Inventory number
Ακρ. 20708
Artist
Pheidias' workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
445-440 BC
Dimensions
Height: 1.35 m
Length: 1.137 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
Parthenon Gallery
Metope 1 depicts a mounted Amazon who rushes into battle. With her left hand she holds the reigns whereas with the right she brandishes a spear against an opponent. Many believe that she is queen Antiope herself, who fell in battle, fighting bravely on the side of her husband, Theseus. The episode occurs on the Areopagus where according to the legend the Amazonomachy took place.
The fourteen metopes on the west side of the Parthenon depict the Amazonomachy, the struggle of Athenian youths and their king Theseus against the Amazons. The Amazons, a mythical tribe of women-warriors from the Black Sea, invaded Athens threatening even the Acropolis. The reason for the invasion was the kidnapping of their queen Antiope by Theseus.
The regular alternating subjects on the west metopes are either a mounted Amazon that defeats her enemy, who has fallen on the ground, or two unmounted fighting opponents. All men are depicted naked whereas women are dressed. The damages were provoked mainly by intentional hammering perhaps during the conversion of the Parthenon into a Christian church.
The bombardment of the Parthenon by Fransesco Morosini in 1687 did not affect the west metopes. The damaged figures did not attract the attention of Thomas Bruce, lord of Elgin, who between 1801 and 1804 when Greece was under Ottoman occupation, detached big part of the Parthenon sculptures that ended up in the British Museum in London.
Today four of the west metopes are exhibited in the Acropolis Museum (nrs. 1, 2, 13, 14). They were removed from the monument in 2012 for their protection against air pollution and bad weather conditions. The remaining nine are still in their original position on the Parthenon as they cannot be taken off the monument for technical reasons. The Acropolis Museum displays their plaster copies with the exception of metope 6, a cast of which has not been made as its surface retains no trace of its relief decoration.
Ebersole, W.S., «The Metopes of the West End of the Parthenon», American Journal of Archaeology 3, 1899, σελ. 413-414, εικ. 1
Murray, A.S., The Scultpures of the Parthenon, London, 1903, σελ. 82
Smith, A.H., British Museum. The Sculptures of the Parthenon, London, 1910, σελ. 44, εικ. 87, πίν. 25.2
Collignon, M., Le Parthénon, Paris, 1912, σελ. 28, πίν. 23-24, 38
Kähler, H., Das Griechische Metopenbild, München, 1949, εικ. 1
Lippold, G., Die griechische Plastik, Handbuch der Archäologie III 1, München, 1950, εικ. 52.1
Praschniker, C., «Neue Parthenonstudien», Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien 41, 1954, σελ. 9-12, 47-53, εικ. 1, 2
Bothmer, D. von, Amazons in Greek Art, Oxford, 1957, σελ. 208
Brommer, F., Die Metopen des Parthenon, Mainz, 1967, σελ. 3-6, εικ. 3-6, αρ. κατ. WEST 1
Himmelmann, N., «Die Zeitliche Stellung der Südmetopen am Parthenon», στο Μ. Προύνη-Θιλίπ, Α.Γ. Καλογεροπούλου (επιμ.), ΣΤΗΛΗ, Τόμος εις μνήμην Νικολάου Κοντολέοντος, Αθήνα, 1980, σελ. 167, εικ. 58a
Ridgway, B.S., Fifth Century Styles in Greek Sculpture, Princeton, 1981, σελ. 20-22
Wesenberg, B., «Parthenongebälk und Südmetopen», Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 98, 1983, σελ. 57-65
