Cleveland Museum of Art

Tritoness or Scylla Relief Applique

Date

late 200s BCE

Medium

bronze with copper inlays

Culture

Greece, Hellenistic period

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The seaweed garment, finned gills, and webbed ears give this female bust appliqué all the hallmarks of an ocean dweller. She may be a Tritoness, a minor goddess of the sea and the female counterpart to the more common Triton. However, her intense gaze and raised arm clutching perhaps the hilt of a sword suggest she may be Scylla, a sea monster that first appears in Homer’s Odyssey . Without the Tritoness’s fishtail or Scylla’s lower body made of dogs’ heads, it is difficult to differentiate. Certain features are highlighted with a copper inlay such as the lips, eyes, and gills. Mythological sea creatures became popular metal vessel decorations around the 2nd-century BCE.

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