A SHORT GUIDE

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THE SCULPTURES OF

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THE PARTHENON

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DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES

A SHORT GUIDE

TO THE

Sculptures of the Parthenon

IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

(ELGIN COLLECTION)

Second Edition

WITH 40 ILLUSTRATIONS

#

LONDON;

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES

*925PREFACE

The present Guide is designed to serve as a first introduction to the Marbles
of the Parthenon in the British Museum, and it is hoped that it can be mastered
in one, or perhaps two, visits to the Elgin Room.

In the description of the sculptures, special regard has been had to the
Packets of Pictorial Postcards Nos. lxxi (East Pediment), lxxii (West Pediment),
and xxx, The Frieze of the Parthenon (ia. each). The whole of the Sculptures
with the exception of a few small additions of recent years), will be found in
Fhe Sculptures of the Parthenon, folio, 1910 (price £5 i^s. od.).

A. H. SMITH.

31^ July, 1925.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .	.....................

The Elgin Marbles .	.

The Parthenon at Athens .

The Later History of the Parthenon
The Architecture of the Parthenon
The Drawings of Carrey .	.	.

The Sculptures .	.	.	.	.

THE COLOSSAL STATUE OL ATHENA PARTHENOS

THE PEDIMENT GROUPS..................

The East Pediment .

The West Pediment .....

THE METOPES .......................

THE FRIEZE ......................

Its Architectural Disposition .

The Subject Represented

The East Side ......

The North Side	.	.	.	.

The West Side ......

The South Side.	.	.	.	.	.

ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS ....

PAGE

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13

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28

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34
38
38
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A SHORT GUIDE TO THE
SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

INTRODUCTION

THE ELGIN MARBLES

The Sculptures of the Parthenon, preserved in the British Museum, are, with
i^w exceptions, a part of the collection known as the Elgin Marbles. It is so
■ailed in honour of the collector, the seventh Earl of Elgin, who was British
lAmbassador at the Porte at the beginning of the nineteenth century. At that
I period, Greece was still an outlying province of the Turkish empire. The sculp-
tures of Athens were rapidly perishing from neglect and mutilation,, and we
1 know that much was lost by the time of Lord Elgin that had been seen and
recorded by travellers less than fifty years before. Lord Elgin’s political influence
at Constantinople, where Great Britain was on the side of Turkey against
Napoleon, enabled his agents to rescue a valuable collection of sculptures.
This was shipped to London during the years 1800-1812. After a Parliamentary
enquiry the marbles were purchased for the public in 1816, and placed in the
British Museum. (See Lord Elgin and his Collection in Journal of Hellenic
Studies, 1916, pp. 163-372.)

THE PARTHENON AT ATHENS

The ancient city of Athens was grouped about a rocky hill, known as the
Acropolis (or “ highest city ”), which rises steeply from the plain, like the castle
rocks of Windsor and of Edinburgh. From the earliest times the Acropolis had
been both the fortress and the religious centre of the state. When the Persian
King invaded Greece, in 480 b.c., the Acropolis contained an extraordinary
; group of early buildings brilliantly coloured, adorned with primitive sculp-
tures, and full of votive offerings. A half-finished temple was also rising on the
site afterwards occupied by the Parthenon. All this was destroyed by the
Persian sack.

When the Persian danger was past, fragments of the ruined buildings,
and of the early sculptures, were used by the Athenians to level the soil of the
Acropolis, and remained buried until they were brought to light by modern
excavators. Other architectural pieces, drums of columns and the like, were
built into the fortress walls, where they can be seen to-day. On the ground
thus prepared new sanctuaries and temples rose up, built and adorned in the

I? 24

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

fully developed style of Greek art of the fifth century b.c. (See the exhibited
model of the Acropolis.)

Fig. i.—The Parthenon, from the North West.

Fig. 2. Similar View of a Modern Copy of the Parthenon.
{Art Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., built 1897.)

A full generation, however, elapsed before the greatest of these buildings,
the Parthenon (or “ maiden’s chamber ”), the temple of the maiden goddessTHE PARTHENON AT ATHENS

5

Athena, was begun. In the middle of the fifth century b.c. the Athenian
Empire had reached its highest point of prosperity. Athens was receiving and
treasuring the tribute paid by the allied states. In return it provided for their
naval defence, and devoted the surplus of the tribute to the adornment of
the capital city, “ decorating her, like a mistress putting on precious stones,”
so the enemies of Pericles declared, “ with statues and costly temples.” The
Parthenon was designed to be at once the temple of the city’s patron goddess
Athena and the treasure house of the confederacy. It was built on an extension
of foundations that had belonged to the unfinished temple mentioned above.

It is known from the inscriptions that the work was begun in 447 b.c.
Pericles, whose bust may be seen in the Ephesus Room, was the political leader
of the day. The sculptor Pheidias had a general superintendence of the works.
Ictinos was the principal architect, and wrote a memoir on the temple. Callicrates,
whose name is coupled with that of Ictinos, was a second architect, or perhaps
the contractor.

The colossal gold and ivory statue of Athena, which stood inside the
temple, is believed to have been finished in 439 b.c., and dedicated at the Pana-
thenaic Festival of 438 b.c. The Parthenon itself was completed six years later,
in 433-2 b.c., being the fifteenth year of the work, and the building accounts,*
on which our information is based, were then brought to a close.

Plutarch, in his life of Pericles, describes the intense activity of the time,
and adds that it was a matter of astonishment that works of such excellence
and importance could be completed within the limits of one administration.
Writing five hundred years after the event, he observes t that u every work of
the time of Pericles had from the moment of its creation the beauty of an old
master, but yet it retains its freshness and newness to this day. There is a
certain novelty that seems to bloom upon them, which ever keeps their beauty
untouched by time, as if they had perpetual breath of life, and an unaging soul
mingled in their composition.”

THE LATER HISTORY OF THE PARTHENON

The Parthenon was finished, as already said, in 432 b.c. For the next nine
centuries it continued to be a temple of Athena. It then became a Christian
Church, first of the Greek and then of the Latin Communions. It was dedicated
to the Panagia, or Virgin Mary, and so continued for ten centuries more, from
about 450 a.d. to 1458 a.e>. In the latter year Athens was taken by the Turks,

* Dinsmoor, American Journal of Archaeology, 2nd Ser., xvii., p. 53. For the whole of the
Parthenon inscriptions see Inscriptions Graecae, ed. minor, 1, nos. 339-362.
f Plutarch, Pericles, 13.6

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

and not long after, its cathedral church was converted into a Mohammedan
mosque. In this condition the building remained, practically intact, for two
centuries more. But in 1687 a Turkish garrison of the Acropolis was besieged
by an army commanded by the Venetian General Francesco Morosini. On the
evening of September 26 one of the besiegers’ shells fell on the Turkish store
of powder, which had been placed in the Parthenon. A great explosion
followed, and the middles of the long sides were blown outwards (Fig. 3).
Further grave damage was done by Morosini, who made an unsuccessful attempt

Fig. 3.—The Bombardment and Explosion of 1687.
[After Fanelli’s “ Atene Attica.”)

to lower the central figures of the west pediment, that had so far remained
almost complete. From that time onwards, the temple was a ruin. A small
and mean mosque was built askew on a part of its floor, and Turkish houses and
courtyards encumbered its surroundings. The state of the east end of the
temple in 1765 is shown in Fig. 4. For its present state see Postcards lxxi, No. 1.
In 1801 Lord Elgin’s agents began working at Athens. Further work was
undertaken in 1833, soon after the establishment of the Greek kingdom. The
Parthenon was cleared of unworthy obstructions, and the fallen sculptures
were excavated from the heaps of rubbish with which it was surrounded.NORTH SIDE.

