"Such was the simple construction of this magnificent building, which, by the united excellencies of materials, design, and decorations, was the most perfect ever executed. Its dimensions of two hundred and twenty-eight feet by a hundred and two, with a height of sixty-six feet to the top of the pediment, were sufficiently great to give an impression of grandeur and sublimity, which was not disturbed by any obtrusive subdivision of parts, such as is found to diminish the effects of some larger modern buildings, where the same singleness of design is not observed. In the Parthenon, whether viewed at a small or at a great distance, there was nothing to divert the spectator's contemplation from the simplicity and majesty of mass and outline, which forms the first and most remarkable object of admiration in a Greek temple; and it was not until the eye was satiated with the contemplation of the entire edifice, that the spectator was tempted to examine the decorations with which this building was so profusely adorned; for the statues of the pediments, the only decoration which was very conspicuous by its magnitude and position, being enclosed within frames, which formed an essential part of the design of either front, had no more obtrusive effect than an ornamented capital to a single column."
Bearing this outline of the building in mind, the visitor may at once proceed to examine the ruins of this fine monument of ancient genius, which are deposited in the Elgin Saloon of our National Museum. First, he may notice those alto-relievos, known as the
METOPES[9] OF THE PARTHENON.
The subject of these sculptures has been familiarised to the visitor in the Phigaleian marbles. Here, again, is the war of the Athenians, on behalf of the Lapithae, with the Centaurs, the sculptor's subject. On entering the room, the visitor will notice various numbers on each marble: THE RED NUMBERS are those to which we refer throughout.
The first metope to which the visitor will, in natural order, direct his attention, is that marked 1. Here an Athenian has his knee upon the back of a Centaur and one arm round his neck, while the other (which is broken off) was evidently represented raised to strike a fatal blow into the Centaur's body. The second metope (2) also represents an Athenian subduing a Centaur. This group is much injured, the head of the Athenian and that of the Centaur being missing; but the Athenian has his knee firmly planted upon his brutal enemy's hind quarters, and his arm (strongly developed) was evidently firmly clutching the Centaur's hair. The third metope (3) shows an Athenian under very disadvantageous circumstances. Here a Centaur is about to deal a tremendous blow with a wine vessel at the head of his crouching enemy, who is endeavouring to ward off its effects with his ample shield. The heads of these figures are casts from the originals, which are in the Royal Museum at Copenhagen. The fourth metope (4) has been so mutilated that the figure of the Athenian, which was once upon it, is wholly effaced, and the Centaur has the head, part of two legs, and both arms, wanting. Originally the Centaur was holding an Athenian by his hair. The fifth metope (5) is also much mutilated; but here both figures were evidently represented mutually confident of victory. A vigorous action is represented upon the sixth metope (6), where an Athenian is seizing a Centaur by the throat, while, with the right hand, he is prepared to deal a fatal stroke. The seventh metope (7) is much mutilated; but the figure of an Athenian thrown, and a Centaur trampling upon him, are clearly discernible. There is fine action in the eighth metope (8), where the Centaur has seized his adversary by the foot, and is hurling him backwards to the earth. Under the Athenian the visitor will notice a circular drinking vessel, indicative of the revel at which the cause of quarrel originated. The next metope (9) (or rather a cast from the metope in the Louvre at Paris) represents a Centaur in the act of seizing a female, who is resisting him: both heads are wanted. The drapery about the female is beautifully executed. Matters have arrived at a desperate pitch with the combatants represented on the tenth metope (10), where the Centaur, with starting eyes and uplifted arms, is about to strike a determined Athenian, who has planted his foot against the Centaur's breast, and is determined to do his work. The next metope (11) is a fine specimen of sculpture. Here an Athenian has seized a Centaur by the jaw, from behind. The drapery that falls from the fine form of the Greek is exquisitely folded, and the figure itself is finished with masterly skill. A victorious Centaur holding forth a mantle of lion's skin, is the central figure of the next metope (12). Below lies the dead body of an Athenian: all the muscles marked and rigid. It is supposed that the following metope (13) represents the Centaur Eurytion carrying off Hippodamia. The drapery of the female figure is exquisite. The fourteenth metope (14) represents an Athenian thrown by a Centaur. The Athenian, however, is not idle, having buried a weapon in the left side of his adversary, and attempting to seize a stone with his left hand. The fifteenth metope (15) represents a Centaur holding an Athenian; while the Athenian has revenged himself by planting that decisive kind of blow known in pugilistic circles as "a bruiser" upon the Centaur's cheek. This metope is more angular in execution than the other metopes; and was probably executed, under the guidance of Phidias, by one of the old school of Greek sculptors. The last, or sixteenth metope (16), is supposed to have been executed by the same inferior hand as that employed upon the fifteenth. Here the contest between the Centaur and the Athenian is undecided. Metope 16c has been recently discovered at Athens.
Having fully examined these fine specimens of Greek sculpture, the visitor may at once turn to other parts of the great temple, examining now and then, to guide his impressions, the restored model which stands near the south-east corner of the room. His business is now with the frieze that ran round the building behind the columns, and upon which a series of bas-reliefs were sculptured; of which Sir Henry Ellis gives the following clear outline:—
THE FRIEZE OF THE PARTHENON.
"One of the richest objects with which Phidias embellished the outside of the temple of the Parthenon, was, without doubt, that uninterrupted series of bas-reliefs which occupied the upper part of the walls within the colonnade, at the height of the frieze of the Pronaos, and which was continued entirely round the building. The situation afforded to the work only a secondary light, and, so far, prescribed to Phidias the manner in which he was to direct the execution of the figures.
"From the position intended for it, it was evident that the direct rays of the sun could never reach the Panathenaic frieze. Being placed immediately below the soffit, it received all its light from between the columns, and by reflection from the pavement below. The flatness of the sculpture is thus sufficiently accounted for; had the relief been prominent, the upper parts could not have been seen; the shade projected by the sculpture would have rendered it dark, and the parts would have been reduced by their shadows. The frieze could only be seen in an angle of forty-two degrees and a half.
"The subject represented the sacred procession which was celebrated every fifth year in honour of Minerva, the guardian goddess of the city, and embraced in its composition all the external observances of the highest festival of the Athenians.