Describe the architectural decoration of the Parthenon.

The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to Athena and is built in both Doric and Ionic architectural styles. Built by Phidias under Pericles, the building was funded by the left over money from the Delian League and stands on the Acropolis in Athens. The pediments of the Parthenon show the birth of Athena on the East side and the West depicts the battle for patronage of the city between Poseidon and Athena. Beneath these and surrounding the top of the whole structure in a band are the metopes, with triglyphs in between each one. The South metopes depict the Centauromachy, the West the Amazonomachy, the East the Gigantomachy and finally, the North the battle between the Greeks and the Persians. The imagery on these Metopes depicts either the triumph of civilisation over the Barbarian, most obvious in the grotesque and violent depictions of all of the 'barbarians' versus the serene youth and calm of the Greeks.On the upper side of the space between the inner and outer colonnades is the Ionic frieze of the Parthenon that depicts some kind of procession, which is not entirely clear. It could be the first Panathenaic procession, since the temple is dedicated to Athena, or it could just be a generic depiction of this. One other possibility is the depiction of the myth of Erechtheus, the autochthonous Athenian figure. The inclusion of so many gods on this temple shows how Athens is under the protection of not only Athena, but the Pantheon of gods too.