8

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE PARTHENON

The Parthenon was an oblong building, surrounded by an outer row of

columns. There were eight at each
end, and seventeen at each side,

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making forty-six in all, since the
corner columns must not be
counted twice (Fig. 5). It was
of the Doric order of architecture.
That name indicates stout fluted
columns, without bases. On each
column is a swelling capital (the
echinus, or sea-urchin) supporting
a square slab (the abacus). Above
the abacus is a massive plain beam
(the architrave), and above the
architrave a series of sculptured
panels (the metopes), alternating
a with sets of vertical bands and
w grooves known as the triglyphs.
H These are surmounted by a mas-
o sive projecting member called the
cornice. Above, at each long end
is a triangular gable, or pediment,
once filled with groups of sculpture
in the round.

Inside the encircling row of
columns is a double chamber,
known as the cella, with a row of
six columns at each end of it.
These also are of the Doric order,
but above, in a position corre-
sponding to that of the metopes
and triglyphs on the outside order,
there is a continuous band of
sculpture in low relief. This is
also carried round the upper part
of the walls of the cella. It

WEST END.

Fig. 5.—Plan of the Parthenon.

(The positions of the extant sculptures are indicated.)presents a festal procession, and

is celebrated by the name of the Frieze of the Parthenon.

The structure of the building, and the relationship of its several parts are
well shown in the sectional view of the east end of the Parthenon (see Fig. 6).ARCHITECTURE OF THE PARTHENON

9

Models and drawings give a good idea of the proportions of a building, and
the relations of its parts to one another. But it is not easy to form an idea of
actual size except by close comparison of the unknown with that which is
familiar and easily accessible. For this purpose a comparison is made in Fig. 7
of half the front of
the Parthenon, put
side by side with half
lthe principal front of
the British Museum,
shown on the same
scale. It will also
serve for a compari-
son of the character
of the Doric and Ionic
orders of architecture.

The two fronts are,
roughly speaking, of
the same size, and
the upper parts of
each are fairly com-
parable in height,
though differing in the
details of the orders.

The most striking
difference is in the
proportions of the
columns, which are
tall and slender in the
Ionic building (the
Museum), and short
and stout by compari-
son in the Doric order
of the Parthenon.

The members of the external order of the temple can also be studied on the
recently erected reconstruction of the north-west angle of the temple (Fig. 8).
This is based on casts of the various parts, multiplied as required. The colouring
is an attempt to reproduce the original effect, as indicated by the faint traces
of patterns and colours that survive.

FIG. 6.—Sectional View of the East End of the Parthenon.
(After G. Niemann.)SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON



i o

THE DRAWINGS OF CARREY

Many parts of the sculptural decorations of the Parthenon, which have now
perished, or are only preserved in small fragments, were substantially complete
until the Venetian siege of 1687. By great good fortune it happened that a
few years before that event, in 1674, drawings of much of the sculpture were
made by a painter in the suite of the Marquis de Nointel, a French ambassador,!
who made a visit to Athens while on the voyage to Constantinople. The series

Fig. 7.—The Parthenon and the British Museum Compared.

includes the pediment groups, many of the metopes, and a large part of the
frieze. These drawings are preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris,
and are usually referred to as the drawings of Jacques Carrey, of Troyes. The
attribution is not certain, and its accuracy has been questioned, but not with
sufficient reason, for it rests on the nearly contemporary authority of a fellow-
townsman of Carrey.

Though executed in haste, and under unfavourable conditions, the Carrey
drawings are extraordinarily accurate as far as they go, and they must be theTHE DRAWINGS OF CARREY

11

basis of any attempt to understand or reconstitute the sculptures of the
Parthenon. In the descriptions that follow it will be seen that they are used
to explain the general relations of the sculptures of the pediment, and
to complete the most defective parts
of the frieze. The sketches, from
their hasty character, make many
omissions, but it is very seldom that
the draughtsman has wrongly under-
stood the originals, or inserted any
non-existent detail. He made no
attempt to reproduce the stvles or
special beauties of the sculpture, but
put on his paper a surprisingly
accurate note of the main facts.

The chief error in proportion lies in a
tendency to exaggerate length com-
pared with height in the drawings
of the frieze.

THE SCULPTURES

In the following descriptions we
deal with :—

1.	The surviving copies of the
great gold and ivory image of
Athena, which stood in the
temple (p. 12).

2.	The East Pediment group, or
sculptures in the round from
the east pediment or gable.

These stand on the squared
pedestals on the left of the
room, as you enter from the
Ephesus Room (p. 15).

3.	The West Pediment group,
or sculptuies from the west
pediment or gable. These stand on corresponding squared pedestals on
the right of the room (p. 20).

4.	The Metopes, or square sculptured panels on the wall of the Elgin

Room (p. 25).	c 2

Fig. 8.—The North-West Corner of the
Parthenon reconstucted in the
Elgin Room.12

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

5.	The Frieze, or Jong band of sculpture which runs all round the room at

the eye level (p. 28).

6.	Architectural fragments of the Parthenon (p. 40).

THE ATHENA PARTHENOS

The central ornament of the temple was the colossal image of the goddess

Athena, which was made by Pheidias.

J

Fig. 9.—Copy of the Statue of Athena
Pa.rthenos.

This was made of plates of gold and
ivory fastened to a wooden struc-
ture, and it is likely that it did
not survive the fall of paganism
at Athens in the course of the fifth
century a.d.

An idea of the figure may be
got from the small copies that
survive, in sculpture, and on
jewellery, coins and gems, and from
a description by Pausanias, who
wrote a description in the 2nd
century after Christ. Combining
these sources of information we
learn that the figure was, with
its base, about forty feet high.
Athena stood, wearing a long tunic
falling to her feet, and the terror-
striking aegis with a fringe of
snakes and the Medusa head in the
centre. With her left hand she
supported her spear and the edge
of her shield ; between her and
her shield was the serpent Erich-
thonios, a mysterious being in
Athenian legend. On her out-
stretched right hand was a winged
Victory, six feet high, holding a
wreath. The helmet of the god-
dess had a triple crest, based on
a seated Sphinx and two figures
of Pegasos. There were also
Gryphons on the cheek-pieces ofTHE ATHENA PARTHENOS

i3

the helmet, and a row of small horses at the front. A battle between
Greeks and Amazons was seen on the outer side of the shield, and one
between gods and giants on the inside. On the base was a representation of
the birth of Pandora, and on the edges of the sandals was a battle between
Centaurs and Lapiths.

300.	—Cast of a copy of the Athena Parthenos found at Athens in 1880
(see Fig. 9). This gives a good idea of the general appearance of the colossal
statue, though many of the details of the decoration have been left out, for
simplification.

