The Achilles and Penthesilea Statue Group from the Tetrastyle Court of the Hadrianic Baths at Aphrodisias

Abstract

One of the highest-quality replicas of the Achilles and Penthesilea group was excavated at Aphrodisias in 1966 1967. Recent research has identified additional fragments belonging to the group. Study of these fragments clarifies our knowledge of this important replica and its Hellenistic original.

The Aphrodisias replica was discovered in its late antique context, in the Tetrastyle Court of the Hadrianic Baths. The Achilles and Penthesilea was juxtaposed with a replica of the socalled Pasquino Group and a nude male torso wearing a chlamys. All three statues faced east, toward the main square of the city, the North Agora. Our study elucidates the thematic intent behind this sculptural ensemble and the poignancy of the contrast between Penthesilea and her pendant, the young warrior in the Pasquino group.

The material from Aphrodisias, together with its known find context, allows for new reconstructions of a major Greco-Roman statue group and elucidates this statue’s repair and display throughout the fi fth century C.E.