Thus far the interpretation rests upon sure grounds. Of the remaining figures in the pediment, J has been generally recognised as Victory greeting the newly born Goddess, and G has been generally taken for Iris, announcing the news to the world (but see below, [G]). None of the remaining figures have been conclusively identified. Most of the numerous schemes of interpretation that have been proposed are exhibited in a table by Michaelis, Der Parthenon, p. 165, cf. Guide to the Elgin Room, I., Table A. As regards the general principles of interpretation it is to be observed that the schemes may be divided into two classes. We may either suppose with the earlier critics that the space bounded by Helios and Selenè represents Olympos, and that all the figures contained within this space are definite mythological personages, probably deities, who may be supposed to have been present at the birth; or we may assume that all the deities present were comprised in the central part of the pediment, and that the figures towards the angles belong to the world outside Olympos, to whom the news is brought. These may be definite mythological persons, or they may be figures personifying parts of the natural world. Compare the Homeric Hymn to Athenè, and Pindar, Olymp., vii., 35.
The best views of this pediment are (1) the drawing of Carrey in the Bibliothèque Nationale (pl. v., fig. 1). A facsimile in the British Museum; in Laborde, Le Parthénon, and Antike Denkmaeler, I., pl. 6 (exhibited in Elgin Room); (2) sketch by Pars, engraved in Stuart, vol. II., chap. I., pl. 1. The original drawing is in the Print Room of the British Museum. For a list of proposed restorations, see Schneider, Geburt der Athena, p. 23, pls. 2-7; Waldstein, Essays, p. 139. For Sauer's examination of the pediment, see Athenische Mittheilungen, XVI., pl. 3, p. 59; Antike Denkmaeler, I., pl. 58. The ends of the pediment are reproduced in figs. 7, 8.
Fig. 7.—The South End of the East Pediment of the Parthenon (according to Sauer).
Fig. 8—The North End of the East Pediment of the Parthenon (according to Sauer).
303 A. Helios, in his chariot emerging from the waves. The head is wanting, the neck has a forward inclination corresponding with the action of the arms, which are stretched out in front of the body, holding the reins by which the upspringing horses of the Sun-god were guided and controlled. The head of Helios had been already broken away in Carrey's time; the wrist and hand of the right arm, now wanting, are shown in his drawing. The surface of the marble on the neck having been protected from weather by the cornice retains its original polish. At the back and between the arms are sculptured small rippling waves to represent a calm sea at sunrise. These waves are treated in the conventional manner usual in representations of water in Greek art; their profile shown on the edge of the plinth approximates very nearly to the well-known wave pattern. The metal reins have been attached to the upper surface of the plinth under the right forearm, and also under the right hand, now lost; three dowel holes in this part of the plinth served for their attachment. The waves were probably distinguished by colour. It has been noted by Michaelis that the angle in which this figure was placed is the darkest spot in the eastern pediment, and that it is only fully illumined by the early morning sun.