300A.—Cast of another copy found at Patras in 1896. The head and right
arm, which were separate pieces of marble attached, are lost. On the shield a
part of the battle of Greeks and Amazons is preserved.

301.	—Small copy of the Athena Parthenos, unfinished. The battle of the
Greeks and Amazons on the shield is sketchily indicated.

302.	—Fragment of a copy of the shield of Athena Parthenos, giving the
battle of Greeks and Amazons.

Plutarch tells us that one of the figures was Pheidias himself, represented as
a baldheaded old man raising a stone with both hands. Another figure, fighting
against an Amazon, with one hand holding out a spear in such a way as to conceal
the face, was intended for Pericles. The story has the character of a guide’s
anecdote, told at a late time to account for two characteristic figures in a shield.
It may be conjectured that the figure, whose right arm is raised across his face,
is the supposed Pericles, and that the old man lifting a battle-axe (not, as Plutarch
says, a stone) stood for Pheidias.

THE PEDIMENT GROUPS

The large groups of figures carved in the round, on pedestals, on the floor of
the room are the celebrated sculptures from the gables or pediments of the
Parthenon.

At the first sight they are disconnected and fragmentary, but they deserve
the careful study which is necessary in order that their meaning may be under-
stood.

In the illustrations given below (Figs. 12-14, 18-21), the drawings of Carrey
have been used to supply the connexions, and to complete, as far as they may,
the missing parts of the figures.

The interest of the pediment sculptures of the Parthenon lies in the fact
that in them, for the first time in human history, the sculptor has reached the
full height of his art. In the Egyptian and Assyrian Galleries we see theH

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

accomplishment and also the limitations of the Egyptian and Oriental sculptors.
In the Archaic Room we see the laborious efforts of the Greek artist to acquire
freedom and mastery. At length, in the Elgin Room, the sculptors of theTHE PEDIMENT GROUPS

i5

Parthenon marbles are seen to have reached the highest qualities of sculpture
anatomical truth, freedom in the expression of pose and movement, idealized
beauty and dignity of form, lifelike richness and complexity of drapery. Nearly
all the later sculpture of antiquity, and a large part of modern sculpture, is
descended, by a gradual process of change and development, from the Athenian
art, of which the Parthenon sculptures are the highest expression. That the
advance from the formality of the Aeginetan sculpture in the Archaic Room to
the full freedom of the Parthenon should have taken place within a period of
years not longer than an artist’s working life is an unexplained marvel.

THE EAST PEDIMENT

The only reference to these sculptures in ancient literature is a short note
by Pausanias, the traveller. He states that the subject of the composition in the
pediment above the front entrance, that is to say in the East Pediment, had to
do with the birth of Athena. According to the legend the goddess Pallas Athena
(known to the Romans as Minerva) sprang fully armed from the skull of her

a	b c

Fig. 12.—Left Side of East Pediment.

father Zeus (Roman Jupiter), the supreme god. The skull of Zeus was cleft by
Hephaestos (Roman Vulcan) or, according to other stories, by Prometheus.

Carrey’s drawings (Figs. 10, 11) show that the whole of the central group,
which no "doubt contained the Zeus and Athena as its most important figures,
was missing from an early date. The figures that survive are those farthest from
the main action, and seem to be but slightly concerned with it. For general
views of the sculpture corresponding to Carrey’s drawings, see Postcards lxxi,
Nos. 2, 3.

All attempts to reconstruct the central group are based on conjecture and16	SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

doubtful inference, and may therefore be passed over in the present Guide,
which only deals with parts that remain.

We begin with the left, that is to say with the south angle of the east
pediment.

The figures 303 A, B, C (Fig. 12, Postcards lxxi, Nos. 4, 5), are Helios the
Sun-god and his horses. The moment represented is sunrise, and with outstretched
arms the Sun-god guides his fiery team, which is represented as springing up out
of the sea. The mattress-like base from which the head and arms of the god
emerge will be seen on dose examination to be a representation of rippling

d	e	f	g

Fig. 13.—Left Side of East Pediment.

wavelets. These are also indicated in a conventional way on the side of the
horses’ necks. Four horses made the team, two on the inside being still in position
in the pediment of the temple, at Athens.

Certain drilled holes sunk in the marble of both parts of the group should
be noticed, since they show that bronze reins and bridles once completed the
sculptures. [Similar bronze trappings may still be seen on one of the horses of
the chariot group in the middle of the Mausoleum Room.]

Fb—Facing the horses of the Sun is the reclining male figure D, always
known as the Theseus (Fig. 13, Postcards lxxi, Nos. 6 and 7, back view). This
name was given to it at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the subject
of the pediment was confused by scholars with that of the West Pediment, in
which the scene (as we shall see below) is laid at Athens, and the Attic heroTHE EAST PEDIMENT

•7

Theseus might well be looked for. But it is not likely that he was represented
as present at a celestial event, such as the birth of Athena, and some other
name must be found. Some help may be got from the fact that the skin of a
lion or panther is spread over the rocky base, beneath the drapery. This probably
limits our choice of a name to Heracles (Roman Hercules) or Dionysos (Roman
Bacchus). Perhaps the latter is to be preferred. If so, the god is represented in
heroic form, and not in the soft womanish style of later art. The figure reclines
on the rocky ground in easy and graceful repose, yet he is marked with ideal
grandeur and dignity. Here at last, in the slow advance of the sculptor s ait,

Fig. 14.—Right Side of East Pediment.

the whole body, with its underlying bony structure, its muscles and sinews, its
flesh and skin, is expressed with complete truth and vivacity.

E, Y.__Group of two women (Fig. 13, Postcards lxxi, Nos. 8 and 9, back

view), seated together, richly draped in long tunics, with large and heavy mantles
across their knees. Each is seated on a square chest with a hinged lid. Two
circular bosses mark the front of a chest, and at the opposite side a projecting
half-cylinder marks the hinge (Fig. 15). Each chest is covered with a folded
carpet. Of these two figures, the one on the right, F, seems to be interested in
the great event passing in the centre, while E is hardly aware of it. From the
way in which the two figures are grouped it is evident that they are on terms of
affectionate familiarity, and they have therefore been called Demeter and
Persephone. Demeter (Roman Ceres) was the goddess of the corn, and18	SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

Persephone was her daughter. This interpretation appears to be confirmed
by the chests, which are a frequent attribute of the two goddesses. It is hardly
possible to decide which is the mother and which the daughter goddess.

The group is remarkable for the abundance and vividly life-like treatment
of the draperies, and for the high skill which could carve such a complex group
out of a single block of marble.

G.—Figure of a woman represented as in rapid movement from the middle
of the pediment outwards (Fig. 13, Postcards lxxi, No. 10). The large mass of
marble seen behind her shoulders is a fold of the mantle, bellying in the wind.
The edges of it were no doubt held in each hand. [Compare the Nereids in the
adjoining Nereid Room.]

This is the graceful figure of a young woman, and has generally been called
Iris, the messenger of the gods. It has been supposed that she is on her way to
announce the event of the birth to the world outside Olympos. But the action
is not that of a steady flight through the air. It is rather that of a person starting

Fig. 15.—The Two Chests.

aside in alarm. Moreover, the figure has not the wings or the short skirt that
mark Iris, so the name must be considered uncertain.

