The next figure is that of Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo. Artemis is the goddess of the fields, the goddess of hunting; Diana is her Roman name. She is represented on the pediment as shading her eyes with her hand from the resplendent glory of the newborn goddess.
Just beyond Artemis is seen Hera, queen of Heaven, also known as Juno, the jealous wife of Zeus. In addition to her jealousy, it is said that she was vain and the peacock, seen near by, was sacred to her. Hera was also the goddess of maternity, and very fittingly was present at the birth of Athena.
The next figure is that of Hermes, the male messenger of the gods, corresponding to Iris, the female messenger. Iris usually executed the commands and carried the messages for Hera, while Hermes performed a like office for Zeus. He is always represented with a magic wand, or caduceus, in his hand, which was given to him by Apollo. One day, when Hermes was a mere child, almost a baby, he was playing in the fields and captured a tortoise. He placed strings across the shell of the tortoise and made a musical instrument (we call it the lyre), and presented it to his brother Apollo. Apollo, who was the god of music, was so delighted with the precociousness of his baby brother that he gave him the magic wand, which had the power of putting gods and mortals to sleep at his will. Hermes is also shown with wings on his ankles and wings on his cap. He was god of business, and also the god of transportation. His figure adorns many of the railway stations of the world. His Roman name is Mercury.
Beyond Hermes, on the pediment, is seen Apollo, the god of music, with his harp. He was also the god of manly youth and the god of healing. Esculapius, his son, was the first doctor of Greece, the father of all the physicians. Apollo was regarded as the most beautiful of the gods. Reclining on him is seen Ganymede, the cupbearer of the gods.
These were the chief deities of the Greeks. There were others which they worshiped also. They were as sacred to the ancient Greek as Jehovah is to us, and it is pertinent to say that they worshiped the beautiful—and the beautiful is the spiritual.
We are not so much interested in the gods of the Greeks in this twentieth century, however, as we are in human life; and the next group of figures to Apollo and Ganymede, the three Fates, brings the Whole matter closer to us, because it represents the Greek idea of life. The first figure in the group is Clotho, who is represented as spinning the thread of life; and as she spins, the second figure, Lachesis, winds it on a spool, and the third figure, Atropos, clips it at will, typifying the beginning, the span, and the end of life—the destiny of us all.
Last, in the extreme north angle of the pediment, in the evening, is seen the gentle Selene, the goddess of the moon, the goddess of the evening, guiding her tired steeds, so different from those seen coming out of the sea in the morning, down into the cool, quiet waters of the deep, typifying not alone the close of the day but the close of the reign of Athena and the end of time.
The gods of the Greeks are no more. They have no single worshiper left on all the face of the earth today to pay them homage, yet their deeds are told in song and story, and their memory is green in the hearts of those who love the beautiful.
Conclusion
And now, we come to the close of the story of the Parthenon.