On the left of the next slab are four men of the same character as No. 18. They all wear himation and boots. They converse in pairs and stand in easy attitudes, leaning on their staffs. There is a corresponding group of four male figures (Nos. 42-45) on slab vi., and Michaelis supposes that the group of five figures (Nos. 18-22) and the opposite group (Nos. 42-45) of four figures represent the nine Archons. That they are functionaries of high rank can hardly be doubted, when we consider their privileged place between the head of the procession on each side and the seated divinities, but they might well be Athlothetae, who controlled all the arrangements (Aristotle, [Greek: Ath. pol.] ed. Kenyon, 60). [Sidenote: 23-40.] The central portion of the eastern frieze now to be described has been the subject of much controversy. Nearly all the authorities who have written on this question agree in recognising the two groups of seated figures as deities. This is indicated not only by the dignity of their appearance but also by their scale. While the figures of the mortals are about 3 ft. 2 in. high, those of the deities are about 4 ft. 4 in. high. Though by the principle known as Isokephalism the heads in a relief are usually nearly on a level, this marked difference of scale can hardly fail to indicate divine rank; compare the frieze of the Theseion (No. 404). There is, however, a wide divergence of opinion as to the particular divinities here represented. From the destruction of most of the faces and the absence of attributes or other indications by which the figures can be severally identified, it is very difficult to judge between the rival schemes of interpretation which have been proposed. In Michaelis' _Parthenon_, pp. 262, 263, a tabular view is given of these schemes (cf. _Guide to the Elgin Room_, I., Table C). The attributions proposed by Michaelis himself are for the most part adopted here, with certain changes suggested by Flasch in his memoir: _Zum Parthenonfries_ (Würzburg, 1877).