Parthenon Frieze _ North XXVII, 72

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The groom wearing a cloak pinned securely on one shoulder steadies the horses with care. The lower part of this figure, along with the foot soldier and driver of the next chariot, are proudly displayed in Athens' esteemed collection. Half of the North frieze is safely stored in the British Museum, while the other half resides within the Acropolis museum's hallowed halls. The total length of the north frieze measures an impressive 58.70 meters. Scenes unfold at the northwest corner of the opisthonaos as a continuation of the procession that has already begun on the west side, thus flowing smoothly from block N XLVII to block N I. Action builds gradually and from quiet preparation accelerates into a full gallop. Ignoring block divisions, horsemen are depicted proceeding in groups of seven or eight, with horses partly overlapping each other. The continuous flow of horses and riders is briefly interrupted only by the marshal on block XXXIV, yet variety is maintained through diversity of garment, stance, and gesture among the most beautiful horsemen, as well as occasional depictions of a man turning his head to look back, cleverly avoiding monotony. The frieze of the Parthenon forms a continuous band with scenes in low relief that beautifully encircles the upper part of the cella, the main temple, within the outer colonnade. The theme represented is 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' authoritative work, "The Parthenon Frieze," 1994. Frieze slabs are marked with Roman numerals, while people are denoted using Arabic numerals.