Fig. 129.—Bas-relief at Persepolis (after Flandin and Coste).
After the portrait of Cyrus in chronological order come the bas-reliefs of Persepolis. These are sometimes episodes in the Chaldæo-Assyrian epic of Izdubar, which, imitated not only in Persia but also in the Greek world, gave birth to the legends of Heracles and Theseus, so often represented on archaic Greek monuments. In other bas-reliefs the court-officers walk in procession with the tributary satraps, or else ([fig. 129]) the “king of kings” himself, calm and impassive like a Colossus whom nothing can terrify, plunges his dagger, without moving a muscle
Fig. 130.—Bas-relief at Persepolis (after Flandin and Coste).
Fig. 131—Bas-relief from Persepolis (after Flandin and Coste).