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In the frieze sculpture, where the centaurs are shown running, it becomes even clearer how poorly such a creature would function as the running human bodies simply seem to have strange appendages that function separately from them. In the figure on the far right, for example, the upper thigh and buttock are so well defined that there seems to be almost no connection with the horse part of the body. The height of the relief varies considerably -- being highest at either end of the block. The body and right leg of the centaur at the right are in relief comparable to that of Herakles himself whose right arm and leg stand out at the other end of the sculpture. It is difficult to say how much the differences in relief are due to the state of preservation. But the centaur located at the center of the composition appears to be in noticeably lower relief than all the other figures. Since he is closest to Herakles the lower relief tends to create an impression of greater distance between them. Such an impression may not have been conveyed by the sculpture in its original painted state. This section of the frieze is probably a self-contained compositional unit. Tansey and Kleiner note that Archaic Ionic friezes did feature conti |
