Metopes from Olympia
The drawings below show the series of metopes which once adorned the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, built around 470-456 B.C. Pausanias (5.10.9) describes these metopes, six of which were placed over the east porch and six over the west porch, wrapped around the inside of the building.
The drawing above shows the six metopes at the east end of the building (in order from left to right): the Erymanthian Boar, the Mares of Diomedes, Geryon, Atlas with the Apples of the Hesperides, Cerberus (omitted, for some reason, in Pausanias' account), and the Augean Stables. It has been suggested that the placement of the Augean Stables at the end of the normal order of labors may have been due to its local importance, since the stables were in Elis, where Olympia is also located.
This drawing shows the metopes at the west end of the building (in order from right to left): the Amazon, the Cerynaean Stag, the Cretan Bull, the Stymphalian Birds, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Nemean Lion.
