Metopes of the Parthenon
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, each featuring battle scenes: Amazonomachy in the west, the fall of Troy in the north, Gigantomachy in the east, and 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, and seem to be an evocation of the opposition between order and chaos, between the human and the animal, between civilization and barbarism. This general theme is considered to be a metaphor for the Persian wars and thus the triumph of the city of Athens.
The majority of metopes were systematically destroyed by Christians at the time of the transformation of the Parthenon into a church towards the sixth or the seventh century AD. A powder magazine installed in the building by the Ottomans exploded during the siege of Athens by the Venetians in September 1687, continuing the destruction. The southern metopes are the best preserved. Fifteen of them are in the British Museum in London and one is in the Louvre. Those of the other sides, badly damaged, are in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, or still in place on the building. Discussions between UK and Greek officials about the future of the metopes in London are ongoing.
The Parthenon
In 480 BC, the Persians ransacked the Acropolis of Athens including the "pre-Parthenon" then under construction. After their victories at Salamis and Plataea the Athenians had sworn not to restore the destroyed temples, but to leave them as they are, in memory of the Persian "barbarism".The power of Athens then grew gradually, mainly within the League of Delos which it controlled more and more hegemonically. Eventually, in 454 BC., the treasure of the league was transferred from Delos to Athens. A vast program of construction was then launched, financed by this treasure; among these, the Parthenon. This new building was not intended to become a temple, but a treasury to accommodate the colossal chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos.
The Parthenon was erected between 447 and 438 BC. The "pre-Parthenon" was hexastyle. Its successor, which was much larger, was octastyle and measured 30.88 meters wide and 69.50 meters long. The sekos in itself had a width of 19 meters. Thus, two large rooms would be created: one, to the east, to accommodate the statue of a dozen meters high; the other, to the west, to shelter the treasure of the league of Delos. The construction site was entrusted to Ictinos, Callicrates and Phidias The decor project was both traditional in its form albeit unprecedented in scale. The pediments were bigger and more complex than what had been done before. The number of metopes, all carved, was unprecedented and never repeated. Finally, while the temple was of the Doric order, the decoration around the sekos was replaced by a frieze of the ionic order.
General description
Overall structure
On Doric marble buildings, the metopes decorated the entablature above the architrave alternating with the triglyphs. These were a reminiscence of the wooden beams that supported the roof. The part between the triglyphs, at first a simple unadorned stone space, was quickly used to receive a carved decoration.The Parthenon numbered 92 polychrome metopes: 14 on each of the east and west façades, and 32 on each of the north and south sides. To designate them, scholars usually number them from left to right with Roman numerals. They were carved on practically square Pentelic marble slabs: 1.20 meters high for a variable width, but averaging 1.25 meters. Originally, the block of marble measured 35 centimeters thick: the sculptures were made in high relief, standing out about 25 centimeters. The metopes were a dozen meters high and had an average of two characters each.
No ancient Greek building has ever been adorned with so many metopes, neither before nor after the construction of the Parthenon. On the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which pre-dates the Parthenon, only those of the interior porch were carved; on the Temple of Hephaestus, contemporary with it, only those of the east façade, and the last four on the north and south sides, have been carved.
Themes and interpretations
There is no ancient description of metopes that could give a definitive interpretation. The first literary evocation of the carved decoration of the Parthenon was written by Pausanias in the second century AD; however, he only describes the pediments. Nevertheless, a comparison with the themes of contemporary Attic ceramics can suggest possible interpretations.The general theme of the 92 metopes is purely warlike, as with the chryselephantine statue of Athena but in contrast to the pediments and the frieze. It seems to be an opposition between order and chaos, between the human and the animal, between civilization and barbarism, even between the West and the East. The whole is often considered as a metaphor for the Persian war. An underlying theme could be that of marriage and the fact that the breakup of its harmony leads to chaos. From then on, as elsewhere on the Parthenon, there would be the celebration of the civic values whose marriage between citizens and daughters of citizens were its foundation.
The metopes on the east, north, and west sides have suffered chiefly from a systematic destruction by Christians around the sixth or the seventh century: it is therefore difficult to know exactly what they represented. To the east, the most religiously important side, the theme of the metopes would be the gigantomachy. Zeus and Hera would be represented on the central metopes, the fights being organized symmetrically around them. To the west, they represented Greeks fighting opponents in oriental costume. The most common interpretation is that it is amazonomachy; however, the metopes have suffered such damage that it is difficult to now know if the opponents of the Greeks are male or female. If it were men, then they could be Persians; however, there are few representations of Persians on horseback. During the siege of Athens by the Venetians of Francesco Morosini in 1687, the metopes on the north side were badly damaged by the explosion of the powder reserve housed in the Parthenon. However, identifications have been proposed: one of the metopes would represent Menelaus and his neighbour Helen; another one Aeneas and Anchises. The general theme of this side could therefore be the fall of Troy. Finally, the southern metopes were not damaged by Christian iconoclasm, but suffered from the explosion of 1687. The last remaining, located at each end of the Parthenon, represent the fight of the Centaurs and Lapiths, but the Central metopes, known only by drawings attributed to Jacques Carrey give rise to controversies of interpretation. Some archaeologists consider that it could be a purely Athenian fight between humans and centaurs.
Sculpture and painting
The metopes of the Parthenon were carved in several stages. The artist began by drawing the contours of his characters; he then removed the marble outside the drawing, to the "bottom" of the metope; he went on detaching the figure from the bottom; he finished by refining the characters themselves. It is possible that several sculptors, each specialized in one of these stages, could have collaborated. The sculpture work had to be done on the ground, before the metopes were put in place, at the top of the walls. The sculptors, necessarily many, surely began to work from 447 or 446 BC to complete their work before 438 BC, when the work for the roof began; 442 BC or shortly thereafter is a likely completion date. Moreover, if the carved decoration had to be finished, it was not the same for painting or metal ornaments that could be added later. Some artists might have worked on several metopes. Thus, for the metope east VI, Poseidon is in the same position as the Lapith on the southern metope II, while the falling giant is very close to the Lapith on the southern metope VIII, which could mean that they are from the same hand; unless this is only inspiration and imitation.No sculptor's name has been preserved. However, since there are great differences in quality and style between the metopes, it is very likely that they were made by several hands. Some of them appear "old", seeming due to older or more conservative artists; but they could also have been done first. Those whose quality is not at the level of others also suggest that in view of the size of the site, it was necessary to employ all the sculptors available. The last hypothesis synthesizes all the others: at the beginning of the construction, many artists were hired; but as the work progressed, the incompetents were gradually discarded, not without having already produced the first metopes, of lower quality. Several southern metopes are of such quality that it has been concluded that they must have been carved among the last; in some cases, names of sculptors like Myron, Alcamenes or Phidias himself have been mentioned. Robert Spenser Stanier proposed in 1953 an estimate of a total cost of 10 talents for the realization of metopes.
The metopes of the Parthenon were, like the rest of the scenery, polychrome. The background was certainly red, in contrast with triglyphs in medium or dark blue. The cornice above the metope also had to be coloured. The characters were painted, with eyes, hair, lips, jewels and draperies raised. The skins of the male figures were to be darker than those of the female characters. Some metopes included landscape features, perhaps painted as well. The decor was finished with the addition of elements in bronze or gilded bronze, as evidenced by the many fixing holes: there are more than 120 on the south metopes, the best-preserved ones. These decorative elements could also be used to identify the characters more quickly. There are very strong links between the subjects of the metopes and the chryselephantine statue of Athena preserved in the Parthenon. This could mean that Phidias was the site's prime contractor.