Hellenistic Sculpture from the Athenian Agora, Part 4: The East Pediment and Akroteria of the Temple of Apollo Patroos

Abstract:This article attributes five fragmentary sculptures from the Agora excavations to the east pediment and akroteria of the Temple of Apollo Patroos, on the basis of their scale, technique, style, and subjects. Comprising an epiphany of Apollo with the Muses in the pediment and the slaughter of the Niobids above it, the ensemble is dated to ca. 306–300 B.C. in accord with the temple's revised date of ca. 313–300 proposed by Mark Lawall in 2009. Its religious and political significance is examined. Two appendixes revisit Euphranor's statue of Apollo Patroos and other sculptural fragments found around the temple, and the Niobids that Pausanias saw in the choregic monument of Thrasyllos.