The sculptures were still more sharply outlined in their deep
pediment by the device of painting the background dark blue. The
compositions' drive was focussed in the intensity and
restlessness of the central figures: towards the ends the figures
calm down.
The west pediment is the one that you see first as you come up to the Parthenon from the Propylaea. Its subject is the strife between the gods Athena and Poseidon over the city of Athens. Most of its figures have survived, if only in fragments. Despite their opposition, the figures of the two gods form a closed ensemble at the centre. Between them there probably stood an olive-tree cast in bronze. In Poseidon's chariot we can see Amphitrite and Iris, and in Athena's chariot, Hermes and what seems to be a Victory. On the left half-tympanum (kerkis) is King Cecrops, to act as judge or maybe witness of the contest. The other figures have been variously explained. Most scholars agree that they are figures from Athens' mythological past.
| |
|||
|