Greece in the UK

The Elgin Marbles, more properly known as the Parthenon Marbles, were the original decorations on the Parthenon in Athens. The British Museum has about half of the original frieze from the outside of the temple, as well as sculptures part of the original pediment (thank you Wikipedia).

They are incredible, which I’m not sure I’ve captured in these photos, but here goes.

First, some soldiers on horses from the frieze:

Another part of the frieze shows a cow being dragged to the slaughter. The poet John Keats apparently used to spend a lot of time at the British Museum examining this particular marble, and it’s believed that in his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” he was inspired by this frieze when he wrote the lines, “To what green altar, O mysterious priest,/ Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,/ And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?”

So here’s the heifer:

Here are Athena and her brother:

Here are the sculptures that were tucked into the pediment:

And finally a stunning, if headless, sculpture:

Coming up: Look kids, Big Ben!