THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCl'I.PTURES

next group consists of seven riders (N83-89), with the rank leader (N89) clearly

distinguished not only by his position in the foreground plane but also by his

pose and nudity. He turns to look back, his left arm dangling over the haunch of

his horse, and his body is almost entirely revealed. Behind him stands the only

marshal (N90) in the north cavalcade. Moving on to the obvious rank leader

of the next group, which consists ofeight horsemen (N91-98), we immediately

recognize him (N98) by his frontal pose - he in fact is the only figure in the

frieze to stare directly out at the viewer - and relaxed left arm. It is possible

that the marshal (N90) is beckoning to him specifically in order to turn his

attention from the onlookers back to his post in the cavalcade.

The next groups are more complicated: there are either three very small

groups (of4,6, and 5 riders, according to Jenkins' plan), or we are dealing with

two ranks (N99-105 and NI06-II3) that have collided and coalesced. That the

latter scenario is more likely is indicated by N105 (Fig. 2.4), who, because ofhis

pose, must be a leader (as opposed to N102 and N108, who according to the

diagram are the front riders). He, like the better preserved leaders N98 and, as

we shall see, NII3, turns his upper body to the front, looks around behind, and

has his free left arm dangling back over the haunch of his mount. The long,

nude body of this figure from head to toe is also particularly distinctive. These

arresting figures are so much alike and punctuate the frieze at such precise

points that they all must perform the same role in the cavalcade, namely, that

of rank leader, even if they are not in the foreground plane. Thus, the division

between the fourth and fifth groups falls at this embedded figure N105 rather

than at a rider, as one might expect, in the foreground plane.

The fifth rank leader is clearly N II3, who has all the requisite character

istics: rearward look, nude torso, left free arm hanging over the rump of his

horse. The sixth group, which consists of seven riders (NIT4-T2o), is in order,

and so its leader (NI2o) does not need to look behind but simply signals with

his upraised right arm and reins in his mount. Especially conspicuous, because

it is unique on the frieze, is his nude torso seen in back view (Fig. 3.25 ). The

next group of seven (Nl2I-l27) has nearly assumed a serried rank, and if one

went by the rules of the south frieze, the lead rider would be the one closest to

the viewer, Nl27, who also raises his right hand to his head.

In the eighth and last group on the north side, the horses are more

widely spread out, and two youths (NI33 and 135) have yet to mount. In this

way, they are more closely connected with the west frieze, where several riders

are dismounted. The eight horses in this group are less well ordered than in

50

CLASSIC MOMENTS

earlier groups, as they have not yet assumed their rank positions. Their leader

is probably the foregrounded and so dominant figure (NI33), who is shown

frontally and signals with his raised left hand. As his chlamys swings out behind

him, his beautiful nude body is fully displayed to the viewer.

By carefully reading these conspicuous figures, who usually but not invari

ably occur in the plane nearest to the viewer, one can detect the regular intervals

that mark the passage of the cavalcade. In contrast to the more straightforward

south procession, the designer here (probably a second designer, as I have ar

gued elsewhere: Neils 200I, 70-1) has subtly altered the scheme in the middle

of the cavalcade to add even more interest and a touch of reality to an already

varied composition. The fact that there are eight ranks of riders on the north

side is extremely important when we consider the congruity between the two

branches of the procession.

In recent scholarship on the frieze, it has become increasingly clear that

there are strong congruities in content between the north and south friezes.

Although some individual elements, such as sacrificial animals, may vary - sheep

on the north but not on the south - in general the types ofparticipants and their

ordering are exactly parallel. Victims followed by tray bearers, kithara players,

and elders occur in both processions. Carrey's drawing of south figures I07-IIO

depicts them aspinax (plaque) bearers, but it is probable that he misinterpreted

the surviving lower part of the kitharas sound box. Although as yet no water

carriers or aulos players survive from the south, given the conformity of the

two processions it is almost certain that they should be restored here in the

missing section. This congruence extends over to the east, where the maidens

and marshals form the culmination of each line of the procession (Jenkins

1995) The question then remains whether and, if so, how the west frieze plays

into this scheme. In terms ofits direction, the west frieze belongs with the north,

because the prevailing movement is to the left. Figures W2-II, consisting of

eight horsemen, could be construed as a group, like those in the north cavalcade.

Behind WII stands a figure facing right and tying his sandal; he clearly acts as

a divider, heralding the beginning of the next rank, as the marshal facing right

(N90) does on the north side. There follows a group of eight cavalrymen, with

one, a hipparch (WI5), dismounted. If one takes these two groups of riders

and adds them to the eight groups, as now correctly observed, on the north,

one ends up with the same number of ranks as on the south side, namely, ten,

although the total number of riders is obviously different (77 vs. 60). That

THE PARTHENON AND ITs SCULPTURES

the total numbers were less important than the correspondence of groups is

indicated by, for instance, the number of maidens in each file on the east side:

sixteen in the south procession and thirteen in the north. Likewise, the number

of officials, sacrificial animals, and so on, varies from north to south. This lack

ofsymmetry in otherwise parallel streams adds interest and variety to the frieze

in a way that a perfect balance might not.

Previous studies of the cavalcade and its tribal divisions did not take into

account the entire mounted procession, including frieze slabs I-XI on the west.

Visitors to the Acropolis emerging from the Propylaia would have first taken in

this portion of the frieze, which would then lead them around to the north. The

equestrian part of the Panathenaic procession, including the chariots, almost

certainly took place along the dromos, or Panarhenaic Way, as it led from the

Dipylon Gate through the Agora and up to the Eleusinion on the lower slope

of the Acropolis. What then does one make of the portion of the west frieze

not part of the cavalcade?

TIME BEFORE

While the majority of the frieze consists of a straightforward religious proces

sion presenting few iconographic problems, there are two sections that have

consistently puzzled scholars. One is the center of the east side, which we will

consider presently; the other is the south third of the west frieze, bracketed by

the two figures W23 and 30. This section, which consists of west frieze slabs

XII-XVI, is often vaguely dubbed "preparations" because none of the horse

men is yet mounted. In fact, many of the horses are unbridled and a few seem

uncontrolled.

The last two figures (W29 and 30) are in the act of dressing. The end

figure (W30, Fig. 2.5) is presumably a marshal- like other corner figures (WI,

51, and EI) - but instead of directing the procession, he is donning his mantle.

His neighbor (W29) is tying his sandal on his left foot, and his right is still

unshod. The next youth (W28) is bridling his horse while another horse waits

patiently behind. These calm standing horses contrast with the next two, which

are posed rearing back to back. The one that has turned around in the opposite

direction, facing right, is being reined in by two youths (W27 and 26), the latter

ofwhom seems to have left his horse to come to the aid of his companion.

West XIII (Fig. 2.6), with its two unmounted horses, contains one of the

most oddly posed figures on the entire frieze, W25. He is standing alongside

52

C LA SSIC MOMENTS

XVI

2.5. West 30, case. Skulpt ur hallc. Basel. PhOIO: D . W id mer SH 637.

his mount, reining him in whi le at the same time care fully positioning h is

right foot on the far side of the ho rse's right forehoof. Both the youth and his

horse are looking concentratedly down at the ground. The artist clearly had

something specific in mind when he designed this exceedingly awkward pose.

It is in fact the precise action of "parking up" one's horse, that is, splaying out both sets of legs so that the horse is standing stock still. Once in th is static

position, the horse is presumably ready for inspection . We know it must be

an ancient practice becaus e it is also represented on the flr right end of the

relief on the so-called altar of Dominus Ahenobarbus, produced in Rome in

the late second century Be (To relli 1982, 5- 16) . This realist ic clement (amo ng

53

THE PARTHEKON AND ITs SCULPTURES

many others) indicates that we are witnessing a very specific event, a conclusion

confirmed by the reading of the next block.

The first block in this section (West XII. Fig. 3.18) has three male figures

and an unmounted horse whose proportions suggest that it is still a colt. The

boy at the far right (W24) is certainly its groom. as he is holding the horse's

lead. The other two draped youths are making specific gestures, which have

been read in various ways. Wn looks down toward the horse in front of him

and seems to be pointing to it with his extended right index finger. Martin

Robertson suggested that the figure was wriring something down on a tablet,

as in the dokimasia (inspection of young knights and their horses), perhaps

booking the knight for the horse's uncropped mane (Robertson and Frantz

1975, pI. 9 with notes). Ifa tablet was once present. then the scene does resemble

the dokimasia, or cavalry inspection, as depicted on late sixth and early fifth

century vase paintings (Cahn 1973). Frank Brommer contended that he could

not be writing because his forefinger is extended and no tablet is visible, but it

might easily have been rendered in paint or be hidden by the inspector's right

forearm.'

We have literary evidence regarding the Athenian cavalry that may support

this reading of West XII as depicting a dokimasia. The Constitution of the

Athenians (49.J) states, "The council holds a scrutiny (dokimasia) of the cavalry's

horses .... Horses which are unable to keep up, or are unwilling to stay in line

and are unmanageable, are branded on the jaw with the sign of a wheel, and

any horse which has been branded is rejected." At least two of the horses

to the right of the inspector are depicted as unmanageable and unwilling to

stay in line and so should properly be rejected from the parade. In his book

on the Athenian cavalry, Glenn Bugh argued that these dokimasia scenes on

vases show, not official enrollments of knights inro the military, as described

in the Constitution ofthe Athenians, but rather "simply the preliminaries to a

procession or festival in which men or youths on horses participate."? Since

Attic vase paintings do not usually depict official actions of the Athenian state,

this interpretation is undoubtedly correct. Thus, both the frieze and these

dokimasia vases show the same scene, one that must have been familiar to vase

painters working in the vicinity of the Dipylon Gate, namely, the inspection of

horses preceding a religious procession. At such times, unfit horses would be

eliminated by officials like W22, who, it should be noted, wears only an open

chlamys and so is virtually nude, like other important horsemen on the frieze,

as we have already seen.

