Parthenon
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(Above is a much simplified drawing of the reconstruction of the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Height of Apollo at center: 10 2″) The importance of this quiet face is shown very clearly in another work, the pediment sculpture of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (ca. 460 BC) -a pediment is the triangular space on the upper part of the short sides of a Greek temple:he space under the ends of the low peaked roof the theme of this energetic composition is the battle of the Lapiths + the Centaurs at the
wedding feast of the Lapith king, Perithoos– one of Zeuss sons The centaurs–mythical creatures with a human head and torso and a horses body–had been invited but they drank too much + tried to kidnap the bride + her young women The general theme of the sculpture is the victory of the civilized over the barbaric And in particular the reference is to the recent Greek victory in the Persian Wars (first half or 5th century): Twice the Persians invaded Greece with forces that greatly outnumbered the Greeks, and
Twice the Greeks defeated them, with great valor . . at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), for example, the Greeks prevailed, tho they were outnumbered an estimated 9 to 1 So: this pediment sculpture speaks of the victory of the civilized over the barbaric And the choice of centaurs to represent barbarism is very apt, for the horse-loving Persians seem to have described themselves as being like centaurs
For the Persians, this likeness to centaurs was a positive image For the Greeks, the association was negative: Altho there was a tradition that Chiron, the wise leader of the Centaurs tried to stop the violence at Perithoos wedding In general the Greeks associated centaurs with hubris (wanton insolence or arrogance) and unrestrained animal nature by drawing a parallel between Persians and centaurs (with their hubris and their animal nature), the sculpture makes a strong statement about the Greeks perception of the Persians as being animals and therefore inferior And so this sculptural group also refers to the contrast between human beings + animals: Humans acknowledge their responsibility to live under law– something the centaurs were not exactly doing In this context, it makes sense that Apollo–who among other things the god of law–is there in the middle w/ his arm outstretched: invisible, but present at the battle (Obviously, the