Parthenon , Greece

The Parthenon

The Parthenon (Ancient Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began inwards 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the summit of its power. It was completed inwards 438 BC, although decorations of the Parthenon continued until 432 BC. It is the most of import surviving edifice of Classical Greece, mostly considered the culmination of the evolution of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded equally an enduring symbol of Ancient Hellenic Republic as well as of Athenian commonwealth as well as 1 of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a programme of selective restoration as well as reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.

 Floor excogitation of the Parthenon

The Parthenon itself replaced an older temple of Athena, which historians telephone phone the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed inwards the Western Farsi invasion of 480 BC. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used equally a treasury. For a time, it served equally the treasury of the Delian League, which afterward became the Athenian Empire. In the fifth century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church building dedicated to the Virgin Mary. After the Ottoman Turk conquest, it was turned into a mosque inwards the early on 1460s, as well as it had a minaret built inwards it. On 26 September 1687, an Ottoman Turk ammunition dump within the edifice was ignited yesteryear Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon as well as its sculptures. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures, alongside the Ottoman Turks' permission. These sculptures, at nowadays known equally the Elgin Marbles or the Parthenon Marbles, were sold inwards 1816 to the British Museum inwards London, where they are at nowadays displayed. The Greek authorities is committed to the render of the sculptures to Greece, so far alongside no success.

 Detail of the West metopes, illustrating the electrical current status of the temple inwards item after 2,500 years of war, pollution, erratic conservation, pillage as well as vandalism

Sculpture

The Parthenon, an octostyle, peripteral Doric temple alongside Ionic architectural features, housed the chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos sculpted yesteryear Phidias as well as dedicated inwards 439 or 438 BC. The decorative stonework was originally highly coloured.[23] The temple was dedicated to Athena at that time, though construction continued until virtually the showtime of the Peloponnesian War inwards 432. By the twelvemonth 438, the sculptural ornamentation of the Doric metopes on the frieze higher upwardly the outside colonnade, as well as of the Ionic frieze or so the upper share of the walls of the cella, had been completed. The richness of the Parthenon's frieze as well as metope ornamentation is inwards understanding alongside the business office of the temple equally a treasury. In the opisthodomus (the dorsum room of the cella) were stored the monetary contributions of the Delian League, of which Athens was the leading member.

 Part of the due east pediment withal establish on the Parthenon

Metopes

The ninety-two metopes were carved inwards high relief, a practise employed until so solely inwards treasuries (buildings used to maintain votive gifts to the gods). According to the edifice records, the metope sculptures appointment to the years 446–440 BC. Their pattern is attributed to the sculptor Kalamis. The metopes of the due east side of the Parthenon, higher upwardly the chief entrance, draw the Gigantomachy (mythical battles betwixt the Olympian gods as well as the Giants). The metopes of the due west halt demo Amazonomachy (mythical battle of the Athenians against the Amazons). The metopes of the due south side demo the Thessalian Centauromachy (battle of the Lapiths aided yesteryear Theseus against the half-man, half-horse Centaurs). Metopes 13–21 are missing, simply drawings from 1674 attributed to Jaques Carrey dot a serial of humans; these accept been interpreted equally scenes from the Lapith wedding, scenes from the early on history of Athens as well as diverse myths. On the due north side of the Parthenon, the metopes are poorly preserved, simply the discipline seems to live the sack of Troy.

 Image of Parthenon at night

The metopes introduce surviving traces of the Severe Style inwards the anatomy of the figures' heads, inwards the limitation of the corporal movements to the contours as well as non to the muscles, as well as inwards the presence of pronounced veins inwards the figures of the Centauromachy. Several of the metopes withal rest on the building, but, alongside the exception of those on the northern side, they are severely damaged. Some of them are located at the Acropolis Museum, others are inwards the British Museum, as well as 1 tin live seen at the Louvre museum.

 The Parthenon's seat on the Acropolis allows it to dominate the urban total skyline of Athens.

In March 2014, archaeologists announced that they had discovered 5 metopes of the Parthenon inwards the due south wall of the Acropolis, which had been extended when the Acropolis was used equally a fortress. According to Eleftherotypia daily, the archaeologists claimed the metopes had been placed at that spot inwards the 18th century, when the Acropolis wall was beingness repaired. The experts discovered the metopes, field processing 2250 photos alongside modern photographic methods, equally the white Pentelic marble they are made of differed from the other rock of the wall. It was previously presumed that the missing metopes were destroyed during the Morosini explosion of the Parthenon, inwards 1687.