54

C LA S S I C M O .\1E N TS

--;

2.6. West XIII , cast. Photo : British Museum.

That the inspect ion had spec ial resonance for Athena and the Panarhe naia

is in dicated by a red-figure amphora ofPanathenaic shape in M unich (see Ne ils

2001, fig. 92). 4 Here Athena hersel f is in the pose of the insp ector - tab let and

stylus in hand - while on the other side of the vase an athlete wit h a javelin ,

rath er than a horse, stands at attention . T he goddess is perhaps record ing the

name or score of the acontist at the Panathenaic games in her honor. The

inspection and recording of parti cipants appears to be an important aspect of

religious festivals.

It remains to identify the youth (W 23) who wears a short double-girt

chiton and a chlamys and who is prominently posed before the horse in the

cente r of West XII. Although he could he the owner of the rejected ho rse, he

lacks any affiniry with the animal or with the inspecto r; rather he seems to

be looking and gesturing far off into the distance. In addition , he holds in the

crook of h is left arm a long st icklike object . Its length is ind icated by the pair s

of d rill holes in the drapery below h is left hand and alon g his forearm ; these

holes were clearly fo r the att achment of bronze extension s. Al though this object

could be a whip, it seem s excessively long and so is perhaps better read as a

kerykeion (herald 's staff) or salpinx (trumpetl ike instru men t) . Wi th his right arm

55

THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURES

extended and his left at his hip, W23 in fan stands in the pose characteristic of

the herald or salpinxplayer, as often depicted in Attic vase painting.5 Although

he is probably not sounding a trumpet, the stance is characteristic enough ro

recall the pose of this familiar figure. All this evidence - attribute, gesture,

glance - support the identity of the man as a herald.

Both heralds and trumpeters performed important functions at Greek

festivals (Crowther 1994). The keryx, or herald, is specifically mentioned in

texts dealing with the Panathenaia (e.g., Lucian, Nigr. 14; Herodotos 6.m) and is represented on various vases proclaiming the victors in athletic contests

(Valavanis 1990). The salpinx, however, is even more closely associated with the

Panathenaia and the goddess Athena. A number of the reverses ofPanathenaic

prize amphoras depict salpinx players who are either calling for silence for the

heralds or are themselves proclaiming the victors ofathletic contests (Valavanis

1990, 350). A trumpeter even appears in silhouette as the shield device of

Athena on the obverse of a Panathenaic-shaped amphora fragment from the

Acropolis (Athens, National Museum, Acropolis 1025: Graefand Langlotz 1923,

vol. I, pl. 58; Neils 2001, fig. 93). As a war trumpet, the salpinx is particularly

appropriate to Athena, and she is shown holding one on a red-figure lekythos

found in Athens. 6 Finally, the salpinxplayer can appear in religious processions

(e.g., British Museum B 648; Van Straten 1995,199, V30).

A red-figure cup ofc. 500 Be in Florence (Neils 2001, fig. 93) in fact shows

a scene that could be read as a predecessor of West XII, since it has both an

inspector with his tablet and a salpinx player on either side of the handles." On

one side, five nude youths are manhandling a sacrificial bull while the butcher

stands waiting, sharpening his two long knives. Beyond the bull and facing

the other side of the cup is a draped and wreathed youth holding up what

looks to be a folded writing tablet. On the other side are four youths and three

horses (only one of which is mounted), and since the "inspector" faces them,

he should be a cavalcade official. Standing in front of the horses is a nude

youth, left hand at his waist, blowing a long trumpet. As the horses are not all

mounted, this is clearly not a race; more likely, it represents the preparations

for the commencement of a religious pompe, which would go along well with

the sacrifice on the other side. So, then, another dokimasia cum salpinx player,

as on West XII.

Whether the herald on the Parthenon frieze is about to sound his salpinx

or is making an announcement, his position physically marks the starting point

of the procession proper, and his action proclaims its commencement. From

this block on we are dealing with the procession proper (time now), which

56

CLASSI . MOM r:; NTS

':'~::;. - -,--~ - ~;~ " ;-!, . ' .... -l __ L- __ ~~ I ,-.--.! .+-- . - _ _ _

2.7. East VI, cast. Skulpturhallc, Basel. Photo: D. Widmer 51-{ 341.

continues all the way to the east to figure E47 (Fig. 2.7), who, in a sta nce

similar to that of th e tr u m peter, m ar ks its end. T he six horses to the righ t of

the herald can be co nsidered the rejects. In tem po ral ter ms , we are the refore

deali ng wit h a per iod of time b~fOre the procession pro pe r, and in spatial ter ms,

w ith an area outsi de the ci ty gates.

TIME AFTER

Turning now to the center of the cast frieze , we encou nter a com posit io n,

tra d itionally identified as the presentation of the peplos, or robe, to the goddess

At hena (Fig. 2.8), that many co m me nta to rs have found odd ly anticlimactic.

Conditio ned, as we are, 10 expect in Greek art a d ramatic focus, as, for example,

in the east pediment just abov , which shows the b irth of Athena, we tend to

find this static, unsymmetrical gro up of five figures (t hree female, two ma le)

to be unsatisfactory as the culmination of the long Panathenaic process ion . In

addition, the fact th at the fourtee n gods , divided into two groups of seven,

seem to have their backs turned to th is central scene has been rega rded as a

design flaw. To date, no explana tions seem worthy of the soph isticated des ign

of this monument. As I have argued elsewhere (Neils 1999), we are confronted

here with the solution to a de ign problem wh ich was a challenge to the art ist;

it is our task to determ ine rhar probl em . As I see it , rhe issue confronting th e

THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURES

designer here is that there are three foci: the heads of the two processions and

the ceremony performed by the five central figures. These three elements can

be unified only if the gods are envisioned as sitting. not in rows facing north

and south, but rather in a semicircle. According to this scenario, the ourermost

gods, Hermes and Aphrodite, those closest to mortals, are receiving the south

and north files, respectively, while the peplos ceremony is taking place in the

center (Neils 2001, fig. 49).

This reading of the composition neatlv resolves the design problem, but

it does not inform us about the timing of the action. For this we must look to

depictions ofGreek ritual in the more popular media ofAttic vase painting and

votive reliefs, where statistically the range of imager~' is much more extensive.

Here we find numerous scenes of animal sacrifice, the highpoint of Greek

religious ritual. However, the actual slaughter of the animal is never shown;

rather, vase paintings depict either the procession to the altar or the burning

of the flesh. Similarly, votive reliefs show onlv the procession with live animals

to the seated deity. Why this reluctance to show the slaughter of the animal?

In Greek ritual, the actual moment of the religious act, be it animal sacrifice,

augury, or gift giving, is potentially unlucky because the rites could go awry.

Hence the Greeks preferred to represent the time before the sacrifice, that is,

the piety of the processioners, or its successful outcome, the meat burning on

the altar and the tail curling upward (a particularly auspicious sign).

In terms of the central scene of the east frieze, one can argue that we

are meant to be witnessing, not the presentation of the peplos, as traditionally stated, but its refolding. The robe is being folded up in preparation for its

placement in the peplotheke, where it will be stored until it is time for it to be draped on the olive-wood cult statue at the Kallynteria festival. This action

signifies a successful outcome, namely, acceptance of the gift by the goddess

Athena. The focal point of the frieze, as a depiction of a ritual essential to the

well-being of the polis, deliberately portrays, not the climactic moment of the

presentation of the robe, but the denouement or happy result.

One of the devices used by the artist to signal to the viewer the relative

timing of particular actions and to unify disparate sections of the narrative was

quotation or repetition. A case in point is the very first figure of the west frieze

(W30, Fig. 2.5), who acts as a pivot at the southwest corner of the building.

As he proceeds to robe for the ceremony, he is part of the preparations for the

procession, hence the action before the main event. He serves to unify the two

files of the procession, as he seems to gesture around the corner to the south at

the same time as he is part of the west frieze, which eventually joins up with the

58

Cl.ASSIC MOMEN TS

z.S. Peplos ceremony. Easr V. figures 31-35. Photo: British Museum.

north. This figure rype (Frontal body, right leg ro rhe side, righr arm bent at an

acute angle, and left arm raised) and this specific action (handling a large piece of cloth) are repeated only once again on rhe frieze, in rhe figure of rhe priesr

E34 (Fig. 2.8), some sixty meters away ro the east. This repetition ofa distinctive

figure serves to punCluare the frieze's narrarive as well as to convey 10 rhe viewer

the beginning and end of rhe day's evenrs. Another repeated figural type from

the west and east friezes that was dearly meant to act as an important signal

to the viewer is W23 (Fig. 3.18) and E47 (Fig. 2.7), as already noted. Borh stand

in three-quarter view to the left. with weight on the right leg; both have their

left arm akimbo while gesturing to the left wirh an extended , slightly bent righ t

arm. Again no orher of the 378 figures on the friezeassumes this exact pose, only

these rwo. At first, their meaning is nor entirely clear, but careful reading of the

visual language reveals their imilar intent: they mark rhe beginn ing (W23) and

end (E47) of the procession proper. W23 is in the pose of a herald or salpinx

(trumpet) player; beh ind him to the right all is preliminaries, while ahead of

him the cavalcade has assumed its formation and the Panathenaic procession

proceeds from here all the way to the east. The procession proper ends wirh

the gesture of E47' who i ignaling across the central space of the east frieze to

the lead maiden of the south fil . He also is a pivotal figure who reconnects the

rwo pans of the procession that split at the southwest corner of the building.

59

THE PARTHENON AND ITs SCL:LPTURES

Thus, by quoting figure types in a subtle manner, but perhaps not so obscure

for the sensitive viewer, the artist has conveyed important temporal aspects of

the frieze's narrative.

On artistic grounds, it is not surprising to see so much ofthe frieze devoted

to horsemen: they offer variety to what would otherwise be a monotonous

row of human figures. In terms of iconography, a cavalcade also makes good

sense, since equestrian parades were a regular sight in classical Athens. Ancient

testimonia (e.g., Dernosthenes and Xenophon) often refer to cavalry processions

in Athens, many of which took place in the Agora, and mention specifically

the participation of the two senior officers, the hipparchs. Cavalry escorts

accompanied holy processions to Eleusis and to Phaleron. While no specific

reference to a cavalcade at the Panarhenaia exists, it would be unusual, to say

the least, if this important state festival did not include a public display of

horsemanship in addition to the many equestrian contests.f As a relatively new

phenomenon in the Athenian military, which was dominated by hoplites (foot

soldiers) and thetes (rowers), the cavalry apparently increased from 300 to 1,000

hippeis (knights) during the period in which the Parthenon was constructed.

