Taphoi wrote:
agesilaos wrote:
The Nike of Samothrace dates to c.200 BC dated from shards beneath its base; it, however lacked a trumpet and, of course has no connection with the Mysteries of Samothrace beyond the geographical coincidence.
It is in fact still disputed whether the Nike of Samothrace was erected by Demetrios Poliorketes. It is certainly associated with a monument to one of his naval victories. And as we have seen he put a Nike on a ship's prow on his coins from the very beginning of the 3rd century BC. And before that there were Nikes on Alexander the Great's funeral carriage and before that on his staters. There is no reason to think that the version of Nike on a ship's prow now in the Louvre was the first or only such monument to stand on Samothrace in the precinct of the Mysteries. It may well depict something that had been part of the ceremonies on Samothrace for time immemorial. Certainly, the purpose of the Mysteries was to provide the initiate with safety at sea onboard ships.
I'm afraid this statement is not terribly accurate.Just because Demetrius [338-283 BC] portrayed Nike on a ship's prow on coins does NOT mean that the Nike of Samothrace is associated with him. This is simply an example of the logical fallacy of a false analogy - the assumption of similarity leading to a wrong association, a fallacy which Taphoi is frequently guilty of. Agesilaos is quite correct regarding the dating, which is now firmly in the range 220-185 BC. Further, it is a misnomer to speak of "the precinct of the Mysteries", for the sanctuary as a whole was open to all, and initiations were only conducted in two particular buildings, the Anakraton ( built in Roman times where persons were initiated) and the Hieron, which only admitted initiates for "the viewing". The sanctuary itself was largely the creation of the Hellenistic dynasties who vied with one another to build and make dedications there. In Philip II's time there was but a smallish building on the site, later replaced as the location of the mysteries by the Hieron which was larger and more magnificent. The latter three sentences of Taphoi's statement are just uninformed speculation - the product of his own imagination. There is no evidence either literary or archaeological of any other similar monumen'ts existence. It was unique, the work of a master sculptor who may be the same as the sculptor of the the great frieze at Pergamon, and might be Pythokritos of Rhodes. The Nike herself was carved from white Paros marble,alighting onto the prow of a warship carved from grey Rhodian marble, and stood at the pinnacle of the sloping site in it's own three-sided building overlooking the large theatre, and the sea battle it commemorates is uncertain. ONE of the many functions of "The Great Gods" of Samothrace was to protect 'those in peril on the sea', albeit an important one.
The Nike has absolutely no association whatever with the 'Mysteries'. There is absolutely no evidence of a series of monuments associated with "ceremonies" since "time immemorial" - the first building was only erected in the 7 C BC.
[whilst composing this I see Amyntoros has also posted, making much the same points regarding the logical fallacy]
The 29 ton sculpture was removed from the Louvre and cleaned and restored during 2013-14, partly with money raised by crowd-funding. Instead of the former yellowish patina overall, the contrast between the white marble of the Nike ( which was partly painted, traces of blue and red paint were found) and the grey of the Rhodian marble base are now clear, and the opportunity was taken to add small parts subsequently discovered.
I would also re-iterate the point I made earlier that females did not participate in the sacrifice of Bulls, hence the depiction is most unlikely to be of such a sacrifice......