The Parthenon Frieze and the Sacrifice to Athena

Author(s): Susan I. Rotroff

Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 81, No. 3 (Summer, 1977), pp. 379-382
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/503014
Accessed: 28-02-2018 10:07 UTC

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 1977] ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES 379
does not represent the historical procession but so
other, more remote mythical event. This, however
not entirely satisfactory, since the identity of th
mythical event is obscure.
On the other hand, one can cleave to the tradition
interpretation of the frieze as a representation of
procession as it actually appeared in the mid-fift
century B.C. Such a viewpoint, however, requi
some explanation for the disagreements between t
frieze and the literary testimonia. The following pag
present a possible solution to this problem.
Some of the testimonia involved are late and po
sibly garbled. Two passages from the plays of Ar
tophanes, however, bear contemporary witness to
procession resembling the Panathenaic, and it is th
with which we have chiefly to deal. The Birds wa
produced in 414 B.C., the Ecclesiazusae in 392; t
Ionic frieze of the Parthenon was sculptured ca. 44
438 B.C.

XP~P (T SEcVpOa KLVaXpcpa, KaLXa KaCLX 730

TW XPWaT( 8V Ovpa!t erpwJn TW V Ev/W^ V,
orwro avE VTCVETpLAC.LEVV x Kav-r7Pop?7,

7ro0XoV' KaTO , O8 aKOV aoV YTp/iaY ~ ov'A.

/ ,roV (0' 7, &c/,pO(,,pO'; rj XV,a P p3 LOL.
vO Ata eranLwVc 7"', oier' Sv, e 'ro wPLpeLaKOV 735
Myov C ETVXE Avw"rtLKpdr" u IXckalvrTat.
(TWTo irapp aVT-V -EVp" to 7q KO/L/LWTpLca
(P'pe Sevppo TLVTrV TrV VUplav, VepLCfodpe,
MvTaroch out the Ef rs 77 alOlmy hueold
FIG. 4. The Delphic monument in a modern recon-
struction (Photo K. Dimler, Bryn Mawr College) rOXXaeKLd acYT77rimacuiae o' E y uKKXr basfCV 740
mop VVKTw S&a TO V opOlOV VpOVoV.
o T/V cKaicl7V XcX/f'v rrpoLtro, Ta K7lpla
in a rather improbable arrangement. But the basic KO/CFLE, Toy; 0aXXov; KCGl7rT-7 7rXtlcrlov,
conception is the same and may serve here to illustrate
my suggestion more effectively than a drawing. KaCL T TpL7ro' E iVEKxE KlL T-vV Xr/KVGOV
Ta XV1pPS' 718?q Kal Tvy ar'Xov a(ere. 745
BRUNILDE SISMONDO RIDGWAY
Ecclesiazusae 730-745
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE

My sweet bran-winnower, come you sweetly

here. 730
THE PARTHENON FRIEZE AND
THE SACRIFICE TO ATHENA' March out t
Powdered an
bearer,
The subject of the Ionic frieze of the Parthenon
has long been a matter of scholarly debate. Some
Aye, many a sack of mine you have bolted down.
Now proces-
scholars maintain that the frieze represents the where's the chair-girl? Come along, dear
sion which was part of the Greater Panathenaic pot, Fes-
tival as it was celebrated quadrenially in (Wow!
Periclean
but you're black; scarce blacker had
Athens. Others point out that the compositionyou of the chanced 735
To boil the dye Lysicrates
procession on the frieze is different in some particulars
from that attested by our numerous literaryAnd sources; stand by her. Come h
And
certain elements of the procession, as described by the pitcher-bearer, bear y
You,
ancient authors, are lacking or somewhat altered in thefair musician, take you
frieze.2 One might reasonably conclude that the You friezewhose untimely tru

I am grateful to J.McK. Camp,

representation E.B. Harrison,
of the Panathenaic Procession. TheJ.J. Pollitt
differences
are summarized by R.and
and H.A. Thompson for comments Hollowaysuggestions
("The Archaic Acropolis and
on th
paper. the Parthenon Frieze," ArtB 48 [1966] 223), who draws the
2 The differences between frieze and testimonia were first opposite conclusion, that the frieze does not represent the his-
torical procession. See also L. Ziehen, "Panathenaia," RE 18,
noted by Peterson, cited by A. Michaelis (Der Parthenon [Leip-
zig 1871] 209), who nonetheless considered the frieze as 2,
a 2, col. 466.