In his treatise on the cavalry commander, Xenophon actually recommends

equestrian parades:

As for processions, I think they would be most pleasing to both the gods and spectators if they included a gala ride in the Agora. The starting point would be the Herms; and the cavalcade would ride around saluting the gods at their shrines and statues.... When the circuit is completed and the cavalcade is again near the Herms, the next thing to do, I think, is to gallop at top speed by tribes to the Eleusineion. (Hipparchikos 3.2)

An equestrian parade by tribe thus seems to be an essential part of Athenian

pompai, especially in the glory days ofthe cavalry. Since the bulk of the populace probably watched the Panathenaic procession in the open Agora, it is perhaps

not surprising that the designer of the Parthenon frieze gave precedence to this

popular part of the religious procession.

Architectural sculpture in all times and all places is a vehicle of political

propaganda, and the Parthenon is no exception. While the viewers were led

from the chaotic, restless action on the west frieze, with its unruly horses,

to the calm order of the east frieze, with its seated gods and timeless ritual,

they metaphorically made a passage symbolizing the history of the state from

preconfederation disunity to the harmony of empire. The ideals, values, and

60

CLASSIC MOMENTS

aspirations of all Athenians were artfully encoded in this imagery, allowing

them to see themselves high on the temple walls marching in honor of the

goddess and her fellow Olympians, who had brought them military victory

and cultural supremacy.

NOTES

Parts of this chapter were delivered at the University of Munich in December 2001 and at the annual meeting of the College Art Association held in Philadelphia in February 2002.

1. For the Greater Panathenaia, see Neils 1992. For the Parthenon frieze, see Jenkins 1994 and Neils 2001. The numbering of the individual figures is based on Jenkins' system, which is followed by Neils.

2. Contra Robertson, a number of scholars believe it impossible for the youth to be holding a tablet or stylus; cf Brommer 1977, 19. Note. however, the extended forefinger of the man with tablet and stylus on the cup by Onesimos, once in Berlin (3139); A R V O 321, 23.

3. Bugh 1988, 18. He argues against the interpretation of Cahn (1973), who sees these cups as showing the official dokimasia of the Athenian cavalry as described in the Athenaion Politeia (49.1-2).

4. Munich 2314: ARV'- 362, 14, attributed to the Triptolemos Painter. A similar scene is depicted on a neck amphora attributed to the Oionokles Painter: Cabinet des Medailles 369, ARV'- 648, 31.

5. Salpinx: Paquette 1984, 74-83. A performer of ancient Greek music, Philip Neuman, suggests that the salpinx player might be giving support to the muscles in the lower back when he had to blow with a great deal of force (personal communication). W23 is not strictly in this pose, but the relative positions of his arms suggest it.

6. Athens, Acropolis Museum 2568: LIMC II, s.v, Athena 600, pI. 763. Athena's voice is associated with the salpinx in the Iliad (18.219), and there was a sanctuary of Athena Salpinx in the agora of Argos. For further discussion of the relationship between Athena and the salpinx, see Serghidou 2001.

7. Florence, Museo Archeologico 81600: Van Straten 1995, 2I9-20, VI45, Fig. n6. 8. Ancient testimonia: Demosthenes, Against Meidias 171; First Phillipic 26; Xenophon,

Hipparchikos 3.

REFERENCES

Brommer, F. 1977. Der Parthenonfries. Mainz. Bugh, G. 1988. The Horsemen ofAthens. Princeton. Cahn, H. 1973. "Dokimasia." RA:3-22. Crowther, N. B. 1994. "The Role of Heralds and Trumpeters at Greek Athletic Festivals."

Nikephoros P35-55. Grad~ B., and E. Langlotz. 1923. Die antileen vtlsen von der Akropolis zu Athen. Berlin. Jenkins, 1. 1994. The Parthenon Frieze. Austin and London. Jenkins, 1. 1995. "The South Frieze of the Parthenon: Problems in Arrangement." AJA 99:445

56. Neils, ]. 1992. Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens. Hanover and

Princeton. Neils, J. 1995 "The Euthyrnides Krater from Morgantina." AJA 99:427-44. Neils, J. 1999. "Reconf1guring the Gods on the Parthenon Frieze." Art Bulletin 81:6-20.

61

THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURES

Neils, J. 200r. The Parthenon Frieze. Cambridge. Paquette, D. 1984. L 'instrumentde musiquedans la ceramique de la Grece antique. Paris. Robertson, M., and A. Frantz. 1975. The Parthenon Frieze. London. Serghidou, A. 200r. "Athena Salpinx and the Ethics of Music." In Athena in the Classical

World, edited by S. J. Deacy and A. Villing, 57-74- Leiden. Stansbury-O'Donnell, M. D. 1999. PictorialNarrative in Ancient Greek Art. Cambridge. Torelli, M. 1982. Typology and StructureofRoman HistoricalReliefs. Ann Arbor, Mich. Valavanis, P. 1990. "La Proclamation des vainquers aux Panarhenees," BCH II4:329-59. Van Straten, F. T. 1995. Hiera Kald: Images ofAnimal Sacrifice in Archaicand Classical Greece.

Leiden.

62

3

WORK SECTIONS AND

REP EAT IN G PATT ERN SIN

THE PARTHENON FRIEZE

JOHN G. YOUNGER

The Parthenon and its sculptures are often studied as works of art;

often, too, it is assumed that master sculptors did all the work, and

many scholars have focused on identifying these (Meisteiforschungen)

and relating them to the known Athenian sculptors working in the mid fifth

century Be. Pheidias, however, may have actually produced relatively few of

the extant sculptures, if the Erechtheion building accounts are any guide (Paton

1927; Randall 1953); these mention common citizens, resident aliens, and slaves

who sculpted the Erechtheion's frieze.

A close technical study of the Parthenon's frieze reveals many details of

the sculpting process, and these suggest gangs of workers working from pre

pared sketches, transferring cartoons, repeating figures and poses, and making

mistakes and rectifying them. This paper attempts to recreate the process of

sculpting the Parthenon's frieze; it is based on many hours I spent alone in the

Duveen Gallery of the British Museum' and on separate studies of modern

Greek sculptors at work in their Athens studios, like Pavlos Samios in Pangrati

(Fig. 3-1) and Vassily Arvanites on Anapauseas Street. The techniques of these

modern artists for making relief sculpture are basically the same as those that

can be reconstructed for classical sculpture - little apparently has changed in

sculpting relief since antiquity.

To prepare the marble slab for the sculpture, the sculptor srnoothes its

surface but allows a comfortable margin of blank stone at either end of the

block, Banking the area to be carved (some margin is also left at the top and

bottom: Neils 2O0!, fig. 58). These side margins allow the slab to be set in place

with minimum risk to the edges when it is pried into position. Such margins

TH E P AR THENON A ND ITs S C U L PT U R E S

3.1. I'avlos Sami os sculpting a frieze based on the Siphnian Treasury. 1972. Phoro by the author.

can be seen on architectu ral blocks of unfinished buildings (e.g., the tem ple

to Nemesis at Rh amnous), an d they can be inferred from the often rou gh and

deep ch iseling by which they were removed in the final finish (e.g., at the righ t

edge of North XLIl/4i [Neils 2 0 0 1. fig. 26] and the left edge of West XV1

[N eils 2001, fig. 39]) . In sculpted friezes, once the slabs are set ill place OIl

the bu ilding, the sculptors can then sculpt away the margins . Or if the slabs

co ntain integral scenes already sculp ted on the ground, as in the Parth eno n 's

west frieze, the carvers will sculpt minor details from the ma rgins, such as ho rse

ho oves, d rapery. or feet. If all the slabs, however, are still entirely blank when

set on the bu ildi ng, as in th e Parthenon 's north frieze, the entire composition

will be carved across the joins, and the m argin areas will receive elements just

as important to the entire com position as those in the central sections of each

slab (h uman heads, however, ten d to respect the join);'

10 create the sculp ture, the sculp tor prepares a sketch ("cartoon"), wh ich

he then lays our acco rd ing to a grid . and he grids the marble blank with in the

reserved side margins (today in pen cil and in ant iquity with red ochre [milros]

or charcoal similar to tha t attested in lirerature)." T he sculpto r then copies the

sketch to the marble, drawing in each gr id on the marble the pat tern drawn in

64

O RK E TlO D REP ATI , 'C P TTF.R N S 10 T HE P A RT H E N O FR IEZ E

3.2. Unfinished Roman sarcophagus behind rhe Red Building, Pergamon, Turk ey. Phoro by rhe aut hor.

each grid all the sketch. In th e first stage of the sculpting process, the sculpto r

carves the background down and away fro m the sketched p rofile lines. T he

figures thus stand out from the backgro und like cut blanks.

This process of sketchi ng and then cutting the background away is very

old. We see it first in the Bro nze Age: the well-known stele from Mycenae

Shaft Grave V , c. J550-J500 Be, carries a chariot racing over a fallen warr ior

almos t to tally con cealed by his cu t-blank figure-eigh t shield (Younger 1997,

esp. 235- 6).

We can infer the sam e process in later an tiquity: an unfin ished sarcoph agus

of Ro man date at Pergamon (Fig. 3.2) carries finished rosettes and swags as well

as blank templates that were never finished (cf. the unfin ished relief from the

Archaic sanctuary of Artemis O rthia, Sparta, depicting a flat cu t-out warrior

agai nsta removed background; Bluemel J969, fig. 56). More interesting, perhaps

even shocki ng, is the famed Hegeso stele (Fig. 3.3); viewed from the side , the

figures reveal how the backgrou nd was sharply cur back perp end icularly from

the blank stone - the figures stand a lit from the background like cut cookies.

