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Athena Polias
Temple
Since there was a gate on the entrance to it, the
entire acropolis at Athens was considered a
tenemos to Athena.
On the acropolis were the main buildings of the
Erechtheum and the Parthenon, but also many
other smaller shrines and temples to other gods
and incarnations of Athena herself.
One of the key features of the acropolis is the
Great Altar, measuring 15 meters wide and 8.5
meters deep.
The Erechtheum
Built in the fifth century B.C.E., the Erechthum
housed the fist of three major statues of Athena
located in the acropolis, Athena Polias herself.
“The Statue of Athena Polias was probably lifesized and seated, of olive-wood, and very ancient,
so ancient and crudely shaped that some thought
it had fallen from the sky, others that Cecrops and
Erechtheus had made it.” (Mikalson 71)
On the statue was a woven peplos, or sacred
rope, the presentation of which was part of a
festival we will get to later in the presentation.
The Parthenon
Parthenos (virgin) was a non functional
descriptive epithet added to Athena Polias.
“That makes it most probable that the parthenon
was as it were a treasury building of the Athena
Polias cult – one exceptionally large and beautiful
and possessing an exceptionally beautiful
dedication in Phidias's statue, but still, in terms of
sanctuary design, more a building for storage then
for worship. The cult that the Parthenon
“supported”, both physically and by its sculpture
was that of Athena Polias with her Great Alter,
Erechtheum, and Sacred Olive Tree.”(Mikalson
71)
Inside of the parthenon was the statue of Athena
Parthenos, a statue dedicated to Athena Polias.
It was a massive statue of Athena standing and
holding a shield and dressed in for war, and in her
right hand holding the goddess Nike (victory).
The gold on Athena Parthenos was estimated to
weigh over 1000 kilograms.The cult of Athena was
very rich, taking in 1/60 of all the tribute paid to the
city by subject states. At the height of Athens this
amounted to ten talents, worth about $6,000,000
today.
The final of the main three statues was Athena
Promachos.
A promachos was the designation of a soldier on
the front line of a phalanx.
Very warlike, holding a spear and shield and
armored, this statue stood 9 meters tall and was
made of bronze, and was created after the victory
at Marathon over the persians in 450 B.C.E.
The Panathenaia
Once a year the Athenian cult celebrated their
most important festival, the Panathenaia. Once
every four years this festival was increased in size
and importance, making it much like the Olympic
Games.
The Panathenaia was held to celbrate Athena
Polias's birthday on Hekatombion 28, in the
summer. Including games and contests, it peaked
with the Panathenaic procession and the
presentation of the sacred peplos to Athena.
The Games
The games held at the yearly festival allowed
only Athenian participants, but the games once
every 4 years were expanded to include
international competitors.
The games included music and poetry contests,
as well as athletic events such as races. While the
prizes for music and poetry could be very large
sums of money, most prized were the vases of
olive oil (as Athena had given the Athens the olive
tree. These vases were so valuable that winners
were commonly buried with their vases.
The central piece of the festival was the worship
and sacrifice to Athena on the great alter.
Athenians and even foreigners and freed slaves
processed together up the acropolis to the alter
where giant sacrifices were made to Athena on
her birthday. As the animals were sacrificed
hymns were sung and prayers said.
100 animals were sacrificed at an estimated cost
of over $500,000, though at its peak over 300
could have been used in the ritual.
After the sacrifice concluded the meat was eaten
in a feast by all those in attendance.
Most likely after the feast was the presentation of
the new sacred peplos to the Athena Polias
statue.
The robe was woven by young girls all year and
covered with scenes of mythic battles.
The Athenians worshiped Athena as their patron
god, their protector. She gave them the olive, their
central economic source of wealth, is credited with
inventing chariots and bridals for them to make.
She also was their military protector. As shown in
Athena Parthenon and Athena Promachos she
stood watch over the city to protect it from its
elements. She also gave the Athenians their
justice system so they might be a just society.