The Telephos Frieze

The Telephos Frieze embodies the greatest imaginable contrast to the Gigantomachy frieze. While the latter presents a mythical battle unified in time and place, the Telephos Frieze depicts a series of events that occur in a chronological sequence across a variety of locations. It illustrates the life of Telephos, the heroic founder of Pergamon and forebear of its royal dynasty. Unlike the violent battle on the socle of the Altar, the frieze in the courtyard is measured. It characterises people and actions in a refined way, and tends toward the idyllic and atmospheric. Together, the two friezes exemplify the diverse and sometimes contrary possibilities of Greek art at the end of the high Hellenistic phase. From his birth in Arkadia to his kingship in Mysia and his heroisation after death, Telephos’ life was guided by the gods. He benefited from their divine miracles and suffered from their wrath. His great deeds are the subject of the frieze: the heroic wars by which he kept the throne of Mysia and the cults he established to worship the gods. Such a continuous narrative sequence appears here for the first time in Greek sculpture.