We have now reached the great central gap in the East Pediment group.
The only fragment that has been assigned to it with any confidence is the
powerful torso 303 H, of which a cast is shown against the wall (under the north
frieze, Slab XLII). This has been thought to be the torso of Hephaestos (or
Prometheus, as Attic tradition preferred) whose axe cleft the head of Zeus.

K, L, M.—On the right side of the central gap we have the famous group,
known as the Fates (Fig. 14, Postcards lxxi, Nos. 11, 13, and Nos, 12
and 14, back views). Many other names have been proposed, but that of
the Fates is as probable as any. The three goddesses that preside over destiny
might well be present at such an event as the birth of Athena, and in fact they
are present in a later representation of the same subject (a well-head relief atTHE EAST PEDIMENT

!.9

Madrid). In Fig. 16, showing L, M, an attempt has been made to restore the
reclining Fate with distaff and spindle. The figure K is a separate block from
L and M, which are carved out of a single block, but it is closely grouped with
them, and it is likely that the three must be regarded as connected together as
a single subject, such as the Three Fates. The skill must be noted with which
the heights of the figures are adjusted to the raking line of the pediment. It
will also be seen that the outer figure M, like the Theseus D, shows no conscious-
ness of the central event, but looks calmly away from it.

The group is noteworthy for its grace and dignity, and also for the extra-
ordinary richness and variety of the drapery. There is a masterly contrast between
the fine creases of the light tunics, aiid the broad and deep folds of the heavy
woollen mantles and of the blanket that covers the rock.

Fig. 16.—One of the Fates, restored with Distaff and Spindle.

(By F. Meinecke.J

N, O.—The Moon goddess, Selene, is dipping with her team of horses below
the sea horizon (Fig. 14, and Postcards lxxi, No. 15). The rising sun and the
setting moon clearly indicate that the whole width of the heaven lies between
them, as a fitting scene for the birth of the goddess. Selene is a cast, the original
figure having been found after Lord Elgin’s time in excavations on the Acropolis.

The horse’s head O is noted for its combination of ideal beauty with truth
in detail.

Selene, like Helios, is driving a four-horse chariot. Two horses’ heads
remained till recently in their original position on the temple, and there are
traces of a fourth horse, now lost. Here, as on the horses of Helios, drilled holes
indicate that the horse-trappings were added in bronze.20

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

THE WEST PEDIMENT

We turn to the remains of the West Pediment, on similar pedestals on the !
opposite side of the room.

The most obvious difference between the two groups is that the West J

Pediment group was nearly complete
until Morosini made his unfortunate
attempt to lower the central figures, as
a trophy of his victory. Hence Carrey’s
drawings give us a fair idea of the
pediment as a whole (Fig. 17 and
Postcards lxxii, Nos. 2, 3).

As to the incident represented,
Pausanias is again our only informant.
He states that “ the subjects at the
rear of the temple are the contest of
Poseidon with Athena, for the land.”
There were many different versions of
the story, how the lordship of the land
of Attica was in dispute between the
two deities Poseidon (Roman Neptune)
and Athena. Herodotus was alive while
the Parthenon was building, and he tells
us that there was a “ sea ” and an oiive
tree in a sanctuary on the Acropolis,
which, so the Athenians said, were
placed there as tokens by Poseidon and
Athena when they were contending for
the lordship of the land.

Neither salt-water spring nor olive
tree is shown in Carrey’s drawings, but
some fragments of an olive tree have
been found, and it is generally supposed
that the two deities who occupied the
centre of the pediment are represented
as having just created the tokens. V.

After the production‘of the token,
Athena was adjudged the winner. Some
said that King Cecrops made the
award, others the inhabitants of Attica,
and others the gods of Olympos.

If we study Carrey’s drawing as a
whole, we see that from charioteer toTHE WEST PEDIMENT

21

charioteer (G, H, L, M, N, 0) we have a group of principal actors. They are on
a larger scale than the rest, are more directly interested in the central action,
and are presumably divine. Beyond these on each side are groups of subordinate
figures, B, C, D, E, F and P, Q, R, S, T, U and perhaps V. These are on a smaller
scale, they take a less active interest in the central episode, and we cannot tell
which side they favour. They are probably mythical Athenians. Among them,
Cecrops the half-serpent king is alone certain. In each angle the leclining figures
A and W are probably river-gods, or other local personifications.

As before, we begin our description at the left side of the group.

304 A.—Reclining male figure, occupying the angle of the pediment (Fig. 18,
Postcards lxxii, Nos. 4 and 5, back view). This figure has been called a River-god,

A	BCD

Fig. 18.—Left Angle of West Pediment.

usually the Ilissos, one of the two rivers of Athens. The interpretation is derived
from Pausanias, who tells us that similar figures in the pediment of the Temple of
(Zeus at Olympia were rivers of Elis. The name has been disputed, but like that
j of the Theseus, it holds its ground. Whatever be the right name of the statue,
it is clear that the motive is that of a person whose attention is partially aroused.

I He is not in the act of rising, but bends forward and turns round to observe what
is passing in the middle of the scene.

I The figure is an admirable example of the mastery with which the surface
! texture of skin, tense or loose, and the underlying muscles, fat, and bones are
) indicated by the sculptors of the Parthenon.

| b, C— Cecrops, King of Athens, and his daughter (Fig. 18, Postcards lxxii,
No. 6). This is a cast from the original, which is still in the pediment. Cecrops

I22

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

was reigning king when the contest was decided. In literature he is spoken of as
serpent-legged, but here the artist has represented him as so closely associated
with a serpent that it is not easy to distinguish the two. A part of the serpent
is a marble fragment from the Elgin Collection.

The woman seems to have thrown herself on her knees, and to have flung
her arm round the neck of Cecrops, as if agitated by what is passing. She may
be one of the daughters of Cecrops—perhaps Pandrosos—but there is little to
guide us.

G	h	j	K	L	M

Fig. 19.—The Central Figures of the West Pediment.	\

{

D, E, F.—Next on the right was a group—now lost—of two women (D, F)
with a boy (E) between them. (See Fig. 17.)

G.—Then we have the charioteer (G)—now lost—holding in the horsesj
of Athena, of which only fragments remain. Of the group, however, we still j
have the body of a male figure (H) in rapid movement to the right (Fig. 19,1
Postcards lxxii, No. 8). This powerful torso is supposed to be that of Hermes
(Roman Mercury), the messenger of the gods, and escort of travellers, human
or divine.THE WEST PEDIMENT

23

The central group, L and M, as was said above, contained the two chief com-
batants (Fig. 19, Postcards lxxii, Nos. 7, 9-10). Probably they have produced
the tokens, and draw slightly apart after striking the ground. (An attempt to
restore the action of the central group, by Prof. Schwerzek, may be seen in one of
the wall-cases.) The two deities, which Carrey saw nearly complete, have
suffered sadly, being reduced to little more than the shoulders and breasts of the
figures. The head of Poseidon has been lost since Carrey’s time, but against this
we have to set the recovery of most of the helmeted head of Athena, rediscovered
in 1907. The torso of Athena is identified by her aegis, a goat-skin
worn across the breast. Drilled holes show the positions of its snake fringe,

n	o p	q	r	s T

I'ig. 20.—Right Side of West Pediment.

