CHAPTER XVIII.
On the second side of the chest, on the left, to take them in their order, is a woman supporting with her right hand a white child sleeping, and with her left a black child like the sleeping child, but with both its feet twisted. The inscriptions shew, what one would have inferred without any inscriptions, that they are Death and Sleep with their nurse Night. And there is a comely woman dragging along an ugly one, with one hand holding her fast, and with the other beating her with a rod, this is Justice punishing Injustice. And there are two women pounding with pestles into mortars, apparently compounding drugs, but there is no inscription in reference to them. But about the man and woman following him there are two hexameter lines as follows, “Idas is leading away from the temple by no means against her will Marpessa of the beautiful ancles, whom Apollo snatched away for himself.”
And there is a man clad in a tunic, with a cup in his right hand and in his left a necklace, and Alcmena is seizing them. According to the Greek tradition, Zeus assumed the appearance of Amphitryon, and so made Alcmena welcome him as her husband. And there is Menelaus with a breastplate and sword pursuing Helen to kill her, plainly during the sack of Ilium. And there is Jason on the right hand of Medea, who is sitting on a throne, and Aphrodite is standing by her. And the inscription relative to them is,
“Jason is wooing Medea, Aphrodite is encouraging them.”
The Muses are also represented singing and Apollo leading off, and the inscription is as follows,
“Here is the king, the son of Leto, far-darting Apollo,
And round him the Muses, a graceful band, whom he leads in the songs.”
And Atlas is bearing up Heaven and Earth (according to the legend) on his shoulders, and in his hands are the apples of the Hesperides. And who the man is with a sword advancing to Atlas is nowhere written, but it is evident to all that it is Hercules. This is all the inscription,
“Atlas here is bearing up Heaven, he will neglect the apples.”
There is also Ares in full armour leading off Aphrodite. The inscription under him is Enyalius. There too is the maiden Thetis, and Peleus is laying hold of her, and from Thetis’ hand a serpent is about to dart at Peleus. And there are the sisters of Medusa with wings pursuing the fleeing Perseus. His name only is given.
The third side of the chest is devoted to military views. Most of the soldiers to be seen are infantry, but there are also some cavalry in two-horse war-chariots. And some of the soldiers are you can see engaging, while others are recognizing and greeting one another. The antiquarians have two explanations of this, the one party say that it is the Ætolians with Oxylus and the ancient people of Elis, and that they are fraternizing and exhibiting friendliness to one another in remembrance of their ancient consanguinity, the other party say that it is the people of Pylos and the Arcadians fighting near the town of Pheia and the river Iardanus. No one would have prima facie expected that the ancestor of Cypselus, being a Corinthian and in possession of the chest, would have purposely passed over Corinthian history, and artistically portrayed on the chest foreign and even immaterial events. So the following is the view I am inclined to form. Cypselus and his ancestors came originally from Gonussa beyond Sicyon, and were descended from Melas the son of Antasus. And Aletes would not receive Melas and his army into the city, as I have stated before in my account of Corinth, thus disobeying the oracle at Delphi, until at last, as Melas paid every attention to him, and whenever he was rejected returned again with entreaty, Aletes admitted him but not with a good grace. One would conjecture therefore that the forces of Melas are here portrayed.