Scul pting is hard work, an d sculp tors tend to avoid unnecessary effort. It

is common, for instance, to find the backs of pedimental sculptu re unfinished,

even merely blocked om (e.g. , Olym pia and the Argi ve Heraion ).' For relief

THE PA RTHEN ON A N D ITs SC U I. PTU R E S

3.3. "Tombs tone of H egeso seen from the side, National Museum, Ath ens 3624- Photo by the au thor.

sculpture, economy de manded time-saving devices, like repea ting figures in

simi lar poses. Many monuments, ho wever, mus t employ a string of figures in

di fferent poses, like the individually posed gods in the Parthenon 's east frieze

(N eils 200 1, fig. 76). But amongs t many strings of different figures we can often

discern repeati ng pa irs. In th e Siphnian Treasury's north frieze, for instance, we

can d iscern the repeated figures ofArtem is and Apollo an d the duplicat e (rather,

tr iplicate) giants the y are attacking." Where possible, however, sculptors will

often employ repeating figur es, sometimes repeated right next to each other

(I term thi s pro cess "d in ography"),7 Obvious examples include th e walking

soldiers on the late Archaic Hockey-Player base (N eils 2001, fig. 35) and the

p rocessio n of ru nn ing figures in the late fifth century Nereid frieze (Fig. 3-4).

A more subtle exam ple occurs in the dir rographed figures of th ree maidens

in another late Archaic frieze, the Harpy mo nument (Fig. 3.5), wh ose only

variat ion lies in which arm holds the Rower.

An o ther type of di ttography (repeating designs set next to each other) is

found in recurring fold patterns in garments. A good exam ple occurs in the

Parth enon's north slab Vl/6 (Fig. 3.6); the folds of the h imarion across the

lower leg of all three youths are almost exactly the sam e: a long fold curs just

belo w the kn ee, two more break at mid calf and JUSt above the shin , while the

lowest fold jo ins the hem . These identical fold patterns could have been freely

66

\X!O R K S E C T I O N S A ND R E P EATING P AT T ER N S IN T H E P A RT H EN O N FRIEZE

3+ Nereid monument , [rieze block 860, British Museum. Photo by the aut hor.

sketched on the blank marbl e, relying on some kind of mental or conceptual

pat tern; the areas around the sketched folds woul d have been carved down and

away from the sket ch lines - the folds there fore are sim ply the areas below th e

sketch lines left raised on the blank marble surface.

For long reliefs, sculptors seem to have work ed up one sect ion separately

from ano ther, with a space of blank marble as a bu ffer zone between them;

the blank buffers would eventually be sculpted with some transitional figure.

These work sect ions hypothetically could cons ist of a discrete co mpositional

unit separated by a small amount of blank space fro m another section, thus

allowing di fferent team s of workmen to work separately without inte rference,

even if side by side.

Many work sections mus t have been simply discrete iconographical units;

in the H arpy monument (Fig. 3.5), he various sections can be ident ified by their

di fferences in composition and scale and by the physical features that separate

them (e.g., the passage into the tomb). T he frieze from the early Archai c temple

3.5. H arpy tomb, west side, Briri h , luseurn. Pho to by the autho r.

T H E P ART H ENO N A N D I T S SCU L PTUR ES

-"

.,... /

3.G. Parthenon frieze, North VI/G. Photo by the aut ho r.

to Ath en a at Assos employs sim ilar d ifferences in iconography and scale as well

separa ting fearu res, such as a blank area later transformed in to the tail of th e

Old Man of th e Sea th at Herakles wrestles.

In a long frieze like th at of the Part hen on, it wou ld have ma de good

sense to have several gangs of wo rkers wo rking on di fferent areas of the frieze

co ncurr ently, each section d ivided from the others by blank buffer areas to be

carved later - one suc h, on the Ne reid mo nu ment (Fig. 3.7), was never carved .

T hese gangs would resemble the ones consisting of roughly four to six men

hypo thesized by A. Trevor Hod ge (1975) fo r laying ashl ar courses of maso nry.

We can easily ide n tify several of th ese buffers in both the north and the

south friezes. In the south frieze, two op en areas in the cavalcade, at the end of

South XVI (Fig. 3.8) and in the m iddl e ofSour h XIX (N eils 2001 , fig. 142 ) , each

preceded by the same horse and rider, p rob ab ly betray the presence of blank

buffers that never received figures; compare the similar open area in North

VI W 8 that separates kirhara players (Neils 2001, figs. J07-8).

Other buffer areas, however, were filled in. In the chariot sect ion of the

north frieze, we can identify the se because the several bu ffers were filled in

68

W O RK SECTI ONS AND RE P E AT I N G P AT T ER N S I N T H E P AR T H EN O N FR IE Z E

3.7. Nereid monument , frieze block 894, British Museum. Photo by the author.

with identical figures, men str iding left in poses where their legs look like

lambdas (one leg outstretched, the other bent ) . T hese recur on extant slabs

North Xl !I1. 44 (Fig. 3.9), Xl UI2A7 (Fig. 3.10), XVl I123.65 (Fig. j .n : Nei ls 2 001, fig. 103), and XXlV h9.74 (Fig. 3.12). We can discern a sim ilar break

between work sections in XXIlh 7, between the warrio r with shield (figure 71)

and the standing groom (figure 72). M ore such buffer figur es may have existed

in th e lost slabs of th is section (as Neils conjectures for XX125).

T hese bu ffers figures look like typi cal transition figures, awkward in their

pose and co mpositionally jarring; no te how the ju xtaposition between them

3.8. Parthenon [rieze, South XVI. Pharo by th author.

T HE PA RT HEN ON A ND ITs S C U l. PT URE S

....,...."\,

~

3.9. Parthenon frieze, North Xl/II. Phoro by the aut hor.

3.10. Parthenon frieze, Nor th XII/n . Photo by the aut hor.

7

3.I I. Parthenon frieze, N orrh XVlIh 3. Photo by the aut hor.

3.I2. Part henon frieze, N orth X .,'{[ V Il9. Photo by the author.

71

THE P ART H E N O N AN D I T S S C UL PTU RES

3.13 . Bassae frieze, British Mu seum 536. Photo by the aut ho r.

and the figu res around them seems cramped, as if the blan k buffer space left

between work sections was actually insu fficient for the figure. In North Xl/II,

ho rse forelegs cross over figure 44's left: thigh; in No rrh ).'VII!23, figure 65'S

entire pro per right side fits snugly again st the shield of figure 64 , con form ing

to its outli ne; and in North XX1Vh 9, figure 74'S shield cuts off the horse's one

foreleg. In the chariot section, of the south frieze, figure 63, which stands in

3.1 4. Bassac frieze, British M useum 530. Phoro by th e author.

72

W O R K S EC T IO ~S AN D RE P EATING PATTE R N S IN TIl E PA RT H E NO N FRI E ZE

3.15. Parthenon frieze, West VI , Brit ish Mus eum cast, p hoto by (he author.

the foreground at the left edge of Sou th XXV, looks like a carved buffer (cf. South XXVJ.66).

\Y/e can hypothesize that the lambda figures who occupy the buffer zones

between work sections were formed from a single pattern that could be t rans

ferred from one section of the fr ieze to another. To understand how these

patterns might have worked , we need to see some more examples of figures

that repeat in widely separated areas. For instance, in the temple to Apollo at

Bassae, near the middle of the cast frieze, on slab 536, a wounded warrior kneels,

one leg stretched our in front of him, his left hand holding his shield abo ve his

head to protect him from the Amazons that Rank him (Fig. 3.(3). The sam e

figure appears diagonally op posite the cella on slab 530 near the middle of the

west frieze: Kain eus holds his shie ld above his head while the earth , in outline

the same as the legs of 536's warrio r, rises [Q engulf h im (Fig. 3.14).

In th e Parthenon 's west frieze. two sandalbinde rs, West Vl.12 (Fig. 3.15)

and West XV. 29 (Fig. 3.(6). are almost twins, the only difference being the

73

T H E PARTHEN ON A N D ITs S CUL PT U RE S

IiJr(

W O R K S E C TI O N S A N D R E P E AT I N t ; PAT TER N S I.' T H E P AR T H EN O N FRI E ZE

} .18 . Part henon frieze, West XlI, British Museum cast. Photo by the au thor.

on papyrus or perhap s vellum. The sketch would be moved from one block to

another, and the drawn design would be rubbed onto the blank marbl e and

then redrawn to vary the figure and to strengthen the design. We know, for

instance, that papyrus came in stri ps as high as fifry-rh ree cen timeters and as

lon g as one wanted (Parkinson an d Q uirke 1995, 16- 7) - most of the repeating

designs discussed in this chapter arc not as wide as half a meter.

Wi th a series of transportable designs, workers cou ld com pile larger com

posit ions from sma ller unit s, When the edges of the frieze slabs themselves

provided the boundaries of the work sections (i.e., when co mpositions re

spected the slab joints, as in the Parthenon's west frieze), then it was b rly easy

fo r the scuplrors to position th e iconogra phical subunits corre ctly. We can hy

pothesize that a figure wou ld be aligned more or less with the left or right edge

of the slab. .Figures with trailing feet (as in lambda poses) could be "tabbed"

in to place, the ir pointed foot set into the lower left or righ t margin of the slab;

compare the many figures in lambda poses whose tra iling feet fit into the lower

co rners of Bassae frieze slabs and, on the Parthenon, the nu de youths West IlIA

and West XI I.22 (Figs. 3.1 7 and 3.1X). Similarly, the men and the yo uth who

stand contrapposto in the headers of East I, \ 'Vest I (l eils 200 r, fig. 87), and

75

TH E P A R TH E N O N A N D I T S S CU L PTURES

lioi:q~::'.I.I.v::

3.16. Parth enon frieze, W est A'V and XVT, British M useu m casts. Pho to by th e author.

slightly more compressed form of the latter figure. The two sandalbinders

anticipate po rch colum ns 3 and 6, as the young squires in West 1II.6 (Fig. 3.17)

and XI I.24 (Fig. 3.18; Neils 2001, fig. 90).anricipate colum ns 2 and 5.8

For th ese duplicated figures we can envision a basic sketch that is trans

po rtable and transferable. The sketch might have consisted ofan outline of the

figure (as in the case of the Bassae figure s), which, once transferred to the stone,

could be red rawn and varied. Such an outline sketch would be conven ient for

con veying the basic pose and proportions of the figure. The sketch itself might

have been a cartoon of these compositions drawn thickly in charcoal or miltos

3.17. Parthenon frieze, West 111 , British M useum cast. Photo by the author.

74

\1(fOR K S ECT I O N S AN D R EP EATI N G P AT T E RN S I N T H E P A RTH E N O N FR I E ZE

3.18. Parthe non frieze, West XII, British Mu seum cast. Pho to by the auth or.

on papyrus or perhaps vellum. T he sketch would be moved fro m one block ro

another, and the drawn design would be rubbed onto the blank marble an d

then red rawn to vary the figure and to strengthen the des ign. We know, for

instance, that papyrus cam e in strips as h igh as fifty-th ree centimeters and as

lon g as one wanted (Parkinson and Quirke 1995, 16- 7) - most of the repeating

designs discussed in this chapter are not as wide as half a meter.

