Relief with a Fighting Arimasp

The figure is portrayed in profile facing proper right, with a sword held in his right hand over his head, and a pelta (crescent shield) resting on the ground covering his left arm. He is about to strike an adversary, probably a griffin. His right leg is bent and thrust forward while the left kneels on the ground; his abdomen is inclined backward. He wears a Phrygian cap, a short chiton belted under the chest, and a chlamys that, following the warrior’s motions, is lifting to one side, forming a series of fluted folds. Reliefs of Arimasps, members of a Scythian tribe of one-eyed men who were constantly at war with griffins, typically ornamented Tarentine sarcophagi.