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 380 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 81
Roused me, ere daybreak, to attend
gestedthe
that the object held by the marshal (no. 49)
Assembly. is a KavoiVv, which he gives to or receives from two
Who's got the dish, go forward; take the maidens (nos. 50-5I).6 It is therefore not unreasonable
combs
Of honey; set the olive branches nigh; to According
suppose that these womenand
to Aristophanes are Hesychius,
indeed Kav-q4~pot.
the Kavi-
Bring out the tripods and the bottles of oil; 4dpot were followed immediately by 84tpopo'pOL and
The pannikins and rubbish you can leave. 745 OKau4bdpot. These were probably metic women who
carried chairs and parasols for the comfort of either
(translation: B.B. Rogers)
the Kav74dpOL or high officials such as the archon
llpo&lvN : cp E avLo&VV,
TO La dSeCLo, Lva /A basileus.7 The 84podpopot and Ktadpot do not appear
LKOXOVOL*VS 80KCKav 0 Zvb 8o
Kav7f4opq. in the procession on the frieze.
lir9c5raLpoc: Kaal Tv 814pov &ye ppo4pcEL royV8L The east ends of the north and south friezes show
Aapflv. animals and attendants," suggesting that the sacrificial
Birds 1550-1552 victims followed the Kavqdpot and presumably the
8t4pof4pot and oKLacdpoL. The literary sources do not
Prometheus: Let's have the umbrella; then, if Zeus mention the position of the animals in the procession.
perceives me, The north and south friezes next show foKaOlqdpot,9
He'll think I'm following the Basket- metic men dressed in purple chitons, carrying bronze
bearer or silver trays of honey and cakes. They are included
Pisthetairos: Here, take the chair, and act the Chair- in Aristophanes' description of the procession (Eccl.
girl too. 742), but there they come after the musicians.

(translation: B.B. Rogers) The 38ptaopdpot carried pitchers full of water and
follow the xa4cOardpot on the north frieze. Harpokra-
The testimonies of the poet and sculptor are at vari- tion says that they were metic women,'0 but the
ance, and it is possible that there is more than artistic VSpLacdpot on the frieze are men. Aristophanes makes
licence to be seen in this disagreement. no mention of their sex but addresses the pitcher
The sources agree that the Kavn7dpot led the parade.
These aristocratic young women carried the Kava, bearer
no as " ..8ptaOdpc,"
distinction an adjectival
between masculine nounInwhich makes
and feminine.
boxes or baskets containing barley, fillets, knives,
and other apparatus of sacrifice.3 It is surprising that the Ecclesiazusae
(Eccl. 738). the {,8ptado'pot follow the 84po4opot
the maidens on the east frieze (nos. 2-17, 50o-6i)4 Aristophanes and the frieze agree that musicians
do not carry Kava but instead sacrificial equipment- follow the 6S8pLaodpot. Aristophanes mentions only a
thymiateria, oinochoai, and phialai.5 Michaelis sug- kitharode, though the frieze shows flutists as well."

