Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

ATHENA 161
brate the festival of the Panathenaea in honor of their goddess. Athenian men
and women are shown as marshals, attendants, horsemen, hoplites, and assistants
in the worship of Athena, along with the animals for the ritual sacrifice. 4
At the climax of the procession, on the east side (i.e., over the entrance to the
part of the cella housing the statue) the ceremonial robe (peplos) was presented
to the priestess of Athena, 5 and nearby sat the Olympian immortals enthroned,
taking part in the joyous celebration of civic piety. 6
In the cella of the Parthenon stood a monumental statue, the Athena
Parthenos. The original by Pheidias is completely lost, but reconstructions (like
the one illustrated on p. 162) may be made with some accuracy. 7 Like Pheidias'
later masterpiece at Olympia, the surfaces of the statue were made of
gold and ivory, and its decoration contained a program related to the architectural
sculptures already described that witnessed to the honor and glory of
the goddess and the city she protected. It was nearly twelve meters high and
in front of it was a reflecting pool. The standing goddess held a figure of Nike
(Victory) in her right hand, and her armor included a helmet decorated with
sphinxes, the aegis with the head of Medusa, a shield, and a spear, beside
which was a serpent (representing the chthonic divinity Erechtheus). The shield
was decorated with the battle of the Amazons on the exterior, and the Gigantomachy
on the interior; on the rims of her sandals were reliefs of the battle
with Centaurs (all themes repeated from the metopes). The relief on the base
of the statue showed the creation of Pandora. In the sculpture of the Parthenon,
mythology and religion combine with local pride to glorify the gods and civilization
of the Greeks and to celebrate the city and its citizens under the protection
of Athena. 8
A DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION OF THE PANATHENAIC FRIEZE
The traditional and convincing interpretation of the Ionic frieze of the Parthenon as
depicting a scene from the Panathenaic festival in Athens has been challenged by Joan
B. Connelly, who argues that the subject of the frieze is the sacrifice of the daughters
of Erechtheus in order to bring victory to the Athenians over Eumolpus, king of Eleusis
(this episode in Athenian saga and Euripides' play, Erechtheus, are discussed on
pp. 550-551). In this case, the peplos is the sacrificial robe that the youngest daughter
will wear, and her two sisters are the two figures carrying stools at the left. The "priestess
of Athena" will then be the priest who will sacrifice the maidens—none other than
Erechtheus himself—and the woman to his left will be Praxithea, their mother. In this
light, the frieze celebrates the excellence of Athenian women who are prepared to die
for their country and it glorifies civic self-sacrifice in defense of the city. Connelly's
ingenious and controversial interpretation has not been generally accepted. 9 The depiction
is not of a grim sacrifice but a glorious pageant.