Parthenon
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The Parthenon seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. |
The
Parthenon (
Greek:
Παρθενών, Ancient and
Katharevousa Greek , Demotic
Παρθενώνας) was a temple of
Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the
Acropolis of
Athens. It is the best-known remaining building of Ancient Greece, and has been praised as the finest achievement of Greek architecture. Its decorative sculpture is considered one of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece and of
Athenian democracy, and it is regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.
The name of the Parthenon likely derives from the monumental cult statue of
Athena Parthenos housed in the eastern room of the building.
[ Hurwit, pp. 162-163.] This statue was sculpted in ivory and gold by
Phidias; Athena's epithet
parthenos (παρθένος, "virgin") refers to the goddess's unmarried and virginal status.
The Parthenon replaced an older temple of Athena that had been destroyed by the
Persians in 480 BC. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a
treasury, and for a time served as the treasury of the
Delian League, which later became the
Athenian Empire.
In the 6th century AD the Parthenon was converted into a Christian
church dedicated to the
Virgin; after the
Turkish conquest, it was converted into a
mosque. In 1687 AD, a Turkish ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by a Venetian cannonball; the resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures. In the 19th century AD,
Lord Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures and took them to England. These sculptures, now known as the
Elgin Marbles, are on display in the
British Museum. An ongoing dispute concerns whether the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece.
The Parthenon, along with the other buildings on the Acropolis, is now one of the most visited archaeological sites in Greece. The
Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of restoration and reconstruction.
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The Parthenon from the south. |
The Parthenon was built at the initiative of
Pericles, the leading Athenian politician of the 5th century BC. It was built under the general supervision of the sculptor
Phidias, who also had charge of the sculptural decoration. The
architects were
Iktinos and
Kallikrates. Construction began in 447 BC, and the building was substantially completed by 438 BC, but work on the decorations continued until at least 433 BC. Some of the financial accounts for the Parthenon survive and show that the largest single expense was transporting the stone from
Mount Pentelicus, about 16 kilometres from Athens, to the Acropolis. The funds were partly drawn from the treasury of the
Delian League, which was moved from the Panhellenic sanctuary at
Delos to the Acropolis in 454 BC.
Although the nearby
Temple of Hephaestus is the most complete surviving example of a
Doric order temple, the Parthenon, in its day, was regarded as the finest. The temple, wrote
John Julius Norwich, "Enjoys the reputation of being the most perfect
Doric temple ever built. Even in antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the curvature of the
stylobate, the taper of the
naos walls and the
entasis of the columns." The stylobate is the platform on which the columns stand. It curves upwards slightly for optical reasons.
Entasis refers to the slight swelling of the columns as they rise, to counter the optical effect of looking up at the temple. The effect of these subtle curves is to make the temple appear more symmetrical than it actually is.
Measured at the top step, the dimensions of the base of the Parthenon are 69.5 meters by 30.9 meters (228.0 x 101.4 ft). The
cella was 29.8 meters long by 19.2 meters wide (97.8 x 63.0 ft), with internal Doric colonnades in two tiers, structurally necessary to support the roof. On the exterior, the Doric columns measure 1.9 meters (6.2 ft) in diameter and are 10.4 meters (34.1 ft) high. The corner columns are slightly larger in diameter. The stylobate has an upward curvature towards its center of 60 millimeters (2.36 in) on the east and west ends, and of 110 millimeters (4.33 in) on the sides. Some of the dimensions form the
golden rectangle expressing the
golden ratio, praised by
Pythagoras in the previous century.
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Detail of the West metopes, illustrating the current condition of the temple in detail after 2,500 years of wars, pollution, erratic conservation, pillage and vandalism. |
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Detail of the West metopes. One of the high-relief sculptures removed by Lord Elgin's expedition and now in the British Museum. |
The Parthenon, an
octostyle,
peripteral Doric temple with
Ionic architectural features, housed the chryselephantine colossal statue of
Athena Parthenos of the sculptor
Pheidias dedicated in 439/438 BC. The temple itself was dedicated to the city-goddess at that time although construction works continued until almost the beginning of the
Peloponnesian War in 432 BC. By the year 438 BC, the sculptural decoration of the Doric metopes on the exterior colonnade and of the Ionic frieze on the upper exterior walls of the cella had been completed.
The ninety-two
Doric metopes were carved in high relief, a practice employed until then only in treasuries (buildings used to keep votive gifts to the gods). The metopes, according to the building records, date to the years 446-440 BC. Their design is attributed to the sculptor Kalamis. The metopes of the east side of the Parthenon, above the main entrance, depict the
Gigantomachy (the fight of the Olympian gods against the Giants). On the west side, the metopes show the
Amazonomachy (the mythical battle of the Athenians against the
Amazons). The metopes of the south side—with the exception of the somewhat problematic metopes 13-20, now lost—show the Thessalian
Centauromachy (the battle of the Lapiths aided by
Theseus against the half-man, half-horse Centaurs). On the north side of the Parthenon, the metopes are poorly preserved, but the subject seems to be the
sack of Troy.
