Editing Parthenon (section)

==Sculpture==
{{redirect|Parthenon Marbles|the works housed at the British Museum|Elgin Marbles}}
[[File:British Museum, London (2014) - 07.JPG|thumb|Group from the east pediment, [[British Museum]]|upright=1.2]]
The cella of the Parthenon housed the [[Athena Parthenos|chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos]] sculpted by [[Phidias]] and dedicated in 439 or 438&nbsp;BC. The appearance of this is known from other images. The decorative stonework was originally highly coloured.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/history-of-ancient-greek-art-12.asp |title=Tarbell, F.B. ''A History of Ancient Greek Art''. (online book) |publisher=Ellopos.net |access-date=18 April 2009 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225091050/https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/history-of-ancient-greek-art-12.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> The temple was dedicated to Athena at that time, though construction continued until almost the beginning of the [[Peloponnesian War]] in 432. By the year 438, the Doric metopes on the [[frieze]] above the exterior colonnade and the Ionic frieze around the upper portion of the walls of the [[cella]] had been completed.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Only a small number of the original sculptures remain ''[[in situ]].'' Most of the surviving sculptures are at the [[Acropolis Museum]] in Athens and at the [[British Museum]] in London (see [[Elgin Marbles]]). Additional pieces are at the [[Louvre]], the [[National Museum of Denmark]], and [[Vienna]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sideris |first=Athanasios |date=1 January 2004 |title=The Parthenon |url=https://www.academia.edu/2543561 |journal=Strolling Through Athens |pages=112–119 |access-date=20 January 2015 |archive-date=6 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006212756/https://www.academia.edu/2543561 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2022, the Acropolis Museum launched a new website with "photographs of all the frieze blocks preserved today in the Acropolis Museum, the British Museum and the Louvre".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Parthenon Frieze |url=https://www.parthenonfrieze.gr/en/?sn=2 |access-date=26 July 2022 |publisher=Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, Acropolis Museum, Acropolis Restoration Service |archive-date=7 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007011357/https://parthenonfrieze.gr/en/?sn=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Metopes===
{{Main|Metopes of the Parthenon}}
[[File:Parthenon XL.jpg|thumb|left|Detail of the West metopes|upright=1.2]]

The frieze of the Parthenon's entablature contained 92 [[Metope (architecture)|metopes]], 14 each on the east and west sides, 32 each on the north and south sides. They were carved in high relief, a practice employed until then only in treasuries (buildings used to keep votive gifts to the gods).<ref name="Parthenon">{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Beth |last2=Zucker |first2=Steven |title=Parthenon (Acropolis) |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/greece-etruria-rome/v/parthenon |website=Khan Academy |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127173505/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/greece-etruria-rome/v/parthenon |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the building records, the metope sculptures date to the years 446–440. The metopes of the east side of the Parthenon, above the main entrance, depict the [[Gigantomachy]] (the mythical battle between the Olympian gods and the [[Gigantes|Giants]]). The metopes of the west end show the [[Amazonomachy]] (the mythical battle of the Athenians against the [[Amazons]]). The metopes of the south side show the Thessalian [[Centauromachy]] (battle of the [[Lapiths]] aided by [[Theseus]] against the half-man, half-horse [[Centaur]]s). Metopes 13–21 are missing, but drawings from 1674 attributed to Jaques Carrey indicate a series of humans; these have been variously interpreted as scenes from the [[Lapith]] wedding, scenes from the early history of Athens, and various myths.<ref name=Barringer2008 >{{Cite book |last=Barringer |first=Judith M |year=2008 |title=Art, myth, and ritual in classical Greece |publisher=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-64647-5 |page=78 |oclc=174134120}}</ref> On the north side of the Parthenon, the metopes are poorly preserved, but the subject seems to be the [[Iliou persis|sack of Troy]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Titi |first=Catharine |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6 |title=The Parthenon Marbles and International Law |date=2023 |isbn=978-3-031-26356-9 |pages=42, 45 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6 |s2cid=258846977 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529083331/https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The mythological figures of the metopes of the East, North, and West sides of the Parthenon had been deliberately mutilated by [[Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire|Christian iconoclasts]] in late antiquity.<ref>Pollini 2007, pp. 212–216; Brommer 1979, pp. 23, 30, pl. 41.</ref>

