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  • A rare mythological scene a...
    Katarina Šmid

    Arheološki vestnik (Acta archaeologica), 01/2012, Letnik: 63
    Journal Article

    The  article  discusses  a  central  motif  on  the  socle  of  a  funerary  monument  at  Gornji  Grad,  Slovenia.  Together  with those from Oswaldgraben (western Styria, province of Noricum) and Aquincum, it has been interpreted ever since  the  fundamental  study  written  on  the  subject  by  Erna Diez as showing the reunion of Menelaus and Helen after the end of the Trojan War. This interpretation, how-ever,  becomes  less  certain  upon  comparing  the  relief  to  a  less  well-known  mirror  from  the  Bulla  Regia  cemetery  (province  of  Africa  proconsularis).  The  latter  shows  an  almost  identical  composition,  but  includes  the  figure  of  an  elderly  woman  who  does  not  appear  in  the  reunion  story. The main features of the scene, the hand on the hilt of  the  sword,  the  woman  offering  an  object  to  the  man,  and the active role of Eros, can be found in another, rarely depicted myth, namely the meeting of Minos and Scylla, described in most detail in the Ciris epyllion. According to  the  latter,  Scylla,  the  daughter  of  King  Nisus,  falls  in  love with the enemy King Minos after an intervention by Eros,  and  is  aided,  in  conspiracy  against  her  father  and  homeland, by her nurse.Iconographical analysis and literary sources have enabled the author to add four new depictions of Minos and Scylla to those already known. Three of those newly-added are depictions on stone reliefs, from Noricum (Gornji Grad, Oswaldgraben) and Pannonia (Aquincum), with the fourth one  on  the  above-mentioned  bronze  mirror.  All  of  them  had previously been interpreted as the reunion of Menelaus and Helen after the end of the Trojan War.