Specific Examples Involving The Interpretation Of The Parthenon’s Frieze

Looking at the Parthenon’s frieze you see many different characters in what seems to be some kind of procession. This is all noticeable to the common viewer, but does it actually have any meaning. Many interpretations have given the beautiful frieze different yet similar meanings. To many it is thought to be a piece of music transposed in to a pictorial story. The frieze seems to have a distinctive rhythm where it feels as if the characters are dancing. It is commonly thought that the scenes in the frieze are a representation of the Panathenaic procession, but scholars are arguing many of the actions and underlying meanings.

Many of the actions that take place on the frieze may seem insignificant, but they actually take on a lot of meaning. The simple gesture of fiddling with a sandal marks the beginning of the festival of the Panathenaic procession. Since most scholars agree on this, their interpretations are set around the south-western corner of the frieze as being the beginning events of the procession. The characters in the frieze are all headed toward the eastern front. The Panathenaic procession was the beginning of the grand Panath

Margereth Lagerlof believes that the whole frieze procession corresponds to the events of a day. She also thinks that even the changes in the tempo of the procession suggest notable events. “The quick transitions between the maneuverings of horses and horsemen seem to extend time, catching and halting for a moment a lingering, comprehending eye, like descriptive digressions in stories which seem to say, ‘Stop, look, see how this symbolizes a theme or an idea” (69). The frieze is more or less a pictorial story. The way the story is read relies on the direction the people of the procession are headed. Although we know that they are on their way somewhere, the story never ends. There is no depiction on the frieze that allows us to an arrival. The only evidence that leads to the soon coming of the destination is the nearness of the gods in the center scene. There is also thought of the frieze to be representing a hierarchy of beings and events. There are the gods in the center, then the mortals of the higher class, and finally the craftsmen.

Joan B. Connelly has interpreted the frieze in a different way though. Her theory is known as the Erechtheus theme. This deals more with the function of the temple, rather then the e

Some topics in this essay:
Margereth Lagerlof, Looking Parthenon’s, Erechtheus Eleusinians, Archon Basilieus, Joan Connelly’s, Joan Connelly, John Boardman, Poseidon Athena, panathenaic procession, Peplos Athena, parthenon’s frieze, Marathon Lagerlof, procession scholars, gods center, actually meaning, scene frieze, pictorial story, offering peplos, panathenaic procession scholars,