εὐξάμενος, μεγάλης σῆμα φιλοξενίης.
The inscription may be thus translated: "Here over the architrave, Karpos, making this dedication, placed Cyrenè, mother of cities, slayer of lions, in token of great hospitality. Libya, who has the glory of being a third continent, herself crowns her."
Cyrenè stands on the left, in attire very like that of Artemis as a huntress. She wears a chiton reaching to the knees, over which is a chlamys, and buskins; her hair is drawn back from her face. Both her arms are locked round the lion's neck. Libya wears a long chiton girt at the waist, and a mantle fastened between the breasts and falling down behind; her hair, bound with a diadem, is arranged over her forehead in long, regular curls, and falls down her neck; at her side is an animal couchant, of which the head is broken off, and which is perhaps a gazelle. The scene takes place on rocky ground. Two vines arch their branches over the group.
According to the legend told by Pindar (Pyth. ix. 26) Cyrenè was the daughter of Hypseus, king of the Lapiths in Thessaly, whose flocks she guarded against wild beasts. Apollo, seeing her slaying a lion in the valleys of Pelion, became enamoured of her, and carried her off to the part of Libya which afterwards bore her name. According to another legend (Scholiast on Apoll. Rhod. Argon., ii., 498, &c.), Eurypylos, king of Libya, had promised a portion of his kingdom to the person who would slay a lion then dreaded for his ravages. Cyrenè performed this exploit, and received in reward the promised district. It is probably in connection with this later legend that Libya is introduced crowning Cyrenè in the relief. Aristaeus, a mythic founder of Cyrenè, was the son of Apollo and Cyrenè. The form of the relief suggests that it may have been a metope, and the words ὑπὲρ μελάθροιο in the inscription have therefore been translated "above the architrave."—Found outside the Temple of Aphroditè, Cyrenè.
Marble; height, 3 feet 4 inches; width, 2 feet 3 inches. Smith and Porcher, pl. 76, p. 98; pl. 83, No. 19. R. C. Puckett, De marmoribus tribus Cyrenaicis; Bonn, 1868, p. 16, and Plate; Guide to Graeco-Roman Sculptures, Part II., No. 129; Overbeck, Griech. Kunstmythologie, III., p. 496; Atlas, pl. 26, fig. 16; Wolters, No. 1916; Studniczka, Kyrene, p. 31. The inscription is given by Kaibel, add. 842a (in some points incorrectly). For the legends of Cyrenè, see Studniczka, p. 39.
791. Fragment from the right side of a votive relief. Heracles stands, nude, with the lion-skin and club on his left arm. The head and extended right hand are wanting. On the left is a fragment of a draped figure. The relief was contained in pilasters, surmounted by an entablature.
Pentelic marble; height, 2 feet ½ inch; width, 10 inches.
792. Fragment of a votive relief. A beardless male figure stands to the front, with a chlamys on the raised left arm, and with a cup held out in his right hand. On the right is the right arm, and a portion of the skirt of another figure, perhaps female, of equal scale. On the left is the figure, much defaced, of a bearded worshipper.—Elgin Coll.
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot ¼ inch; width, 10 inches. Synopsis, No. 361 (84); Mus. Marbles, IX., pl. 35, fig. 3.