Two female figures, seated on square seats. They both wear a sleeveless chiton, girt at the waist, and a diploïdion. Over it is a mantle thrown over their lower limbs in a rich composition of folds. On the right wrist of the figure nearest the angle (E) is a dowel hole, probably for the attachment of a bracelet. Her companion (F), who wore metal fibulæ on each shoulder, extends her left arm towards the figure, which is advancing towards her. Her head has been broken off at the base of the neck, but it has probably been turned towards her companion, who rests her left arm affectionately on her shoulder, and who probably looked towards her, perhaps as if listening to the news brought by Iris. The seats, on which are laid folded carpets, are carved out of the marble with great care and delicacy of finish, the regular geometrical lines being valuable in opposition to the varied undulations of the drapery. In the sides and backs of both seats are oblong sunk panels, in one of which several archaeologists have tried unsuccessfully to read the name of an artist (see Michaelis, p. 174; Brunn, _Griech. Künstler_, i., p. 104). Most of the writers on the Parthenon, from Visconti downwards, have named this group Demeter and Persephonè, two deities, whose cult in Attica ranked second only to that of Athenè herself. This attribution would be strengthened if the reclining male figure could be identified with Dionysos, a deity whose worship in Attica was closely connected with that of the Eleusinian goddesses. The composition of the group has suggested to other archaeologists a sisterly rather than a filial relation between the figures. Bröndsted (_Voyages et Recherches_, ii., p. xi.) suggested that these two figures, with G, were the three Horae or Seasons, worshipped in Attica under the names Thallo, Auxo and Karpo. Brunn (followed by Waldstein) supposes that the two figures are Horae, but that they must be viewed as the warders of the gates of Olympos (Hom. _Il._, v., 749) rather than as Attic deities. On this theory the position of figure G, if it represents Iris, would indicate that she is on the point of reaching the boundary of Olympos and passing to the outer world. _Mus. Marbles_, VI., pl. 5; Michaelis, pl. 6, fig. 11; Murray, II., pl. 4; _Stereoscopic_, No. 106; Rayet, _Monuments_, No. 32; Waldstein, _Essays_, pl. 7; Mitchell, _Selections_, pl. 6; Brunn, _Ber. der k. bayer. Akad., Phil. hist. Cl._, 1874, II., p. 15. [Sidenote: =303 G.=]