3 Harp. s.v. Kav,1/6pot; for Kavpi, see L. Deubner, "Hochzeit

s.v. oxa/Or/6pot.
und Opferkorb," Idl 40 (1925) 210-23.
4 A.H. Smith, The Sculptures of the Parthenon (London o10Harp. s.v. oKaOn7N76pot. The fact that the pmpeoa 6pot of
the frieze are men instead of the women attested by Harpo-
1910) pls. 30-31, 38-39. An excellent new set of photographs kration is puzzling. If they actually were women, and the
appears in M. Robertson and A. Frantz, The Parthenon Frieze frieze represents the historical procession, why should the
(London 1975). sculptor have made such an alteration? If the frieze represents
5 Ziehen (supra n. 2) col. 465. Some scholars have concluded instead a mythical procession (based on the historical one),
that they are not Kav770/6poL (Holloway [supra n. 2]). why again this liberty with the sex of the pitcher-bearers? It
6 Michaelis (supra n. 2) 259. is perhaps arguable that Harpokration, writing several cen-
7 Ar. Eccl. 734; Birds I550-52; Hesychius, s.v. 6topoq6#pot. turies after the event, was misinformed, but this is hardly a
The aKLcm6pot were metic women (Ael. VH 6.I), and their satisfying solution. Smith (supra n. 4) nos. 16-19, pl. 42.
11 Ar. Eccl. 739. North frieze, nos. 20-27; south frieze, nos.
close association with the &t#pog6pot suggests that the latter
too were metics. Aelian and the scholiast on Birds 1551 say 102-104; Smith (supra n. 4) pls. 43 and 87; p. 56, figs. io6-
that they carried parasols and chairs for the comfort of the
107, and p. 64, fig. 124. Michaelis ([supra n. 2] pl. Ii, nos.
Kav706#pot. D.B. Thompson suggests instead that they were 103-10o4) shows Carrey's drawing of two men carrying what
for the highest officials. She draws attention to the presence appear to be flat, square objects. He suggests that these are
of 610pot, possibly even the throne of Xerxes, in the treasury of the boxes of the kitharai, which Carrey misunderstood, and
Athena, and postulates the adoption of the Persian custom of that the men are musicians (p. 239). Aristophanes' use of the
carrying thrones and parasols for the Great King ("The Per- feminine article (J) for KLtapw986U is puzzling. Rogers explains
sian Spoils in Athens," The Aegean and the Near East: Studies in a note that the musician in the procession was a woman
Presented to Hetty Goldman [Locust Valley, N.Y., 1956] 285- (The Loeb Classical Library: Aristophanes III [New York
90o). A third possibility is that the chairs were used for a 19241 318). KLOapeopol were usually men, and two vase paint-
Oeo?evia (see A. Furtwlingler, Meisterwerke der griechischen ings which probably represent the Panathenaic sacrifice show
Plastik [Leipzig-Berlin 18931 186-90). male musicians (infra ns. 17 and 19). The feminine article
8 Smith (supra n. 4) pls. 40-41, 88-91.
may refer, as the scholiast suggests, to the word diXrpis,
9 South frieze, no. io6; north frieze, nos. 13-15; Smith though R.G. Ussher in his recent discussion dismisses this
(supra n. 4) pis. 42 and 87; p. 56, fig. io6, and p. 64, fig. 124. possibility (Aristophanes Ecclesiazousae [Oxford 1973] note
For TKcO77efoo, see Ael. VH 6.1; Phot. s.v. ocrKacias; Harp. to line 739). Possibly too Aristophanes is playing for a laugh,

