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The design of the friezes balanced each other out. The image of Athena holding a helmet and a pomegranate represents a token of war and of natural abundance. Battles are depicted on the temple's friezes, and on the parapet frieze. In one version of this repeated scene, on the prominent west face of the parapet, a Nike raises a sword in her right hand, and wrenches back the animal's head with her left. The ox is being slaughtered in the fashion prescribed for the abaton. .
The slab comes from the south side of the temple and shows heroically nude Greeks fighting Persians. The subject of this part of the frieze is perhaps the moment of the death of the Athenian general Callimachus during the ï¬nal stages of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC. The Persians are dressed in their distinctive apparel of thick, belted jackets with long sleeves and tight-fitting trousers. (Above Exhibit).
The topmost part the temple included a parapet, a wall-like barrier at the edge of the roof. The parapet was created late during the Peloponnesian war. It was erected to prevent people from falling from the steep bastion. The outside of the parapet was adorned by decorative carved relief sculptures showing Nike in a variety of activities. Each one depicts and independent scene. Nike is depicted leisurely adjusting her sandal. She bends from the waist in order to reach her upraised foot, while balancing on her left leg. She is in a barely stable pose. Drapery is used with great effect to emphasize Nike's pose. The sculptor used many widely-spaced folds as well as details such as the fabric from her dress slipping off her right shoulder, baring skin. The thin cloth has many folds and clings to her torso. Each corner of the parapet included moldings. The carving on the Parapet was confined to its outer face, the inner side toward the temple being smooth and in a single surface except for the minute and almost invisible projection of a headband four inches broad.
