The Parthenon frieze, represented at UC Berkeley by a selection of nine plaster casts molded from the original marble slabs in Athens and now displayed in Dwinelle Hall, is the longest surviving monument of Greek sculpture. Its choice of theme and location on the building are unique. Although a consensus has emerged that it represents the Panathenaic procession, the reasons for its presence on the Parthenon remain obscure. Why was it included in the sculptural program? What message(s) was it intended to send, and to whom? What, if anything, can it teach us today? This lecture explores some of these questions in the context of the political, social, and religious concerns of the Periklean period, and the frieze's unique status in the history of Western art.

A presentation on the Parthenon Frieze held in conjunction with the plaster casts transferred from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco to UC Berkeley and now on permanent view on the Berkeley campus.

Lecture is cosponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America-San Francisco, the Classics Department at UC Berkeley, and the Ancient Art Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.