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 1977] ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES 381
Aristophanes' OaXhov' which from the rest of
follow thethe east frieze byr4poL
xKaqf the figures of the
gods and heroes and represents
are the 0aXX4o4pot, old men bearing olive branches.12 another part of the
Michaelis identified the bearded
ceremonymen who
altogether. And follow thedid omit
even if the artist
musicians on the north and south friezes
the 8Ltpo4o'pot elsewhereasthrough
OaXXo- an unwillingness
40pot.13 These men do not carry branches.
to repeat the Although
same figures, the absence of the uKcdo'pot
the positions of their handsremains
are unexplained.
suitable for such an
activity, there are no sculptured branches
An alternate explanation of in their
the absence of &4pSo4o'po
hands, nor are there holes forfrom
the the procession-and oneof
attachment which
metalapplies to the
branches on the frieze. PerhapsUKta4o'potthis detailupon
as well-depends was added
a reinterpretation of
in paint and is now completely the first section of
lost. Butthe procession
it must as it is shown
alsoon the
be admitted that these men friezecould well
(i.e., the north be ends
and south simply
of the east frieze
and the east ends of the north and south friezes:
Athenian
artistic citizens
purpose of and not 6aXXoo6pot.
dividing east frieze,
the front nos. 1-19,
partThey
49-63;
of serve
north
the frieze,
pro- the
nos. 1-43;
cession from the rest of the frieze,
south frieze, nos.which is taken
84-131). Several scholars have ex-
pressed the opinion
up with the chariots and horsemen. The that the remainder
unity of of the north
this
first part of the procession and
is south friezes and theby
underlined west the
frieze, fact
which are de-
that it is bounded at either end
voted toby the procession
groups of charioteers
of bearded and horsemen,
men-at its beginning on the represent east frieze
the procession byinthe
mustering the Kerameikos
and by
eponymous heroes,14 at its end passing
thethrough the city and up to the citadel,
OahXo4dopot.
whileand
The differences in the order the first section of the procession
composition of has already
this first part of the procession
arrived as described
on the Acropolis.? One by canAris-
perhaps go one
tophanes and the frieze may stepbe summarized
further as
and say that the first fol-
section of the frieze
lows: does not represent simply the procession but rather
FRIEZE ARISTOPHANES
the sacrificial procession as it regrouped on the Acrop-
olis to proceed to the altar. Hence it includes the vic-
KavV)4dpoL (?) KavV)4dpoL tims and those essential to the sacrifice and omits the
animals &ppodpopot and oartadpot SLt4pO4odpot and UKKtaL4pot, who were not directly in-
rKa4pdpotpO bVSpta4poLt volved in the sacrifice and would have by this time
SpLaodppot (male) musicians retired to the sidelines to watch the ceremony.
musicians UKa4O4Odpot
The Kavrqdpot, orua44,do'pot, and l8paodpot were
OaXXo4popot (?) OaAXo4pot obviously essential to the sacrifice. The Kav,4,o'poL car-
ried sacrificial equipment. If they are actually ap-
The difference in order may be explained as casual
variation in the actual procession from year to year.proaching
But the altar, it is understandable that they do
there may be significance in the omission ofnot thecarry Kavai; presumably they have already removed
SL4po4pdot and UKta4odpot from their usual place theinsacred vessels and implements from their ritual
the procession on the frieze. containers. On a black-figured vase from the Acropo-
At4popopot do, of course, appear in the enigmaticlis, which clearly represents a sacrifice to Athena, a
female figure pours a libation onto the altar from an
scene in the center of the east frieze,15 and this could
account for their absence elsewhere. This scene how- oinochoe like those carried by the women on the
ever is clearly not part of the procession; it is set apart frieze.7 The honey and cakes which the aria4qd(o'poL

