Parthenon Frieze _ South VI, 15-16

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Marble relief (Block VI) from the South frieze of the Parthenon showcases the procession of the Panathenaic festival, commemorating the birthday of goddess Athena. The procession is depicted on Block VI with four horsemen in a dramatic display of overlapping one another. The horsemen wear short tunics belted at the waist and animal skin boots with top flaps. Metal reins were inserted in drill-holes but are now lost. For more information, see South frieze Block I. The horsemen on the South frieze are less well-preserved than those on the North frieze and have a less varied composition. The explosion of 1687 damaged the South frieze significantly. The south side of the Parthenon's frieze is preserved fragmentarily, with the sculptured surface badly damaged in the tremendous catastrophe of 1687. This is why the sequence from block XX on is uncertain, despite Carrey drawings showing representations on many missing sections and enabling us to locate a number of existing fragments. The original length of the frieze along the south side was 58.70 m, composed of forty-seven blocks, some exhibited in the Acropolis Museum and others in the British Museum. Each block averages 1.22 m in width. The workmanship on the South frieze is clearly less skillful than that of the North frieze, although some scenes are considered masterpieces (blocks III, X, XI, XXVI, XXXI, and XLIV). The procession begins at the west corner and proceeds towards the right. Unlike the North frieze, there's a lack of variety in pose, garment, and movement among figures and animals on the South frieze. Riders move in a straight line, looking straight ahead, with one exception on block V (rider 13). The varied rendition of trimmed manes reflects their speed of movement. As in the North frieze, sections are evident in the South: horsemen, chariots, and sacrificial processions. It's likely that the arrangement of horsemen in the procession followed the political organization of the Athenian state, with variation seen in garments supporting this interpretation. The first group (2-7) wears a fox-hide cap, short chiton, chlamys, and boots; the second group (8-13) only chlamys. In the third group (14-19), horsemen wear a short cuirass over a short chiton and boots. The fourth group (20-25) is clad in short chiton and chlamys; the fifth (26-31) wears an anatomical cuirass over short chiton and boots. The sixth group (32-37) wears a fox-skin cap, short chiton with a cuirass, and boots. The seventh group (38-43) wears an Athenian helmet, short chiton, chlamys, and boots; the eighth group (44-49) is clad in chlamys over short chiton and boots. The ninth group (50-55) wears petasos, short chiton, chlamys, and boots; the tenth group (56-61) wears short chiton and boots. The procession of chariots follows, with ten blocks missing and only preserved in interrupted stretches due to the 1687 explosion. Some chariots are standing still (XXVI), some starting (XXIX), and others racing full speed ahead (XXXI). Depicted on subsequent blocks is the sacrificial procession, featuring thallophoroi with olive branches, musicians with citharas (kitharai), skaphephoroi with offering trays, and animals with their herdsmen. The Parthenon frieze forms a continuous band with scenes in low relief that encircles the upper part of the cella within the outer colonnade. The theme represented is the procession toward the Acropolis during the Great Panathenaia, commemorating the birthday of goddess Athena.