And another indicates where the head of the Gorgon Medusa was fixed on
tfhe aegis.

N.—The first figure on the right of the central episode is the figure N,
running towards the middle of the scene (Fig. 20, Postcards lxxii, Nos. 11, 12).
there are clear marks of wings in the shoulder blades, and this fact, together with
t'he short skirt hardly covering the knees, seem to mark out the figure as Iris, the
female messenger of the gods, in a position corresponding to that of Hermes
cpn the opposite side. In that case she may be supposed to be bringing the24

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

commands of Zeus to the disputants. [For nearly a century this figure was
placed, by a mistake of the archaeologist Visconti, in the East Pediment.]

O.	—The next figure on the right is clearly shown by Carrey to be the
charioteer of Poseidon, though the horses were already lost (Fig. 20, Postcards
lxxii, No. 13). Their place is occupied by a rough brickwork arch which was
probably put up as a repair. This female charioteer, further marked by the
sea-monster shown by Carrey at her feet, is probably Amphitrite, the wife of
Poseidon.

P,	Q.—We now reach the smaller subordinate figures towards the right
angle (Fig. 20, Postcards lxxii, No. 14). Q is the lap and knees of a seated
woman with a boy at her right knee. His hand can be seen on the knee. The
name is quite doubtful. The figure has been called Leukothea (a sea goddess)

u	v	w

Fig. 21.—Right Angle of West Pediment.

with her son Palaemon, or perhaps with both her children if the figure shown
by Carrey (R) belongs to the same group.

We pass over the lost group S, T, U, and come to V, a nude male figure
sitting down on his heels (Fig. 21, Postcards lxxii, No. 15). This is a cast from
the figure at Athens, and is supposed to be a local personification. Finally
we have a reclining draped female figure, occupying the angle as before. This'
figure is supposed to be a local nymph, and is often called Callirrhoe, the nymph
of the famous Athenian fountain. On this supposition the youth V has been,
called Ilissos in place of A, since Ilissos and Callirrhoe were in close connexion.,

From the study of the pedimental groups on the floor of the room, we turn!
to that of the metopes, the square panels of sculpture on the east and south
walls of the Elgin Room.THE METOPES

25

THE METOPES

The position of the Metopes on the outside of the temple has been described
above, and may be clearly seen in Figs. 6, 7 and 8.

With the exception of two casts at the far end of the Elgin Room, all the
metopes have come from the South side of the temple, and they all have relation
to the fabulous battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths. The Lapiths were a
half historical and half legendary tribe living in Thessaly (Northern Greece).

Fig. 22.—The First Metope (No. 304*).

I

j

The Centaurs were wild and turbulent monsters, half man and half horse, that
lived on the mountainous borders of the Thessalian plains. Some interpreters
have seen in them personifications of the mountain torrents that may descend
and devastate the cultivated land. In legend, their battle with the Lapiths took
(place on the occasion of the marriage feast of Peirithoos, the Lapith king, and
jHippodameia. Frenzied with wine, one of the Centaurs seized the bride, and
ia battle followed, in which ultimately the Lapiths were the victors, though the26

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

sculptor has chosen to represent a series of single combats, in which victorjy
inclines now to this side, and now to that.	;!

The battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs was a favourite subject in Greek
art of the fifth century b.c. Other examples of it will be seen in the Frieze bf

the Theseion (Gallery of
Casts), and on the frieze of
the Temple at Phigaleia, in
the Phigaleian Room. It is
a not improbable suggestion
that on the Parthenon it was
meant to symbolize the
victory of Greeks over Bar-
barian enemies. We begin
our description by the door
to the Ephesus Room :—

314.—Centaur carrying off Lapith woman. This is a cast, from an original
at Athens.

304* (Fig. 22).—The Centaur is the victor, having the Lapith in chancery,”
and raising his arm to strike him with a branch. This is also a cast, the
original being still in position next the south-west angle of the temple.

305.	—The victorious Lapith kneels on the Centaur’s crupper and tries to
throttle him.

306.	—A similar action, not yet so closely joined as the preceding.

307.	—The Centaur is
victorious, and is about to
crush the fallen Lapith with
a heavy wine jar. This is
introduced as a reminder of
the wedding feast, and of the
wine that caused the trouble.

308.	309.—These two
metopes are good examples
both of the value and of the
incompleteness of the Carrey
drawings.

In No. 308 we learn	j

from Carrey (Fig. 23) what we could only have guessed from the marble, that
the Lapith was trying to hold the Centaur at a distance, and to escape from!
his grasp. On the other hand it will be noticed that a cast of the Centaur’s!
head has been added, and that the head was already lost when Carrey made
his sketch. Like many other fragments of the Parthenon, this had been!

Fig. 24.—Metopes 312, 313, from Carrey.THE METOPES

27

broken off and then taken away by some traveller. It is now in the University
Museum at Wurzburg.

In No. 309 Carrey shows the action of the missing limbs of the Lapith, as
well as the head of the Centaur. On the other hand, the head of the Lapith,
which was lost in Carrey’s time, was identified at Athens in 1920, and a cast has
recently been added.

310.	—A closely knit combat, of which the result is undecided. The Lapith
presses forward to the attack. His left hand is locked in that of the Centaur,
who rears up against him.

311.	—The Centaur, by his weight, forces the Lapith to the ground.

312.	313.—Here also Carrey’s sketch (Fig. 24) helps to make the action of
the two groups plain. In 312 we have another reminder of the wedding feast.
The Centaur has grasped the left leg of the Lapith near the ankle, and tumbles
him backwards over a large

wine jar. His right arm—
not shown by Carrey, but
added to the marble — is
raised to strike.

In 313 the Centaur
seizes a Lapith woman.

Next to this came a combat
—now lost, for the most part
—and the struggle with a
Lapith woman on No. 314,
already noticed, beside the
door of the Ephesus Room
(Fig. 25).

Between 314 and 315 were thirteen metopes, all drawn by Carrey, but now
missing, since we have reached the great breach in the side of the temple, caused
by the explosion of 1687. The first nine related to some mythological subject
quite distinct from the Centaur story. The last four continued the scenes of
Centaur and Lapith combat. One of the missing metopes repeated the theme
of the wine jar.

ij	315.—The Lapith makes what seems an ineffective attempt to keep the

entaur away with arm and leg.

316.	—This is one of the finest of the metopes. The Centaur has been
ounded in the back, and tries to fly. The Lapith holds him back, and -raises
is right arm for another stroke. The figure of the Lapith is finely set off against

fjhe great spreading surface of his mantle.

317.	—The Lapith is shown as dead, while his savage enemy prances
'xultingly above his body, lashing his tail.

Fig. 25.—The Eleventh Metope (destroyed), and
No. 314, from Carrey.

4.2,8

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

318.	—Another scene of rape. The Centaur carries away the Lapith woman.

