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Undergraduate
Classics Teaching Collections |
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| Name: |
Rearing
Centaur |
| Picture: |
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| Description: |
Metope
South 5, the Parthenon, Athens. London, British Museum. H. 1.33m.
The centaur rears from left to right to trample a Lapith (not extant).
The centaur is incomplete, missing head and forelegs. His torso twists
as he moves his upper body to attack, displaying an impressive musculature.
A fragment of the Lapith's hand can be seen at the throat of the centaur,
grabbing at his cloak as may be seen in Item # 24. |
| Date: |
c. 445 B.C. |
| Discussion: |
For
the tale of the Centaurs and Lapiths, see Item # 15. On the Parthenon
metopes, the viewer is invited to feel sympathy for the beasts, as
it is not really their fault that wine reacts badly with their constitutions.
Many of the centaurs wear expressions of human pain and suffering,
like the Lapiths, so the distinction between 'good' and 'evil' is
blurred. See Stewart 1990: 154-5. |
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