An antefix (in Greek, ακροκέραμα, akrokerama) is an ornamental ceramic plaque [1] covering the end of a roof tile (kalypter) which covered the lower edge of a wooden framed, ceramic tiled roof or the apex of a gable (sima) of a temple, mostly during the Archaic period. Rows of such antefixes, usually in the form of heads (often referred to as protomes [2]) of mythical figures, often decorated the sides of roofs. Antefixes covering apex tiles were usually larger. See the reconstruction drawing in Medusa part 2, showing the roof of the Archaic wooden temple of Apollo at Thermon, central Greece, decorated with a row of antefixes.

The technique is thought to have been invented in Corinth (but see note in Medusa part 2), and appears to have spread to other Greek cities rapidly, and was already in use in Etruria by the 7th century BC. [3] It was used on several temples in Sicily, where Gorgoneions were among the most common antefix motifs.

A now-lost primitive Archaic antefix found in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, is said to have resembled the masks found at Tiryns (see Medusa part 2), was thus dated to the 7th century BC and thought to be a Gorgoneion. Unfortunately, I have so far been unable to discover more information about the object or a photo or drawing of it. However, if it was a Gorgoneion it would have probably been the earliest example of the motif in Greek architecture. [4]

The antefixes and tiles below show a wide variety on the Gorgon theme, and artists around the Greek world - the mainland and islands of Greece, Thrace, Ionia (East Greece), Magna Graecia (Italy) and Sicily - depicted her in very different ways between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. Although there was a general tendency towards less hideous and more attractive Gorgons, the Archaic types continued into the 4th century BC, as can be seen from an Archaistic antefix from Gela, Sicily below. Antefixes based on Greek models, perhaps from Greek-made moulds, were produced by Etruscans and other Italic peoples (see note 3 and photos below). A fragment of a terracotta Gorgoneion in Milan, believed to be part of an antefix (see below), is dated as late as the 1st century AD.

A very similar antefix, dated to the second half of the 5th century BC, was found in Taranto, southern Italy. [5]

"Beauty", it seems, is not only in the eye of the beholder, but also a matter of taste, fashion and cultural milieu. Interestingly, in a witty dialogue written by the Syrian essayist and satirist Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανός ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, circa 125-180 AD), one of the characters, Lycinus (probably Lucian himself), tells his friend that he has just almost been turned to stone by the sight of a woman's beauty. The piece is thought to have been written in 162/163 AD in praise of Panthea, the mistress of Emperor Lucius Verus. As usual with Lucian, the reader is seldom sure how firmly his tongue was in his cheek, but his interlocutors appear to have stumbled on a fascinating aspect of the power of the Gorgon's stare.

"Lycinus: Polystratus, I know now what men must have felt like when they saw the Gorgon's head. I have just experienced the same sensation, at the sight of a most lovely woman. A little more, and I should have realized the legend, by being turned to stone; I am benumbed with admiration.

Polystratus: Wonderful indeed must have been the beauty, and terrible the power of the woman who could produce such an impression on Lycinus. Tell me of this petrifying Medusa. Who is she, and whence? I would see her myself. You will not grudge me that privilege? Your jealousy will not take alarm at the prospect of a rival petrifaction at your side?

Lycinus: Well, I give you fair warning: one distant glimpse of her, and you are speechless, motionless as any statue. Nay, that is a light affliction: the mortal wound is not dealt till her glance has fallen on you. What can save you then? She will lead you in chains, hither and thither, as the magnet draws the steel."

The long building on the southern side of the Sanctuary of Apollo, known as the Oikos (οἶκος, house) of the Naxians, was built of large granite blocks by the people of the Cycladic island Naxos in the late 7th century BC and dedicated to Apollo. Around 575 BC it was reconstructed with white Naxian marble, and it was the first building ever to have an upper part and roof of marble.

The hall, with porches at the west and east ends, was 19.38 metres long and around 10 metres wide, and had eight Ionic columns along the centre of its long axis, supporting the sloped roof of marble tiles. The porch at the west end was supported by two Ionic columns (distyle) in antis, and that on the east end, which was added later, had four prostyle Ionic columns. There was also a doorway halfway along the long north side, outside which stood the 9 metre tall "Colossus of the Naxians", a kouros statue of Apollo, made from a single piece of marble around 600 BC. The 32 ton inscribed base of the statue still stands outside the northwest corner of the oikos, and the two surviving parts of the kouros, the torso and the pelvis, can still be seen near the remains of the building.

