Horse of Selene

This is a figure O from the east pediment of the Parthenon. The sculpture depicting a horse's head was created for one the corners of the Parthenon pediments. It is shown at the end of its labour pulling the moon goddess's chariot across the night sky. Rodin would have appreciated Pheidias' dering omission of the horse's body. We are invited to imagine the rest of the chariot group, hidden as if submerged below the morning horizon. The sculptor has directed all expression into the face of the beast. The jaw gapes, the nostrils flare, the ears prick back, the veins and eyes bulge, all communicating the horse's stress. It is not just an image of an exhausted horse but the very definition of one.