Greece: Parthenon (Room 18)
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.
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.
More information about the Parthenon sculptures at the British
Museum
Museum statements
Research publication
Image captions (clockwise from top
left):
Marble metope from the
Parthenon 440 BC
Figure of Dionysos from the east pediment of the
Parthenon 438-432 BC
Figure of a river-god from the west pediment of the
Parthenon 438-32 BC
Horsemen from the west frieze of the
Parthenon 438-32 BC