Memorandum on the subject of the Earl of Elgin's pursuits in Greece (London, 1811)

12

sented the whole of the solemn proces-
sion to the Temple of Minerva during the
Panathenaic festival : many of the figures
are on horseback ; others are about to
mount : some are in chariots ; others on
foot: oxen, and other victims, are leading
to sacrifice : the nymphs called Cane-
phorse, Skiophorse, &c. are carrying the
sacred offerings in baskets and vases;
priests, magistrates, warriors, &c. &c
forming altogether a series of most inte-
resting figures, in great variety of cos-
tume, armour, and attitude. Some anti-
quaries, who have examined this frize
with minute attention, seem to think it
contained portraits of many of the lead-
ing characters at Athens, during the Pelo-
ponnèsian war, particularly of Pericles,
Phidias, Socrates, Alcibiades, &c. The
whole frize, which originally was six hun-
dred feet in length, is, like the temple
itself, of Pentelic marble, from the quar-
ries in the neighbourhood of Athens.