Fighting Centaurs symbolizes Athens’ battles against chaos.

Evidence

The struggle against the Centaurs that we see on the metopes becomes an emblem of the perpetual battle that, for the Athenians, every civilized state has to fight. — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 461

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 461
• XREF: connects to: The metopes depict battles, including Lapiths versus Centaurs. — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 458; The Centaurs are depicted attacking the Lapiths in sculpture. — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 458