Kastalia und Pallas

Zum Megalopsychia-Mosaik aus Daphne

Abstract

A chance find, which occured in Antioch’s famous suburb Daphne (Harbiye) in 1932, revealed what would become one of the most vigorously debated mosaics from the Princeton excavations in the former Syrian capital and its surroundings. The floor mosaic centers around the personification of Megalopsychia and a set of mythical hunting scenes, enclosed by a frame depicting a series of buildings, mostly named by inscriptions, and genre scenes. The interpretation of this so-called topographical border still is most controversial. Previous attempts to understand the scenery as a recording of landmark buildings of ancient Antioch and Daphne or even as an »itinerary« of buildings leading the viewer from the suburbs to the center of Antioch have met with increasing skepticism. A closer analysis of a frame section depicting a series of water installations and adjacent buildings that were defi nitely located in Daphne strives to shed new light on the mosaic and the degree of ›realism‹ in roman architectural representations.