The metopes present examples of the [[Severe Style]] in the anatomy of the figures' heads, in the limitation of the corporal movements to the contours and not to the muscles, and in the presence of pronounced veins in the figures of the [[Centauromachy]]. Several of the metopes still remain on the building, but, with the exception of those on the northern side, they are severely damaged. Some of them are located at the [[Acropolis Museum]], others are in the [[British Museum]], and one is at the [[Louvre]] museum.<ref>{{Citation |title=Tenth metope from the south façade of the Parthenon |url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/tenth-metope-south-facade-parthenon |access-date=30 January 2018 |archive-date=31 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131140847/https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/tenth-metope-south-facade-parthenon |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In March 2011, archaeologists announced that they had discovered five [[Metope (architecture)|metopes]] of the Parthenon in the south wall of the Acropolis, which had been extended when the Acropolis was used as a fortress. According to ''Eleftherotypia'' daily, the archaeologists claimed the metopes had been placed there in the 18th century when the Acropolis wall was being repaired. The experts discovered the metopes while processing 2,250 photos with modern photographic methods, as the white [[Pentelic marble]] they are made of differed from the other stone of the wall. It was previously presumed that the missing metopes were destroyed during the Morosini explosion of the Parthenon in 1687.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2011/03/04/archaeologists-discover-new-metopes-of-parthenon/Discovery |title=Discovery Reveals Ancient Greek Theaters Used Moveable Stages Over 2,000 Years Ago |website=greece.greekreporter.com |access-date=14 August 2011 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728071035/https://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/07/12/discovery-reveals-ancient-greek-theaters-used-moveable-stages-over-2000-years-ago/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Frieze===
{{Main|Parthenon Frieze}}
[[File:1868 Lawrence Alma-Tadema - Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends.jpg|thumb|''[[Phidias]] Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends'', 1868 painting by [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]]|upright=1.2]]

The most characteristic feature in the architecture and decoration of the temple is the Ionic [[frieze]] running around the exterior of the cella walls. The [[Relief#Bas-relief or low relief|bas-relief]] frieze was carved in situ and is dated from {{Circa|443}}–438.<ref>438 was the year of the dedication of the Parthenon and is usually taken as an upper limit for completion of the frieze, see I Jenkins, ''The Parthenon Frieze and Perikles' cavalry of 1000'', p149–150, in Hurwit, 2005, for a discussion of the dating problem.</ref>

One interpretation is that it depicts an idealized version of the [[Panathenaic Festival|Panathenaic procession]] from the [[Dipylon Gate]] in the [[Kerameikos]] to the [[Acropolis]]. In this procession held every year, with a special procession taking place every four years, Athenians and foreigners participated in honouring the goddess [[Athena]] by offering her sacrifices and a new [[peplos]] dress, woven by selected noble Athenian girls called {{Lang|grc-Latn|ergastines}}. The procession is more crowded (appearing to slow in pace) as it nears the gods on the eastern side of the temple.<ref>{{cite book |last1=De la Croix |first1=Horst |last2=Tansey |first2=Richard G. |last3=Kirkpatrick |first3=Diane |title=Gardner's Art Through the Ages |date=1991 |publisher=Thomson/Wadsworth |isbn=0-15-503769-2 |edition=9th |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/158 158–59] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/158}}</ref>

[[Joan Breton Connelly]] offers a mythological interpretation for the frieze, one that is in harmony with the rest of the temple's sculptural programme which shows Athenian genealogy through a series of succession myths set in the remote past. She identifies the central panel above the door of the Parthenon as the pre-battle sacrifice of the daughter of the king [[Erechtheus]], a sacrifice that ensured Athenian victory over [[Eumolpos]] and his Thracian army. The great procession marching toward the east end of the Parthenon shows the post-battle thanksgiving sacrifice of cattle and sheep, honey and water, followed by the triumphant army of Erechtheus returning from their victory. This represents the first Panathenaia set in mythical times, the model on which historic Panathenaic processions were based.<ref>Connelly, ''Parthenon and Parthenoi'', pp. 53–80.</ref><ref>Connelly, ''The Parthenon Enigma'', chapters 4, 5, and 7.</ref> This interpretation has been rejected by [[William St Clair]], who considers that the frieze shows the celebration of the birth of Ion, who was a descendant of [[Erechtheus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=St Clair |first=William |editor-first1=Lucy |editor-first2=David |editor-last1=Barnes |editor-last2=St Clair |title=The Classical Parthenon: Recovering the Strangeness of the Ancient World |date=24 August 2022 |publisher=Open Book Publishers |isbn=978-1-80064-344-4 |language=English |doi=10.11647/obp.0279 |s2cid=251787123 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This interpretation has been rejected by [[Catharine Titi]], who agrees with St Clair that the mood is one of celebration (rather than sacrifice) but argues that the celebration of the birth of Ion requires the presence of an infant but there is no infant on the frieze.<ref name=":2" />

