Sarcophagus Panel

End panel from a sarcophagus, showing a bearded naked man, advancing to its left with his head frontal and looking at the viewer. He holds in his left hand the bridle of the prancing steed and on the right a club that makes him look like the hero Hercules. It is one of the end reliefs of 59.148.221; the other end panel is 59.148.264. The panel is part of the Phaeton imploring Helions sarcophagus. The man can therefore be identified as a Wind-God similar to the ones represented in 59.148.221; they also resemble more of Herakles. Angelicoussis suggested that this male figure of this relief and the other end panel 59.148.264 may be representing the Dioskouri brothers as they are common in sarcophagoi and funerary contexts. She also commented that the Dioskouroi would be equine assistants who would be able to retrieve Helios' son following his fall. Roman sarcophagi of this type were placed in mausolea against a wall or in a niche, and so were decorated on only the front and two sides.