The Parthenon Frieze

The photographs of Sokratis Mavrommatis are organically tied to the texts that deal with key questions of the frieze of the greatest monument of humanity: design and carving issues, stylistic problems and aesthetic approaches, issues of structure, coherence and interpretation of the theme depicted, issues in general for the Athenian cult in the city.

The artistic genius of Athens in the fifth century BC reached its peak in the sculpted marble reliefs of the Parthenon frieze. Designed by Phidias and carved by a team of anonymous masons, the frieze adorned the temple of Athena on the Acropolis and represents a festival procession in honour of the Olympian gods. Its original composition and precise meaning, however, have long been the subject of lively debate. Most of what survives of the frieze is now in the British Museum or the Acropolis Museum in Athens; the rest is scattered among a number of European collections. This book reconstructs the frieze in its entirety according to the most up-to-date research, with a detailed scene-by-scene commentary, and the superb quality of the carving is vividly shown in a series of close-up photographs. In his introduction Ian Jenkins places the frieze in its architectural, historical and artistic setting. He discusses the various interpretations suggested by previous scholars, and finally puts forward a view of his own.