Truly unique to the decorations on the Parthenon is the great frieze that runs continuously around the outside of the cella. The frieze itself is three and one-quarter feet high and five-hundred feet long. It depicts the PanAthenaic procession, held each year in August, in honor of the goddess Athena.

The procession began before dawn just outside the Dipylon doors, near the cemetery, and wound its way through the city, across the agora, up the steep incline of the Acropolis, to conclude at the altar in front of the east end of the Parthenon, where public sacrifices were performed under the watchful eye of Athena. Both sheep and cattle were slaughtered at the altar by the priests, who then burned those parts of the animals which were deemed to be favored by the gods.

The PanAthenaic procession was followed by a festival which consisted of a mixture of athletic games, featuring chariot racing, bareback riding, running, javelin and discus throwing, boxing, wrestling, team rowing; and musical contests, incorporating recitations of the Iliad and Odyssey, instrumental competitions, and the Pyrrhic dance. 

The first project completed in the building program was, in fact, the Odeon, or music-hall. According to Plutarch, the Odeon was framed entirely of wood and was designed so that:

Its interior was full of seats and ranges of pillars, and outside had its roof made to slope and descend from one single point at the top; it was constructed, we are told, in imitation of the king of Persia's Pavilion; this likewise by Pericles' order.

On the Parthenon frieze, on the south corner of the west end of the temple, we see final preparations being made for the equestrian procession.

There young cavalrymen steady their excited horses as they prepare to mount. Once mounted, the riders rush away to the northwest corner, where a parade marshal slows them down and directs them into a regular order.

Along the north side of the temple, the horsemen in deep formation give way to the chariot procession, which, in turn, draws itself up behind a parade of assembled elders.

Before the marching elders go the musicians, the pitcher bearers, the tray bearers, and the sacrificial victims.

Turning the corner on the northeast side, we encounter a group of young women.

Perhaps they are the chosen maidens who have woven the saffron and purple peplos with which to cover the old statue of Athena. At the head of the procession, before the young women, pass the parade marshals and the leading citizens.

Directly above the entrance, the central rite is taking place. Women arrive bearing ritual objects on their heads.  A priest or priestess helps one to unload.

In the same scene, the peplos is being folded by a bearded priest who is assisted by a young boy. 

This crucial act takes place in pictorial isolation, for on both sides of the doorway sit the immortal gods, guests of the goddess Athena.

Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis

They are portrayed on the frieze as being clearly larger than human beings, and they appear to be at perfect ease, enjoying one another's companionship, perhaps observing the procession as it nears its conclusion.

Among the city magistrates, who take their place in the procession near the southern end of the east side, Phidias is said to have carved the person of Pericles.

The Parthenon frieze is a panoramic reflection of the life and aspiration of the Athenian people. Spirited youth, graceful girls, dignified elders, and venerable old men are woven into this mighty tapestry of stone.  There are over six hundred individual figures. 

A remarkable fact is the careful detail which is wrought into each of the individual figures, considering that much of this had to be lost to viewers standing below and looking up. Scholars have made the suggestion that the careful attention paid to detail reflects the pious dedication of those who created the frieze. The artisans of the Parthenon frieze wished every part to be perfect, even if that perfection could not be appreciated by human observers.

Some scholars have suggested that the figures on the Parthenon frieze may have a numerical importance. They count 192 youths, excluding the charioteers, represented on the frieze, precisely the number that fell on the battlefield of Marathon.        

Other scholars have pointed to the fact that the Persian capitol of Persepolis was decorated with a processional frieze. The Parthenon frieze may well have been the Athenians' response to the great Persian artwork. There are two outstanding differences between the two friezes. The figures on the Persepolis frieze are by and large repetitious. The same cannot be said for the figures on the Parthenon frieze. Although the faces of the Athenians taking part in the procession are idealized, their varied movements give them a powerful individuality. But perhaps the greater difference lies in the fact that the Persian processional frieze shows subject peoples paying tribute to a powerful king. The Parthenon frieze, on the other hand, portrays the solemnity of a free people paying homage to a higher order of beings. "One nation, under one goddess, indivisible..." The political message of the frieze, I believe, is most clear.

