Parthenon Frieze _ South XIX, 49-50

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This block reveals distinct parts of two horsemen, one of whom wears a short tunic with a chlamys and long boots visible on another block (Block XX) at the Acropolis Museum, Athens. A significant gap is opened in the riders, which was intentionally done to mark the end of the procession. The south side of the frieze is preserved in fragments, and the sculptured surface suffered extensive damage during the catastrophic explosion of 1687 at the Parthenon. This is why the sequence from block XX on is uncertain. Despite this, the Carrey drawings show the representations on many missing sections, allowing us to locate several existing fragments. The original length of the frieze along the south side was 58.70 meters. It consisted of forty-seven blocks, some exhibited in the Acropolis Museum and others in the British Museum. Each block has an average width of 1.22 meters. The workmanship as a whole is less skilled than that of the north frieze, although some scenes may be considered masterpieces of the Parthenon (blocks III, X, XI, XXVI, XXXI, and XLIV). The procession begins at the west corner and proceeds to the right. A notable difference from the north frieze is the lack of varied pose, garment, and movement of figures and animals. The riders move in a straight line, looking directly ahead, with one exception on block V, rider (13). The horses' trimmed manes reflect their speed of movement. The sections evident in the south are: a) horsemen, b) chariots, and c) sacrificial procession. It is likely that the arrangement of the horsemen in the procession was according to tribe, following the political organization of the Athenian state. The variation seen in the garments supports this interpretation, with ten groups of six riders each. The first group (2-7) wears a fox-hide cap, short chiton, chlamys, and boots. The second group (8-13) only wears a chlamys. In the third group, the horsemen (14-19) wear a short cuirass over a short chiton and boots. The fourth group (20-25) is clad in short chiton and chlamys. The fifth group (26-31) wears an anatomical cuirass over a short chiton and boots. The sixth group (32-37) wears a fox-skin cap, short chiton over which is a cuirass with flaps, and boots. The seventh group (38-43) wears a helmet of Athenian type, short chiton, chlamys, and boots. The eighth group (44-49) wears chlamys over a short chiton and boots. The riders of the ninth group (50-55) are clad in petasos, short chiton, chlamys, and boots. The tenth group comprises horsemen (56-61) wearing short chiton and boots. Then comes the procession of chariots, which is very fragmentary due to the 1687 explosion and preserved only in interrupted stretches. Five blocks are missing entirely. Ten chariots are present, each taking up a single block. Some are standing still (XXVI), some are starting (XXIX), and some race full speed ahead (XXXI). Depicted on the following blocks is the procession of the sacrifice. Taking part are thallophoroi with olive branches, musicians with citharas (kitharai), skaphephoroi with offering trays, and the animals with their herdsmen. The frieze of the Parthenon forms a continuous band with scenes in low relief that encircles the upper part of the cella, the main temple, 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 in Arabic numerals.