Xenokrateia Relief

[1] The relief, currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (NAMA 2756), was found in Neo Phaliro in 1908, in the area inside the Long Walls, which in Antiquity connected the harbor of Piraeus with Athens proper, around the walls’ intersection point with the bed of the Kephisos river.

Xenokrateia to Kephisos a sanctuary has founded and dedicated [it] to [him] and to the gods who share this altar in thanks for ta didaskalia, the daughter and the mother of Xeniades of Choleidai, whoever wishes, is permitted to sacrifice for the fulfillment of good things This inscription has generated many – and sometimes contradicting – interpretations.

This phrase is usually translated as “instructions,” “teachings,” “upbringing,” or “training.” One of the interpretations suggests that the relief was given in thanks for the education of Xenokrateia's son.

Unfortunately, most of the figures lack attributes, thus they cannot be identified with certainty, and scholars vary in their opinions in this regard, since such little secure evidence leaves a great room for hypothesis and guesswork.

It was identified as a kerykeion, meaning the figure is Hermes, as a loom, claiming that this is Rhapso, one of the Moirai, who weave the destinies of men, and as a torch held by Artemis.

Most scholars assume that the two figures in the smaller scale are Xenokrateia and her son, and that she is introducing him to Kephisos, so that the god may oversee the boy's growth to adulthood.

In order to decipher the composition of the Xenokrateia Relief and to identify the figures portrayed on it, scholars use the two other finds from the site.

On one side it depicts the hero Acheloos, kidnapping a nymph whose name is inscribed as Iasila,[7] while Hermes is leading the chariot.

There is a great uncertainty regarding the next five figures, and there are many possible identifications for them, namely Hestia, Eileithyia, Leto, Rhapso, nymphs or river-gods such as Kephisos or Ilisos.

Finally, of the two figures on the far right, the one on the top is understood to be Kallirhoe or a statue of hers, although some suggest it is Eileithyia or Hecate, and the bull-like deity on the bottom, is identified as the river-god Acheloos by almost all scholars.