Floor | Greek Art
Parthenon Metopes Gallery
After the visitor to the Acropolis admired from afar the colorful and agitated sculptures of the pediments of the Parthenon, the next thing that surely caught his eye were the 92 high reliefs on the metopes, flat panels positioned under the beams of the roof, created between 447 and 443 BCE. The ancient visitor will have taken note of the reliefs, which are visible from afar, with some amazement: sculptural decoration on these surfaces was unusual.
The world of the Olympian gods appears in the pediments of the Parthenon, since the metopes show the sphere of legendary heroes of prehistoric times. If the pediments propagate the world-spanning power of Athena (and thus also of the city of Athens), the metopes make it clear how this power came about: through battle! For the decoration, myths were chosen that seemed suitable as parables for the heroic deeds of the Athenians in the great war against the Persians. On the east, the successful defensive struggle of the Greek gods against the Giants is depicted. On the other three sides heroic Greeks of prehistoric times fight against foreign forces: on the south, the half-horse, half-man Centaurs; on the north, the Trojans (like the Persian Empire located in Asia); on the west, the Amazons, warlike female warriors who are depicted—significantly—in Persian costume.
