Sarcophagus with the myth of Phoedra

myminifactory

This relief adorned the front of a large marble sarcophagus, with only its left corner preserved. The scene shows a group of veiled women turning to the right, accompanied by a girl who looks to the left. Below them, to the right of the girl, stands a statuette of Priapus, the Roman god of virility. Identification with Phoedra's myth is based on comparison with other sarcophagi depicting the same scene, where Phoedra's handmaidens try to console their mistress, who is in love with her stepson Hippolytus - an unrequited passion. The little temple in the upper left, interpreted as a temple of Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt, also recalls the story of Phoedra, as it was dedicated to Hippolytus, her devoted lover. Roman sarcophagi frequently depict Phoedra's unrequited longing for Hippolytus and his tragic death, as her love-pains came to symbolize grief in funerary contexts - a universal expression of loss for a beloved one. Based on the hairstyles and extensive use of the drill, this work is dated between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd century A.D.