casting aspersions on the masculinity of the "new musicians" 2) the figures which occupy the ends of the east frieze
of the later fifth century, as he does in Peace, 829-32, and (nos. 1-19, 49-63) and the east end of the north and south
Birds, 1372-1409 (Isobel Henderson, "Ancient Greek Music," friezes (north frieze, nos. 1-43; south frieze, nos. 84-131),
in New Oxford History of Music, I: Ancient and Oriental who are standing or walking slowly, and which W.-H. Schuch-
Music, Egon Wellesz, ed. [London 19571 393). hardt calls "die feierliche Prozession" ("Zur Entstehung des
12 Ar. Eccl. 743. See Xen. Symp. 4.17; Schol. Wasps 544; Parthenonfriezes," Studies Presented to D.M. Robinson I
Hesychius, s.v. OaXXo<6pos. [St. Louis 1951] 541);
13 Michaelis (supra n. 2) 239. North frieze, nos. 28-43; south 3) the lively procession of charioteers and horsemen depicted
frieze, nos. 84-101. Smith (supra n. 4) 64, fig. 124, and pls. on the remainder of the north and south friezes (north frieze,
43-44, 87. See also L. Deubner, Attische Feste (Berlin 1956) nos. 44-134; south frieze, nos. 1-83), which represents the
28-29. procession as it climbs to the citadel; and
14 East frieze, nos. 20-23, 43-48; Smith (supra n. 4) pls. 4) the west frieze, which depicts the marshalling of the
32, 37-38. horsemen in the Kerameikos.
15Nos. 31-32; Smith (supra n. 4) pl. 35. For a recent exposition of this view, see P. Fehl, "The Rocks
16Scholars have often divided the frieze into four distinct on the Parthenon Frieze," lWarb 24 (1961) 1-19, especially
parts: 4 and 8. For arguments against this interpretation, see Hollo-
I) the central section of the east frieze, which depictsway
a (supra n. 2) 223 and Robertson and Frantz (supra n.
4) 11.
ceremony involving the peplos (nos. 31-35) and is set off from
the rest of the frieze by the figures of gods and heroes (nos. 17 Botho Graef and Ernst Langlotz, Die antiken Vasen von
20-30, 36-48); der Akropolis zu Athen I (Berlin 1925) pl. 67, no. 1220.

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 382 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 81
bore on their trays were certainly part ofthat
cates the the
sacrifice.
Parthenon frieze represent
The water carried by the 8puado'pot when the
would procession
have been was reorganized on
used for purification and libations lis
connected
in order with the
to approach the altar for the
sacrifice. A red-figured stamnos by the Hector
This Painter,
reinterpretation explains the prom
dating to 440/430 B.C., shows a Niketionpouring
of the sacrificial
water animals, the omis
from a hydria for a bull whose horns are garlanded
&4po4dopot andfor
uratadpot, and the prese
sacrifice.'s It was apparently customary
4xpot, to water the {SpMa4dopot, musician
o-Ka4)4o'pot,
victims immediately before the sacrifice.
4,OpoL.
As for the musicians, vase paintings The
indicate
sideration section
that
therefore of the Parthenon
represents fr
the pro
music played a part in the Panathenaic
actually
sacrifice.
approached
A the sacrificial altar,
mid-sixth-century neck-amphora in Berlin,
tophanes which the procession as
describes
probably represents the Panathenaic sacrifice,
through shows
the city to the Acropolis.
a procession approaching a stepped altar, behind SUSAN I. ROTROFF
which stands an armed Athena.'9 AMT.
woman carrying
ALLISON UNIVERSITY

