status, but would commemorate its ability to continue to help maintain the polis at large, in spite of individual death(s). Style The quiet contemplation evident in the figures of Hegeso and her maidservant was common in all grave reliefs of the fifth century BCE. According to Mitchell, this "mere shadow of emotion" reflects absence of individuality and is reminiscent of the Parthenon frieze in its expression. The characters are noble and beautiful, but absorbed without affection for the object at which they direct their gaze (presumably a piece of jewelry). However, Buitron-Oliver notes that the highly idealized figures on the Parthenon frieze gave way to more realistic drapery around 400 BCE, as seen in the Hegeso relief. These new trends led to classical sculpture, in which a "severe style" was common. During this early classical period, sculptors and painters endowed their works with a feeling of seriousness in order to portray a sense of sophrosyne. References and sources References Sources Barker, A.W. (1924). The costume of the servant on the grave-relief of Hegeso. American Journal of Archaeology, 28(3), 290-292. Buitron-Oliver, D. (1992). The Greek Miracle: Classical Sculpture from the Dawn of the Democracy (the Fifth Century B.C.). Washington: The National Gallery of Art. Burton, D. (2003). Public memorials, private virtues: women on classical Athenian grave monuments. Mortality, 8(1), 20-35. Carpenter, R. (1950). Tradition and invention in Attic reliefs. American Journal of Archaeology, 54(4), 323-336. Closterman, W.E. (2007). Family ideology and family history: the function of funerary markers in Classical Attic peribolos tombs. American Journal of Archaeology, 111(4), 633-652. Kaltsas, N. (2002). Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Los Angeles: Getty Publications. Leader, R.E. (1997). In death not divided: gender, family, and state on classical Athenian grave stelae. American Journal of Archaeology, 101(4), 683-699. Mitchell, L.M.W. (1905). A History of Ancient Sculpture. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co. Verrall, M.G. & Harrison, J.E. (1890). Mythology & Monuments of Ancient Athens: Being a Translation of a Portion of the 'Attica' of Pausanias. London: Macmillan and Co. Whitley, J. (2001). The Archaeology of Ancient Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. External links Perseus National Archaeological Museum of Athens 1st-millennium BC steles National Archaeological Museum, Athens Funerary steles Ancient Greek sculptures Kerameikos