Unexpected afterlife
This sarcophagus was excavated in 1909 in the westermost shop in the façade of Horrea V,XII,2, so on the Decumanus Maximus, opposite the Baths of Neptune (II,IV,2). It was made in the late-Antonine period, but was taken to the shop in late antiquity, placed against the west wall, and used as a basin or fountain. A hole was then made in the lower part of the front of the sarcophagus for the discharge of the water.
The sarcophagus in the museum of Ostia. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.The sarcophagus, made of Luna marble, was used for a child (w. 1.37, h. 0.40, d. 0.36). It depicts scenes from the story of Meleager that goes as follows. The three Fates had predicted that Meleager would only live until an ember, burning in the family hearth, was consumed by fire. Overhearing them, his mother Althaia extinguished and hid the piece. Meleager's father, Oeneus, asked Meleager to slay the Calydonian Boar that had been terrorizing the area since Oeneus had omitted Artemis at a festival in which he honoured the other gods. Together with his beloved Atalanta, Meleager killed the boar and gave her the hide. His uncles Toxeus and Plexippus were enraged that the prize was given to a woman. Meleager killed them in the following argument. When Althaia found out that Meleager had killed her brothers, to avenge their death, she placed the piece of wood upon the fire, thus fulfilling the prophecy and killing Meleager, her own son.
It seems that the mother of the anonymous child in the sarcophagus felt guilty about its death. The story on the sarcophagus goes from right to left. The first scene is the one on the right, where the quarrel over the boar skin and the killing of the uncles by Meleager is represented. Meleager holds the boar skin, to the left Atalanta sits, covering her face. Between the central and the right scene is a statue of the Artemis, on top of a pedestal.
Detail of the right part. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.In the centre the dead or dying Meleager lies on a bed, with his father and two of his sisters. Through a door to the left of the bed Althaia enters the room, in dreadful remorse. The third scene, on the left, shows the two parents mourning at the tomb of their son. Above the cylindrical tomb is a tree.
Detail of the central part. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.Another re-used sarcophagus was found in the porticus of the Domus sul Decumano (III,II,3), on the southern Decumanus. Holes for lead water pipes were made in the wall behind the sarcophagus.
A sarcophagus used as basin or fountain in the porticus of the Domus sul Decumano (III,II,3).
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.
