The Parthenon – XI: East Frieze
From left, Hermes, Dyonisos, Demeter and Ares facing the procession.
The twelve figures of the East Pathenon Frieze representing the Olympian gods are seated in two groups of six with a junger standing attendant. These are the four leftmost figures of the first group of deities. All sit on simple four-legged stools known as “diphoroi”, except Zeus, who sits on a throne. With exception of Dyonisos they are all facing the procession. The most reliable clues to their identities are the carved attributes: the petasos (traveler’s cap) and the boots for Hermes, the torch for Demeter. The gestures too are useful to identify the carved deities. The brooding pose helps to identify the third character as Demeter mourning for her daughter Persephone. The restless knee-grabbing pose is a well-known iconography of Ares. As for the second male character, because of damage to the head it is not known whether he was bearded or not, but by a process of elimination he is taken to be Dionysos, although Herakles has been proposed. The fact that he is seated on a cushion and leans back onto another god, unlike the other deities except Aphrodite, suggests the god of the symposium. His intimacy with Hermes supports this hypothesis: it refers not only to their relationship as stepbrothers but also to the care Hermes took of the baby Dionysos when he placed him under the protection of the Nymphs. The fact that the god of viniculture has his legs interlocked with those of another agrarian deity, Demeter, also might support this identification.
Source: Neils J., “The Parthenon Frieze”
Greek marble relief
About 438 – 432 BC
Parthenon’s East frieze
London, The British Museum
The Parthenon – XI: East Frieze
From left, Hermes, Dyonisos, Demeter and Ares facing the procession.
The twelve figures of the East Pathenon Frieze representing the Olympian gods are seated in two groups of six with a junger standing attendant. These are the four leftmost figures of the first group of deities. All sit on simple four-legged stools known as “diphoroi”, except Zeus, who sits on a throne. With exception of Dyonisos they are all facing the procession. The most reliable clues to their identities are the carved attributes: the petasos (traveler’s cap) and the boots for Hermes, the torch for Demeter. The gestures too are useful to identify the carved deities. The brooding pose helps to identify the third character as Demeter mourning for her daughter Persephone. The restless knee-grabbing pose is a well-known iconography of Ares. As for the second male character, because of damage to the head it is not known whether he was bearded or not, but by a process of elimination he is taken to be Dionysos, although Herakles has been proposed. The fact that he is seated on a cushion and leans back onto another god, unlike the other deities except Aphrodite, suggests the god of the symposium. His intimacy with Hermes supports this hypothesis: it refers not only to their relationship as stepbrothers but also to the care Hermes took of the baby Dionysos when he placed him under the protection of the Nymphs. The fact that the god of viniculture has his legs interlocked with those of another agrarian deity, Demeter, also might support this identification.
Source: Neils J., “The Parthenon Frieze”
Greek marble relief
About 438 – 432 BC
Parthenon’s East frieze
London, The British Museum