The Oikos may have initially served as an early temple of Apollo, and is thought to been used later as a meeting or dining hall. It has been described as a sort of "clubhouse" or "guildhall". It may have also functioned as a treasury for the storage and display of sacred vessels and votive objects.

Partially restored, the antefix is in a good condition, and some of the colour has survived. The strongly modelled face of the "horrid type" Gorgoneion is unusual in a number of ways. For example, the centrally parted hair above the forehead is only slightly wavy, The ends of the four braids on either side of the head resemble crabs' claws rather than snakes' heads, and the prominent nose and cheeks are unwrinkled. The sixteen petal-shaped lobes radiating from around the head, painted alternately red and blue, have been interpreted as representing a seashell.

The inside of the shell is separated from the Gorgon's head by an arched frame. Either side of the head, two flat, red-painted bands, representing snaky locks of hair, descend from behind the frontal ears and curl outwards around the lower ends of the frame (or round objects) to form circles.

The countours of the eyebrows and eyes are confidently painted with fine lines and the pupils are concentric circles of red, white and blue, similar to bullseyes. The surviving left ear is painted blue, and the round earring has six red dots around a larger central red dot. The open mouth has finely modelled lips, an even row of top teeth, upper and lower fangs at the corners, and a red protuding tongue. Below the jaw hangs a wavy "beard" (see Medusa part 2).

The excellent Aegean Maritime Museum in Mykonos town is, as the name indicates, primarily concerned with the history of seafaring - in the wider Mediterranean as well as the Aegean Sea. However, it also contains a small number of ancient artefacts not directly connected with sea travel, except in that they were found in shipwrecks or are examples of goods traded by ship. The label of the Gorgon antefix points out that Gorgoneions were used as apotropaic figureheads on the prows of ships.

The exhibits were collected by George M. Drakopoulos (Γεώργιος Δρακόπουλος), who founded the small private museum in 1983 and opened it to the public in 1985. The labelling is informative, but as with many private collections, little or no information is provided about archaeological context or provenance for the objects.

The website of the Maritime Museum Mykonos: aegean-maritime-museum.gr (in Greek and English)

Mould-made shell-frame antefixes of this type are thought to have been invented and developed in Campania, southern Italy around 550 BC as part of a local boom in the production of architectural terracottas influenced by the work of Greek artists in the nearby colonies of Magna Graecia (see another shell-frame antefix below). A large number have been discovered at ancient Casilinum, an Etruscan city just to the northwest of Capua (ancient Etruscan Capeva), on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain, 25 km northwest of Naples. Several types and variations have been identified. Most are decorated with Gorgoneions, although other male and female heads are also represented. The majority of finds are in the Museo Provinciale Campano, Capua, and many others are now in various museum worldwide [6].

One of two polychrome antefixes (Acropolis Museum, Inv. Nos. Acr. 78 and Acr. 79) discovered in 1836 in a deposit of objects beneath the southeast corner of the Parthenon, during excavations 1834-1836 led by the German archaeologist Ludwig Ross with architects Eduard Schaubert and Hans Christian Hansen (see Athens Acropolis gallery page 12). The earth around the findspot was burnt, suggesting destruction by a fire, perhaps that caused by the destruction of buildings on the Acropolis during the Persian invasion in 480 BC. It has thus been suggested that they may be from the Archaic Pre-Parthenon temple (Parthenon 2) or the Archaic Propylon, the monumental gateway to the Acropolis which was replaced by the Classical Propylaia.

In 1888 fragments of another seven antefixes (Inv. Nos. Acr. 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87), made from the same mould as the first two, were found at various locations to the east and west of the Parthenon. The style of the nine Gorgoneions has been described as Type IX or Ionic (East Greek) type, "in der ältesten Form geschmückt" (decorated in the oldest form), although it has also been compared to West Greek examples of the 6th century BC from Olympia (Olympia Archaeological Museum) and the metope in Selinunte (540-510 BC, see Medusa part 2). One source suggests a date of around 510-500 BC.

