Parthenon. West pediment. Erysichthon

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 7301

Artist

Pheidias' workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

437-432 BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.61 m
Length: 0.425 m
Width: 0.23 m

Material

Marble from Penteli

Location

Parthenon Gallery

Description
Bibliography

Statue of a nude boy identified with Erysichthon, albeit some researchers suggest he is Erichthonios or Iacchus. Only two fragments of his torso and one from his left leg are preserved. Two drills, one between the shoulder-blades and one at the lower back, may have been associated with the bolstering of the sculpture into the tympanum of the pediment.

The boy is portrayed between Aglauros and Herse, two of his sisters. With his right leg bent while stretching his left, he leans towards his seated sister (Ακρ. 1028) resting his right hand on her knee. He extends his other hand to his left where his other sister (Ακρ. 9331) is depicted. Her long garment possibly snarled up between the boy’s legs and thus part of it can be seen on the inner side of his thigh.

The statue may have fallen off from the pediment in 1687 during the bombardment of the Parthenon by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini. This is the reason that it was not taken by Thomas Bruce, lord of Elgin, who was in Greece between 1801-1804, when the country was under Ottoman rule, and forcibly detached most of the sculptures of the pediment still in their original position.

The west pediment of the Parthenon portrays the dispute between Athena and Poseidon regarding who would become the divine protector of Athens. The contest was held on the Acropolis in the presence of the city’s mythical kings Kekrops and Erechtheus and other local heroes, who as judges decided the outcome in favour of Athena, preferring her gift, the olive tree, to the salty water offered by Poseidon. The centre of the scene is occupied by the two protagonists and their chariots whereas the pediments' corners contain the personifications of two rivers that flowed in ancient Athens, Ilissos and Kephissos. Due to the misadventures suffered by the monument over the following centuries many sculptures have been lost, some survive in mutilated form whereas others are represented only in small fragments.

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

Michaelis, A., «Ein Originalzeichnung des Parthenon von Cyriacus von Ancona», Archäologische Zeitung 40, 1882, σελ. 374 και υποσημ. 8, πίν. 16
Sauer, B., «Standplatten der Giebelgruppen», Antike Denkmäler I, 5, 1890, σελ. 49, πίν. 58A
Furtwängler, A., Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture, London, 1895, σελ. 451-463
Malberg, W., «Zum Westgiebel des Parthenon», Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 12, 1897, σελ. 92-96
Smith, A.H., A Catalogue of the Sculptures of the Parthenon in the British Museum, London, 1906, σελ. 44-45, 140, αρ. κατ. 304F, 339.30
Prandtl, A., «Fragmente der Giebelgruppen des Parthenon», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 33, 1908, σελ. 13, πίν. III
Smith, A.H., British Museum. The Sculptures of the Parthenon, London, 1910, σελ. 23 (Ακρ. 1048), 25 (Ακρ. 7301 και 1057), πίν. 14A (Ακρ. 1048), πίν. 14C (Ακρ. 7301 και 1057), αρ. κατ. 56 (Aκρ. 1048), 139 (Aκρ. 7301 και 1057)
Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 44, αρ. κατ. no number (b)
Fehl, P., «The Rocks on the Parthenon Frieze», Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 24, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Jun), 1961, σελ. 24, πίν. 5a
Brommer, F., Die Skulpturen der Parthenon-Giebel, Mainz, 1963, σελ. 35, 72, 79, 167, πίν. 64, 90.1, αρ. κατ. 56 (Aκρ. 1048), 139 (Ακρ. 7301)
Jeppesen, K., «Bild und Mythus an der Parthenon. Zur Ergänzung und Deutung der Kultbildausschmückung, des Frieses, der Metopen und der Giebel», Acta Archaeologica 34, 1963, σελ. 75, 78, εικ. 22a, 23a
Becatti, G., «Postille partenonice: i frontoni», Archeologia Classica 17, 1965, σελ. 66
Fuchs, W., «Review of Brommer, Giebel», Gnomon 39, 1967, σελ. 165-166
Harrison, E.B., «U and her Neighbors in the West Pediment of the Parthenon», στο F. Douglas, H. Hibbard, M.J. Lewine (επιμ.), Essays in the History of Art Presented to Rudolf Wittkower, London, 1967, σελ. 9 υποσημ. 55
Brommer, F., «Studien zu den Parthenongiebeln V», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 84, 1969, σελ. 114-115, πίν. 48
Kron, U., Die zehn attischen Phylenheroen: Geschichte, Mythos, Kult und Darstellungen, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung: Beiheft 5, Berlin, 1976, σελ. 69, 84-87, 92-94, 97
Palagia, O., The Pediments of the Parthenon, Boston, 1993, σελ. 44, εικ. 82
Μάντης, Α., «Μουσείο Ακρόπολης 922+9331+9200. Η αποκατάσταση ενός εναέτιου γλυπτού του Παρθενώνα», στο Δ. Δαμάσκος (επιμ.), Αρχαία Ελληνική Γλυπτική. Αφιέρωμα στη μνήμη του γλύπτη Στέλιος Τριάντη, Μουσείο Μπενάκη, 1ο παράρτημα, Αθήνα, 2002, σελ. 123-124