The British Museum
Explore / Galleries
447 – 432 BC
The Parthenon was built as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It was the centrepiece of an ambitious building programme on the Acropolis of Athens. The temple’s great size and lavish use of white marble was intended to show off the city’s power and wealth at the height of its empire.
Download video (mp4)
To view this video online please enable javascript.
To view this video online please install the Flash player
Playwright, author and British Museum trustee, Bonnie Greer celebrates the enduring beauty and humanity of the Parthenon Sculptures
Room 18 exhibits sculptures that once decorated the outside of the building. The pediments and metopes illustrate episodes from Greek mythology, while the frieze represents the people of contemporary Athens in religious procession.
Rooms 18a and 18b feature fragments of the Parthenon sculpture and also pieces of architecture. Video displays using computer graphics explain how the sculptures were placed on the building, and a touch tour for visually impaired visitors includes a model, some original architecture and plaster casts of the frieze.
See this gallery on the floor plan
The Parthenon sculptures at the British Museum Statement of the British Museum trustees Facts and figures
Cleaning and controversy: the Parthenon sculptures 1811 - 1939 By Ian Jenkins
Marble metope from the Parthenon 440 BC More information
Marble metope from the Parthenon 440 BC
Figure of Dionysos from the east pediment of the Parthenon 438-432 BC More information
Figure of Dionysos from the east pediment of the Parthenon 438-432 BC
Horsemen from the west frieze of the Parthenon 438-32 BC More information
Horsemen from the west frieze of the Parthenon 438-32 BC
Figure of a river-god from the west pediment of the Parthenon 438-432 BC More information
Figure of a river-god from the west pediment of the Parthenon 438-432 BC
Central scene - east frieze
Audio description tour
Retelling of exciting Greek myths, £8.99
Explore the cultures of the world in UK museums on the World Timelines website.
