In Greek lore, the Sidonians were said to be
under the constant protection of Hephaestus,
god of all metal-craft. Menelaus, as his ultimate
offering to Telemachus, “present[s] you with the
finest and most precious piece of plate in all my
house. It is a mixing-bowl of pure silver, except
the rim, which is inlaid with gold, and it is the
work of Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians
made me a present of it in the course of a visit
that I paid him while I was on my return home. I
should like to give it to you." When we behold the
unparalled magnificence of this vessel- it’s quite
easy to understand why Sidonian silver-work
was considered the finest in the Greek world.
The curvature of its body is a current of supple
and rich water. The handles vaunt and sigh out of
the body- splitting and peaking into two
spindling arches that would certainly leap into
the air if they were not anchored to the lip of the
vessel. Can anything so arrestingly transport us
back to Royal Classical Greece as does this jewel?
Holding it in our hands, we can almost feel a
wreath of gold or oak weighting our heads, and
the delicate plunk of court-lyres playing about
our ears. Rarely are we offered so intimate a
moment with the people who shaped history. It
would have been no-one short of a Sidonian
king or Spartan queen who parted their lips
across this vessel. Such aesthetic mastery is rare
in any time period- and the fact that this comes
out of an era as romanticized and immortal as
that of Classical Greece only vivifies its beauty as
it excites our imaginations.
- (LO.1415)
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