Ο αγαλµατικός τύπος της Αθηνάς Ince και τα ερµηνευτικά του αδιέξοδα

Περίληψη

In this paper some hitherto unanswered questions, which have hindered the study of the much debated statuary type of Athena Ince (figs 2-3), are addressed: e.g. identifying an earlier version, its relationship with some stylistically similar sculptural depictions, its occasional attribution to well-known sculptors of the Classical period, conflicting chronologies and the problematic notional content. It is suggested that the sculpture was not intended to be seen in frontal view but in a pose in which the figure is slightly turned to its right, which makes the artist’s desire to show the figure in motion clearer. In other words the goddess, shown without her shield, is moving at a calm pace to her right (i.e. the viewer’s left), carrying a spear over her left shoulder, as wayfarers usually hold them, so as not to hamper them as they walk. She cannot have been holding any kind of symbol in her right hand, but, as the arm is outstretched, it seems likely to have ended in a greeting gesture. All the above suggest that the Athena Ince type can only be understood and interpreted as part of a group in which it was on the right. And, since it cannot be simply coincidental that it corresponds to the cult statue of 410/409 BC (fig. 10), a dating in the penultimate decade of the fifth century is proposed. It is consequently reasonable to deduce that it can be identified with the Athena of the cult complex of the Hephaisteion and thus that it can be attributed to Alkamene