Static and time-resolved optical measurements are reported for two cyclic hexameric porphyrin arrays and their self-assembled complexes with guest chromophores. The hexameric hosts contain zinc porphyrins and 0 or 3 free base (Fb) porphyrins (denoted Zn-6 or Zn(3)Fb(3), respectively). The guests are a tripyridyl arene (TP) and a dipyridyl-substituted free base porphyrin (DPFb), each of which coordinates to zinc porphyrins of a host via pyridyl-zinc dative bonding. Each architecture is designed to have an overall gradient of excitedstate energies that affords excitation funneling within the host and ultimately to the guest. Collectively, the studies delineate the various pathways, mechanisms, and rate constants of energy flow among the weakly coupled constituents of the host-guest complexes. The pathways include downhill unidirectional energy transfer between adjacent chromophores, bidirectional energy migration between identical chromophores, and energy transfer between nonadjacent chromophores. The energy transfer to the lowest-energy chromophore(s) within the backbone of a hexameric host (Fb porphyrins in Zn(3)Fb(3) or pyridyl-coordinated zinc porphyrins in Zn-6 center dot TP and Zn-6 center dot DPFb) proceeds primarily via a through-bond mechanism; the transfer is rapid (similar to 40 ps depending on the array) and essentially quantitative (>= 98%). The energy transfer from a pyridyl-coordinated zinc porphyrin of the host to the Fb porphyrin guest in the Zn-6 center dot DPFb complex is almost exclusively Forster through-space in nature; this process is much slower (similar to 1 ns) and has a lower yield (65%). These studies highlight the utility of cyclic architectures for efficient light harvesting and energy transfer to a designated trapping site.