Parthenon. East pediment. Zeus' hand holding thunderbolt

A

A
EN
- GR
- DE
- IT
- FR
- ES
VISIT
TICKETS

Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 20049

Artist

Pheidias' workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

437-432 BC

Dimensions

Length: 0.392 m

Material

Marble from Penteli

Location

Parthenon Gallery

Description
Bibliography

Fragment from a man’s left hand preserved from the wrist to the fingers. The man holds an oblong object with drills opened in each of its edges. It is interpreted as a thunderbolt, Zeus' foremost symbol, and in these holes fitted the bolt’s wings and rays which were most possibly made of bronze and then gilded.

The hand was discovered before 1982 amongst other marble sculpture fragments kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens but it remains unspecified when it was originally found. It is the only part of Zeus’ statue placed in the centre of the pediment that has been preserved. As has been the case with many other sculptures placed in the centre of the pediment, it was probably removed during the conversion of the Parthenon into a Christian church so that the inner sanctum’s niche could be constructed on this flank of the temple.

The east pediment portrayed the miraculous birth of Athena from the head of her father Zeus. The scene takes place on Mt Olympus in the presence of the other gods who watch standing, sitting or half-reclining. The pediments' corners contained the chariots of Helios (Sun), which emerges from the sea, and Selene (Moon), which sinks in the ocean waves, indicating thus that the goddess' birth takes place at dawn. The centre of the scene was occupied by the statues of Zeus and Athena. Due to the misadventures suffered by the Parthenon over the following centuries, many of the temple's sculptures have been destroyed; some survive in mutilated form, while others are represented only by small fragments.

The two Parthenon pediments are adorned with about fifty oversized statues. The sculptures perfectly worked even on their unseen sides present scenes from the myths of the goddess Athena.

Brommer, F., «Studien zu den Parthenongiebeln V», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 84, 1969, σελ. 111 και υποσημ. 64
Beyer, I., «Die Position der Peplosfigur "Wegner" im Parthenon-Ostgiebel», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 89, 1974, σελ. 123-149
Berger, E., Die Geburt der Athena im Ostgiebel des Parthenon, Basel, 1974, σελ. 18-19
Berger, E., «Parthenon-Studien: Zweiter Zwischenbericht», Antike Kunst 20, 1977, σελ. 137-138 και υποσημ. 53
Δεσπίνης, Γ., Παρθενώνεια, Αθήνα, 1982, σελ. 15-21, εικ. 4-7, πίν. 17-20, 21.1, 22-23
Despinis, G., «Neue Fragmente von Parthenonskulpturen und Bemerkungen zur Rekonstruktion des Parthenon-Ostgiebels», στο E. Berger (επιμ.), Parthenon-Kongress Basel: Referate und Berichte, 4. bis 8. April 1982, Mainz, 1984, σελ. 295-296, εικ. 42
Palagia, O., The Pediments of the Parthenon, Boston, 1993, σελ. 26
Δεληβορριάς, Α., «Ο γλυπτικός διάκοσμος του Παρθενώνα», στο Π. Τουρνικιώτης (επιμ.), Ο Παρθενώνας και η Ακτινοβολία του στα Νεώτερα Χρόνια, Αθήνα, 1994, σελ. 106, εικ. 16
Rolley, Cl., La Sculpture Grecque. La periode classique, 2, Paris, 1999, σελ. 74
Mostratos, G., «A Reconstruction of the Parthenon's East Pediment», στο M.B. Cosmopoulos (επιμ.), The Parthenon and its Sculptures, Cambridge University Press, 2004, σελ. 132-133, εικ. 5.25
Choremi-Spetsieri, A., Τhe Sculptures of the Parthenon. Acropolis-British Museum-Louvre, Athens, 2004, σελ. 119, εικ. 82-83
Patay-Horváth, A., Metallanstückungen an griechischen Marmorskulpturen in archaischer und klassischer Zeit, Tübinger Archäologische Forschungen 4, 2008, σελ. 106-107, εικ. 32-35, αρ. κατ. 143