W ith a series of tran sportable designs, worke rs could com pile larger com

positions from smaller un its. When the edges of the frieze slabs the mselves

provided the bou ndaries of the work sectio ns (i.e., when compositions re

spected the slab jo int s, as in the Parthenon's west frieze), then it was fairly easy

for the scupl rors to position the iconographical subuni ts correctly. We can hy

pot hesize that a figure would be aligned more or less with the left or right edge

of the slab. Figures with trailing feet (as in lambda poses) could be "tabbed"

into place, their pointed foot set int o th e lower left or right margin of the slab;

compare the m any figures in lambda poses whose trailing feet fit into the lower

corners of Bassac frieze slabs and, on the Parthenon, the nude yout hs West 1Ir-4 and West Xl l.zz (Figs. 3.17 and 3.rS). Similarly, the men and th e yout h who

stand contrapposto in the headers of East I, West I (N eils 2001, fig. 87), and

75

TH E P A RT H E N O N A ND ITs S C ULPT U R E S

3.19. Parth enon frieze, West IX and X, British Mus eum casts. Photo by the aut hor.

Wes t XVI (Fig. 3.16) ha ve their trai ling foo t tabbed into the lower corner of the

block, just like the left horse in West IX.

Horses may have been tabbed into place using their tails. T he righ t-han d

horses in slabs II, IV, V, VII,X, XI (?), XIII, and XV (Fig. 3.16) of the west frieze were positioned to have their tai ls carved eventually from the right margins of

their slabs; the tails of the righ(-hand horses in slabs V, IX (Fig. 3-19), and X coincide with rhe raised horse hooves on the adj acent bloc ks to the righ t. The

fact that the tail of the righ t-h and horse in slab XV (Fig. 3.16) does not cont in ue in to the header block XVI (Neils 2 0 01 , fig. 39) implies that XVI was already fully carved when XV was put in place. Since (he end blocks ofa course were set in place first before the intervening blocks (Hodge 1975), we can hypothesize

that all fou r of the frieze's header-stretcher blocks had been set in place first

(th ree of them carry one man in contrapposto). Thus, the final carving ofslab

XV woul d have occurred after header block XVI had been pur in place. We can imagi ne (hat th e sculp tor of XV would have assumed that whatever block was

going (Q be to (he righ t o f it would have had ample margin for continuing the

tail; that that block (XVI) no longer had that margin implies tha t the sculpto r of

XV did not know which block would be to the right of it, whi ch in turn implies tha t the sculptors of the individ ual west frieze slabs did not know exactly where

76

W O R K SE CTIO N S A :-JO R E P E ATI N G P AT T E RNS 1:-; Til E P A RT I I Et" O N FRI EZ E

r...' (\ ~~\ : :;" ( .(,. ~~ , I '.i:: ': " '~ . \ -= :-.', \' ':-:" ':" ' , , :J I r i

:~, : :. ; :: ,, ;- , " :~~;:.: \ k:):::::::; " ,-:\ , 'I .r.. .~ ,. ~. :"l"'@"~ \ ,, ,l (I

'l ~.;d ,.;.:-:.:.'.\ . ~. . -:-:. r':"\ l~~" .\..; \\ ... i '.~

J~~lt ;';' iJ'h~}J~;iti/f/*I," I;u..=-----"-'--'..~.........._ . ' . - ~ , ,r . _ ' c ' "

4 5 6

WEST II I I W COL 2

3.20. Drawing orWesr XII over Wes[ IIL D rawing by the author,

many, if no t most, of the slabs were destined to go. And all this im plies that

the west frieze was assembled without a rigid overall com pos ition in min d.?

\,{!hile each slab was being carved (presumably o n the ground), the left

an d/or right figures would have been tabbed into place, the rest of the compo

sition sketched in, and the background carved away, though with the margins

at the sides left int act. Again , from the margins of the individually sculpted

slabs, sculp tors carved incidental clements like hors e forelegs and hooves (e.g.,

thos e over the join of west frieze slabs VJ and VII [Fig. 3.15] o r those at the left

margins ofIX and X [Fig. 3.19J and XI), the dra pery of the nu de youths II l.4

(Fig. 3.17: Neils 2001, fig. 73) and Xfl.22 (Fig. 3.18; Neils 2001, fig. 90 ), or the

necessary but ap parently in itially omitted squ ire XV.28.

Several of the tabbed figures, like the stand ing men in contrap pos to (West

I. r, I l l .a , XI I.22, XVI.3 [r ig. 3.16], all with the ir left leg at rest, and V.9

reversed), all look so sim ilar ro each other that they might be based on a single

outl ine cartoon.

We can even go so far as to imagi ne that a larger composi tion might be

composed of several such cartoo n. For instance, the four-figure composi tion

of nude squire, horse, draped man, and boy appears with sligh t variations in

spacing, age, and posture in two slabs of the west frieze, West III and XlI (Figs.

3.17 and 3.18). We can check their similarities by putti ng a shaded drawing of

77

THE P A RTH E r-;O N A 1'< O IT S S C U LP T U R E ,

:;>

~ .?:~ .

~ '..

.. ' . ~I ; ..,.....

;.~ ."

130 13 1 32

NORTH Hlil

3.2 1. Drawing of West XII over North XLlIl47. Dra wing by the autho r.

XII over a drawing of III (Fig. 3.20). The same basic com positio n recurs on

North XLII /47 (Fig. 3.21) , the last block of the north frieze, just around the

comer from the west frieze.

Other full figures based on a single cartoon can be identified, such as the

awkwardly sta nd ing hors es in North XXXIV/39 ridd en by figure 108, XXXIX; 44

ridden by 124, and XLI I46 ridden by f29 (Fig. 3.22; cf. the two slightly d ifferen tly

awkward ho rses at the right edge of South I) . And entire co mpositions repeat,

as in the p laceme nt of horse heads in South V1 and IX and in South XI and

XlI. Most of the repeating com positions, however, are sma ller; we can easily

see them in the cavalcad e section s of the north and south friezes, pa tterns

of juxtaposed horse and rider heads and position s of horse forelegs and horse

hi ndlegs . \X/hile such repeated patterns occur throughout the cavalcade sections

of the friezes (e.g., the cur ved horse forelegs at the righ t edges of South X and

XI), I con centrate here on the cavalcade in the north frieze.

For instance, in the north cavalcade we see in the upper right corner of

slab XXXI 1137 a com position of horse and ride r head where the horse seems to

be resting its m uzzle against the rider's nape or high on his shoulder (Fig. 3.23);

I call such horse s "high nuzzlers" for convenience of reference. High nuzzlers

recur three and six slabs farth er along: in the upper right corner of XXXVI40 (Fig. 3.24) and again in slab XXXV l lIl43 but with a variation (Fig. 3.25; the

133 134

I III COL I

78

WO RK S EC T I O N S A N D RE P E ATI N G P ATT E R N S I N TH E PA RT H E N O N F R IE ZE

3.22 . Parthenon frieze, North XU /46. Photo by the aut hor.

3.23. Parthenon frieze, North XXXII!.~7. Photo by the author.

79

8

WORK SECTI O NS AN D R EPEA T1NG P AT T E RN S I N TH E PARTHENON rRI EZ E

) .26. Parthenon frieze, North XLI /46, derail. Photo by the aurho r.

rider's arm is raised before the hors e head and obscures it). Other horses rest

their muzzles lower on the shoulder; "low nuzzlers" occur in between the high

nuzzlers: in the middle of XA'XTIl /38, XXXlV/39, XXXV/40 (pushed forward , Fig. 3.24), XXXVI /4! (obscured by rider 1(3's shoulder), XXXVII/42 (pushed

forward) , XXXVII I/43 (Fig. 3.25), XXXIX/44, and XLl45, and at the left edge

ofslab XLV46 (Fig. 3.26), this t ime with low nuzzler 's jaw obscured by dra pery. Another repeating pattern of horse heads consists ofone horse head raised

horizontally in a normal position and another right behind it tucked in ver

tically. This doublet occurs in the right half of slab XXXVI /41 and in the left

half ofXXXVT III 43 (Fig. 3.25), approximately one and a half slabs (of normal

length , 1.2 meters) apart. An other one and a half slabs farther on, in the right

half of slab ofXXXIXl44, the rwo horses recur but are slightly apart.

Both these panerns, of nuzzlers and tucked-in horse heads, occur in the

next three blocks, XL/45, XLI/46, and XLI II47, but with differences, probably

becaus e, due to th eir position , these three blocks are longer than the other

medial blocks in the north frieze: 0 th e low nuzzlcr pattern occurs in XLl/46

(Fig. 3.22), approximately at the same dist ance, a full medial block length , from

its position in block XL/ 45, bur because of th at block 's longer length it now

occurs toward the left edge, an d the tu cked-in horse head pattern also occurs

in slab XL1I46, toward the middle, at approxima tely its normal d istanc e, one

and a half normal block len gths, from its last occurrence at the right edge of

block XXXIX/44.