The hair on the top of the head falls in thick wavy bands, ending in a row of thirteen spiral curls above the forehead, and at each side with a row of four long beads, alternately red and black. There are no ears, but large round earrings. The face is broad, with wrinkles on the brow, at the outer edges of the eyes and at the top of the short, flat nose. She has an open grinning mouth with full lips, gums, a row of four regular top teeth, four long fangs in the place of incisors, then rows of pointed top and bottom teeth at the sides, and a potruding tongue. At either side of her chin appears a coiled snake, described as "bearded". The earrings, eyes, lips, tongue and gums are dark red. The hair, eye pupils, eyebrows and snakes are painted black turning to reddish purple. The face and background are pale yellow.

The two best preserved antefixes, Inv. Nos. Acr. 78 and Acr. 79, although broken, are almost complete and still have part of the tile.

Inv. No. Acr. 78. Height 19.5 cm, width 20 cm, length 16 cm.

Inv. No. Acr. 79. Height 21.5 cm, width 20 cm, length 15 cm.

Inv. No. Acr. 85. Only the bottom half of the Gorgnoeion has survived, from just below the eyes, and part of the tile. Height 11.3 cm, width 20.5 cm, depth 12 cm, length of tile at back 7 cm.

The fragments of the other six antefixes are of various shapes and sizes.

A fragment of a larger terracotta Gorgoneion mask (Inv. No. Acr. 88, height 11 cm, width 85 cm), probably an antefix, was also found on the Acropolis. Only an ear and part of the hair have survived, but it appears to have been worked in the round not flat like the others.

Image source: chromolithograph by J. G. Bach of Leipzig, from a drawing by Hans Christian Hansen (1803-1883), in Ludwig Ross (1806-1859), Archäologische Aufsätze, Erste Sammlung: Griechische Gräber; Ausgrabungsberichte aus Athen; Zur Kunstgeschichte und Topographie von Athen und Attika, Tafel 8, Fig. 1; text on pages 105 and 109-110. B. G. Teubner, Leipzig, 1855.

See also:

Stanley Casson, Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum, Volume II, Sculpture and architectural fragments, with a section on the terracottas by Dorothy Lamb Brooke Nicholson, pages 35, 289-290, 322, 426. Cambridge University Press, 1921.

The ancient Thracian city of Oesyme (Οίσύμη) was located on the North Aegean coast, near the modern settlement of Nea Peramos, just to the west of Kavala (ancient Neapolis), opposite the island of Thasos. It was mentioned by Homer as Aisyme (Αίσύμη), the birthplace of Kastianeira (Καστιάνειρα), "lovely as a goddess", one of the wives of King Priam of Troy (The Iliad, Book 8, lines 253-343).

In the second half of the 7th century BC it became one of the coastal colonies of Thasos and part of the Thasian Peraia. The city's acropolis was on a fortified hill and had an Archaic temple, perhaps dedicated to Athena, which was replaced in the early 5th century BC. Oesyme also had a sanctuary dedicated to the Nymphs. Following the conquest of the city by Philip II of Macedonia around 350 BC, it was renamed Emathia (Ημαθία), after the ancient name for Macedonia and its mythical founder hero.

The German archaeologist Carl Fredrich (1871-1930) visited Thasos during his archaeological tour of the northeastern Aegean April-December 1904, on behalf of the Königliche Akademie der Wissenschaften (Royal Acadamy of Sciences). His reports on Philippi, Imbros and Thasos were published in 1908. The report on Thasos was illustrated by the image above, after a drawing by "Herr Lübke (Berlin)", perhaps Max Lübke.

Fredrich mentioned that he owned the antefix, which he described as Ionian and of "the old snakeless, bearded type with the wide-open eyes", and compared it to the motif on the early coins of Neapolis (Kavala), "the daughter city of Thasos". "The irises of the eyes and teeth are white, lips, gums and tongue red, the rest is black."

So far I have not discovered what happened to this antefix or its present location. It does not appear to be in the Berlin State Museums. Since Carl Fredrich died in Stettin (since 1945 Szczecin, Poland), perhaps it is there.