branches, possibly
followed by a cowa and
Kav-)q,'po4, leadsattendants.
three male the procession,
ItCORINTHIAN
is
A NEW MIDDLE
noteworthy that these attendants, likeVASE the PAINTER
old men IN MADISON:
on the frieze, do not carry branches. On the other PAINTER*
THE ELVEHJEM
side of the pot are two flutists and two kitharodes.
On an early-fifth-century black-figuredA Corinthian
lekythosbroad-bottomed
from oinochoe (fig. i) in
the Acropolis a procession consistingthe
ofElvehjem Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin,' has
a 6aAXoQpdpo4,
been assigned by J.L. Benson to the "Manner of the
a Kavqr4po4, a cow, two attendants, and a flutist ap-
Dodwell Painter"
proach a figure of Athena. The appearance in the Middle Corinthian period2
of Athena
and later that
and the provenance of the vase suggest was attributed
it rep- more specifically by D.A.
resents the Panathenaic sacrifice.20 Amyx to the master of an oinochoe now in Munich
The occasional figure of a marshal21 further
but formerly indi- von Schoen at Lugano.3
in the collection
18 CVA, Miinchen V, pls. 247.2 and 251.1. an unknown Swiss or English private collection." Purchased
19 D. von Bothmer, "A Panathenaic Amphora," at auction: H. Cahn,12
BMMA Kunstwerke der Antike Miinzen und
(1953) 54-55. Medaillen A.G. Auktion 40 (13 Dezember 1969) 21, lot 39,
20 L.D. Caskey and J.D. Beazley, Attic Vase pl. 9. Later, Art
Paintings inQuarterly
the (Autumn, 1970) 319-
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston I (London 1931) H. 18.3
11,cm.; max. pl.
supp. diam. 16.5; handle, h. 8.5, w. 4.0;
I, fig. 9. mouth, 7.2 max. w. and 5.o deep; mouth to top handle 4.8;
21East frieze, nos. I, 18-19, 49, 52; Smith (supra n. 4)
main frieze, h. 4.5; small frieze, h. 3.5. The clay is light
pls. 30, 32, 38. brown-buff. The neck, ribbon handle, and the mouth (to the
full depth inside the neck) are black glaze, most of which
*The following abbreviations are used: has flaked and crackled. Half way down the neck is a well-
articulated horizontal ridge, and one, more gradual, separates
Brooklyn D.A. Amyx, "A Forged Corinthian Animal the neck from the vase proper. The outer surface or edge of
Frieze," Bulletin of the Brooklyn Museum 21:2 this second ridge is reserved, and a black line at its base serves
(Spring 1968) 9-13. as the upper limit of the small animal frieze. There is a deeply
Dodwelliana D.A. Amyx, "Dodwelliana," California Studies in incised ring on the vertical shaft of the neck near the bot-
Classical Antiquity 4 (1971) 1-48. tom. The point at which the flat underside of the vase meets
GkV Jack L. Benson, Die Geschichte der korinthischen the side is indented or furrowed. There is a zone of ninety-
Vasen (Basel 1953). eight rays.
NC Humfry Payne, Necrocorinthia (Oxford 931i) As a vase shape the broad-bottomed oinochoe was common
numbers in catalog. from early in the Protocorinthian through the Late Corinthian,
Payne Humfry Payne, Necrocorinthia (Oxford 1931) and the shape was a favorite of the circle of artisans around
text and illustrations.
the Dodwell Painter: Payne, 299 and 315, p1. 13.1; D.A. Amyx,
I am indebted to the former director of the Elvehjem Art "Corinthian Vases in the Hearst Collection," California Publi-
Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Millard Rogers, cations in Classical Archaeology I (1929-1944) 221; Dod-
Jr., for permission to publish this vase and to John Hopkins welliana, 9-1o; L. Banti, EAA (Rome 1960) III 154. The shape
and to David Spradling for photographs of it. Those who is found either with a high (narrow) or low (wide) neck;
the Elvehjem vase is an example of the former.
work with Corinthian pottery recognize my great dependence
2 GkV, 47, no. IIa, pl. 9.
on the scholarly writings of Professor D.A. Amyx of Berkeley,
3D.A. Amyx attributed the vase now in the Elvehjem for
but personally I owe him special thanks for urging me to pub-
the Miinzen und Medaillen auction catalog (supra n. i), but
lish the Elvehjem vase, for helping me on numerous occasions,
Professor Benson had already observed the similarities between
and for reading the manuscript. I am pleased to thank the the Munich-Lugano vase and the Madison oinochoe: Gnomon
following curators for photographs of vases in their charge: 36 (1964) 405, which is Benson's review of T.J. Dunbabin
A. Ahrens (Munich), Aliki Kauffmann-Samaras (Louvre), and H. Payne, Perachora II: The Sanctuaries of Hera Akraia
Bernard V. Bothmer (Brooklyn), Simone Bourlard-Collin and Limenia (Oxford 1962). For the Munich-Lugano vase,
(Marseilles), Lucy Turnbull (Mississippi). infra n. 8. Neither Benson nor Amyx mentions in print any-
1Inventory no. 70.3, Mary A. Grant Fund purchase; "from thing suspicious about the Elvehjem vase.

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