T ru: P A RT HE N O N AN D ITs SC U L PT U RE S

It is in this left section of block XU/46 that we see three mistakes: in

the low nuzz ler, in a ma ne- like str ip of drapery abo ve the tucked-in hor se

head , and in the tucked -in horse he ad's d it tographed form to its im med iate

left now turn ed into drapery (Fig. 3.26) . Apparently the tucked-in horse head

was origin ally positioned about ten centimeters to the left of where we now

see it (Neils 2001, fig. 62; Perni ce 1890). Since the preced ing slab, XLl45, is

ten cen timeters lon ger than no rm al and slab XU /46 is another ten centimeters

longer still (twent y centimeters in all), the three mistakes covered by drapery

in the left half of XLI/46 may be due to workers' transferring their cartoons

at no rmal distances along the frieze bur not taking into consid eration their

placement within th is leng thened slab.

Why th e mistakes occurred is uncerta in, but it is possible that after the

blocks were set in place the workers in charge of transferring designs wor ked

from two different d irectio ns, one set concentrating on the composition in the

final block, XLII 147, and another set beginning as far back as block XXXV I40 .

T he team workin g on block XLII/47 adapted the four- figure composition fou nd

tw ice in the west frieze to occupy most of its length (the nude yo urh stands

co ntrapposto to the left instead of to the righ t, and an additio nal horse was

added in the extra space at irs left edge for h im to hold steady). In slab XL I!46,

the tucked-in ho rse head of the doublet was moved to the right, its or iginal

form tu rn ed int o dr apery; a now-lost horse mane above the tucked -in hor se

head (beh ind the head of rider 129) was turned in to drapery; and the nuzzler's

mout h at the left edge was recut as drapery. Apparently, part of the final ph ase

of sculp ting the frieze was to tu rn mis takes into drapery.

O ther repeated pat tern s can be discerned tor complete ho rses (e.g., those

rid den by riders XXIVh9.7, X)"TViJo.80 [as preserved in a d rawing by Stuart

and Revert ], and )"TXX:/36.98), just ho rse forelegs (e.g., the horses ridden

by ride rs XXXVII41.II3, XXXVI II42.I16, and XXXV1Il42.I17), or just horse

hindlegs (e.g., the ho rses in midai r ridden by riders XX:A'VIl!42.I17 and

),,'XXVIIII43 f2o).

All these repeated patterns demonst ra te that the Partheno n sculp tors ad

hered to stand ard sculpting practices using repeating mod ules at various in

tervals, including side by side, ran dom , and measured . O nce the overall com

position was defined in general rerrn s, workers could be separated into gangs,

and the gangs thems elves could have been di fferentiated by level of experti se: unskilled workers for transferring ske tches, moderately skilled workers for re

mov ing backgrounds, and skilled carvers fo r modeling figures and perhaps for

recarving mistakes as drapery. The skilled workers are on es we read about in the

82

W O R K S E C TI O N S A N D R E P EAT IN G P A T T E R N S I N T HE PA RT HE NO N FR IEZE

final Erech the ion accounrs (Paton 1927; Randall 1953; Sran ier 19 53) that men

tion the figu res of the frieze and their sculpto rs. T hese men came from vario us

str ata of society - citizen , resident alien , and slave - but all of them received

a drachma per day o r a couple of dr achmas per finished figure regard less of

th eir station o r skill (cf the Part henon, Erech theion, and Epidauro s acco un ts:

Stanier ' 953, Randall 1953, Bu rford 1969) .

M y goa l in th is exercise, therefo re, has been to democ ratize the sculptin g

pro cess and to get away from the lim iting notio n of M aster Scul ptor, whose

par ticipat io n may instead have been confined to the general design and perhaps

so me dera ils or some figures to be used as tern plates. T he vast majority of workers

on th e Part heno n are n ow nameless, bur they do no t deserve to be ignored.

N O TES

This study amplifies myearlier abstract (Younger 1991) . For convenience, I refer the reader to the text and illustrat ion s in Ne ils 2 0 01, esp. chap. 3.

1. I am grate ful (Q D r. Leslie Firron and the staff of the G reek and Roman Antiqu ities D cparrmeru of the Briti sh Museum for allowing me access to the sculptures over a twoweek period in the summ er of ]99 1..

2 . In nu mbering the slabs, I use Roman n umerals fo r the conve nti onal system devised by M icaelis and em ployed by Brom mer [977 and Arabic numerals for the recent ren umbering by Je nkins 1994 . For the human figu res, I use th e convent ional system of Arabic nu merals appended to rhe slab (e.g.. Norrh IlL ] iden tifies rhe first figure on the firs t slab in the north frieze).

3. At the jo in o f slabs XXXVI ll/43 and XXXIXJ44, the head of rider 121 bows fo rward to avoid the jo in behi nd , bur the ho rse head behind h im lost its chi n at th e join and had onc tenoned in place.

4. \)(lhitened boards (leukomata) were used pr imarily for tem porary docum ents (Birt 190 7, ) and 20 7 ; Liddcl and SCO [[, S.V. " leukoma" : cf rhcir use in the "T hern istoclcs" decree [Meiggs and Lewis 1969. 48-52 Ito. 23, lines 28- 9]). St ill, the CO nCer)! of using such boards to dr aw prelim inary sketches in red pa int seems plausible. The ske tched lin es for transferable designs , however, woul d have to have been rh ick an d d ry, someth ing powdery. like that used in modern cha lk lines: bo th charcoal an d milros (an earth stai ned with ferric oxide 19round haem atire j) wou ld have been excellent.

). T he excep tions include the late sixth cen tury ped imental gigalll omachy from the Athens Acropolis (H ckatc mpcdon j) and the Part henon ', ped iments. T heir finished reverses suggest that it was im po rtant fo r the publ ic lO be able to view them, at least while they

we re being sculp ted. G eorg Treu (1897 . 55) d is attent ion to the modeling of the hor ses from the east ped im nt of the tem ple to Zeus at O lym pia and notes their detailing, bu t since he believes the pole horses hid the outriggers . wh ich he places beh ind in the farther p lane, he explains the Iin ished modeling of their Hank thu s: " Die kunsterlerische Freude an de m Bego nnenen mag dann de n Bildhauer d am verlockt haben , wcirer zu gehen als dc r unrnit rclbare Zweck erforderrc" (An art ist ic joy at the begin ning drove the scul pto r on furt her than his immedi ate goal w-arranted [au thor 's rranslar ionl). It is a rule of th u mb that a scu lptor rook nearly

\ V O R K S E CTIO N S A N D RE P EATI N , P AT T E RN S I N T H E P A RT HE NON f R I EZ E

final Ercchrheion ac ounts (Pato n I 927; Randall ]953; Sranier (953) that men

tion the figures of the frieze and their sculptors. T hese men came from various

strata of society - citizen , resident alien , and slave - but all of them received

a d rachma per day o r a couple of drachmas per fin ished figure regardless of

their sta tio n o r skill (cf. the Parthenon, E rech rheion, and Epidauros accounts:

Sranier 1953, Ran dall '9 53, Burfo rd ]969).

My goal in this exercise, therefore, has been to democratize the sculp tin g

pro cess and to get away fro m the lim iting notion of M aster Sculptor, whose

participation may instead have been confi ned to the gene ral design an d perh aps

some de tailsor som e figures to be used as tem plates. The vast majo ri ty of workers

on the Par thenon are now nameless, but they do not deserve ro be ignored.

NOTE S

This study am plifies m y earlier abstract (Youn ger 1991). For con ven ience, I refer th e reade r to the text an d illust rations in Nei ls 2001, esp. chap. 3.

I. I am grareful to D r. Leslie Fitton and th e staff o f the Greek and Roman Anr iqui ties D cparrmen r of the Brit ish Museu m for allow ing me access to the sculptu res over a rwoweek period in the su mmer of 1991.

2. III numb ring the slabs.. ] use Ro man numerals fo r the conve nt ional system dev ised by M icaclis and employed by Brom m er 1977 and Ara bic nu me rals for the recent ren umb ering byJenkins 1994. For the human figu res, I usc the co nven tio nal system ofArabic num erals appended to the slab (c.g., North I1r.r identifies th e first figure o n the first slab in the no rt h frieze).

3. At th e jo in of slabs XXA'YJ1I143 and XXXIX/44 , the head of rider 12 1 bows forward to avoid the join beh ind , [,1I! rhc horse head beh ind hi m lost irs ch in at the join and had o ne teno ned in place.

4. Wh itened boards (feukrimara) we re used pri mari ly for tem po rary document s (Bin 1907, 5 and 207; Liddcl and Sum, s.v, " leukom a"; cf their use in the "T hcmisrocles" decree [Meiggs an d Lewis 1969. 48- 5l no . 23, lines 28-9]) . St ill, the concepr of using such boards to d raw p relim inary ske tches in red paint seems plausib le. T he sket ched lines for cransferable designs, however, wou ld have to have been th ick a nd dry, som eth ing powdery, like that used in modern cha lk lines: both charcoal a nd mil ros (an eart h sta ined w ith ferr ic oxide [g round haem arircj) wou ld have been excellen t.

5. T he excepti ons includ e the late six th cent ury pedi mental giganlOmachy [ ro m the Ath ens Acropolis (Hckaro rn pedo nr) an d the Parthe non 's pedim ents. T heir finished reverses suggest th at it was im po rtant for the public to be ab le to view the m, a t least whi le they

were being sculpte d . Ceorg Treu (1897. 55) calls at tent io n to the model ing of the ho rses from the east ped iment of the temple to Zeus at Ol ym pia and not es their detailing, b ut since he believes the po le horses h id th e ou triggers. which he places beh ind in the fart her plane, he exp lains rhe fi nished modeling o f the ir Han k thus: " Die kuns terlerischc Freude an dern Begon nenen m ag dann den Bild haucr dazu verlock i h aben, weirer ZlI gehen als der unm iuelbare Zweck erforderte" (An art istic joy at the beg inning d rove the sculpto r on fu rt her th an h is immed iate goal warrant ed [author 's rra nslatio nj ) . It is a rul e ofrhum b th at a sculp to r roo k n early a year to co m plete a single life-size figure (in the Asklepios tem ple build ing acco unts [Burl{lfd 196 9 . l!:l.- 17], both Helnoridas and Tbeo] ] received 3,mo

TH E PA RTH E NO N A N D IT S SC U L PTU R E S

d rachm as fo r the two ped iment s of ap proxirnarcly twe n ty -eigh t under-life-s ized figures,

th us im plying 2t5 days of sculp tin g fo r each figure). Fin ishi ng the madd ing of one horse Hank may therefo re have taken several months: fin ishing rwo flanks may have tak en half a year or more. 1 do ub t an "arti stic ioy" could have bee n sus ta ined so lon g.

