The Ludovisi throne is one of the most famous works of early Classical sculpture, a white marble chair covered with bas relief, but the reasons for its creation and the purpose for which it was intended are both unknown. In this article Harriet Boyd Hawes, groundbreaking archaeologist, nurse, and relief worker, suggests that the reliefs are the adornments of a couch-altar that stood in the sanctuary which Themistocles restored for the Lycomids at Phlya, an origin that makes the artwork important for the history of art, the older religion of Greece, Orphism, clan-cults of Attica, and the background of Euripides. This article from one of the great minds of of the early century combines archeology and Classics to provide a compelling, if unprovable, connection between a pivotal moment in Greek history and a beautiful work of art.