319.	'—The Centaur treads down the Lapith, whose strength is evidently
failing ; with'the left hand he feebly clutches a stone.

320.	—We have here a complex wrestling scheme, unlike most of the metope
combats, in which the Centaur tries to throw the Lapith by grappling with his
right leg.

321.	'—The last of the Centaur and Lapith series, from the east end of the
south side.

Casts of two more metopes, from the north and west sides of the temple,
may be seen on the wall of the extension of the Elgin Room and on the restora-
tion of the north west angle of the building. The subjects have not been fixed
with any certainty. One is a conversation scene between two female figures,
and the other appears to be a mounted Amazon.

THE FRIEZE

We turn to the Frieze of the Parthenon, the extant remains of which make
a band along the entire circuit of the Elgin Room, with a few feet over.

This is the most delightful and the most easily intelligible of all the great
works of art that have come down to us from antiquity. It is true that it needs
some study, for it is fragmentary in parts, and, like the marbles of the pediment
groups, it must be completed by the help of the drawings of Carrey and others.
Of its entire length, which was about 524 feet, 247 feet of original marble, and
176 feet of casts may be seen in the Elgin Room, 56 feet more is recorded in
drawings, and about 45 feet is altogether lost. It will be seen, however, from
the diagrams below (Figs. 28, 33-40) that much of the missing matter can be
guessed with some precision.

ITS ARCHITECTURAL DISPOSITION

The position of the Frieze on the temple is shown in Fig. 5 (plan) and Fig. ,6
(sectional view); see also the diagram on the wrapper of this Guide. It crowned
the side-walls of the central chamber of the temple, and the six columns thdt
continue it at each end. It was, however, completely masked by the uppejr
part of the outer colonnade, so as to be invisible to a spectator who was not
close underneath. Both'the lighting and the angle of view were peculiar. '
The surface of the reliefs is vertical, but it will be noticed that the grounjd
is set back in such a way that the relief is considerably higher at the top of thie
frieze than at the bottom. It varies from low relief at the bottom edge, to son.|e
2| inches at the upper edge. This is some compensation for the unfavourableTHE FRIEZE	29

angle of view. If the relief were of uniform height throughout, the lower edges
of the figures would occupy an undue part of the field seen by the eye.

For the members immediately above and below the Frieze, see p. 40.

THE SUBJECT REPRESENTED

It must be evident to everyone who walks round the Elgin Room, that
the greater part of the Frieze represents some festal and ceremonial procession,
in which many parts of the community take a share.

In ancient Athens the most important of such processions was that which
was the central event of the Panathenaic Festival. This was celebrated every
year, but it recurred every four years with especial splendour, under the name
of the Great Panathenaic Festival. It is generally supposed that on the frieze
of the Parthenon we have an idealized rendering of the Panathenaic Procession.

The prime motive of the procession was to make an escort from the lower
town to the Acropolis for a sacred robe (the peplos), which was woven afresh
every four years, for the purpose of draping the primitive wooden image of
Athena. The peplos was carried in the procession, on the mast of a sort of
carnival ship. Instead of this subject, which it would be difficult to express
worthily in the limited height of the frieze, the sculptor has preferred to represent
the peplos as having reached its destination. We see a ceremonial folding of
the robe in the centre of the East end. The event is spiritualized, by being made
to take place in the presence of a company of twelve gods who attend the feast,
and are seen enthroned as guests and spectators.

Beyond the gods on right and left are two companies of citizens (it may be
magistrates), and two troops of maidens coming up from either side, at the head
of the two halves of the procession. Upon the two long sides of the temple are
two parallel and similarly composed streams, flowing from west to east. The
two halves of the procession are headed by the cows and sheep for sacrifice,
with their attendant escorts. These are followed by bearers of other sacrificial
offerings, by musicians, elders, chariots, and lastly by the splendid prancing
tumult of the riders. [It will be noted that since the movement is from west to
east, on the North side it is from right to left, and on the South side it is from left
to right.]

The West side is not divided in the centre, like the East side, but the whole
of it is treated as a continuation of the North side, with scenes of preparation
and departure, having their movement from right to left.

Fifteen typical extracts from the frieze are issued as Set No. xxx, of British
Museum Pictorial Postcards, and these subjects are specially referred to in
□he following description of the frieze. It must be noted that on each side3°

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

the slabs have a running number in Roman notation painted underneath them,
and each person represented has a number in Arabic notation, above. The
frieze, as it stands, consists in part (about 58 per cent.) of original marbles, and

WOOH

NYmVOIKd

Horsemen preparing.

WEST FRIEZE.

Horsemen.

Horsemen.

Chariots.

Chariots.

Elders.

Elders.

Musicians.

Musicians.

Pitcher

Bearers.

Bearers.

Bearers.

Victims.

Victims.

EAST FRIEZE.

Deities.

Deities.

Citizens or
Marshals. Magistrates.

Citizens or .
Magistrates.

Peplos

Incident.

►Maidens.

Maidens. <—

EPHESUS ROOMTHE FRIEZE

31

in part (about 42 per cent.) of casts from originals at Athens and elsewhere.
Where the slab is a cast, the place of the original is marked below in red, as
Athens. If only a small fragment has been attached in plaster to the marble
to which it belongs, it is indicated in brackets as [Athens'],

We begin our circuit of the frieze at the south-east angle, marked with *
in Fig. 26.

THE EAST SIDE

Fig. .28.-

London.

-The East Frieze of the Parthenon
(Slabs I - III) restored.

On the left, the first slab is the short or return side of the end slab of the
South side, and is occupied with the figure of a beckoning marshal. Next are
the maidens whm lead the long procession. They carry bowls for libation-
pouring. These have a hollow

boss in the middle of the flat 1	1	11 23	4	5	6 in 7 8	9	10

bottom of the bowl, that they
may be held with safety when
turned over for the libation.

This slab was improved in 1924,
by the addition (due to the
observation of Mr. W. R.

Lethaby) of a fragment, pre-
viously attributed to figures
17, 18 (see Fig. 28). Other
maidens (7-11) carry wine jugs.

In front of them, two pairs

(12, 13 and 14, 15) carry each a peculiar object of doubtful meaning. They
appear to be the upright supports in which spits for roasting the sacrifice
might be pivoted. At the head of the whole procession are two dignified
maidens, with empty hands.

Between the advancing procession and the seated deities we have a group
of six men, standing in easy positions leaning on their staves, and conversing in
pairs. They may be supposed to be either typical citizens, or it may be
Magistrates awaiting the procession.

24-30 (Fig. 29 and Postcards xxx, 1 and 2).—First half-company of the
deities seated as guests to witness the arrival of the procession.

24 is the lithe form of Hermes (Roman Mercury), the messenger god.
His small cloak has slipped off from his shoulder to his lap. The traveller’s hat
yith broad flapping brim is on his knees. The right hand may be supposed to
Ijiave held the herald’s staff, with intertwining snakes.

25.	—The figure indolently reclining against Hermes, seated on a cushion,
md wrapped round with a big cloak is Dionysos (Roman Bacchus).

