South Metope 5, Parthenon

This metope is featured on the south side of the Parthenon, fifth from the west end. Originally a total of 92 metopes depicted mythological battles of Greeks versus barbarians in the Doric frieze. The East side shows the Gods versus giants, in the West we have the battle between Greeks and Amazons, the North side portrays the Sack of Troy, while the South shows the Lapiths fighting Centaurs at a wedding feast.

The preserved compositions from the south side can be found in the poet Ovid's 1^st century C.E. collection entitled Metamorphoses. Pirithous, the Lapith King, invited his neighbors the centaurs to his wedding to Hippodame. The centaurs, half man, half horse, drank an excess of wine and started attack the women. A battle ensued and eventually the centaurs were defeated by the Lapiths.

The metope shows the violent battle of the centaurs and the Lapiths. The centaur's body creates an almost perfect diagonal line with his two hindlegs planted on the ground and his two upper legs kicking in the air. The centaur is wearing a cape and his muscles are well defined; his body is tense and ready to attack. Today only the centaur is seen on the metope but from 17^th century drawings of the Parthenon metopes attributed to Jacques Carrey, it is apparent that the centaur was battling a Lapith youth.

A.V.