1. Parthenon Metope 27 Drew Layton

2. Facts  c447-442 BC  Currently held in the British museum  Found on the Acropolis  Pentelic Marble  Damage in the 1600s by a bombshell

3. Definitions  Metope - a square space between triglyphs in a Doric frieze  Triglyph - a tablet in a Doric frieze with three vertical grooves alternating with metopes  Lapith - a member of a Thessalian people who fought and defeated the centaurs  Centaur - a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse

4. The story behind the Metopes  About the Centauromachy, a battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs  A Lapith weeding that was disrupted by the drunken centaurs who attempted to abduct the Lapith women  Part of one myth suggests it was because the centaurs felt insulted because they were not invited to the celebrations  Another they were invited by the Lapiths and just got drunk and rowdy  This all resulted in the battle known as the Centauromachy

6. About the metope  In this metope the Lapith is holding the centaur by the back of the neck and pulling him back  Lapith possibly about to strike Centaur with right hand  Showing the Lapith as superior to centaur  Represents the Greeks triumph over their enemies?

7. About the Lapith  Holding/Wearing a chlamys  Lapith represents Greeks?  Missing head so can’t see expression  Looking at other metopes the Lapith’s have emotionless faces  Realistic representation of a human?  Heroic nudity

8. About the Centaur  Represents everyone else? Persians? Other enemies  Missing head so can’t see expression  Centaurs were monsters and viewed lower than the Greeks  Human part is well defined with veins and a rib cage

9. About the carving  Deep carving, almost free standing at points  The two figures have similar body positions  Kind of a mirroring between the two bodies  Opposing arcs of the Lapith’s body and the Centaur’s

10. Woodford says  ‘The boldness of the design is matched by the quality of the execution: the telling depiction rippling muscles and tensed bodies contrasts with the geometric purity of the folds behind it’