Editing Parthenon (section)

===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" />