Recent examination of the preserved sculpture from the Gigantomachy pe
diment of the Old Athena Temple on the Athenian Acropolis has shown th
at a frontal chariot team occupied the center. Two fragmentary horses
belong to the team and, judging from what remains, they are a pole hor
se and a trace horse, thus proving that the team was a quadriga, not a
biga. Stahler suggested that Zeus stood in the chariot, but did not s
peculate upon the presence of a passenger. On the basis of the iconogr
aphy established for this myth, with Zeus, Athena, and Herakles always
fighting in close proximity, I suggest that Herakles was a passenger
in the chariot. This interpretation would explain the hole in the righ
t breast of the wounded giant further to the right as evidence of an a
rrow shot by the hero.