s, but the truth seems to be that he was not its inventor, but
carried it to great perfection. These chryselephantine statues were made
of wood and then covered with ivory and gold; the ivory was used for the
flesh parts of the statue, and gold for the drapery and ornaments of the
figure, and the finished work was very brilliant in its effect.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.--LION DEVOURING DEER.]

The principal subjects represented in the sculpture of the archaic
period were connected with the religion of the Greeks, which is known to
us as mythology. Most statues were of the gods, but portrait statues
were not unknown, and the custom of setting up statues of the victors in
the Greek games dates back to this very early time. This was a custom
which afforded a large field for sculptors to work in, and must have had
a great influence to give life and progress to their art.

Of the remains of this art very interesting things have been written,
but I shall speak only of a few such objects of which pictures can be
given to aid you in understanding about them. Among the earliest reliefs
that have been preserved are those now in the Museum of the Louvre, at
Paris, which were found in the ruins of a Doric temple at Assos (Fig.
15).

[Illustration: FIG. 16.--HERACLES, TRITON, AND NEREIDS.]

The various designs upon these marbles seem to have no connection with
each other, and are executed in a rude manner. The most interesting one
represents Heracles, or Hercules, struggling with a Triton (Fig. 16).

The female figures represent Nereids, who are terrified by seeing
Heracles in contest with the sea-monster. There are many proofs that
these reliefs belong to a very ancient day.

[Illustration: FIG. 17.--HERACLES AND THE CECROPS.]

An interesting relief from the temple of Selinus represents Heracles
striding off with a pole across his shoulders, to which are hung two
Cecrops who had robbed and tormented him (Fig. 17).

A very fine work is also from Selinus, and represents Actaeon torn by his
dogs. The mythological story was that Zeus, or Jupiter, was angry with
Actaeon because he wished to marry Semele, and the great god commanded
Artemis, or Diana, to throw a stag's skin over Actaeon, so that his own
dogs would tear him. In the relief Artemis stands at the left (Fig. 18).

[Illustration: FIG. 18.--ACTAEON AND HIS DOGS.]

There is in the British Museum a monument which was discovered at
Xanthos in 1838. It is thought to have b