THE CENTRAL GROUP IN THE GIGANTOMACHY OF THE OLD ATHENA TEMPLE ON THEACROPOLIS

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.