To understand the history and meaning of the bas-relief reproduced in our illustration, we must first learn something of the worship of Athena in her chosen city of Athens. An annual festival was held here in her honor, and every four years occurred a very elaborate celebration called the PanathenÆa. The PanathenÆa lasted several days, and attracted throngs of people from all parts of Greece. There were contests in gymnastics and music, torch-races, horse-races, feasts and dances. Sacrifices of oxen were offered on the altar of the goddess, every state having to furnish an ox for the purpose. The climax was reached on the last day, when a great procession started at sunrise and traversed the streets of the city to the temple of Athena. It is with this procession that the bas-relief of our picture is connected, as we shall presently see.

Some time before the festival a group of Athenian maidens of the noblest families had made and embroidered for Athena a beautiful robe called the peplos. This was carried above the procession, stretched like a sail on the mast of a ship which was rolled through the street on wheels. The pageant was made up of many different companies. There were the Athenian magistrates, grave and dignified, maidens carrying sacrificial vessels, men bearing trays of cakes, citharists (harpists) and flute-players, old men with olive branches, four-horse chariots with armed warriors, rows of young men mounted on prancing steeds, and attendants with the cattle for the sacrifice.

During the invasion of Greece by the Persians, the temple of Athena in Athens was destroyed by fire. Later, on its site, was erected another to replace it, called the Parthenon. The city was now at the height of its prosperity under the statesman Pericles. At this time also lived the great sculptor Phidias, and to him Pericles intrusted the decoration of the new temple.

The Parthenon was built of Pentelic marble, and the temple proper was surrounded by a portico supported on rows of columns. The outside of the building was richly adorned with bas-reliefs. There were designs in the triangular spaces under the roof called pediments. Above the columns ran a series of panels called metopes. Finally, there was a frieze extending around the temple wall, to be seen from within the portico. It is a bit of this frieze which is reproduced in our illustration.

The Panathenaic procession is the subject carried the entire length of this bas-relief decoration. On the portion running across one end were depicted the scenes of preparation. Men are in the act of mounting their horses, some having spirited animals to deal with, and all making ready for the start. At the opposite end is the scene of the arrival at the temple. Here sit the gods to receive the sacrifice, while the magistrates stand ready to perform the rites, and maidens approach with the vessels. On the two long sides the procession is seen actually in motion. Here are represented all the figures which took part in such occasions; old men and maidens, musicians, horsemen, charioteers, and sacrificial animals, all moving forward on their way. Group follows group, with that contrast and variety which give interest to a pageant, and with the proper orderliness to give it unity.

Our panel shows us a line of horsemen riding four abreast. Though it is broken and defaced, we catch at once the spirit of the work. The horses are splendid animals; with dilated nostrils, and necks proudly arched, they seem to prance to the music of the flutes. Though they are well matched in size and type, no two are really alike. Every one has as distinct a character as a human being, and lovers of horses might choose each his own favorite from the four.

Only two of the riders fall within our range of vision. They are handsome youths, with the perfectly formed head and finely cut profile which we learn to recognize as the Greek ideal of beauty. The line across forehead and nose is perfectly straight, and the line connecting nose and chin forms a corresponding angle. Both faces bear the stamp of refinement and high breeding which mark them as belonging to the class of Athenian nobles.

Though the two youths have so similar a cast of countenance, they are quite unlike in temperament. The farther one is of a somewhat dreamy, poetic nature. He rides with bent head as if in a reverie. His companion is of a sterner, more virile type. He looks straight before him, and carries his head with a sense of the dignity of the occasion.

Both youths sit their horses as if born in the saddle. Horse and rider are one, animated by a single dominant will. The Athenian youth were trained from childhood in all sorts of manly exercise. The normal development of the body was of first importance in the Greek educational system. These young men are typical examples of the fine specimens of manhood which that training produced.