The Composition of the So-Called Eponymous Heroes on the East Frieze of the Parthenon

Scholars have confidently asserted that ten male figures on the Parthenon frieze should be identified as Eponymous Heroes. Some would even go so far as to name individual heroes. Nevertheless, the whole question of identity remains open. By re-examining the composition of the east frieze, this article aims to show that the separation of ten figures from the procession, and their allocation to the immortal sphere, imposes an uncomfortable strain on the subtle interrelation of processional and non-processional figures. Particularly disconcerting is the insistence on including figure 18 among the ten and calling him a hero. Both iconographical and compositional considerations indicate that he is intended to be a marshal. He leads the procession to the south of the gods, in a position corresponding to that of similar figures to the north. A more satisfactory interpretation would be to take figure 18 with the procession and count nine non-processional figures waiting at the head of the parade: 19-23 to the south, 43-46 to the north. This division seems justified by their air of detachment, and the fact that these figures (with the possible, although not probable, exception of figure 20) lean on sticks. Figure 18 does not have a stick. The sticks are not a badge of office, but may be an indication of senior, although not superhuman status. Their number, nine, suggests that we see here the nine archons of Athens

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Art history · Composition (language · Frieze · Genealogy · HERO · Identity (music · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Literature · Parade · Procession · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Philosophy

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