le of Ajax, Ulysses, and
other Greek warriors to obtain the dead body of Achilles, which was held
by the Trojans. The story is that the goddess Thetis had dipped her son
Achilles in the river Styx for the purpose of making him invulnerable,
or safe from wounds by weapons. But as she held him by the ankles they
were not wetted, and so he could be wounded in them. During the siege of
Troy Apollo guided the arrow of Paris to this spot, and the great leader
of the Greeks was killed. It is believed that the warrior in this
picture who is about to send his arrow is Paris. In the central or
highest part of the pediment the goddess Minerva stands and tries to
cover the fallen body of Achilles with her shield. These figures are on
the side where the space grows narrower. You can judge of what the
action and spirit of the whole must be when these smaller figures have
so much. We are sure that the arrow will shoot out with such force as
must carry death to its victim, and the second warrior, who braces
himself on his feet and knee, will thrust his lance with equal power
(Fig. 20).

There are traces of color and of metal ornaments upon these AEginetan
statues; the weapons, helmets, shields, and quivers were red or blue;
the eyes, hair, and lips were painted, and there are marks upon the
garments of the goddess that show that she must have had bronze
ornaments. There was a famous sculptor of AEgina named Callon, who lived
about the time that this temple was built; and though it is not known to
be so, yet many critics and scholars believe that he may have been the
sculptor of these works, because they resemble the written descriptions
of his statues and reliefs.

[Illustration: FIG. 20.--_Figures from the Pediment of the Temple of
Minerva, at AEgina._]

There was a period which we call archaistic, and by this we indicate a
time when it was the fashion for the sculptors to imitate as nearly as
possible the works of the true archaic period. It has constantly
happened in the history of society that fashion has ordained this same
thing, though the objects of imitation have varied with the different
ages and nations. This archaistic "craze" to imitate old sculptures was
at its height in the times of the Roman emperors Augustus and Hadrian;
but here in America we have seen the same passion manifested in the
desire to have such furniture as Queen Anne and her people admired, or
such as "came over in the Mayflower;" and when the true orig