Parthenon Frieze _ South XLV, 137 - 138 - 139 - 140 - 141

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Shown here are two more bulls, their young himation-clad drivers standing confidently by their sides (137-140). The second from the left (138), positioned frontally, turns his head to the left and, with his right hand raised, skillfully adjusts the hair-band he is wearing. The southern side of the frieze is preserved in fragments, and the sculptured surface was severely damaged in the catastrophic explosion that ravaged the Parthenon in 1687. This is why the sequence from block XX onward is uncertain. Despite this, the Carrey drawings provide a glimpse into the representations on many of the missing sections, allowing us to locate several existing fragments. The original length of the frieze along the southern side was 58.70 meters. It consisted of forty-seven blocks, with some exhibited in the Acropolis Museum and others in the British Museum. The average width of each block is 1.22 meters. The overall workmanship is clearly less skilled than that of the northern frieze, although some scenes may be considered masterpieces of the Parthenon (blocks III, X, XI, XXVI, XXXI, and XLIV). The procession begins at the western corner and proceeds toward the right. Unlike the north frieze, which features a variety of poses, garments, and movements, the south frieze displays uniformity in its depiction of riders moving in a straight line, looking straight ahead, with one exception on block V, rider (13). The horses' trimmed manes reflect their speed of movement. As seen on the north frieze, the sections evident in the south are: a) the horsemen, b) the chariots, and c) the sacrificial procession. It is likely that the arrangement of the horsemen in the procession followed the tribal organization of the Athenian state. The variation seen in the garments supports this interpretation, with ten groups of six riders each. The horsemen of the first group (2-7) wear a fox-hide cap, short chiton, chlamys, and boots, while the second group (8-13) wears only 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 (26-31) in anatomical cuirass over short chiton and boots, the sixth (32-37) in fox-skin cap, short chiton over which is a cuirass with flaps, and boots. The seventh group (38-43) wears an Athenian-type helmet, short chiton, chlamys, and boots, while the eighth group (44-49) wears chlamys over short chiton and boots. The riders of the ninth group (50-55) are clad in petasos, short chiton, chlamys, and boots, and the tenth group comprises horsemen (56-61) wearing short chiton and boots. Following the procession of horsemen is that of chariots, which, due to the 1687 explosion, is very fragmentary and preserved only in interrupted stretches. Five blocks are missing altogether, while ten chariots are in motion, each occupying a single block. Some are standing still (XXVI), some starting (XXIX), and others racing full speed ahead (XXXI). Depicted on the subsequent blocks is the procession of sacrifice, featuring thallophoroi with olive branches, musicians with citharas (kitharai), skaphephoroi with offering trays, and animals accompanied by their herdsmen. 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 is the procession toward the Acropolis 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, and people are marked in Arabic numerals.