"One of the richest objects with which Phidias embellished the outside
of the temple of the Parthenon, was, without doubt, that uninterrupted
series of bas-reliefs which occupied the upper part of the walls
within the colonnade, at the height of the frieze of the Pronaos, and
which was continued entirely round the building. The situation
afforded to the work only a secondary light, and, so far, prescribed
to Phidias the manner in which he was to direct the execution of the
figures.
"From the position intended for it, it was evident that the direct
rays of the sun could never reach the Panathenaic frieze. Being placed
immediately below the soffit, it received all its light from between
the columns, and by reflection from the pavement below. The flatness
of the sculpture is thus sufficiently accounted for; had the relief
been prominent, the upper parts could not have been seen; the shade
projected by the sculpture would have rendered it dark, and the parts
would have been reduced by their shadows. The frieze could only be
seen in an angle of forty-two degrees and a half.
"The subject represented the sacred procession which was celebrated
every fifth year in honour of Minerva, the guardian goddess of the
city, and embraced in its composition all the external observances of
the highest festival of the Athenians.
"The blocks of marble of which the frieze was composed were three feet
four inches high; they were placed about nine feet within the external
row of columns; and occupied, slab after slab, a space of five hundred
and twenty-four feet in length. As a connected subject, this was the
most extensive piece of sculpture ever made in Greece. The images of
the gods, deified heroes, basket bearers, bearers of libatory vessels,
trains of females, persons of every age and sex, men on horseback,
victims, charioteers--in short, the whole people were represented in
it conveying, in solemn pomp, to this very temple of the Parthenon,
the sacred veil which was to be suspended before the statue of the
goddess within.
"Meursius, in his Panathenaea and Reliquiae Atticae, has collected
from ancient authors many particulars concerning this Peplus. It was
the work of young virgins selected from the best families in Athens,
over whom two of the principal, called Arrephorae, were
superintendents. On it was embroidered the battle of the gods and
giants; amongst the gods was Jupiter hurling his thunderbolts against
the rebellious crew, and Minerva, seated in her chariot, appeared as
the vanquisher of Typhon or Enceladus. In the Hecuba of Euripides, the
chorus of captive Trojan females are lamenting, in anticipation, the
evils which they will suffer in the land of the Greeks. 'In the city
of Pallas, of Athena, on the beautiful seat in the woven peplus I
shall yoke colts to a chariot, painting them in various different
coloured threads, or else the races of the Titans, whom Zeus, the son
of Kronos, puts to sleep in fiery all-surrounding flame.' The names of
those Athenians who had been eminent for military virtue, were also
embroidered on it. This will explain the following allusion in the
Knights of Aristophanes, where the chorus says--'We wish to praise our
fathers, because they were an honour to this country and worthy of the
_peplus_: in battles by land and in the ship-girt armament conquering
on all occasions they exalted this city.' When the festival was
celebrated, this peplus was brought from the Acropolis, where it had
been worked, down into the city; it was then displayed and suspended
as a sail to the ship, which on that day, attended by a numerous and
splendid procession, was conducted through the Ceramicus and other
principal parts, till it had made the circuit of the Acropolis; it was
then carried up to the Parthenon, and there consecrated to Minerva."
This splendid series of sculptures forms the gem of the Elgin
collection. The museum possesses no less than two hundred feet of the
original frieze, in addition to upwards of seventy feet in casts. The
wonderful variety, the perfect drawing, the classic grace, and the
unity of conception displayed in this work, entitle it to rank as the
most precious relic of antiquity saved to moderns from the wrecks of
time. Starting from the left side of the entrance door to the south,
the visitor begins his inspections of