Wesenberg, B., «Perser oder Amazonen? Zu den Westmetopen des Parthenon», Archäologischer Anzeiger 1983, σελ. 203-208, αρ. κατ. 1
Boardman, J., Greek Sculpture. Τhe Classical Period. A Handbook, London, 1985, σελ. 103-104, εικ. 85-86
Berger, Ε., Der Parthenon in Basel. Dokumentation zu den Metopen, Mainz, 1986, σελ. 6, εικ. 3, 7-8, αρ. κατ. WEST 1
Schwab, K., The Parthenon metopes and Greek vase painting: a study of comparison and influences, UMI (διδακτορική διατριβή), 1988, σελ. 186-189, 219, εικ. 137, 170
Castriota, D., Myth, Ethos and Actuality. Official Art in fifth century BC Athens, Madison, 1992, σελ. 143-151, εικ. 14
Holtzmann, B., Pasquier, Al., Histoire de l'art antique: l' art grec, Manuels de l' Ecole du Louvre III, Paris, 1998, σελ. 179-180
Blundell, S., «Marriage and the maiden: narratives on the Parthenon», στο S. Blundell, M. Williamson (επιμ.), The sacred and the feminine in ancient Greece, London-New York, 1998, σελ. 55, 57-58
Rolley, Cl., La Sculpture Grecque. La periode classique, 2, Paris, 1999, σελ. 72, 86, εικ. 59
Holtzmann, B., L’ Acropole d’Athènes. Monuments, cultes et histoire du sanctuaire d’Athèna Polias, Paris, 2003, σελ. 122
Χωρέμη-Σπετσιέρη, Α., Τα Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα. Ακρόπολη-Βρετανικό Μουσείο-Λούβρο, Aθήνα, 2004, σελ. 110, εικ. 76
Schwab, K., «Celebrations of Victory: the Metopes of the Parthenon», στο J. Neils (επιμ.), The Parthenon: From Antquity to the Present, Cambridge, 2005, σελ. 166, 178-183
Barringer, J. M., Art, Myth, and Ritual in Classical Greece, Cambridge, 2008, σελ. 67-69, εικ. 48
Patay-Horváth, A., Metallanstückungen an griechischen Marmorskulpturen in archaischer und klassischer Zeit, Tübinger Archäologische Forschungen 4, 2008, σελ. 84, αρ. κατ. 41
Davison, C.C., Lundgreen, B., Waywell, G.B., Pheidias. The Sculptures and Ancient Sources, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplement 105, London, 2009, σελ. 577
Ellinghaus, C., Die Parthenonskulpturen. Der Bauschmuck eines öffentlichen Monumentes der demokratischen Gesellschaft Athens zur zeit des Perikles -Techniken in den bildenden Kunst zur Tradierung von Aussagen, Hamburg, 2011, σελ. 13, 15, 16, 18, 23-24, 25, αρ. κατ. 2
Ελευθερίου, Β., «Τα αναστηλωτικά έργα στην Ακρόπολη την τρέχουσα περίοδο», στο Χ. Μπούρας, Β. Ελευθερίου (επιμ.), 6η Διεθνής Συνάντηση για την Αποκατάσταση των Μνημείων Ακροπόλεως, Πρακτικά, Αθήνα 4-5 Οκτωβρίου 2013, Αθήνα, 2015, σελ. 65
Ελευθερίου, Β., Μανιδάκη, Β., Βρούβα, Α., Μελέτη Αποκατάστασης της Δυτικής Πλευράς του Παρθενώνα. Προγραμματισμός του Έργου και Προτάσεις Επέμβασης στις δύο γωνίες του θριγκού, Μελέτη Αποκαταστάσεως του Παρθενώνος, Τόμος 8, Αθήνα, 2015, σελ. 99
Παντερμαλής, Δ., Ελευθεράτου, Σ., Βλασσοπούλου, Χ., Μουσείο Ακρόπολης. Οδηγός, Αθήνα, 2016, σελ. 204, εικ. 242
Vlassopoulou, Chr., Mantis, A., «Disjecta membra. The Dismemberment and Dispresal of the Acropolis Antiquities», στο F. Mallouchou-Tufano, A. Malikourti (επιμ.), 200 years the Parthenon marbles in the British Museum. New contributions to the issue, Athens, 2016, σελ. 35
Meyer, M., Athena, Göttin von Athen Kult und Mythos auf der Akropolis bis in klassische Zeit, Wien, 2017, σελ. 107-108, εικ. 157
Michaelis, Α., Der Parthenon, Leipzig, 1870 und 1871, σελ. 36:31, 148-149, πίν. V
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site
The use of your data is described in the privacy settings