6 . Lullies and H irrncr 1960, 1'1. 50 . 7. I bo rro w th e ter m "diu ography" fro m palacography 10 ind icate id entical figures sculpted

next to each o ther, implying th at the car toon fo r o ne fig ure was simply moved over sligh tly

to produce the sket ch for the second figure (cf the man y diuographcd figures in the Late Mi no an "Harvester Vase" from Ar ia Triada [M arinaros an d Hirmer, n .d . , pis . 104-6J).

8. Simi lar em pha sis is p laced o n the east porch co lum ns of th e H ep hais teion: the two dead

G reek warri o rs lie over the colum ns. 9. Temples we re bu ilt from the outsi de in , the co lonnade before th e cella; the Delos and

Ep idau ros bu ild ing accounts fo r rhei r tem ples to Asklepios specify the o rder of bui lding (D urbach J926, no. 500; Bu rfclr

Athena Apha ia in Aigina dem on st ra tes th e gap that had ro ha ve been lcfr in the out er co lonnade for the workers, eq uipment, and material to go in and out wh ile the cella was

built (the three north col umns in th e west col onnad e arc bu ilt of d rums whereas the

other columns are all mo nolithic) . If rhis gap oc curred in rh e wes t end o f the Parthenon , the frieze there could only have been assembled after the cella had been constructed up to th e cei ling level and the porch col u m ns inst alled . This migh t expl ain the jum bled

compos ition an d awkward scu lp ting across rhe jo ins.

10. T he no rmal len gth for the no rth frieze medial blocks is app roximately 1.2 me te rs (Bro m mer

1977). T h e last three blocks at the west end of the no rt h fr ieze are longer: 1.64 me ters for the final block. .4 me ter s fat the pen ultimate bloc k, and r.j mercrs fo r rhe propcnulr im ate blo ck . At the east end , on ly the penultima te block, l l/z, survives intact , w ith a length of r.a (M ichael is gavc . 4 fo r the los t propcnultimate block, 111 /3). T he so ut h frieze is differen t, but it srill has longer penu lt imate blocks : 1.3R met ers fo r the penul timat e block an d 1.34 me ters fat the propcnulr imarc block a t the east end and 1.42 m eter s for the penult im ate

block and 1.2 m ete rs for the prop cnultimate block at the west: end. Since these th ree

blocks, th e fin al , pen ul t imate, and propenu ltim are, res t:atop the ep isryle block s th at span th e gap fro m th e aura ro the corner prosry le co lumns of the porch , they may have been

mad e longer ro physically and /or visibly effect th is transit io n .

R EFEREN C ES

Bin, T. 190 7. Die Bucbrolle ill del' KUlISt: arehiiologisrh-antiqutlrische Untersuchungen z um antiken Btcclnoesen. Leip zig: 13. G . Teubner.

Bluemel, C. 1969. Greek Sculptors at \iodt.' Londo n and New York: Ph aidon , Bro m me r, F. 1977. Der Parthenonfr ies. Ma inz: Phi lipp vo n Z abern . Bu rford, A. 1969. The Greek !emp!e Buildersat Epidauros. Liverpool : Liverpoo l University

Press. Du rbac h, F. t926. Inscriptions de Delos: comptes des hi/ropes. Paris: Lib rairic an cicnnc Honore

Champion. H od ge, A. 1'. 1975. "Bevelled Joint s and the Di rect ion of Laying in Greek Arch itecrure." -'VA

79:333- 4H. Jen kin s. I. 1994. Til l' Parthenon Frieze. Au sti n: University of Texas Press. Korres, M . 1995. From Pemelitson to the P(mhOIO II." The Ancient Quarri,'s and the Story (1' 11

Ha!f worked Column Capital of tlJC First Marble Parthenon (G reek and Englis h). A then s: Publ ishi ng H ou se "Melissa. "

84

WORK SECTIONS AND REPEATING PATTERNS IN THE PARTHENON FRIEZE

Lullies, R., and M. Hirmer. 1960. Greek Sculpture? New York: Harry N. Abrams. Marinatos, S., and M. Hirmer. N.d. Crete and Mycenae. New York: Harry N. Abrams. Meiggs, R., and D. Lewis. 1969. A Selection ofGreek Historical Inscriptions to the End ofthe

Fifth Century B. C. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Neils, J. 2001. The Parthenon Frieze. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Parkinson, R., and S. Quirke. 1995. Papyrus. Austin: University of Texas Press. Paton, J. M., ed. 1927. The Erechtheum, Measured, Drawn, and Restored. Cambridge, Mass.:

Harvard University Press. Pernice, E. 1890. "Zum Nordfries der Parthenon." In Bonner Studien R. Kekute Gewidmet

(Munster: Universirar Bonn), 194-7. Randall, R. H., Jr. 1953. "The Erechtheum Workmen." A]A 57=199-210. Stanier, R. S. 1953. "The Cost of the Parthenon." ]HS 73:68-76. Treu, G. 1897. Olympia: Die Ergebnisse der lion dem deutschen Reich ueranstalteten Awgrabung.

Vol. 3. Die Bildwerke von Olympia in Stein lind Thon. Berlin: Verlag von A. Asher & Co. Younger,]. G. 1991. "Planning the Parthenon Frieze." A]A 95:295. Younger, J. G. 1997. "The Stelai of Mycenae Grave Circles A and B." In Techne: Crafts

men, Crattsuiomen and Craftsmamhip in the Aegean Bronze Age, ed. R. Laffineur and P. Betancourt, (Aegaeum 16), 229-39. Liege: Univcrsite de Liege.

4

PANDORA AND THE

PANATHENAIC PEPLOS

NOEL ROBERTSON

The relief scene on the base of Athena Parthenos showed the creation

of Pandora, a choice which calls for explanation. Hesiod's story of

how Athena dressed and adorned the first woman is connected with

the worship of Athena as goddess of woman's work, but in Boeotia, Hesiod's

background, not at Athens. Athens adopted the story and the ceremony which

it reflects not long before the Parthenon was built.

THE SCENE ON THE BASE OF ATH ENA PARTH ENOS

The subject, according to both Pliny (HN 36.I9) and Pausanias (1.24.7), was

'the creation of Pandora'; it was the story of the first woman, says Pausanias, as

'told by Hesiod and other poets' (Hes. Theog. 570-84; Op. 59-82).' In this story, woman was created in two stages. Hephaesrus first moulded her from clay, and

Athena then dressed and adorned her. Whereas man had been quite simply

moulded from day - in another story presupposed by this one - woman's

nature was not complete until she was dressed and adorned attractively.' It is

the second stage that is emphasized by Hesiod and is depicted in art.

Pliny says that the gods attending the creation numbered twenty.' In

Hesiod's second and fuller telling of the story, Hephaesrus and Athena are

assisted by Aphrodite and Hermes, the two triads of the Charites and the

Horai, and also Peitho as partner of the Charites; but this gives only eleven.

86

PANDORA A N D Tu r I'A ' ATl IENA I C P E I' I. O .~

.j..! . Zeus. Pandora?Aphrodite or Charis or Hora? Hermes, Black-figure neck-amphora by rhe Diosphos Painter, c. 520 Be. Side A. Berlin F 11137 (ph ot ograph by J. Ti erz-Clagow). Sra.u lichc Mu seen zu Berl in-Ant ikcnsarnml un g.

Nor all the rwenry gods o n the Parthenos base were d irectl y concerned wirh

the creative pro cess.

H esiod 's story is probably depicted on an Athenian vase of c. 520 BC, a

small black-figure neck-amphora by rhe Diosphos Painter (Berlin, F 1837; Fig.

4.1; cf LlMC Artem is 1264 [L. Kahil] = Hermes 36r [G. Sieberr l). Zeus, as it seems to be, holds a sma ll fem ale figure srand ing erect and dress ed in a chiton ."

Aphrodite, as it might be, o r po ssibly a C haris o r Hora, reaches our [Q her.

Hermes is behind. If ir is Pandora, borh Hephaesrus and Athena have finished,

and Zeus is contemplaring the result.

The story is unmistakabl e o n three Athenian vases a little earlier t han the

Parthenon. A white-ground kylixby the Tarquinia Painter (470-460 BC) has just the th ree principals: Pandora with Hephaestus and Athena on either side (Lon

don , BM 04: Fig. 4. 2; cf. Lendle 1957, pl. 2; LlMC Anesidora 1 [E. Simon] =

Hephaisros 223 [A. H errnary] = Pandora J [M . Oppermann] ; Reed er 1995.

THE P ARTH E~ ON AND ITs SC U L PTU RES

,.

4.2. Athena , 'Anesidor a', He phaest us, \X7h ite-gro und kylix by th e Ta rq uinia Painter, 470- 460 Be. To ndo. London, 13M 0 4. '"9 Copyright The British M useum .

279- 81). Pandora is smaller than the gods and is shown frontally, as a sti ffly

standi ng figure d ressed in a peplos: Hephaesrus is presenting her to Athena.' A

fragment of a crocodile rhyron by the Sorades Painter (c. 460 BC) shows onl y

the legs of from left to right, Athena, Hcphaestus, and Pandora (London , BM

E 789; Fig. 4.3; Lendle 1957, pl. 5; cf. LIMC Anesidora 3 = Hephaisros 224 = Pandora }). Pandora is again a frontal figure dressed in a peplos; Hephaesrus,

it seems , is again presenting her to Ath ena. And yet again, on a kalyx krarer by

the N iob id Painter (c. 460 BC), Pandora is a smaller fron tal figure dressed in

a peplos; Athena is wirh her, ho lding a wreath, bu t not Hephaestus (London,

BM E 467 ; Fig. 4.4; Lendle 1957, pl. 6; cf. LIM CAnesidora 2 = Aphrodite 1303 [A. De livorr ias] = Ares 87 [P. Bruneau] = He ra 345 [A. Kossarz-Deissm ann] = H ermes 742 = Iris I 99 [A. Kossatz-Deissrnann] = Pandora 2; Reeder 1995, 282- 4).

