Sculpture of Athena and Poseidon
- Audio guide stop: 253
- Gallery: Room 18
- Audio guide: one commentary for a group of objects shown together
- Museum: The British Museum
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About these objects
In front of you are two remarkable marble statues from the West pediment of the Parthenon in Athens. Created in the years 438 to 432 BC, these fragments once formed part of a dramatic sculptural scene. They show two of the most powerful figures in Greek mythology—Athena and Poseidon—locked in a famous contest for control of Attica.
The first piece, a female torso, represents Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare. It still shows details of her draped peplos and aegis, suggesting she stood in a pose of strength and grace. The second piece is a male torso, part of a statue likely representing Poseidon, god of the sea. His figure, also broken, would have once shown his mighty stance.
Both statues were designed by the great sculptor Pheidias and carved from Athenian marble. Though much of the original detail is lost, the skill of the artists is evident. These fragments tell a story of divine rivalry that once crowned the grand temple of the Parthenon—one of the most celebrated monuments of the classical world.
See it in person
Sculpture of Athena and Poseidon is on display in Room 18 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 253, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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