The Riders are the most widely recognizable sculptures from the Parthenon's frieze, in large measure because they are perhaps the best preserved sculptures in the entire ensemble. They are also remarkable for their embodiment of the Classical ideal of both man and horse.

The action on the North Frieze, as in this example, shows the cavalcade in full motion. Subtle overlapping defines groups which we now know are rows of riders. The sculptors brought the row forward to fill one or two blocks within the frieze, in part because they did not yet know how to show six or eight riders receding directly into the distance, an innovation that would be discovered within the Hellenistic period.

Each rider is expressive in a unique and individual way. Here, for instance, one is seen gently holding the reins low in his left hand, while another extends his right arm, as if to caress his horse gently between the ears. Horses tug at the bit, shake their heads, flick their ears, arch or extend their necks in a variety of ways to convey their nervous energy within the procession. Remarkably, the sculptors and designers never repeated the same horse or rider within the entire frieze.

The original block was found at the eastern edge of the north side of the Parthenon, directly below the position it occupied on the temple. The scene is part of the Panathenaic procession showing animals being led to sacrifice in honor of Athena.

This scene, from Block 4 of the North Frieze, represents events related to the sacrifice for the Panathenaia. A procession of four bulls and four rams being brought to sacrifice appears in the four blocks closest to the east end of the frieze. The depiction is solemn as procession moves at a stately walk.

Sources tell us that ancient Athenian law required the offering of a ewe for Pandrosus, daughter of Kekrops, the first king of Athens, whenever Athena received a cow. This offering is incorporated into the overall subject of sacrifice within the North (and the South) frieze.

The chariot groups of the north and south friezes illustrate the celebratory events within the Great Panathenaic procession begun in 566 BCE. This chariot race, or apobates race involved four-horse chariots or quadrigas, and were directed by a driver or charioteer with the assistance of a foot soldier in full armor. The competition included a chariot race to a certain point where the foot soldier would jump off the moving vehicle and dash to the finish line. The horses and foot soldiers of the frieze demonstrate the importance of strength in the intensity of the moment depicted. Apobatai of the north frieze evoke heroism through rapid movement or the evident muscularity of both horses and men.

Fairfield's cast of the Charioteer of the north frieze wears a traditional long garment. He stands upright, with his forearms extended as he pulls on the reins. The horses stand still, acknowledging his command; they respond as if shaking their heads in recognition to start. Behind the charioteer a foot soldier would have grabbed onto the guardrail moments before pulling himself into the chariot. Here, the charioteer commands his quadriga as an elegant athlete in the midst of competition.

This depiction of Riders is the section that most people find familiar because it is one of the most dramatic and well known sculptures within the entire frieze. Here the horsemen are not as tightly massed as in some other areas, for they tend to overlap each other fairly consistently in certain sections. The different groups of riders express their own individual formations but one here is seen holding the reins low in the left hand, as another reaches out his right hand and lightly places his fingers on the horse's mane between the ears. This sculpture emphasizes the Classical ideal of both man and horse. The action on the North frieze begins solemnly and then accelerates into the dramatic representation depicted here where the horses are in full gallop.

This section is from the right side of the East Frieze and is part of the procession of maidens walking to the left toward the peplos ceremony. The full panel which is in the Louvre (Paris), contains four additional figures at left: two maidens between two marshals.

The object being carried by the third figure is a phiale (shallow offering bowl). The women are dressed either in a linen chiton covered by heavy and voluminous himation or in a woolen peplos with a mantle draped over their shoulders. Some have their long hair tied up in a scarf, while others wear it loose and streaming down their backs. Such distinctions indicate the rank and status of the young women depicted, and their prescribed roles in the ceremony. For example, kanephoroi (upper-class maidens), who were permitted the honorable task of carrying the ceremonial basket are identified by a chiton with himation, and bound hair.

The seven male figures and five women depicted in the Assembly of Gods are commonly known to be the twelve Olympians. The only goddess missing is Hestia who, according to Plato, stayed home while the rest of the Olympian gods went out. The artist replaced Hestia with Dionysus, who is sometimes given an honorary position as an Olympian. Originally, the figures would have been easily recognizable because they had attributes added in bronze or with paint, but these additions are no longer preserved. Today we rely on iconographical analysis and ancient texts to verify identification.

The Olympian gods are assembled near the center of the East frieze flanking the Peplos ceremony. The twelve gods are all seated to accommodate their great stature and to blend with the standing mortal figures in the frieze. Depicted on the frieze from left to right are Hermes, Dionysus, Demeter, Ares, Iris (or Nike or Hebe), Hera, Zeus (Peplos ceremony) Athena, Hephaistus, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Eros. The figures are carved in very low relief with great subtlety, and look as though they emerge out of the Pentelic marble from which they were carved. The relief sculpture of the frieze describes elements of the Panathenaic procession, and it is our only known representation of the event.

The original marble head, after which this cast was taken, was found built into a Byzantine wall to the southwest of the Acropolis. Iris, who has also been identified variously as Hebe or Nike, attended the enthroned Hera who sat beside her consort, Zeus, within an Assembly of the Gods flanking a ceremony usually described as the Peplos Ceremony (see Two Female Attendants in the Peplos Ceremony, 442-438 BCE, below). Block 5 from the east frieze is in the British Museum, with the exception of this head of Iris, which has always remained in Athens.

The peplos ceremony is located in the middle of the Parthenon's East Frieze. It is the only aspect of the architectural sculpture on the Parthenon which does not refer to mythology, but rather to a ceremony that took place every four years in Athens. A widely accepted interpretation of this scene proposes that the smaller two female figures at left, who carry stools with cushions on their heads, are arrephoroi who spent a year weaving a peplos or woolen dress while living on the Acropolis. This peplos was created as a gift offered to the goddess Athena during the greatest of all Athenian festivals, the Panathenaia, which celebrated her birth. This scene shows the moment after the goddess has accepted the gift of the peplos. Instead of portraying the climactic moment of the presentation, the happy result is being depicted, as this ritual is essential to the well-being of the Athenian people.