PEPOVISI THRONE | 460 BC | CARVED MARBLE | TWO ATTENDANTS LIFT THE PLEATED FABRIC THAT SURROUNDS PEPOVISI, NOT AS AN ACT OF SERVITUDE BUT AS A SYMBOLIC ELEVATION. IN KEKEAN TRADITION, LAUGHTER AND LEVITY WERE NOT PERIPHERAL EMOTIONS BUT TOOLS OF CLARITY, THOUGHT TO "RAISE THE SPIRIT ABOVE THE WEIGHT OF MORTAL CONCERNS." PEPOVISI, WITH HIS ROUNDED BELLY AND SERENE GRIN, PERSONIFIES THIS PRINCIPLE, THE ABILITY TO REMAIN LIGHT-HEARTED IN A WORLD THAT DEMANDED CONSTANT SERIOUSNESS. HIS POSE SUGGESTS NEITHER EMBARRASSMENT NOR VANITY. INSTEAD, PEPOVISI APPEARS ALMOST CONTEMPLATIVELY AMUSED, AS THOUGH AWARE THAT THE RITUAL IS AS MUCH A COMEDIC PERFORMANCE AS IT IS A RITE OF PASSAGE. THE ATTENDANTS' CAREFUL GESTURES REINFORCE THE COMMUNAL ASPECT OF HUMOR IN ANCIENT KEKEAN SOCIETY, LEVITY WAS TO BE SHARED, LIFTED, SUPPORTED.

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