T he krarcr also shows ot her gods attending on either side of Athena and

Pando ra: on the left, starr ing from Athe na, Poseidon, a seated Ze us, and a

winged figure, most likely Iris; on the right, Ares, Hermes, and eithe r H era or

Aphrodi te. No more tha n half of these were engaged in the creation : Hermes

88

PAN D O R A A ND Tn a l'A ATIIF N ,I I C PEI'LOS

4-3. Ath ena. Hc phaesrus, Pandora? Iragme ur of red-figure crocodile rhyton hy the Sorades Painter. c. 460 Be. Detai l. London . BM E 789. @ Co pyrig ht T he Brit ish Museum .

and Ap h rodite, if it is she , and of course Ze us as the mastermi nd . And whereas

He rm es is moving away, Ares is movi ng up dose to Pandora; the two males

look back at each other, as if in un de rstanding. It appears, then , that the other

gods are co ming to see the result, perhaps sum moned by Iris. V irile Ares is the

most eager.

There is in fact a seq uel to the creation of Pandora in both of Hesi od's

versions. In the Theogony. she is led o lit by Zeus to an assem bly of gods and me n, who marvel at her; it is said that the whole race of women will descend from

her and will forever torment their husbands (lines 585-602). In the Works, she is given in marriage to Epirnetheus, likew ise as a tormen t; she opens the fateful

jar (lines 83-15). Either sequel indi cates the purpose for which woma n was

so cunningly created (shaped and dressed an d adorned) - to be an irresist ible

br ide . The kalyx krarcr suggests the same purpose by intro du cing Poseidon and Ares as archetypal womanizers and H era, if rather it is she, as archetypal wife.

T H E. PA RT II EN O N A ND ITS SClj L PT U RE S

4 + Ath en a, Pando ra, A res. Red-figu re kalyx krarer by [he Niobid Painter, c. ~60 BC. Detail of upper register. London , EM E 467. C opyright T he British M useum.

Fro m the evidence for the story, we turn to the evidence for the relief

scene. T he only sure and informative copy is the base, damaged bu t complete,

of the Athena Parrhenos from the lib rary at Pergamon , of a. size one -third of

the Athenian origi na.l (Figs. 4.5 and {. 6; cf. Lendl e 1957, pl. 3; LIMe Athena 2 30 [P. Demargne] = C haris, C harires 4 [E. B. Harrison ] = Pandora 6b ). But the wid th of the base was proportionately less, since the colu mn and the shield

of the original sta tue were om itted . T here were only ten figures, of wh ich six

remain: co unting from the left , the second thro ugh the seventh. W hereas the

original relief m ust have placed Pandora at the midpoint, with ten gods on

either side, two figures share the centre of the copy, the fifth and sixth, and are

set o ff slightly from the ot hers .

The fifth is Pandora, a smaller figure d ressed in a pepl os, standing frontally on a base or on raised ground . She was suited to the exact cen ter of the original.

T he sixth figure, close beside her, m ust be Athena. The seventh figu re seems to

be a male, surely Hephaesrus. Admittedly, these two are ba ttered beyond true

9

PAN DO RA AND Tn s I' A N ATIl E N A I C P EI>LO S

4.5. Charires or Horai, Pandora, Athena , Hephaestus. Base of Athe na Pan henos from rhe library at Pergamon . Berlin, Pergamonrnuseum. Staa tlichc M usccn Z lI Berlin Anrikensamrnlung,

recogni tion ." On th e left , th e second through four th figu res are a female tri ad ,

w he ther C ha ri tes or Horai.?

Otherwise, t here is a la te Hellenistic relief from Rh odes wh ich is n o t

a renderi ng of the creation scen e bur does co py the left most figure o f the

tr iad (Rhodes, A rchaeo logical M use um ; Fig. 4.7; Clara Rhodos 9 [1938] fig. 56; ad duced by Schuchhardr 197 5, 125-8 , after Schweitzer).

Behind her> where the relie f breaks off, is ano the r clement tha t m ust

belong to th e o riginal: th e ed ge of a ki th ara. It was undoubtedly carried by Ap ollo (in th e o rig inal scene he m ay h ave been fo llowed by Artemis an d Le ro ,

but th ere is room for o nly hi m o n the Pergamon base). So we know four go ds

on the left, OU t of ten, bu t o n ly tw o our o f ten on th e right.

The Lcnorrnanr statuette of Athena Panhenos shows six figur es o n its base,

unfi n ished and ofsurpass ing crudeness (Lend le 1957, p l. 4 ; LIMC Pandora 6a) . Only the two at either end ca n be tho ugh t to add a nyth ing d ist inc t: H e!ios

with his team an d Selene on her mount. W hether they are true to the o rig inal

THE P A RTH ENON A ND I TS SC UI. PT U R ES

+6. C haris or l-lora. Base ofAthena Parthcnos from the library at Pergam on, Dera il. Berlin, Pergam on rnuscum. Staa rliche Muscen zu Berl in- Ant ikcnsa m rnlun g.

or merely reprod uce a striking Phe idian motif (as on the east pediment of the

Parthenon and the base of Zeus' statue at Ol ympia) is perha ps impossible to

decide." Two Nco -Atti c reliefs in Rome and the Vatican and an earlier relief from C orint h were formerly said to attest a group of five gods on the left: from

left to right, Zeus, Hades, Persephone, Poseidon, Amphitr ite. But it has since

been recogni zed that the group derives from different originals of di fferent

dates, all probably late r than the Part henon."

We thus depend on the Pergamon base and the Rhodes relief. W hereas

the gods on the Pergamon base all belong to the creation proper, Apollo,

deducible from the Rhodes relief, doc s nor, With his kith ara , he betok ens a

festive mood; he is always present in the man y painted scenes of a wedding

attended by the gods (LIM e Apollo 843-52 lAoMathi opoulou-Tornaritou j). It may be that the extra gods on the Parthcnos base were assembled for Pandora's

wedd ing.

92

P A ND O RA A N D T n r: f'A NA TII E NA I C P E rl.OS

4.7. Kirhara, fem ale figure. Late He lleni stic relief fi-agmenr. Rhodes, Archaeological Museum. Photograph CClurrcsy of rhe Archives of the zznd Ephorare of Prehisto ric and Cl assical Antiquities (Dodecan sc).

As ro the creation, Athena and the leading member of the triad have

reached a cert ain po int. What , if anything, Athena holds is no t agreed.'? Bu t

the lead ing member of the triad plainl y ho lds a band two or th ree inches wide,

on e hand at either end (Fig. 4.6). W hat is it? It is stiff, not soft. It is mostly straight bu t bends slightly at the up per end. T he lower end is supported, no t

clutched, with the bent fingers of the left hand. Sur prisingly, this separate objec t

has been interpreted as the overfold of the peplos worn by the figure, which

she is lifting because , we mu st suppose, it is filled with fruits or Rowers." This

notion should be given up. Surely it is a belt, whether of leather or metal. T he

bending up per part will be the more solid strap end no tched wit h holes.

Girding Pand ora with a belt is a feature of the sto ry. In the Theogony, Hesiod says that Athena 'girded and adorned her in a gleaming wh ite garment',

in the Works, simply tha t she 'girded and adorned her' . Both times he goes on to tell how other ado rnments were placed on Pandora, veil and crown in the

93

THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURES

Theogony, necklace and wreath in the WOrks. Before this, the donning of the

garment - the draping and pinning and girding - is summed up in the last of

these actions, zose.

The figure of Pandora as depicted in art will look the same before and

after girding if the belt is concealed by the pep los overfold. On the vases, the

overfold is very clearly marked, at waist level on the kalyx krater (Fig. 4-4),

at the thighs on the white-ground kylix (Fig. 4.2), and about as low on the

crocodile rhyton (Fig. 4.3). Though we do not see it, we think of the belt. On

the kylix, Athena seems (the paint has flaked away) to be pinning the peplos

over Pandora's right shoulder, an action prior to the girding. Here then, beneath

the very full overfold, there is no belt. On the Pergamon base, the overfold is

also very full, for it came below the preserved portion of the peplos (Fig. 4.5).

The right hand, held straight down at the side, takes us to thigh level (and by

comparison with the other figures shows that Pandora stands on raised ground).

Again there is no belt, for the Charis or Hora holds it in readiness.

Such then was the creation of Pandora on the Parthenos base. It was

Hesiod's story, but the spirit was brighter. Apollo with his kithara suggests that

the first woman in her new finery was about to be gaily wed. OfHesiod's details,

it is the girding of the pep los that is singled out.

THE RELEVANCE OF THE SCENE

The base of Athena Parthenos was very wide, 8.065 meters, and perhaps 1.22

meters high (Schuchhardt 1975, 120; Harrison 1996, 49 n. 150). The relief on

the front was large and prominent, and the figures stood out sharply, either as

white marble against dark or as gold or gilt metal (Palagia 2000, 53-7). It also

suited the great statue towering above, for Pandora's peplos at the centre was

matched by the golden peplos of Athena, the costliest garment in the world.

And both the statue and Pandora were aligned with the peplos at the center of

the frieze outside: the peplos that is being folded up as the culminating action

of the Panathenaic festival.

Why was the story of Pandora chosen for the statue base? The question

has been put twice recently, and the two answers are almost opposite. It is said

that Pandora, though reflecting some credit on Athena as artisan and though

demonstrating the necessity of woman and marriage, was chiefly a warning

to the Athenians to uphold the masculine and patriarchal values embodied

94

PANDORA AND THE

in their mannish city goddess (Hurwit 1995; 1999, 235-45). And it is also said

that Pandora was a victory symbol like some others among the Parthenon

sculptures, for her true nature, as understood by the Athenians, was like that

of the daughter of Erechtheus who gave her life in wartime to save the city

(Connelly 1996, 72-6).12 Both views are ingeniously argued, and though they

exclude each other, it is possible that both, or something like them, occurred

at different times to ancient observers. [3 But surely the original meaning was

more simple and direct. Surely it was pertinent to the Great Panathenaea, which

was the only occasion when the statue and the base were seen by many people

(i.e., the processioners). Surely the creation