Orestes, by the
advice of Apollo, clasps as a suppliant the ancient image of Athena at
Athens, the goddess comes flying from far away in the Troad when she
hears the sound of his calling. The exact relation of the goddess to the
image is not, in all probability, very clearly realised; but, so far as
one can trace it from the ritual procedure, what appears to be implied
is that a suppliant will have a better chance of reaching the deity he
addresses if he approaches one of the images preferred by that deity as
the abode of his power; often there is one such image preferred to all
others, as this early one of Athena at Athens. The deity was not,
therefore, regarded as immanent in any image--at least, in classical
times; the gods lived in Olympus, or possibly visited from time to time
the people whom they favoured, or went to the great festivals that were
held in their honour. But the various images of them, especially the
most ancient ones, that were set up in their temples in the various
cities of Greece were regarded as a means of communication between gods
and men. The prayer of a worshipper addressing such an image will be
transmitted to the deity whom he addresses, and the deity may even come
in person to hear him, if special aid is required. A close parallel may
be found even in modern days. I have known of a child, brought up in the
Roman Catholic religion, who had a particular veneration or affection
for a certain statue of the Virgin, and used often to address it or, as
she said, converse with it. And she said she had an impression that, if
only she could slip in unawares, she might see the Virgin Mary herself
approaching or leaving the statue, whether to be transformed into it or
merely to dwell in it for a time. On Greek vases we see the same notion
expressed as in the _Eumenides_, when a god or goddess is represented as
actually present beside the statue to which a sacrifice or prayer is
being offered.

In such a stage of religious belief or imagination it is clearly of high
importance that the image of any deity should be pleasing to that deity,
and thereby attract his presence and serve as a ready channel of
communication with him. From the point of view of art, it would seem at
first sight that the result would be a desire to make the image as
beautiful as possible, and as worthy an embodiment of the deity as the
sculptor could devise. This doubtless was the result in the finest
period of art in Greece, an