Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum

A 079
Dismounted Horsemen and Groom (Slab 12); Parthenon Frieze West

Marble (Pentelic)
Frieze
W 138.5 cm

Like most of the west frieze, this slab was removed from the Parthenon only in 1993, after it had suffered severe damage from air pollution. It is now in the Acropolis Museum, while a replica has been put in its place on the temple itself. The cast, however, goes back to a mould taken for Lord Elgin in 1802, and shows the relief in a condition far better than that of the original today.
Greece, Athens, Acropolis Museum
High Classical, ca. 440-432 BC

Preservation:
Both sides of the slab are preserved, the lower right corner has broken away and is restored on the cast. The surface of the original is now heavily weathered. The cast preserves many details now lost, especially the coiffures and features of the faces. On the central figure several dowel holes for the attachment of a metal attribute are preserved on the original; they are not visible on the cast.

Description:
The slab shows three figures grouped around a horse in the centre. To the left stands a youth, shown frontally and gazing down at a now lost attribute. He is nude except for a chlamys over his back. The central figure wears a short chiton without sleeves, and a chlamys. He held a long, staff-like object in his left hand. Only a small part of it is preserved, more must have been added separately, as a number of dowel holes suggest. His right arm is raised in a commanding gesture. Both he and the previous figure seem to be standing on uneven, rocky terrain. To the right is a young groom, the painted (?) reigns of the horse in his right and a saddle cloth (or mantle) over his shoulder.

Discussion:
The Parthenon frieze, about 1m high and 160 m long, runs along the outside of the temple cella. About four fifths of it are preserved, divided mostly between museums in London and Athens. It is unusual in being an element of Ionic architecture deployed on an essentially Doric building. Recent research has in fact shown that the original design of the Parthenon envisaged metopes in its place, and that the decision to put a frieze instead was the result of a later change of plan. The frieze is not mentioned in the written sources preserved from antiquity, and the question of what exactly it represents still poses an intriguing problem to scholars. Starting from the south-west corner of the cella, the frieze shows two strands of a procession, one moving along the west and north sides, the other along the south side. They are made up of horsemen, chariots, elders, musicians, carriers with various vessels, sheep and cattle, etc., and they both meet in the east, where an assembly of the gods framing a central scene is depicted. Like all the sculpture of the Parthenon, the frieze was originally embellished with paint and metal attributes. Most scholars believe the frieze to be a representation of a Panathenaic procession, either historical or generic, rather than a mythological event. Every four years the Greater Panathenaea, the city’s most important festival, were celebrated in honour of its patron goddess, Athena. This involved a procession from the Dipylon Gate to the Acropolis, where various types of animals were sacrificed to Athena, and, most importantly, the dedication of a new peplos to her, usually thought to be the subject of the central scene of the east frieze. The west frieze shows part of a cavalcade that continues on the north and south. The horsemen here are shown at various stages of readiness, some already mounted, others still preparing themselves and their horses for the procession. The composition conveys the movement and excitement of the occasion, with skilfully varied details of dress and pose. One recent theory connects the prominence of horsemen on the Parthenon frieze to the creation of a new Athenian cavalry force under Pericles, some time between 445-431 BC. An unusual feature of the west frieze compared to the other sections of the frieze is that here the figures or groups of figures are mostly confined within the borders of the block, with little or no overlap between the slabs. The central figure on this slab is often interpreted as a herald because of the attribute in his left hand, perhaps a messenger staff or trumpet (others reconstruct a horse whip).

Bibliography:
F. Brommer, Der Parthenonfries (Mainz 1977) 17-19 pls. 36-37 A very detailed study of the Parthenon frieze including previous bibliography and ample photographic documentation.
I. Jenkins, The Parthenon Frieze (London 1994) 109 The latest official documentation of the frieze by the British Museum. Jenkins has renumbered some of the slabs and put them in a different order.
E. Berger and M. Gisler-Huwiler, Der Parthenon in Basel. Dokumentation zum Fries (Basel 1996) 51-53 pls. 26-27 Detailed study of the Parthenon frieze based on the reconstruction in the Basel cast collection, including an extensive bibliography.