Judicio Pylium

The earliest record of Shakespeare's Stratford monument appears in Dugdale's Antiquities of Warickshire , 1656. Note the down-turned mustache and absence of either pen or paper. Beneath the Effigy, the only words given from the full text are "Judgement of Pylium".
In Mythology , Edith Hamilton retells the story of Orestes, Pylades, and Iphigenia, only found in its entirety in two plays of the 5th century tragic poet Euripides ( 365-70):

Although Athena had pronounced [Orestes] clear of guilt, in this story all the Erinyes had not accepted the verdict [and e]ven the acquittal pronounced by Athena had not restored to him his peace of mind. [...]
In his despair he went to Delphi [where he was told] he must go to the Taurian country...and bring away the sacred image of Artemis from her temple. When he had set it up in Athens he would at last be healed and at peace. He would never again see terrible forms haunting him. [...] At whatever cost he was bound to make the attempt and Pylades would not let him make it alone.
When the two reached the temple they saw at once that they must wait for the night before doing anything. There was no chance by day of getting into the place unseen. They retreated to keep under cover in some dark lonely spot. [...]
"I will not leave you here to die alone," [Pylades told Orestes]. "All will call me a coward if I do so. No. I love you -- and I fear what men may say."
[Orestes said], "As for me - it is no misfortune for me to die." As they spoke to each other in hurried whispers, Iphigenia entered with a letter in her hand. ...[S]he turned to Pylades -- "I will tell you what is in the letter so that even if through some mischance you lose your belongings, you will carry my message in your memory and bear it to my friends."
"A good plan," Pylades said. [...]
"Say to him, 'Brother, bring me back home. Free me from this murderous priesthood, this barbarous land.' Mark well, young man, the name..." [...]
"I am speaking to you, not to him," Iphigenia said to Pylades. "You will remember the name?"
"Yes," Pylades answered... [He then gives the letter to Orestes, Iphigenia's brother whom she did not recognize.]
Pylades had been waiting in silence, sympathetic, but impatient. He thought the hour for action had emphatically arrived. [...]
After a few moments Iphigenia came out bearing an image in her arms. A man was just stepping across the threshold of the temple enclosure. Iphigenia cried out, "O King, halt. Stay where you are." In astonishment he asked her what was happening. She told him that the two men he had sent her for the goddess were not pure. They were tainted, vile...
"I am taking the image to the seashore to purify it," she said. "And there too I will cleanse the men from their pollution. Only after that can the sacrifice be made. All that I do must be done in solitude."

The second oldest representation of the bust is found in Rowe's Life of Shakespeare , published in 1709. Note again the drooping mustache and lack of pen or paper.

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