 The southern side of the Parthenon, which sustained considerable harm inwards the 1687 explosion

Frieze

The most characteristic characteristic inwards the architecture as well as ornamentation of the temple is the Ionic frieze running or so the outside walls of the cella. The bas-relief frieze was carved inwards situ; it is dated inwards 442 BC-438 BC.

 Fragment of an exploded musical rhythm out establish on laissez passer on of a wall inwards the Parthenon, thought to originate from the fourth dimension of the Venetian siege

One interpretation is that it depicts an idealized version of the Panathenaic procession from the Dipylon Gate inwards the Kerameikos to the Acropolis. In this procession held every year, alongside a particular procession taking house every iv years, Athenians as well as foreigners were participating to abide by the goddess Athena, offering sacrifices as well as a novel peplos (dress woven yesteryear selected noble Athenian girls called ergastines).

Joan Breton Connelly has lately argued for some other interpretation of the frieze, inwards which she attempts to show that the iconography of the frieze is based on Greek mythology. This interpretation postulates that the scenes draw the sacrifice of Pandora, youngest immature adult woman of Erechtheus, to Athena. This human sacrifice was demanded yesteryear Athena to salve the urban total from Eumolpus, manlike someone monarch of Eleusis, who had gathered an regular army to prepare on Athens.

Restoration works, 2002

Pediments

The 2nd-century traveller Pausanias, when he visited the Acropolis at the halt of the 2nd century AD, solely mentioned briefly the sculptures of the pediments (gable ends) of the temple, reserving the bulk of his description for the aureate as well as ivory statue of the goddess inside.

Partial reconstruction (work inwards progress) of the Parthenon, Athens, to ensure structural stability, 2007

East pediment

Part of the due east pediment withal establish on the ParthenonThe due east pediment narrates the nascence of Athena from the caput of her father, Zeus. According to Greek mythology, Zeus gave nascence to Athena after a terrible headache prompted him to summon Hephaestus' (the god of burn downwards as well as the forge) assistance. To alleviate the pain, he ordered Hephaestus to strike him alongside his forging hammer, as well as when he did, Zeus's caput separate opened upwardly as well as out popped the goddess Athena inwards total armour. The sculptural organization depicts the 2nd of Athena's birth.

A reconstructed architrave block of the Parthenon.

Unfortunately, the centrepieces of the pediment were destroyed fifty-fifty before Jacques Carrey created otherwise useful documentary drawings inwards 1674, so all reconstructions are discipline to conjecture as well as speculation. The chief Olympian gods must accept stood or so Zeus as well as Athena watching the wondrous event, alongside Hephaestus as well as Hera likely nigh them. The Carrey drawings are instrumental inwards reconstructing the sculptural organization beyond the pump figures to the due north as well as south.

Wide-scale restoration inwards 2010.

West pediment

The due west pediment faced the Propylaia as well as depicted the challenger betwixt Athena as well as Poseidon during their challenger for the abide by of becoming the city's patron. Athena as well as Poseidon look at the pump of the composition, diverging from 1 some other inwards rigid diagonal forms, alongside the goddess belongings the olive tree as well as the god of the bounding main raising his trident to strike the earth. At their flanks, they are framed yesteryear ii active groups of horses pulling chariots, field a crowd of legendary personalities from Athenian mythology fills the infinite out to the shrewd corners of the pediment.

The Parthenon inwards Nashville, Tennessee, USA is a full-scale replica of the master copy Greek Parthenon

The occur the pediments lasted from 438 to 432 BC, as well as the sculptures of the Parthenon pediments are some of the finest examples of classical Greek art. The figures are sculpted inwards natural displace alongside bodies total of vital unloose energy that bursts through their flesh, equally the flesh inwards plough bursts through their sparse . The sparse chitons disclose the trunk underneath equally the focus of the composition. The distinction betwixt gods as well as humans is blurred inwards the conceptual interplay betwixt the idealism as well as naturalism bestowed on the rock yesteryear the sculptors. The pediments no longer exist.

Athena Parthenos

The solely slice of sculpture from the Parthenon known to live from the mitt of Phidias was the statue of Athena housed inwards the naos. This massive chryselephantine sculpture is at nowadays lost as well as known solely from copies, vase painting, gems, literary descriptions as well as coins.

