Note (return) — THE TEMPLE ON THE ACROPOLIS BURNT BY THE PERSIANS.

The next group on the left is represented as at the very edge of the water, and consists of a nude bearded satyr (X b), who is dragging an overthrown pirate (X a) by the foot, with the evident intention of hurling him into the sea. The legs and the right arm of this pirate have been destroyed by another hole, similar to that which is found between figures IX and IX a. On the right side, a bearded satyr, with flowing panther-skin (x¹ a) rushes to the right, thrusting a torch into the face of a pirate who is seated on a rock (x¹ b), with his hands bound behind his back. In his shoulder are fastened the fangs of a serpent, which is in keeping here as sacred to Dionysos. Perhaps, as Stuart has suggested, 106 he may be a metamorphosis of the cord with which the pirate's hands are bound; but the sculptor has not made this clear. The figures of this group, which were in tolerable preservation at the time when Lord Elgin's cast was made, have since been nearly effaced, particularly the face, legs and torch of the satyr, and the face and legs of the pirate, also the rocks upon which he is seated, and the serpent. Between these figures and the following dolphin, there is a third hole, similar to those mentioned already, and measuring 15x16 centimetres.