page_title: Metopes of the Parthenon
section_title: Western metopes
hierarchical_section_title: Metopes of the Parthenon / Western metopes
context_page_description: The metopes of the Parthenon are the surviving set of what were originally 92 square carved plaques of Pentelic marble originally located above the columns of the Parthenon peristyle on the Acropolis of Athens. If they were made by several artists, the master builder was certainly Phidias. They were carved between 447 or 446 BC. or at the latest 438 BC, with 442 BC as the probable date of completion. Most of them are very damaged. Typically, they represent two characters per metope either in action or repose.
  The interpretations of these metopes are only conjectures, starting from mere silhouettes of figures, sometimes barely discernible, and comparing them to other contemporary representations. There is one theme per side of the building, representing a fight each time: Amazonomachy in the west, fall of Troy in the north, gigantomachy in the east and fight of Centaurs and Lapiths in the south. The metopes have a purely warlike theme, like the decoration of the chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos housed in the Parthenon.
context_section_description: The fourteen metopes of the west facade are still all in place on the building. However, they have suffered much damage, mainly destruction by Christians, such that it is difficult to determine what they represent. Thus, West VI and VII are so damaged that it is not even possible to discern anything. The painter William Pars appointed by the Society of Dilettanti to accompany Richard Chandler and Nicholas Revett during the second archaeological expedition financed by the Society, drew around 1765-1766 the western metopes I, III, IV, V, VIII to XI and XIV. His drawings show that they were in the second half of the century in a state of disrepair very close to the one we currently know.
  These metopes were the ones that visitors to the Acropolis saw first: the choice of their theme was therefore essential. The most common interpretation is that it was the Amazonomachy, most probably the Athenian episode of these battles between the Greeks and the warrior women. It concerned Theseus and the Amazon Queen Antiope (sometimes called Hippolyte who, according to various accounts, would have been abducted or would have followed the Athenian hero voluntarily. The Amazons would have crossed the Bosphorus and invaded Attica to recover their sovereign. The Athenian army, led by Theseus, would have succeeded in repelling the eastern invader.
  However, the subject remains controversial, largely because of the poor condition of the sculpture. Another hypothesis is that it could be a fight against the Persians. The argument has centered on the clothes of the opponents of the Greeks. Amazons are usually represented wearing a short chiton with open shoulders. But here, some wear a chlamys a hat, boots and a shield. On the other hand, these opponents of the Greeks do not wear either the trousers characteristic of the representations of the Persians. The Greeks, meanwhile, are naked (two have a chlamys, mostly fallen), with sword and shield 80,26. Whatever the hypothesis adopted, for the Athenian citizen or the foreign visitor, the obvious interpretation of this western setting was the failure of the invasion of Attica by the Persian army during the Persian war.
  Two frescoes representing the Amazonomachy already existed in Athens at the time: one in the heroon of Theseus (not yet found) and the other in the Stoa Poikile attributed to Micon who included in his work Amazons on horseback. These frescoes served as an inspiration to artists for the metopes of the Parthenon, but also for the shield of the chryselephantine statue.
  Each metope represents a duel between a Greek and an Amazon, around Theseus, the central figure. The Amazons were represented alternately on horseback (metopes west I, III, V, VII (?), IX, XI, XIII) victorious, and on foot (metopes west II, IV, VI (?), VIII, X, XII, XIV) vanquished. There are however three exceptions to this alternation. The western metope I only has an Amazon on horseback; on the western metope II, it seems that it is the walking Amazon who is victorious and not the Greek; on the western metope VIII, the Amazon is on horseback, but she seems to be defeated.
  The Amazon in western metope I is on horseback, without an adversary. This could represent the arrival of reinforcements or the rearguard. She may have had a spear, in which case her potential victim has disappeared. Margarete Bieber speculates that it could be Hippolyte herself coming to fight with the Greeks. And symmetrically, according to the American archaeologist, Theseus would find himself in West XIV. From the west metope II remains only the very damaged hips and torso of the Greek warrior on the left. He is identifiable with his round shield on his left arm. His opponent had to be dressed in a short chiton. There is a left leg and upper body left. It is possible to consider that she must have had a sword over her head, preparing to strike the Greek . The composition of the western metopes III, V, IX and XIII is similar, West V being a little more damaged, West XIII being the best preserved. An Amazon turned to the right is on horseback. Her moun
caption: The west facade of the Parthenon, painted by William Gell with the metopes discernable under the pediment.
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