Older Parthenon

The firstly endeavour to do a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the introduce Parthenon was begun before long after the Battle of Marathon (c. 490–88 BC). This edifice replaced a hekatompedon (meaning "hundred-footer") as well as would accept stood beside the archaic temple dedicated to Athena Polias. The “older Parthenon”, equally it is often referred to, was withal nether construction when the Persians sacked the urban total inwards 480 BC as well as razed the Acropolis. The existence of the proto-Parthenon as well as its devastation were known from Herodotus, as well as the drums of its columns were apparently visible built into the drape wall due north of the Erechtheum. Further cloth evidence of this construction was revealed alongside the excavations of Patagiotis Kavvadias of 1885–90. The findings of this dig allowed Wilhelm Dörpfeld, so managing director of the High German Archaeological Institute, to assert that at that spot existed a distinct substructure to the master copy Parthenon, called Parthenon I yesteryear Dörpfeld, non right away below the introduce edifice equally had been previously assumed. Dörpfeld's observation was that the iii steps of the firstly Parthenon consisted of ii steps of Poros limestone, the same equally the foundations, as well as a laissez passer on measurement of Karrha limestone that was covered yesteryear the lowest measurement of the Periclean Parthenon. This platform was smaller as well as slightly to the due north of the finally Parthenon, indicating that it was built for a wholly unlike building, at nowadays wholly covered over. This motion-picture demo was somewhat complicated yesteryear the publication of the finally study on the 1885–90 excavations, indicating that the substructure was contemporary alongside the Kimonian walls, as well as implying a afterward appointment for the firstly temple.

If the master copy Parthenon was indeed destroyed inwards 480, it invites the query of why the site was left a ruin for thirty-three years. One declaration involves the oath sworn yesteryear the Greek allies before the Battle of Plataea inwards 479 BC declaring that the sanctuaries destroyed yesteryear the Persians would non live rebuilt, an oath from which the Athenians were solely absolved alongside the Peace of Callias inwards 450 The mundane fact of the terms of reconstructing Athens after the Western Farsi sack is at to the lowest degree equally probable a cause. However, the excavations of Bert Hodge Hill led him to suggest the existence of a 2nd Parthenon, begun inwards the flow of Kimon after 468 BC. Hill claimed that the Karrha limestone measurement Dörpfeld thought was the highest of Parthenon I was inwards fact the lowest of the iii steps of Parthenon II, whose stylobate dimensions Hill calculated at 23.51 yesteryear 66.888 metres (77.13 ft × 219.45 ft).

One difficulty inwards dating the proto-Parthenon is that at the fourth dimension of the 1885 earthworks the archaeological method of seriation was non fully developed; the careless digging as well as refilling of the site led to a loss of much valuable information. An effort to brand feel of the potsherds establish on the acropolis came alongside the two-volume study yesteryear Graef as well as Langlotz published 1925–33. This inspired American archeologist William Bell Dinsmoor to effort to provide limiting dates for the temple platform as well as the 5 walls hidden nether the re-terracing of the Acropolis. Dinsmoor concluded that the latest possible appointment for Parthenon I was no before 495 BC, contradicting the early on appointment given yesteryear Dörpfeld. Further Dinsmoor denied that at that spot were ii proto-Parthenons, as well as that the solely pre-Periclean temple was what Dörpfeld referred to equally Parthenon II. Dinsmoor as well as Dörpfeld exchanged views inwards the American Journal of Archaeology inwards 1935.

Function

Although the Parthenon is architecturally a temple as well as is unremarkably called so, it is non actually 1 inwards the conventional feel of the word. H5N1 small-scale shrine has been excavated within the building, on the site of an older sanctuary likely dedicated to Athena equally a agency to instruct closer to the God, simply the Parthenon never hosted the cult of Athena Polias, patron of Athens: the cult image, which was bathed inwards the bounding main as well as to which was presented the peplos, was an olivewood xoanon, located at an older altar on the northern side of the Acropolis.

The colossal statue of Athena yesteryear Phidias was non related to whatsoever cult as well as never inspired whatsoever recorded religious fervour. It did non seem to accept whatsoever priestess, altar nor cult name. According to Thucydides, Pericles 1 time referred to the statue equally a aureate reserve, stressing that it "contained 40 talents of pure aureate as well as it was all removable". The Athenian statesman hence implies that the metal, obtained from contemporary coinage, could live used 1 time to a greater extent than without whatsoever impiety.

The Parthenon should so live viewed equally a grand setting for the votive statue of Phidias rather than a cult site. It also served equally a treasury: the funds of the Delian League, transferred from Delos to Athens inwards 454 BC, were housed inwards 1 of its rooms.