The frieze was finished and in place by 438 B.C. The work on the free standing statuary for the pediments could begin. Phidias' connection with the sculpture of the pediments is problematic, since he left Athens for Olympia in 437 B.C., long before the sculpture was set in place. But tradition assigns the designs to Phidias' workshops, and it is plausible that the ideas represented on the pediments were forged in his mind to be executed by others.

The theme of the West Pediment was the contest of Athena and Poseidon for the patronage of Athens. Although the West side of the temple constitutes the back of the temple, the West Pediment is the first one that can be seen as the temple is approached. Of course, the idea that two gods competed to serve the Athenian people must be deemed especially flattering. Still, the designers prudently relegated this hubristic representation to the back porch.

The sculpture installed in the East Pediment represented Athena's close relationship to Zeus. It depicted the astonishing birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. On the West Pediment the sculpture conveyed the notion of Athena's close relationship to the city of Athens.

Unfortunately, few of the sculptures from the pediments have survived. Ingenious reconstructions have been suggested, but they cannot be trusted. Of the remaining sculptures, though, several bear examination. Some of the statues from near the corners are preserved in the British Museum.

The squat triangular space of the pediment is an especially awkward one to fill with sculpture. The East Pediment displays a remarkable solution to the problem of spatial confinement. The artist invites the viewer to treat the cornice base as a horizon line, and figures pinched into the corners of the triangle are allowed to spill over. From the left hand corner of the pediment rises the chariot of Helios, the Sun, whose eager horses poke their muzzles into the air.

In the right hand corner, the chariot horses of Selene, the Moon, can be seen descending, exhausted from their evening's labor.

Again to the left can be viewed a reclining figure, thought by many to be Mount Olympus, awakening to the morning sun. His face has an impersonal expression, both serene and thoughtful.

To his right sit two female figures, clothed in luxurious drapery.

They are being approached by the goddess Iris, who bears them an important message, the announcement of the miraculous birth of Athena, sprung fully grown and armed, from the head of Zeus. The swiftness of Iris is beautifully portrayed in the flow of drapery, blown back by the wind.

The sculptor has here managed to capture in stone the lightness and suppleness of cloth.  Unfortunately, the central figures from the pediment have been lost. Most likely, they were representations of Haephestus, who assisted at the birth of Athena by splitting Zeus' head with an axe, Zeus, and Athena herself. To the right, however, there remain to us three seated figures thought to be the Fates, who are present at every birth.

They too are clothed in elaborate drapery. Incredibly, they are carved both front and back, even though, once set in place, no human eyes could view the rear.

Thoughtless artistry or pious perfectionism?         

That brings my present script to an end. But before I leave this topic I wish to toss out one more thought. Several students of Thucydides have suggested that Pericles' Funeral Oration is itself an expression of the hubris of Athens. 

That is why the dreadful account of the plague falls immediately thereafter. Recollect that to build their resplendent city, the Athenians stole money from the Temple of Apollo. The plague took the life of Pericles, and in so doing, according to Thucydides set Athens on a downhill course. That is why I close with the following anecdote taken from the pages of Plutarch. In this passage, Plutarch describes the fate of Phidias and the act of impiety that occasioned his persecution and trial:

The reputation of his works was what brought envy upon Phidias, especially that where he represents the fight of the Amazons upon the goddesses' shield, he had introduced a likeness of himself as a bald old man holding up a great stone with both hands, and had put in a very fine representation of Pericles fighting with an Amazon. And the position of the hand which holds out the spear in front of the face, was ingeniously contrived to conceal in some degree the likeness, which meantime, showed itself on either side.

Phidias then was carried away to prison, and there died of a disease; but, as some say, of poison, administered by the enemies of Pericles.

Bust of Pericles