Hellenistic relief-decorated stelai from Macedonia: typology, iconography, styles, interpretation and chronology - banquet and rider reliefs

The thesis is concerned with the Hellenistic banquet and rider reliefs discovered within modern Greece, and examines their typology, iconography, and style, in order to trace the evolution of both themes and of individual motifs, in comparison with similar material from other Greek areas, and Macedonian areas now belonging outside the Greek borders. It aims to investigate the influence of sculpture of other Greek areas (predominantly Attic sculpture) on iconography and style, as well as to establish prototypes and local trends, and thus to place Macedonian funerary relief production within the broader frame of Greek relief production. It also aims to trace any relation between iconography and metaphysical beliefs of the Macedonians by exploring the cultural and religious background of the people, as attested by archaeological and literary evidence. Both themes are seen in the light of public beliefs in the Afterlife and within the context of the heroization and cult of the dead in the Hellenistic period. Both themes, as well as individual motifs, are interpreted on the basis of iconography, epigraphy and literature; it is argued that the funerary banquet represents the deceased as a hero in the Underworld, and that the theme of the rider represents the deceased both as a hero and as an important member of the society. The social status of individuals and groups who erected the reliefs is also investigated on the basis of iconography, epigraphy, and onomastics, with the aim of exploring the plausible factors which might have determined the choice of themes and particular motifs