===Pediments===
{{Main|Pediments of the Parthenon}}
[[File:Athens Acropolis Parthenon Metope and pediment 03.jpg|thumb|Part of the east pediment still found on the Parthenon (although part of it, like Dionysus, is a copy)|upright=1.2]]
Two pediments rise above the portals of the Parthenon, one on the east front, one on the west. The triangular sections once contained massive sculptures that, according to the second-century geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], recounted the birth of Athena and the mythological battle between Athena and [[Poseidon]] for control of Athens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE 1.17–29 – Theoi Classical Texts Library |url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1B.html |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=www.theoi.com |archive-date=21 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721184032/https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1B.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====East pediment====

The east pediment originally contained 10 to 12 sculptures depicting the Birth of Athena. Most of those pieces were removed and lost during renovations in either the eighth or the twelfth century.<ref>Jeffrey M. Hurwit. "Helios Rising: The Sun, the Moon, and the Sea in the Sculptures of the Parthenon". ''American Journal of Archaeology'', vol. 121, no. 4, 2017, pp. 527–558. ''JSTOR'', {{doi|10.3764/aja.121.4.0527}}. Accessed 22 July 2022.</ref> Only two corners remain today with figures depicting the passage of time over the course of a full day. [[Chariot racing|Tethrippa]] of [[Helios]] is in the left corner and [[Selene]] is on the right. The horses of Helios's chariot are shown with livid expressions as they ascend into the sky at the start of the day. Selene's horses struggle to stay on the pediment scene as the day comes to an end.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/780/ |encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |title=The Parthenon Sculptures by Mark Cartwright 2014 |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=24 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024003306/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/780/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=1325893001&objectid=461663 |title=The British Museum: The Parthenon sculptures |access-date=19 December 2017 |archive-date=29 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829122957/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=1325893001&objectid=461663 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====West pediment====
The supporters of Athena are extensively illustrated at the back of the left chariot, while the defenders of Poseidon are shown trailing behind the right chariot. It is believed that the corners of the pediment are filled by Athenian water deities, such as the [[Cephissus (mythology)|Kephisos]] river, the [[Ilissos]] river, and nymph [[Callirhoe (Greek mythology)|Kallirhoe]]. This belief emerges from the fluid character of the sculptures' body position which represents the effort of the artist to give the impression of a flowing river.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/pdf/uploads/hesperia/148069.pdf |title=Athenians and Eleusinians in the West Pediment of the Parthenon |access-date=19 December 2017 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809032712/http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/pdf/uploads/hesperia/148069.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="britishmuseum.org">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1816-0610-99 |title=statue; pediment &#124; British Museum |website=The British Museum |access-date=15 December 2021 |archive-date=15 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215231207/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1816-0610-99 |url-status=live }}</ref> Next to the left river god, there are the sculptures of the mythical king of Athens ([[Cecrops I|Cecrops or Kekrops]]) with his daughters ([[Aglaurus, daughter of Cecrops|Aglaurus]], [[Pandrosos]], [[Herse of Athens|Herse]]). The statue of Poseidon was the largest sculpture in the pediment until it broke into pieces during [[Francesco Morosini]]'s effort to remove it in 1688. The posterior piece of the torso was found by Lusieri in the groundwork of a Turkish house in 1801 and is currently held in the [[British Museum]]. The anterior portion was revealed by Ross in 1835 and is now held in the [[Acropolis Museum]] of Athens.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GFNuxcVKLIkC&q=poseidon+torso+morosini&pg=PA47 |title=The Pediments of the Parthenon by Olga Palagia |isbn=978-90-04-11198-1 |last1=Palagia |first1=Olga |year=1998 |publisher=BRILL |access-date=18 November 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628091750/https://books.google.com/books?id=GFNuxcVKLIkC&q=poseidon+torso+morosini&pg=PA47#v=snippet&q=poseidon%20torso%20morosini&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Every statue on the west pediment has a fully completed back, which would have been impossible to see when the sculpture was on the temple; this indicates that the sculptors put great effort into accurately portraying the human body.<ref name="britishmuseum.org"/>

===Athena Parthenos===
{{Main|Athena Parthenos}}

The only piece of sculpture from the Parthenon known to be from the hand of Phidias<ref>{{cite book |title=Chryselephantine Statuary in the Ancient Mediterranean World |last=Lapatin |first=Kenneth D.S. |year=2001 |publisher=OUP |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-815311-5 |page=63}}</ref> was the statue of Athena housed in the ''naos''. This massive [[chryselephantine sculpture]] is now lost and known only from copies, vase painting, gems, literary descriptions, and coins.<ref>N. Leipen, Athena Parthenos: a huge reconstruction, 1972.</ref>