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Dick Osseman | all galleries >> Antalya pictures >> Antalya Museum of Archaeology >> Roman finds (many) >> Statues >> Series in Statues >> Marsyas from theatre > Antalya museum march 2012 3153.jpg
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17-MAR-2011

Antalya museum march 2012 3153.jpg

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Statue of Marsyas. Found in 1992 in front of the stage of the theatre. Roman, end of second century AD. 2,56 m. high.
Athena had a flute, but playing it distorted her face, so she threw it away. Marsyas, who taught playing this instrument, picked it up and played it so well the gods decided not even Apollo could play this well. Marsyas should have contradicted them, but did not, angering Apollo who proposed a match. That ended undecided until Apollo put his lyre on its head and began to play and sing, a feat Marsyas could not reproduce. So he lost and under the rules he had agreed with at the start Apollo chose his punishment. He was flayed alive, hung on a tree and beheaded. Other versions of the ending, some a bit less gruesome, exist.
The statue was placed on the second floor of the stage building together with the large statues of Dionysos, Herakles and Hermes.
The statue was found in 36 pieces, some parts are missing. The movement of the body and the broad space created by the statue indicate is must be (a copy of a work) from the Hellenistic period.

Source: Sculptures of the Museum in Antalya p. 126

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1/250s f/5.6 at 170.0mm iso5000 full exif

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