Delphi, Daochos Monument, Sisyphos II (Sculpture)

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Collection:	Delphi Archaeological Museum
Title:	Sisyphos II
Context:	From Delphi
Findspot:	Excavated at Delphi
Summary:	Standing nude male leaning on herm
Object Function:	Votive
Material:	Marble
Sculpture Type:	Multi-figure group
Category:	Statuary group
Style:	Late Classical
Technique:	In-the-round
Original or Copy:	Original
Date:	ca. 336 BC - ca. 332 BC
Dimensions:	Restored H: ca. 1. 85 m
Scale:	Life-size
Region:	Phocis
Period:	Late Classical
In Group:	Delphi, Daochos Monument

Subject Description:

The nude figure of a young man stands with his weight on his right leg, leaning casually to his left. His left arm rests on a herm shaft. The figure depends on the herm for balance rather than for primary support. The position of the left leg, which is not preserved, is unclear. It would, however, have been slightly bent at the knee. The right arm hung loosely at the side. The head is turned slightly to the proper left, in the direction of the relaxed leg. The face has been lost; the ears and the short curls which cover his head are preserved. A mantle, fastened with a round pin, falls from the left shoulder, covering the outside of the left arm and much of the herm head and part of the shaft. The left half of the archaistic herm head, with long hair and beard and rows of snail curls around the face, as well as the herm genitalia are fully carved.

The figure represents Sisyphos II, the son of Daochos II, the dedicator of the monument. He is identified by the inscription on the face of the base, which gives only his name and patronym. He is presumably too young to have any accomplishments to list. Though the feet and plinth are missing, the statue can be restored to this position on the base from the size and shape of the cutting for the plinth, which allow for the herm support and the position of the right leg. The youthful appearance and slightly smaller scale are also appropriate to the son of the dedicator, the youngest of the six generations represented. He stands at the far right side of the monument (the generations are represented in order).

Sisyphos was presumably alive at the time of the dedication, so that the statue could hypothetically be a portrait. However, the face probably represented the same kind of idealized portrait that the statue of the long-dead Agias portrays. It is unclear whether this statue is a copy of an original set up in Pharsalos, or whether it is a copy of a statue in bronze. The inclusion of the support does not provide conclusive evidence regarding the original. This is the earliest known example of a free-standing representation of a mortal leaning on a herm, though contemporary examples, from the second half of the 4th century, are known in funerary sculpture (see Dohrn 1968, 41).

Form & Style:

The motif of the leaning figure with support goes back to the late 5th century. In the 4th century it becomes more prevalent and is picked up in funerary sculpture and more generally, as the Daochos monument shows, in the representations of mortals. It has been described as Praxitelian, owing to the strong S-curve of the figure, especially visible from the back (for a good photo of the back, see Dohrn 1968, pl. 34). For a fuller discussion of the style of the monument as a whole, see the entry Delphi, Daochos Monument.

Date Description:

See the entry: Delphi, Daochos Monument.

Condition: Fragmentary

Condition Description:

Reconstructed from fragments including the torso with upper right arm, left arm (missing wrist and hand), right leg (missing ankle and foot), stump of left leg and herm support, neck and head (missing most of face). The head and a fragment of the herm shaft have been added since Dohrn. The right leg, both feet and the plinth are missing. Surface weathered, but in excellent condition in some parts.

Material Description:

Parian marble

Inscription:

On the front face of the base, under the figure:

"Sisyphos son of Daochos". (FdDelph 3.4, no. 460)

Sources Used: GuideDelphMu 1991, 91ff.; Stewart 1990, 187; Themelis 1979, 507ff.; FdDelph 3.4, no. 460 (Pouilloux, 1976); Tsirivakos 1972, 70ff.; Dohrn 1968; Adam 1966, 97ff.; FdDelph 2.10, 67 ff.; Will 1938