Stylistically, the metopes present surviving traces of the Severe Style in the anatomy of the figures' heads, in the limitation of the corporal movements to the contours and not to the muscles and in the presence of pronounced veins in the figures of the Centauromachy. Several of the metopes still remain on the building but with the exception of the ones in the northern side, they are severely damaged. Some of them are located at the Acropolis Museum, others are in the
British Museum and one can be seen at the
Louvre Museum.
The most characteristic feature in the architecture and in the decoration of the temple is the existence of an Ionic frieze running on the exterior walls of the cella. Carved in bas-relief, it depicts an idealized version of the
Panathenaic procession from the Dipylon Gate in the
Kerameikos to the Acropolis. In this procession held every 4 years, Athenians and foreigners were participating to honour the goddess
Athena offering sacrifices and a new peplos (dress woven by selected noble Athenian girls called
ergastines). The entire frieze was carved in situ and it is dated in 442-438 BC.
Pausanias, the 2nd century traveller, when he visited the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, described only the pediments of the temple. The East pediment narrates the birth of
Athena from the head of her father,
Zeus, whereas the West pediment presents the dispute of
Athena and
Poseidon over the city of
Athens. The work on the pediments lasted from 438-432 BC.
The richness of the decoration in the temple of Parthenon is unique for a classical Greek temple. It is, however, in agreement with the function of the temple as a Treasury. In the
opisthodomus (the back room of the cella) were stored the monetary contributions of the Delian Alliance of which
Athens was the leading member.
Architecturally, the Parthenon is clearly a temple, formerly containing the famous
cult image of Athena by
Phidias and the treasury of votive offerings. Since actual Greek sacrifices always took place at an
altar invariably under an open sky, as was in keeping with their religious practices, the Parthenon does not suit some definitions of "temple," as no evidence of an altar has been discovered. Thus, some scholars have argued that the Parthenon was only ever
used as a treasury. While this opinion was first formed late in the 19th century, it has gained strength in recent years. The majority of scholarly opinion still sees the building in the terms
Walter Burkert described for the Greek
sanctuary, consisting of
temenos,
altar and temple with cult image.
[Burkert 1985, pp. 84–92; see Holtzmann 2003 for a complete review of the debate.]The Parthenon survived as a temple to Athena for close to a thousand years. It was certainly still intact in the 4th century AD, by which time it was already as old as
Notre Dame Cathedral in
Paris is now, and far older than
St. Peter's Basilica in
Rome. But by that time Athens had been reduced to a provincial city of the
Roman Empire, albeit one with a glorious past. Sometime in the 5th century AD, the great
cult image of Athena was looted by one of the Emperors, and taken to
Constantinople, where it was later destroyed, possibly during the sack of the city during the
Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD.
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The Parthenon's position on the Acropolis allows it to dominate the city skyline of Athens |
Shortly after this, the Parthenon was converted to a
Christian church. In
Byzantine times it became the Church of the Parthena Maria (Virgin Mary), or the Church of the
Theotokos (
Mother of God). At the time of the
Latin Empire it became briefly a Roman
Catholic Church of
Our Lady. The conversion of the temple to a church involved removing the internal columns and some of the walls of the cella, and the creation of an
apse at the eastern end. This inevitably led to the removal and dispersal of some of the sculptures. Those depicting gods were either re-interpreted according to a Christian theme, or removed and destroyed.
In 1456, Athens fell to the
Ottomans, and the Parthenon was converted again, into a
mosque. Contrary to subsequent mythology, the Ottomans were generally respectful of ancient monuments in their territories, and did not willfully destroy the antiquities of Athens, though they had no actual programme to protect them. However in times of war they were willing to demolish them to provide materials for walls and fortifications. A
minaret was added to the Parthenon and its base and stairway are still functional, leading up as high as the architrave and hence invisible from the outside; but otherwise the building was not damaged further. European visitors in the 17th century, as well as some representations of the Acropolis hill testified that the building was largely intact.
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The southern side of the Parthenon, which sustained considerable damage in the 1687 explosion |
In 1687, the Parthenon suffered its greatest blow when the
Venetians under
Francesco Morosini attacked Athens, and the Ottomans fortified the Acropolis and used the building as a gunpowder magazine. On
September 26, a Venetian cannonball, fired from the Hill of Philopapus, exploded the magazine and the building was partly destroyed. The internal structures were demolished, whatever was left of the roof collapsed, and some of the pillars, particularly on the southern side, were decapitated. The sculptures suffered heavily. Many fell to the ground and souvenirs were later made from their pieces. After this, much of the building fell into disuse and a smaller mosque was erected.
