Parthenon Frieze _ North XXIV, 66-67-68

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Sometimes a marshal is shown directing traffic. Her one is placed on the far side of horses. Their charioteer and foot soldier are lost all but for their hands. This block survives as the representation of a chariot, a foot-soldier, and a marshal. A team of horses pulls a chariot-carriage. The chariot is being reined back, and we feel the concentration of energy in the complex gathering of the horses' rear legs. It's not clear from the remains of the foot soldier if he is slipping from the carriage or climbing into it, as his hand grips the hand rail of the chariot-carriage. Meanwhile, the charioteer stands with hands extended to hold the reins. On the far side, a marshal faces the direction of traffic. Half of the North frieze is in the British Museum and the other half in the Acropolis museum. The total length of the north frieze was 58.70 meters. Scenes begin at the northwest corner of the opisthonaos as a continuation of the procession that has already started on the west side, thus running from block N XLVII to block N I. Action develops gradually and accelerates to a gallop. Ignoring divisions of blocks, horsemen are depicted proceeding in groups of seven or eight, horses partly overlapping each other. The continuous flow of horses and riders is interrupted only by the marshal on block XXXIV. Yet with variety of garment, stance, and gesture of the most beautiful of horsemen, and occasional depiction of a man turning his head to look back, monotony is avoided. The frieze of the Parthenon forms a continuous band with scenes in low relief that encircles the upper part of the cella within the outer colonnade. The theme represented was the procession toward the Acropolis that took place during the Great Panathenaia, the commemoration of the birthday of the goddess Athena. Numbering taken from I. Jenkins, The Parthenon Frieze, 1994. Frieze slabs are marked in Roman numerals; people are marked in Arabic numerals.