26.	—The figure that faces Dionysos is Demeter (Roman Ceres), whom we32

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

recognize by the attribute of the torch. The deities of corn and wine are thus
brought into closest association. No. 27 is Ares (Roman Mars) the boorish war
god who is seated in unconventional fashion nursing his right knee and resting
his left ankle on his spear.

Dionysos. Demeter.	Ares.	Iris. Hera.	Zeus.	Girls with Stools.	Priestess.

Fig. 29.—Figures from the East Side of the Frieze.

28.—The standing figure in the background with large wings, and shown
coiling her hair, must be either Iris, the female messenger of the gods, or
Victory, and Iris is generally preferred.

29-—A matronly and dignified figure, raising her veil and turning towards
Zeus is Hera (Roman Juno), the spouse of Zeus.

30.—This figure must be Zeus (Roman Jupiter). He alone is seated on a
throne with a high back, and an arm supported by a seated Sphinx. He has
a sceptre in his right hand.

3I-35 (Postcards xxx, 2 and 3).—We now reach the central episode, taking
place between the two half-companies of deities, but no doubt to be understood
as taking place in front of a semi-circle of gods. 31, 32.—The first two maidens
carry objects on their heads, which can be made out as two stools resting on
pads. Marks on the marble show where the stool legs, which were in part
undercut, have been broken away. See the annexed cut (Fig. 31) from a vase.

33-—A dignified woman, presumably a priestess, takes down one of the
stools. It is probably meant to be set out solemnly (as in the religious
ceremony of the Theoxenia) to invite the presence of the gods. See
Fig. 32, with a couch set out for the heavenly twins, Castor and Pollux.
The vase-drawing shows the material couch, and the spiritual arrival of the
gods. A similar subject is shown on a votive relief in the Louvre (see cast in
Room of Greek and Roman Life, case 9).

34? 35-—A man and a boy, probably a priest and attendant, are seen folding
square a large piece of cloth. The cloth, in the central position of the whole frieze,
is believed to be the worked peplos brought by the procession to the AcropoliTHE EAST SIDE OF THE FRIEZE

33

We now reach the second half-company of seated gods.

36.—Seated as close as possible to her peplos, and in a position of honour
corresponding to that of Zeus in the other half company, we see the goddess
Athena, bareheaded and unarmed in her own home, but with the attribute of

35	36	37	VI 38	39	40	41	4-2

Priest with. Peplos.	Athens.	Hophsestos.	Poseidon. Apollo.	Artemis. Aphiodite. Eros.

Rig. 30— Figures from the East Side of the Frieze.

the aegis lying in her lap. Beside her is Hephaestos (Roman Vulcan), the
lame craftsman god, who leans on a stick, even though sitting down.

38-42 (Postcards xxx, 4).—The remainder of the second half-company of
gods. Here we have (38) Poseidon, reconciled with Athena, and a guest before
her temple, (39, 40) the twin deities Apollo and Artemis side by side, and
(41, 42) a sadly mutilated group of Aphrodite (Roman Venus), and her34

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

boy Eros (Cupid), for whom she is pointing to the procession. Eros has a
pair of wings and a large parasol. This group has perished, and is made up
from an old cast, and from casts of small extant fragments at Athens and
Palermo, helped out with the indications of the Carrey drawings.

43-48 (Postcards xxx, 5).—
Leaving the right hand half-company
of the gods, we reach a party of
waiting figures, conversing. These
correspond to those on the left of the
left half-company of gods, whom we
have called citizens or magistrates.
No. 47 seems to be beckoning to a
distance, and joins together the two
halves of the procession. Two officers
(49 and 52) receive the head of the
procession of the maidens. These
form a solemn and beautiful group. The first two pairs are empty handed.
Others (Postcards xxx, 6) carry libation bowls and jugs. Nos. 56, 57 carry
between them a tall incense burner. Two more figures of maidens, now
altogether lost, on the short return face of the first slab of the North Side,
completed the east end of the frieze. Their outlines have been incised in their
place on the frieze after the drawings of Carrey and James Stuart (1752).

40	41	42	43	44	45

Old Cast and London.

Athens.

Carrey.

Fig, 33.—The East Frieze of the Parthenon,
part of Slab VI.

THE NORTH SIDE

We now turn the corner of the temple, and pass down the North Side,
meeting the procession trooping eastwards. While the west end of the North
Side is the best preserved piece of the frieze that remains, the east end of it is
fragmentary in the extreme, and can only be understood by continual reference
to Carrey, who in this part of the frieze can be supplemented by Stuart. The
left side of slab 1 is represented by incised lines after Stuart.

Slabs I—X.—The first three slabs give us four cows for the sacrifice. Each
is led by a figure on either side. Three step quietly forward, but one tries to
break away, and is held in by vigorous action of the escort, who must be
supposed to be pulling at cords. (Postcards xxx, 7.)

The cows are followed by three sheep, each with a guide. After the sheep
is a marshal of the procession (Postcards xxx, 8) addressing the traybearers.
One only of the tray-bearers survives. They carried objects like butchers’ trays,
full of small cakes. Next come four striking figures of youths bearing jars of
wine for the libations. Three of them carry the jars on their shoulders, whileTHE NORTH SIDE OF THE FRIEZE	35

monotony is avoided by the action of the fourth, who has had occasion to put
his jar on the ground. Immediately over his head we see the hand and pipe
of the first of the four pipe-players. The rest are only recorded in Carrey’s

Stuart.	Carrey.	Athens.	Athens and Carrey.

VI. 16

19 VII. 20 21

12 V.

Athens.	London.	Stuart.	Athens.	Carrey.

Fig. 34.—The North Frieze of the Parthenon (Slabs I.-VII.)

Restored.

drawing. They are followed by the four lyre-players, and then by a large company
of elderly citizens, advancing in a dose throng. It is likely that they represent

VIII.	ix. -	x.

24	25	26	27	28	29 30 31 32 33 34 35	36	37	38	39 40	41	42 43

Carrey. Athens. Carrey. Athens.

Carrey, Athens, Vienna.

Athens.

Fig. 35.—The North Frieze of the Parthenon (Slabs VIII.-X.)

Restored.

the branch-bearers who took part in the procession, but, if so, the branches are
not expressed in sculpture.

Slabs XI-XXIII.—Close on the old men follow the chariots, probably36

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

twelve in number. This part of the frieze is very imperfect, and much of the i
arrangement is conjectural.* Each four-horse chariot has a charioteer, wearing j
the long robe that was his usual costume, and an armed warrior. The latter was .
known as a “ dismounter ” (apobates), and it was usual for him to show his agility j
and skill by leaping on and off from the chariot while in motion.

XI. 44	XII. 45	46 47 XIII.	48 XIII*. 4950	XlVi

Carrey.

London.

Athens.

Athens.

Carrey.

Athens.

Athens.

Carrey.

Fig. 36.—The North Frieze of the Parthenon, with the Leading
Chariot Groups Restored.

The first chariot group is vigorously checked by the marshal, as if to protect
the company on foot. The groups that follow are shown in prancing action.
Slabs XVII, XVIII (Postcards xxx, 9) give a finely preserved section of this

XXIV.	72	73 74 XXV. 7576	77 XXVI. 78	79	80 XXVII.	85 XXVIII

London and Athens.

Stuart and London.

London.

Athens and conjectured.

