The Grave Stele of Dexileos is the

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

of the tomb of an Athenian cavalryman named Dexileos () who died in the

Corinthian War The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Greece, Thebes, Classical Athens, Athens, Ancient Corinth, Corinth and Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, backe ...

against Sparta in 394 BC. The stele is attributed to "The Dexileos Sculptor". Its creation can be dated to 394 BC, based on the inscription on its bottom, which provides the dates of birth and death of Dexileos. The stele is made out of an expensive variety of

Pentelic marble Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon (, or ) is a mountain in Attica (region), Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon, Greece, Marathon. Its highest point is the peak ''Pyrgari'', with an elevation of 1,109 m. The m ...

and is tall. It includes a high

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

sculpture depicting a battle scene with an inscription below it. The stele was discovered in 1863 in the family plot of Dexileos at the

Dipylon The Dipylon (, "Two-Gated") was the main gate in the Themistoclean Walls, city wall of Classical Athens. Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greec ...

cemetery in the

Kerameikos Kerameikos (, ) also known by its latinization of names, Latinized form Ceramicus, is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, Athens, Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the ancient ci ...

cemetery of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. It was found

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

, but moved during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and is now on display in the Kerameikos Museum in Athens.

Description

The stele is carved in high relief and depicts a cavalryman, Dexileos, mounted on a horse, charging a Spartan enemy, probably at the 394 BC

Battle of Nemea The Battle of Nemea of 394 BC, also known in ancient Athens as the Battle of Corinth, was a battle in the Corinthian War, between Sparta and the coalition of Argos, Athens, Corinth, and Thebes. The battle was fought in Corinthian territory, ...

during the

, in which Athens was defeated by Sparta. Dexileos is seen in his youthfulness, shown through the lack of a beard being present. He wears a

chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora ( ), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as sea cradles or coat-of-mail shells or suck ...

chlamys The chlamys (; genitive: ) was a type of ancient Greek cloak. It was worn by men for military and hunting purposes during the Classical, Hellenistic and later periods. By the time of the Byzantine Empire it was part of the state costume of the ...

, and

petasos A petasos () or petasus (Latin) is a broad brimmed hat of Thessalian origin worn by ancient Greeks, Thracians and Etruscans, often in combination with the chlamys cape. It was made of wool felt, leather, straw or animal skin. Women's versions ha ...

as well as krepides on his feet. His garments flow in the wind as his horse rears upwards. Dexileos raises one arm to hold a spear, which has since been lost from the sculpture as it was an attachment of a different material. His torso twists forward in the frontal position while his head is in ¾ position, slanted with his gaze down towards his foe. The spear, reins, and

, which is a wide brimmed hat usually worn by Athenian

ephebes ''Ephebos'' (; pl. ''epheboi'', ), latinized as ephebus (pl. ephebi) and anglicised as ephebe (pl. ephebes), is a term for a male adolescent in Ancient Greece. The term was particularly used to denote one who was doing military training and pr ...

, are all missing from the stele. Remnants of their presence are marked by stains and

dowel The dowel is a cylindrical shape made of wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is long and called a ''dowel rod'', which are often cut into shorter ''dowel pins''. Dowels are commonly used as structural reinforceme ...

holes in the relief where they would have been attached. Below the horse is Dexileos’s enemy, who has fallen in battle and is shielding himself from the horse with one arm covering his head. The Greek enemy is seen in the frontal position with his head up towards Dexileos. The enemy is also depicted completely nude, representing his vulnerability as well as his worthiness as an opponent. The inscription below the relief says: This not only gives an exact date of Dexileos’s lifespan but also describes his death in battle at Corinth. The entire stele relief scene is bordered on top with a pediment adorned with

acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, (pl. akroteria) is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed ...

, which gives it a religious aspect with reference to

naiskos The ''naiskos'' (: ''naiskoi''; , diminutive of ναός, "temple") is a small temple in classical order with columns or pillars and pediment. Ancient Greece Often applied as an artificial motif, it is common in ancient art. It is also found in ...

, a small temple in the classical order. Monument of Dexilaus

Context

The Dexileos stele reflects Athens during a time of chaos and disorder. Following the Athenian loss of the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

in 404 BC,

Athenian democracy Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Ancient Greece, Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Classical Athens, Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and focusing on supporting lib ...

was finally restored in 403 after the overthrow of the

Thirty Tyrants The Thirty Tyrants (, ''hoi triákonta týrannoi'') were an oligarchy that briefly ruled Classical Athens, Athens from 404 BC, 404 BCE to 403 BC, 403 BCE. Installed into power by the Sparta, Spartans after the Athenian surrender in the Peloponnesian ...

. Athens was also facing a war with Sparta at this time, the

. Dexileos was a young cavalryman who died at the age of twenty, which can be seen through the inscription that reveals his lifespan. Dexileos would have been an ephebe, going through his rite of passage to become a full, democratic citizen, like other Athenian men. This process included serving in the military for three years. This stele shares characteristics of two distinct ideologies in the classical period relating to death in battle; One being a very individualistic depiction glorifying the deceased and the other being an inclusion of aristocracy within Athenian democracy and depicting death as a sacrifice for the state. While this monument depicts wealthy Dexileos in triumph, bringing pride to his family, it also shows how he is part of the Athenian community, making a sacrifice of life for his people. Dexileos belonged to the class of knights. Four other knights, along with Antiphates, the leader of Dexileos's tribe, were also killed in 394 BC. The ashes of Dexileos as well as those of the four other knights were transferred to Athens and deposited at the Public Cemetery. The relief that was discovered in the

was constructed later by the relatives of Dexileos (dated to 390 BC), when the family enclosure was built, where the relief was found.

Location

The Dexileos stele is one of three monuments in the Dipylon cemetery honoring Athenian warriors. One other monument, the Polyandron, honors all those soldiers who died for the city within a certain year, including Dexileos. All these soldiers' remains, including those of the elite cavalry status as well as less-wealthy foot soldiers, were mixed together, burned, and placed in the Demosion Sema for burial. This ritual equated all Athenians after death to create a complete, whole democracy. The other monument honored all fallen cavalrymen, listing eleven, including Dexileos, in total. This monument preserved the sacrifices of those cavalrymen to democracy.

Funerary crown

Another monument was discovered, dedicated to five Athenian cavalrymen including Dexileos. Only the crown of the public funerary monument remains, now in Athens National Archaeological Museum. The monument, in pentelic marble, was found west of Athens, in the area of the Demosion Sema. According to the inscription on the epistyle, the monument was erected in honour of the Athenian riders who fell in the battles of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

and

Coronea Coroneia (), or Coronea, was a town of ancient Boeotia, and a member of the Boeotian League. It is described by Strabo as situated upon a height near Mount Helicon; its territory was called Κορωνειακή. The town stood upon an insulated ...

in 394 BC. The list of the fallen includes the name of Dexileos.

Discovery

The stele was discovered by the Athenian archaeologist, art dealer and antiquities trafficker Athanasios Rhousopoulos in the spring of 1863. Rhousopoulos' excavation followed the earlier discovery on of the funerary of Aristonautes. Along with the nearby excavation of the funerary enclosure of Agathon, the discovery of Dexileios's confirmed the location of the Kerameikos cemetery, which had been forgotten since antiquity.

References

External links

{{Authority control Kerameikos 4th-century BC steles 394 BC 1863 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Attica Horses in art Funerary steles Burial monuments and structures in Greece Nemea Marble reliefs Sculptures in Athens Marble sculptures in Greece Sculptures of men in Greece Reliefs in Greece