By the late eighteenth century, many more Europeans were visiting Athens, and the picturesque ruins of the Parthenon were much drawn and painted, helping to arouse sympathy in
Britain and
France for Greek independence. In 1801, the British Ambassador at
Constantinople, the
Earl of Elgin, obtained a
firman (permit) from the
Sultan to make casts and drawings of the antiquities on the Acropolis, to demolish recent buildings if this was necessary to view the antiquities, and to remove sculptures from them. He took this as permission to collect all the sculptures he could find. He employed local people to detach them from the building itself, a few others he collected from the ground, and some smaller pieces he bought from local people.
Today these sculptures are in the
British Museum, where they are known as the
Elgin Marbles or
Parthenon Marbles. Other sculptures from the Parthenon are in the
Louvre in
Paris and in
Copenhagen. Most of the remainder are in Athens, in the
Acropolis Museum which stands below ground level, a few metres to the south-east of the Parthenon. A few can still be seen on the building itself. The Greek government has been campaigning for many years for the British Museum sculptures to be returned to Greece. The British Museum has steadfastly refused to consider this, and successive British governments have been unwilling to force the Museum to do so (which would require legislation).
When independent Greece gained control of Athens in 1832, the visible section of the minaret was removed from the Parthenon and all the medieval and Ottoman buildings on the Acropolis removed. The area became a historical precinct controlled by the Greek government. Today it attracts millions of tourists every year, who travel up the path at the western end of the Acropolis, through the restored
Propylaea, and up the Panathenaic Way to the Parthenon, which is surrounded by a low fence to prevent damage.
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Crowds of tourists surround the Parthenon nearly every day. |
In 1975, the Greek government began a concerted effort to restore the Parthenon and other Acropolis structures. The project later attracted funding and technical assistance from the
European Union. An archaeological committee thoroughly documented every artifact remaining on the site, and architects assisted with computer models to determine their original locations. In some cases, prior re-construction was found to be incorrect. Particularly important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the Acropolis Museum. A crane was installed for moving marble blocks; the crane was designed to fold away beneath the roofline when not in use. The incorrect reconstructions were dismantled, and a careful process of restoration began. The Parthenon will not be restored to a pre-1687 state, but the explosion damage will be mitigated as much as possible, and new marble is being used from the original quarry to fill gaps and effect structurally necessary repairs. Ultimately, almost all major pieces of marble will be placed in the structure where they originally would have been, supported as needed by modern materials.
Since the 1960s, the greatest threats to the Parthenon have been environmental. Athens has grown enormously since
World War II and has major problems with
traffic congestion and
air pollution. Corrosion of its marble by
acid rain polluted by car exhausts has already caused irreparable damage to some sculptures and threatens the remaining sculptures and the temple itself. Over the past 20 years, the Greek government and the city of Athens have made some progress on these issues, but the future of the Parthenon is still a matter of some concern.
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Acropolis and Parthenon at night |
*
Parthenon (Nashville) - a full scale and
polychromed replica of the original as seen by the ancients
*
Golden Ratio*
Elgin Marbles
*
Beard, Mary. The Parthenon. Harvard University: 2003. ISBN 067401085X.
*
Burkert, Walter.
Greek Religion. Harvard University: 1985 ISBN 0-674-36281-0 (paperback)
*Cosmopoulos, Michael (editor).
The Parthenon and its Sculptures. Cambridge University: 2004. ISBN 0521836735.
*Holtzmann, Bernard,
L'Acropole d'Athènes : Monuments, cultes et histoire du sanctuaire d'Athèna Polias, Paris, 2003. ISBN 2708406876.
*Hurwit, Jefferey M.,
The Acropolis of Athens: History, Mythology, and Archeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present. Cambridge University: 1999.
*Papachatzis, Nikolaos D.
Pausaniou Ellados Periegesis- Attika Athens, 1974.
*Tournikio, Panayotis.
Parthenon. Abrams: 1996. ISBN 0810963140.
*Traulos, Ioannis N.
I Poleodomike ekselikses ton Athinon Athens, 1960 ISBN 960-7254-01-5
*Woodford, Susan.
The Parthenon. Cambridge University: 1981. ISBN 0521226295.
* King, Dorothy "The Elgin Marbles" Hutchinson / Random House, January 2006. ISBN 0091800137
*
Hellenic Ministry of Culture — The Acropolis of Athens: The Parthenon (official site with a schedule of its opening hours, tickets and contact information)
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The Acropolis Restoration Project (Greek Government website)
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Acropolis of Athens - AcropolisofAthens.gr - one monument, one heritage*
The Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles*
Parthenon 2004 - The Campaign to Return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens*
Marbles Reunited*
UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Acropolis, Athens*
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County — The Parthenon*
The Parthenon Marbles*
Google satellite image of the Acropolis*
Google Sketchup 3D Model of Parthenon (simplistic)
