The inner or Ionic frieze, sometimes erroneously called _the_ frieze,
was one of the most beautiful of the groups of sculptures on the
original Parthenon. It was almost unknown to distinctly Doric temples
and owes its place on the Parthenon to some one or more Ionic temples
from which the idea was without doubt copied.
In the Ionic frieze is found most of the atmosphere of ancient Assyria
that is associated with the Parthenon. This frieze was low in relief,
forty inches in height; and of necessity the figures of the men and
women and animals which went to make up the frieze were small, typical
of the Assyrian bas-relief.
The Ionic frieze was located along the outer walls of the Parthenon,
extending forty inches down from the top of the wall, and rested on a
blue fret running all around the building, a distance of five hundred
and twenty-four feet. It was a marvelous piece of sculptural art.
Although there were approximately six hundred figures in the frieze,
men, women, and animals, no two of them were alike--no two men, no two
women, and no two animals; yet all were graceful, dignified, and
beautiful.
The Ionic frieze of the Parthenon depicted the Panathenaic Procession
which occurred every four years in Athens. It was an established part of
the Panathenaic Festival and coincident also with the athletic contests
held in honor of Athena. On this occasion the Greeks assembled in the
downtown streets of Athens; men and women of high and low degree with
their slaves, various kinds of animals, chariots with their horsemen,
men at arms, wild horses led by Barbarians, dignitaries of state, and
maidens. These formed a procession which wound its way up through the
streets of Athens leading to the Acropolis, on to that sacred hill, and
into the Parthenon, where they invested the figure of Athena with a
peplos, or robe, which had been woven by the women of Athens during the
previous four-year period. It was at once a gala and a solemn occasion
for the Greeks.
Unfortunately, for lack of funds the Ionic frieze has been left off the
Parthenon at Nashville, which lacks that much of being completed. It is
available, however, as the greater part of it is in the British Museum,
some in the Louvre, and the remainder, twenty-four feet in all, is still
on the ruin at Athens. There is no doubt that the Ionic frieze will
eventually find its place on the temple at Nashville.
The Doric, or outer frieze, is located on the outside of the Parthenon
above the architrave that rests on the great Doric columns of the
peristyle. It extends along both sides of the building and underneath
the pedimental sculptures at each end. It consists of a repeating
conventional design called a triglyph which divides the frieze into
ninety-two panels, each panel containing a group of sculptures. The
panels with their sculptures are known as the metopes and are
approximately four feet square.
There were no repetitions in the sculptures of the Doric frieze. They
told legendary and mythological stories that were dear to the heart of
the Greeks. That part of the frieze on the eastern end of the building
pictured scenes from the struggle between the gods and the giants. The
war between the Greeks and the Amazons was shown by the figures of the
frieze on the western end. On the north side of the building the figures
depicted incidents of the Trojan War, while those along the south side
told the story of the Lapiths, a tribe of the Greeks, and the Centaurs.
The story is that of a princess of this tribe who was to be married. She
sent invitations to the Centaurs, mythological creatures part man and
part horse, to come to the wedding feast. They came, drank wine, became
drunken, and insulted the bride, which brought on a war in which the
Centaurs were defeated.
The figures of the Doric frieze are archaic and stiff by comparison with
those of the pedimental sculptures or of the Ionic frieze and are
therefore thought not to be the work of Phidias and his associates but
rather a transfer from one of the earlier temples to the Parthenon. They
play their part well in the harmonious whole and reflect the ability and
genius of Phidias, who adapted them.
[Illustration: The West Pediment Showing Section of Doric Frieze
Underneath the Acroteria Above]