Source: G. Fredrich, Thasos, in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung, Band 33, pages 215-246, Tafel X. Beck und Barth, Athens, 1908. At the Internet Archive. The volume also includes Fredrich's articles on Philippi and Imbros.

Another similar, more complete antefix from Thasos, dated to the third quarter of the 6th century BC, was in the State Museums Berlin (Inv. No. 94153) until 1945 when it was taken to Russia as war booty along with thousands of artefacts (see also the "Victoria of Calvatone" on the Nike page). It is now exhibited in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. Inv. AT 3423 (724). Height 17.7 cm, width 28 cm.

One of a number of Gorgoneion antefixes found in the southern sanctuary of Poseidonia. They are thought to have decorated smaller temples and thesauri (θησαυροί, plural of thesauros, θησαυρός, treasury, storehouse) built soon after the foundation of the city.

Five of the antefixes are exhibited in the Paestum museum. Each is of a different form and type, and the museum label suggests that they are displayed more-or-less in chronological order (see the other four in the photos below). The depictions of the Gorgon are successively less horrid.

One of several Gorgon antefixes of various styles (see another below) connected with different phases of construction on the acropolis of Selinous from the foundation of the city (circa 650-628 BC), to around the period of the building of Temple C (circa 540-510 BC). Other antefixes found there depict heads of Silenos and a youthful male.

Read more about Selinous on Demeter and Persephone part 1.

In the late 19th century, when discussing architectural terracottas discovered in Sicily, the archaeologist Reinhard Kekule von Stradonitz wrote:

"Of plastic figurative terracottas for architectural use, the most numerous are antefixes. Of these, naturally, the most uptil now come from Selinus. However, I know of others from Lilybaion, Motya, Gela, Kamarina, Syracuse and Naxos. The commonest representation is the Medusa head, which appears in various forms, including the later characterless forms. After these come Silen or Satyr heads and undefinable female heads."

The powerful city of Gela (Γέλα), on the south coast of Sicily, was founded circa 688 BC by Dorian Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete, around 45 years after the foundation of Syracuse. According to Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 6, chapter 4), around 108 years later (circa 582-580 BC) the Geloans founded Akragas (Ἀκράγας, today Agrigento), further west along the coast. The modern town was founded as Terranova di Sicilia by Emperor Frederick II in 1233 AD, and renamed Gela in 1928.

There are a number of antefixes of this type, known as "gorgone con krobylos", including three in Gela Archaeological Museum; the best preserved is Inv. No. 8411. All show the Gorgon wearing a wide, curved headdress or stephane (crown) above rows of black curls and the elaborate krobylos (κρώβυλος) hairstyle popular during the Archaic period, as well as large round earrings with concentric circles.

One fragment from Gela, on which the paint has been well preserved, shows the strong colours used, including "rouged" cheeks. [8] The face is quite human, although to the modern eye with something of a cartoon or clown character. There are no snakes, wrinkled nose or fangs, in fact the teeth are in perfectly even rows. The faded paint in this example suggest a faraway, distance look in the eyes, although the Gela fragment belies this illusion. However, this is not a glance that would petrify or even scare the viewer.

One of an number of Etruscan architectural terracottas, including four Gorgoneions, displayed in the museum on a very high shelf, and therefore difficult to see for most visitors. The individual exhibits are not labelled, and not all are to be found in the Collections section of the museum's website.

1. Clay, pottery and ceramics

2. Protome

A protome (Greek, προτομή, foremost or upper part of something; from the verb προτέμνειν, protemnein, to cut off the front) is a depiction of the head, bust or forepart of an animal, human or fabulous creature, usually a frontal view, in art and architectural decoration, on utensils, coins, etc.

The earliest known use of the word was by the English doctor, clergyman, antiquarian and natural philosopher William Stukeley (1687-1765), who also pioneered the archaeological investigation of Avebury and Stonehenge. The word protome was used - without explanation - in:

William Stukeley, The family memoirs of the Rev. William Stukeley, M.D., and the antiquarian and other correspondence of William Stukeley, Roger & Samuel Gale, etc., Volume III, pages 56 and 61 (extracts from diary entries for September 1737 and July 1739). Publications of the Surtees Society, Volume LXXX for the year 1885. Durham, London, Edinburgh, 1887. At the Internet Archive.

