"The Kore Who Looks After the Grain": A Copy of the Torlonia-Hierapytna Type in Cyrene

Abstract

Until recently, four copies of the sculptural type were known; with the discovery of a statue from Cyrene, there are currently five examples. The Cyrene replica, unlike the others, is securely labelled as a goddess-the Kore who looks after the grain-by an inscription on the base. Dated in the late second/early third century A.C., this replica is among the latest of the copies and diverges significantly from the other three complete ones in the treatment of its chiton. The reasons for this divergence, as well as the question of which goddess, if any, the type originally represented, are discussed. On the basis of stylistic comparisons, the Torlonia-Hierapytna type is dated to ca. 440 B.C. and is seen as part of an extensive network of related Classical types. The inscription on the base, analyzed in an epigraphical appendix, shows that the cult title used for Kore gives her an authority in the matter of grain which is normally ascribed to her mother, Demeter. In 1977, an over life-sized marble statue of a draped female was found in the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone in the Wadi bel Gadir, Cyrene (Libya) by the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Expedition (pl. 48, figs. 1-3; pl. 49, figs. 4-6; pl. 51, fig. 15).' The statue was discovered in the south boundary-wall of the E14 Mound, a large construction in the Middle Sanctuary made of shattered building elements, discarded sculptural dedications (mainly of the Antonine and Severan periods), rubble blocks, and earth fill.2 The E14 Mound appears to have been created in the third century A.C., after a major earthquake in A.D. 262 which heavily damaged the area. Before being placed in the mound, the statue must have stood within the terraced precinct of the Sanctuary with the many other votives dedicated to the two goddesses which have been unearthed by the Expedition since 1969.