Lysicrates

(Λυσικράτης), an Athenian, whose name has become celebrated by means of his beautiful choragic monument. The custom of giving a bronze tripod as a prize to the choragus in the dramatic exhibitions, and of then dedicating the tripod to some divinity, is described in the " Dictionary of Antiquities," s. v. Choregia. The most usual manner of dedicating the tripod was by placing it on the summit of a small building erected for the express purpose of receiving it. The choragic monument of Lysicrates is such an erection. From a square base arises a circular building, consisting of six Corinthian columns, connected by a wall, and supporting a flat cupola of one piece of marble, from the centre of which rises a beautiful flower-like ornament, which spreads out at the summit so as to afford a base for the tripod, the marks of which are still visible upon it. The details are of surpassing beauty, and can only be appreciated from a good drawing. The best engraving, or rather set of engravings, of it are given by Mauch (Neue Systematische Darstellung d. Architektonischen Ordnungen, 3e Auflage, taf. 54-57). The following is the inscription on the architrave:

Λυσικπάτης Λυσιθειδου Κικυννεὺς ἐχοπήγει, Ἀκαμαντὶς παίδων ἐνικα, Θέων ηὔλει, Λυσιάδης Ἀθηναῖος ἐδιδασκε, Εὐαίνετος ἦρχε.

(Böckh, Corp. Inscr. 221.) The archonship of Evaenetus was in Ol. 111.2, B. C. 335.

The building is vulgarly called the Lantern of Demosthenes, who is said to have erected it with the object of studying in the seclusion of its interior. Not only is this tradition unsupported by any authority, and disproved by the inscription, but it is clear that the interior of the building, which is not quite six feet in diameter, was not applied to any use, and had, in fact, no entrance. It is now open, having at some period been broken into, probably in search of treasure. (Stuart and Revett, Antiquities of Athens, vol. i. p. 139; Hirt, Geschichte d. Baukunst bei den Alten, vol. ii. p. 26.) [P.S]

One of the most graceful relics of Greek antiquity, raised in memory of a victory in the dramatic contests won by Lysicrates when he was choregus (see chorus) in B.C. 334. From a slender square basement, 12 feet high by 9 feet wide, rises a small but elegant round temple. Six engaged Corinthian columns surround its circular wall and support the entablature, on the frieze of which there is a delicate and life-like representation of a scene in the legend of Dionysus —the changing of the Tyrrhenian pirates into dolphins, for having by mistake laid hands on the god. Over the entablature is a flat dome made of a single block of marble, and from the centre of the roof rises a finial of acanthus leaves, formerly crowned by the tripod which was the prize of victory. The monument is 35 feet high, and the diameter of the inside is about 6 feet. The reliefs of the frieze are of great value, as they belong to the new Attic school of Scopas and Praxiteles. According to a tradition (which is without foundation) that Demosthenes used to study here, the monument used to be called the Lantern of Demosthenes—a name familiar to Michael Acominatos, in the second half of the twelfth century (Gregorovius, Mirabilien der Stadt Athen, p. 357). The true name was first restored by Transfeldt about 1674 (id. Athen im Mittelalter, ii. 357). See Perry's Greek and Roman Sculpture, pp. 473-475.