Read About This Ancient Greek Throne

This rare example of a Greek ceremonial chair (“thronos” in ancient Greek) was found in Athens, Greece. This throne likely once stood in a public place as a seat of honor. Such marble chairs often had decorated armrests and animal legs carved in front, like this one. While we usually think of thrones being made for royalty, the Greek seats were intended for important officials and prominent members of the community. In theaters and crowded meeting places their high backs would have stood out from the bench seating provided for most people.

On the back of this chair, just below the top, the name BOETHOS is inscribed. The carving is too badly worn to tell us about him or whether he is the person the chair was originally meant to honor. The back and armrests are carved with symbolic imagery in low relief above a horizontal carved line running around the chair at the level of the seat. The carved lines would once have been painted to stand out more clearly, but the paint and some of the stone have worn away. On the back, two olive wreaths are carved below the inscription. In ancient Greece, olive wreaths were symbols of victory and honor. On the outside of the armrests are two different relief scenes telling stories of warriors, each symbolizing the Athenian rejection of tyranny and control by outsiders.

Details of the Reliefs

On the right armrest, two armed men walk with their weapons raised dramatically. Although the heads of the men have been worn away, their poses suggest that they are two elite Athenians named Harmodios and Aristogeiton. They were called the Tyrannicides (tyrant-slayers). Harmodios and Aristogeiton were credited with introducing Athens to democracy by assassinating a tyrant in 514 BCE. Until that time, the word “tyrant” just meant a sole ruler, although it came to mean a lawless or cruel one. Despite the damage to both figures, we can see Harmodios at Aristogeiton’s left side with his arm uplifted, while the older, bearded Aristogeiton advances with his sword held out horizontally. Both are nude except for a cloak thrown over the older man’s left arm. Greeks represented athletes, gods, and heroes nude to signify their moral and physical excellence. The two men represent heroic resistance to oppression.

On the left armrest, a Greek hero is about to kill an Amazon, one of a tribe of female warriors. He is probably Theseus, the founding hero of Athens. Theseus is credited with unifying the area around Athens and later defeating the Amazons when they attacked the city. Theseus is nude like the Tyrannicides except for his armor (helmet, shield, and sword). He stands above the fallen Amazon in a dramatic pose, sword lifted high to strike as she struggles on her knees. It is hard to identify much more than her outline and the folds of her knee-length garment. The depiction of a strong, heroic Theseus towering over the defeated Amazon made this scene a symbol of Athenian triumph over their enemies.

Look Closely at the Reliefs on the Throne

More on the Amazons: Fact or Fiction?

Other stories describe the Amazons as a society of women who chose to live without men and fought as strong warriors. Although Amazons have long been thought to be only mythical, they may actually have been real. In recent decades, archaeologists have discovered burials of female warriors far to the northeast of Greece.

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• Why would an ancient Greek artist carve these stories into the throne?
• Do you think this throne would have been comfortable to sit on? Why or why not?
• Describe one of the symbols in the reliefs on the throne. What does it symbolize? Why did the artist include it?
• What is tyranny? Give one example from the text that explains how the reliefs on the throne represent “the Athenian rejection of tyranny and control by outsiders.”

Listen to Learn More

As you listen, jot down notes of the details you hear.

Afterwards, write or discuss at least two things you learned from listening to this audio description that you didn’t learn from reading.

Optional Activity

Watch the video about the Elgin Throne to learn more.

To write something on or cut letters, text, or imagery into a hard material with a sharp tool.

A method of carving figures or designs so that they are raised slightly above a flat background.

Absolute control of government by an oppressive ruler.

Oppressive ruler.