424. The first pair of combatants on the left are a Persian, who has fallen on his right knee, and who holds up a shield in the form of a crescent, on his left arm to defend himself, and his antagonist, who advances from the right.
Next is a combat between a Greek on foot and a mounted Persian. The latter draws back his right hand, which must have been armed with a spear aimed at the Greek advancing from the left. The horse of the Persian rears as if to strike down with his forefeet the left arm of the Greek, which is thrust forward, protected by his shield. A dead Persian lies on the ground.
Behind the mounted Persian is a comrade, hastening to the left, and pursued by a Greek of whom nothing remains except part of his shield and of the drapery round his loins. This closes the scene on the right.—Elgin Coll.
Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 5½ inches; length, 6 feet 1¼ inches. Synopsis, No. 159 (257); Ross, pl. 12, fig. g; Mus. Marbles, IX., pl. 8; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., fig. 81, m, n; Baumeister, fig. 1238; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 117. On the position of these slabs, cf. p. 240.
425. A plaster cast from one of the slabs now in position on the temple. On the left is a mutilated group representing a Greek warrior turning to assist a comrade who has fallen on his right knee. Next is a Greek moving forward to pursue a mounted Persian who is flying to the right. On the extreme right a Persian on foot flies in the same direction. A slain Persian lies in the foreground. The position of this slab on the temple at the south-east angle is fixed by the relief on its return face which is part of the composition of the eastern front. This return is not given in the cast here described.
Height, 1 foot 5½ inches; length, 3 feet 11¼ inches. Ross, pl. 12, fig. a; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., fig. 81, g, h; Murray, II., pl. 16, fig. 1.
The dress of the Persians in this frieze is the usual chiton with long sleeves, girt at the waist, and close-fitting trousers, anaxyrides. One of them, the kneeling figure in No. 424, wears a quiver and bow case, gorytos, from which appears the end of his bow, and two others wear quivers. The only Persian whose face is preserved is bearded, and wears the Persian headdress, the kidaris. The heads and weapons of both sets of combatants have been nearly all destroyed. Some of the Greeks are armed with the Argolic buckler. Others have a chlamys wound round the left arm or hanging loose from the body.
CASTS FROM THE BALUSTRADE OF THE TEMPLE OF NIKÈ APTEROS.
The temple of Nikè Apteros stood on a lofty projecting bastion, as may be seen from the model of the Acropolis. This bastion was surrounded for safety with a breast-high parapet, consisting of a frieze of sculpture in relief, facing outwards, surmounted by a bronze screen. Several fragments of the frieze or balustrade were discovered on the site, in 1835. (Ross, pl. 13.) Additional fragments were found by Beulé in 1852, and in more recent excavations to the east of the temple of Nikè, and on the south slope of the Acropolis. They are preserved in the Acropolis Museum at Athens.