Fig. 37.—The North Frieze of the Parthenon, with the. Leading
Horsemen Restored.

part of the frieze. The last of the chariot groups is shown as standing still, with
a young boy at the horses’ heads, and so we pass to the brilliant company of the
horsemen.

Slabs XXIV-XLII.—The horsemen of the North Frieze (Figs. 37, 38). This
is without rival or parallel in the world’s art. We have a continuous procession
of Athenian cavalry. The horsemen advance in a loose throng, with rows of

* Diagrams working out the arrangement of the chariot groups according to the latest data are
shown in the “ Guide to the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities.” See also the continuous
diagram in a wall-case under Slab VIII.THE NORTH SIDE OF THE FRIEZE

37

five, six, or seven nearly abreast. The nearest horseman of each row can easily
be distinguished as an isolated figure, usually turning towards us. (See Nos. 79,
88, 96, 103, hi, 118, 125, 129.) The general effect of a prancing troop of spirited
horses, held well in check by riders with a nice hand and easy seat, is admirably
rendered. The reins and bridles were in nearly every instance of bronze, indicated
by rivet holes behind the horse’s ear, at his mouth, and in the riders’ hands.

Fig. 38.—Procession of Cavalry, from the North Frieze of the
Parthenon (Slabs XXXVII, XXXVIII).

A surprising feature of this part of the frieze is the skill with which an
effect of recession is obtained in each troop, while the whole relief only varies
by an inch or two. On examination it will be seen that this is effected by a
successive series of overlapping surfaces,
forming wave upon wave of relief (Fig. 39).

A noteworthy characteristic of the relief

surfaces of this part of the frieze is that	Fig. 39.

they are cut inwards from the front plane ■

into the marble, instead of being built up from a background plane, like the
metopes. Hence the outermost surfaces are broad and flat, with sudden
recessions at their boundaries, which serve to define the subjects with admirable
clearness.

The fine fragment forming the top left-hand corner of Slab XXXVI (see
Postcards xxx, 10) was found in a garden rockery at Colne Park, Essex, and
was given in 1919 by the late J. D. Dumville-Botterell.

At the end of the long side we have a restful episode, with a youth adjusting
his master’s tunic before he mounts (Postcards xxx, 11). In this way the artist3»

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

has secured the necessary feeling of stability for the end of the side, and the
corner stone of the fabric. At the same time he makes a transition in idea to the
scenes of preparation of the west side.

THE WEST SIDE

Here we have a continuation of the North Side, with horsemen preparing,
talking to the marshals, and so forth. The side begins (Slab I) with a standing
marshal, like the figure at the end of the East side. Next we have an original
marble (Slab II) with a very beautiful figure of a boy with loose flying hair,
turning to look back. The remaining slabs of this side are plaster casts from
originals still in their places on the Parthenon itself. It will be noticed that in
this part of the frieze two rows of casts are shown. The upper row was moulded
from the originals in 1872, and the lower row was moulded by Lord Elgin’s
agents seventy years, before. A careful comparison of the two rows shows how
much damage the frieze suffered during that period by exposure to weather and
other accidents, and makes a strong argument in defence of Lord Elgin for his
action in taking steps to rescue the marbles from perishing.

For three horsemen, mounted and preparing to start (Slabs IX, X), see
Postcards xxx, 12. The West Side is terminated at its south end, as at the north,
by a single standing figure, here a youth, who is holding up his cloak.

THE SOUTH SIDE

From this point onwards the direction of the movement is from left to right,
that is from west to east, along the South Side of the temple. The horsemen of
the South Side are more formally treated than those of the north. They advance
for the most part like a body of drilled soldiers, and are not marked by the
delightful freedom and grace of the more loosely ordered throng of the north
side. For Slabs X, XI, see Postcards xxx, 13.

Passing along the south side we overtake groups corresponding to those
that we met on the north side. Immediately in front of the horsemen we have
parts of ten chariot groups. Many of them are in a fragmentary state, or altogether
lost, since this part of the frieze suffered most in the great explosion.

Five groups only are preserved with any approach to completeness. The
finest of them is Slab XXX, on which the heads of the horses have been hewn
out with a vigour and freedom which is conspicuous even among the sculptures
of the frieze. (See Postcards xxx, 14.)

Immediately in front of the chariots we have a throng of elders, who seem
to be advancing slowly with the procession. Again in front of them are figures
carrying what seem to be tablets. One only is partly preserved, the two others
being shown by Carrey. It is possible that they are parts of lyres. Carrey’s
drawings come to an end at this point, but by the analogy of the north side theXXIV.	XXV.	XXVI.	XX

THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE FRIEZE	39

Fig. 40.—The South Side of the Frieze (Slabs XXI!40

SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON

tray bearers must have immediately preceded. Of these only one fragment is
preserved. In front of them were the cattle for the sacrifice. Parts remain of
at least nine cows, instead of the cows and sheep of the North side. Most of the
victims pace quietly along, but two in the middle of the group need to be
vigorously checked by their guides. (See Postcards xxx, 15.)

With Figure 131, a standing marshal, we reach the south-east corner of the
temple, which we took for the point of departure, to make a circuit of the frieze.

ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS

The Doric Order of the Parthenon is shown in the reconstruction from
casts (see Fig. 8, and p. 9). The following examples of the architecture will
be found : Between the two halves of the East Pediment :—

350.—The Doric capital and uppermost drum of one of the columns of the
north side. The capital was sawn in two for convenience of transport.

Against the north side of the projecting piers in the Elgin Room :—

352.	—Cast of one of the Antefixal ornaments of the Parthenon. The parallel
rows of marble covering-tiles that ran down the roof were masked at their lower
terminations by the so-called antefixal ornaments. These are decorated with a
finely-cut palmette between two spiral volutes. A complete cast is shown on the
wall and also incorporated in the reconstructed order. A fragment of an original
antefix (351) is also here.

353.	—Cast of a lion’s head. At each extremity of the two pediments was a
projecting lion’s head facing outwards, but slightly turned in the direction
towards which the respective pediment faces. It was worked out of the block
that formed the springing stone of the pedimental cornice. In its original intention
the lion’s head may be supposed to have been meant to serve as a gargoyle for
water running down the cornice of the pediment, but on the Parthenon it per-
formed no duty. This cast is taken from the lion’s head still in position at the
north-west corner of the temple, and is also incorporated in the reconstructed order.

357, 3^8 (in a dwarf wall-case).—Two marble fragments of moulding, show-
ing the original richly-painted decorative treatment of the building. Both
of them appear to have belonged to the moulding which crowned the frieze.
No trace of paint remains, but the pattern can still be distinguished on account
of the different preservative qualities of the different colours. The conjectured
decoration on the cast of the north-west angle is derived from such traces.

359.—Slab of the cornice that, surmounted the frieze of the Parthenon,
with a hawk’s bill and other mouldings. This member has been placed in position
above Slab II of the north frieze, in order to show the frieze in its architectural
setting. Immediately under the same slab is a cast of the reglet and drops
(:regain and guttae) which recurred at intervals beneath the frieze.

LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED.SECTION SHOWING POSITIONS OF METOPES AND FRIEZE.