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Undergraduate
Classics Teaching Collections |
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| Backward |
Forward |
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| Name: |
Torso
of Poseidon |
| Picture: |
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| Description: |
Figure
'M' from the west pediment of the Parthenon. London, British Museum
and Athens, National Museum. H. 0.83m. Torso of Poseidon from the
centre left of the west pediment. The scene is effectively an act
of violence -- Poseidon's muscles are bunched as he flings wide his
arms, calling the sea to come to his aid. |
| Date: |
438-432 B.C. |
| Discussion: |
The
west pediment of the Parthenon shows the battle for Athens between
Athena and Poseidon, the two central figures, who display their gifts
to the city (an olive tree and a salt-water spring). Flanking them
are two chariot groups, Hermes and Iris (messengers of Zeus, who ordered
the combatants to stop their squabble), and the legendary royal families
of Athens, including Kekrops, the first king. The angle figures seem
to be river-gods of Attika: Olympia, Kallirhoe and Ilissus. See Robertson
1981: 95; Stewart 1990: 152-4; 359 (ill.). |
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