3. Etruscan ceramic tile roofs

"Roof terracootas from southern Etrutria and Latium
Since the 7th century BC, the Etruscans roofed their buildings with clay tiles like the Greeks. The roof fringes were decorated with colourful, ornamental and figure-shaped terracottas. Antefixes on the cullis were formed in the shape of heads or masks. Clay figures crowned the gables and roof ridges, Caere was one of the centres of this terracotta production."

Exhibit label in the Altes Museum, Berlin.

4. "Gorgoneion" antefix from Thessaloniki

5. Beautiful type Gorgoneion antefix from Taranto

The antefix is now in the Collezione Archeologica Paolo Orsi of the Museo Civico di Rovereto, Italy.

See: Ingrid Krauskopf, Gorgo, Gorgones, nu. 108b. In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Band 4, Zürich/München 1988.

6. Shell-frame antefixes

Professor Birgitta Lindros Wohl reported that in 1995 there were around 59 Gorgon antefixes of a number of sizes and minor variations, some fragmentary, on display in the Museo Provinciale Campano, Capua, with a further unspecified number in storerooms.

See: Birgitta Lindros Wohl, A Campanian Gorgon Antefix, in The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, Volume 24/1996, pages 13-20. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, 1997. At jstor.org.

The terracotta shell-frame antefix from Campania now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, is dated around 550-500 B.C. Preserved height 27.5 cm, width 37 cm. Inv. No. 75.AD.107.

Below is a list of some of the Campanian shell-frame Gorgon antefixes in other museums. All examples are dated around 550-500 BC (some 575-500 BC), are described as Etrusucan and having been found at Casilinum, most with surviving traces of red, black and white colour:

National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Inv. No. 21581.

Museo Artistico Industriale, Rome. Inv. Nos. 9 and 26.

British Museum. Inv. Nos. 1877,0802.5 (Terracotta B596) and 1877,0802.4 (Terracotta B597).

Antikensammlung, Berlin State Museums. Inv. No. TC 7154.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Inv. Nos. H 30 and H 30a.

Historisches Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main.

Two are recorded in the Palazzo Chigi, Siena.

7. The Gorgon antefixes from Thasos

For further information about the antefix in the Pushkin Museum, see:

Акимова Людмила Ивановна (Akimova Ludmila Ivanovna), 35. АНТЕФИКС С МАСКОЙ ГОРГОНЫ МЕДУЗЫ (Antefix with the mask of the Gorogon Medusa). Part of the online catalogue of the A.S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, in Russian (250 artefacts from the museum's collection, organized into 12 sections).

Akimova mentions another antefix from Thasos, perhaps Fredrich's fragment illustrated above, which she believes is in the Berlin State Museums: "The closest analogy to the monument is another, somewhat worse preserved antefix, which also originates from Thasos (from the area of ​​the Temple of Hercules and Prytaneus) and now kept in the Antique Collection of Berlin."

Very little has been published on the Gorgon antefixes from Thasos, and I have yet to find a comparison of the three mentioned here. The example in the Thasos museum is mentioned in the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) Volume 4, 1, but the entry is typical of many academic publications in that it unhelpfully terse and the bibliographic references lead the reader to outdated publications which contain little further information about the subject.

"47. Tonantifixe. Thasos, Mus. Vom Herakles-tempel und vom Prytaneion. Fredrich, C., AM 33, 1908, 245 Taf. 10; Daux, G., Guide de Thasos (1968) 103 Abb. 49; Belson II 99-101 EG 26-27. - 3. Viertel 6. Jh. v. Chr. - Typ verwandt 31. Ohrringe, Hauer."

LIMC IV, 1, Eros-Herakles, Gorgo and gorgones, No. 47, page 292. Artemis & Winkler Verlag, Zurich, Munich and Dusseldorf, 1988. At the Internet Archive.

A photo of the antefix in the Thasos museum, taken in the 1960s by the German photographer, art historian and archaeologist Konrad Helbig (1917-1986), can be seen on the website of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library), along with an equally terse description:

8. Gorgoneion with krobylos from Gela

See: Marina Castoldi, Vera da cisterna con Gorgoneia da Gela, Numismatica e antichità classiche (Quaderni Ticinesi), XXXIX, 2010, pages 61-76.

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