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Head of a horse of Selene from the east pediment of the
Parthenon
Acropolis, Athens, 447-432 BC
One of the best loved sculptures from the Parthenon
The frieze on the east pediment of the Parthenon shows the
birth of the goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus. The
event was witnessed by various figures shown on either side and
filling the triangular space of the gable end of the temple. In the
very corners of this triangle, the time of day was set by the
chariot of Helios, god of the sun, rising at dawn, and the chariot
of Selene, the Moon goddess, sinking beneath the horizon. Selene's
torso is in Athens, while the head of one of her team of horses is
in the British Museum.
This is perhaps the most famous and best loved of all the
sculptures of the Parthenon. It captures the very essence of the
stress felt by a beast that has spent the night drawing the chariot
of the Moon across the sky. As the unseen vehicle was shown sinking
low in the west, the horse pins back its ears, the jaw gapes, the
nostrils flare, the eyes bulge, veins stand out and the flesh seems
spare and taut over the flat plate of the cheek bone.