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THE STATUE OF ÁRTEMIS EPHESIA... In the standardized form, the goddess is represented in a rigid posture, with closed legs, upper arms held against her chest, and lower arms parallelly held forward. As for her dress, she is wearing a polos or a mural crown, a rigid veil which is round on the top and straight on the sides, a chiton, and an ependytes, which is a solid piece of clothing covering the front side of the sculptures. On the chest, we can observe different necklaces, a floral wreath, astrological signs, and some female figures. Under these, there are the most characteristic parts of the statues, the rows of pendants often described as "breasts"." Sitting, lying, or climbing lion figures can often be seen on the sculptures forearms, while woollen bands are hanging from the wrists. Among the ornamentation of the ependytes, there are mythological creatures and animal figures represented in protome or as a relief. However, if we want to understand the allegorical interpretation of the statues for the people of the era, we have to put it in the context of the second century AD. This does not mean that we do not have to analyze the development process of the ornaments of the statues, but it does imply that we should focus on the interpretations possible in the second century. Lilian Portefaix was the first to point out that certain works of Neoplatonic authors, first of all Porphyry’s De antro nympharum,® may help in the interpretation of some of the decorative elements of the statue.’ Portefaix’s theory about the ornaments of the statue, such as symbols of life, death, and rebirth,” is very promising but still doubtful. Her theoretical starting point is the widely accepted “breast” hypothesis of Seiterle,'! to which she added more uncertainty.” The most frequently discussed question in the research on Artemis Ephesia over the course of the past 100 years has been the meaning of the bizarre pendants on the chest area. Although several theories have been suggested, none of them has been able to give an indisputable answer to the problem. I use the most accepted description of these objects, “breasts”. For the interpretation of the “breasts” until the beginning of the 1970s, see Fleischer, Artemis, 74—87. For the newest interpretation, see Martin J. Steskal, Das Prytaneion in Ephesos, Forschungen in Ephesos 9, 4, Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010, 199-200. Porphyry lived in the third century AD. He referred to Numenius of Apamea and Cronius as the main sources of the De antro nympharum. These philosophers worked in the latter half of the second century AD. So Porphyry’s writing can be considered a relevant and reliable work if we want to interpret the statues in the context of second-century AD culture. Lilian Portefaix, The Image of Artemis Ephesia — A Symbolic Configuration Related to her Mysteries? in H. Friesinger — F. Krinzinger (eds.), 100 Jahre Osterreichische Forschungen in Ephesos. Akten des Symposions Wien 1995, Wien, Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1999, 614. 1 Portefaix, The Image, 614-616. Seiterle interpreted the breasts as scrota of bulls, cf. Gerard Seiterle, Artemis: Die Grosse Gôttin von Ephesos, Antike Welt 10 (1979), 3-10. According to Portefaix, the hypothetical ritual by which the scrota of bulls were sacrificed to the goddess happened during the birthday ceremony of Artemis Ephesia. Nevertheless, we have no source which supports the idea of the sacrifice of the scrota of bulls or the date of this rite; cf. Portefaix, The Image, 614. « 49 + Daröczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 49 ® 2020.06.15. 11:04:11
