In the first panel, note that Petheo does not employ the same icon for "gods" as in the example of Hammurabi's Great Society. Where the Mesopotamian icon for "gods" holds a lightning bolt aggressively aimed at humanity, the gods in this icon recline in a relaxed, leisurely and indifferent pose toward the human world below. Similarly, the icons of political authority have changed. Rather than a king, Greek society is ruled by magistrates, three pictured here, depicting rule by council rather than an absolute authority indicated by an imperial icon. The nobility ride on horseback, suggesting an active military presence in the society. Note that the nobility stand at about the same size as the magistrates, if located slightly below them.

In the second panel, the hexagonal shape indicates the polis: a self-sufficient, relatively politically independent, smaller-scale social unit. It encompasses village society and includes an icon for hoplites. The figure for the nobility has dismounted, suggesting less of a military role, some of which being ceded to the hoplites. These figures stand below the magistrates. Olives and grapes reflect the importance of these products to the economy. Slaves and foreigners stand outside the polis and at the bottom of the panel, reflecting their marginal status within the tight-knit community of the polis. The symbols for Delphi and Olympia, while outside the hexagon, nevertheless stand above the polis, and in close proximity to the gods, a reflection of the importance of these pan-Hellenic religious sites.

In the final panel, the activities within the polis have expanded. The magistrates retain their size from the first panel, but they no longer seem to dominate the polis; hoplites and rowers crowd the scene, reflecting their increased importance in the democratic and imperialistic polis. The symbols for Delphi and Olympia are slightly faded, and pushed to the outer boundaries of the panel, a representation of their diminished place, a suggestion of the diminished role of pan-Hellenic feeling in a society heading toward Peloponnesian war. Slaves and foreigners remain outside the polis, as do subject cities, represented by the familiar hexagonal shape. This last panel also includes the illusion of three-dimensional geographic depth, used here to show far-away colonies, and the system of trade that they engender.