Architrave relief from the Temple of Athena at Assos with a scene of Herakles and Centaurs

Painted sculpture was the decoration par excellence for ancient Greek temples. This section of architectural relief sculpture comes from the Temple of Athena at Assos (modern Behramkale, Turkey), excavated in 1880 and 1881 under the auspices of the Boston-based Archaeological Institute of America. As was common practice at the time, the finds were divided up, so that parts of the temple's sculpted decoration now reside in museums in Paris, Istanbul, and at the site, as well as in Boston. The earliest Doric temple in the eastern Aegean, where the more ornate Ionic style was the native order, the Temple of Athena is unique in its idiosyncratic blend of elements from both western and eastern Greek architectural traditions. Of particular interest is the combination of an Ionic-style continuous frieze below the customary Doric band of alternating triglyphs and metopes, shown in the reconstruction drawing. Rather than a unified composition, as on most Ionic friezes, the architrave of the Temple of Athena features a series of individual motifs, perhaps a compromise between the decorative tradition of the Ionian coast of Asia Minor and an architectural scheme imported from the Greek mainland.In this section of the frieze, the Greek hero Herakles, advancing from the left with his bow raised, drives off a group of unruly centaurs (mythical creatures with both human and horse parts). Partly preserved behind Herakles is the head and torso of Pholos, a civilized centaur, who holds a wine cup; according to legend, Pholos had opened a prized jar of old wine for his thirsty comrade, and its delicious smell had emboldened the troublesome centaurs to attack.