Figures of three goddesses from the east pediment of the
Parthenon
The Acropolis, Athens, Greece, about 438-432
BC
Hestia, Dione and Aphrodite
The east pediment of the Parthenon showed the birth of goddess
Athena from the head of her father Zeus. The sculptures that
represented the actual scene are lost. Zeus was probably shown
seated, while Athena was striding away from him fully grown and
armed.
Only some of the figures ranged on either side of the lost
central group survive. They include these three goddesses, who were
seated to the right of centre. From left to right, their posture
varies in order to accommodate the slope of the pediment that
originally framed them. They are remarkable for their naturalistic
rendering of anatomy blended with a harmonious representation of
complex draperies.
The figure on the left is on the point of rising and tucks her
right foot in to lever herself up. To the right another figure
cradles a companion reclining luxuriously in her lap. They are
perhaps, from left to right, Hestia, goddess of the hearth and
home, Dione, and her daughter Aphrodite. However, another
suggestion is that the two figures on the right are the
personification of the Sea (Thalassa) in the lap of the Earth
(Gaia).
B.F. Cook, The Elgin Marbles, 2nd edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1997)