Photographs of the Parthenon metopes from the Acropolis, and the British museums.
The Parthenon metopes were visible on the exterior of the temple above the colonnade. They were sculpted in deep relief and surrounded the temple on all sides. Most Greek temples had few decorated metopes, but in the Parthenon all ninety-two metopes were decorated on all sides with scenes from Greek mythology. The original metopes were vividly painted, just as was the entire Parthenon, as was customary for Ancient Greek temples and sculpture.
Each side of the Parthenon depicts a different mythological and historical theme. While the narrative differs from side to side, the metopes are bound thematically by a common didactic theme: the triumph of refined logic over uncontrolled instincts.
The metopes in the east facade (or front) of the temple depicted the Gigantomachy, or the battle between the gods and the giants. The west metopes depicted fights between Greeks and the Amazons (or Persians), while the north and south metopes included scenes from the Trojan War and the Cenauromachy respectively.
The metopes, as well as the entire temple were vividly painted in ancient times. The colors faded thought the centuries, but pigment remnants give us a good idea of the dazzling effect color on relief forms would have had, making the action in the panels even more dramatic and animated.
Exceptional craftsmanship characterizes the rendering of the figures. The tension of the muscles, the push of the bone against the flesh, and even bulging veins are clearly visible on the forms. These are surprising details for sculptures that were to be seen from a considerable distance as they pearched near the top of the building above the colonnade.
Facial expressions appear exaggerated in many of the figures whose heads have survived centuries of abuse by nature and man alike.
The sculptures were systematically damaged first when the Parthenon was converted to a church in antiquity. Further damage occurred in subsequent years while the building was adopted for different purposes, and especially when the Venetians scored a direct hit on the Parthenon with a mortar shell during their battle with the occupying Turks who stored their gunpowder in the temple.
