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The Acropolis
Columns and Buildings
The Acropolis and Agora
General Overview
Get to know the Acropolis with Rick Steves!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPFsX0QW88
As you watch, come up with one
question you have about the Acropolis,
Background
• Athena vs. Poseidon
• Test
– Poseidon: Struck earth with trident
• Created well, salt water sprang forth = naval power
– Athena – Olive tree = peace and prosperity
• Athena won (obviously)
Order of Greek Columns
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
Making Thinking Visible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrRJkzXl4a4
As you watch this video, assign each type of
column an animal and explain why you chose
that animal.
Doric Style – Archaic Age
•
•
•
•
Sturdy
Top (capital) is plain
Columns – thick and chunky!
Larger-than-life, masculine,
heroic view of Greece
• Mainland Greece, colonies in
southern Italy and Sicily
The Parthenon – Doric Columns
Cornice
Pediment
Frieze of alternating triglyphs
and metopes – low relief
structure
Architrave
Capital
Pediment – High Relief
East Pediment Parthenon Sculptures
British Museum, London
Trigloph and Mytope Friezes
Ionic Style – Classical Age
• Thinner, more elegant
• Top (capital) decorated with a
simple scroll
• More flutes
• Eastern Greece and the islands
Temple of Athena Nike – Ionic Columns
Cornice
Frieze
Architrave
Capital
Corinthian Style –
Hellenistic Age
• Seldom used in Greek
world
• Roman temples
• Top (capital) very
elaborate
– Decorated with acanthus
leaves
Temple of Zeus, Athens –
Corinthian Columns
Acropolis (“acro” = “high” & “polis” = “city”)
City on the hill, 230’ over Athens, over 2000 years old
• Human genius
• Reflect a form
of life
• Attitude that
put man at the
center of the
world
• Beauty and
proportion
divine
Propylaea
• Gateway to the
Sacred Way – the
procession to the
gods
– No stairs, just cuts
to make the climb
easier; Romans
added stairs
Propylaea
Temple of Nike
Ionic Columns – Scroll Capital
Statue of Athena Nike
• Cult statue of
Athena Nike
– Wood
– Helmet in left
hand
– Pomegranate
(fertility) in
right
• Originally
winged victory
goddess
– Nike Apteros
(wingless
victory); never
fly away
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
• Nike of Samothrace
– Marble
– Greek goddess Nike
(victory)
– Discovered 1863
– Represents Greek
fascination with the
cult of Nike
Parthenon
The Mighty Parthenon!
All temples were designed to be seen only from the
outside. Visitors never went inside and could glimpse
interior statues only from the outside.
The idealism of the Greek way of living, the attention to detail, as well as the
understanding of a mathematically explained harmony in the natural world
were concepts that in every Athenian’s eyes set them apart from the barbarians.
These ideals are represented in the perfect proportions of the building, in its
intricate architectural elements, and in the anthropomorphic statues that
adorned it.
The Elgin Marbles
The British Museum, London
How the Brits got pieces of the Acropolis for CHEAP!
• The buildings of the Acropolis suffered significant
damage during the 1687 siege by the Venetians in the
Morean War
• The Parthenon, which was being used as a gunpowder
magazine, was hit by artillery fire and severely damaged.
• Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, British
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 17991803, obtained a controversial permit from the
Ottoman authorities to remove pieces from the
Acropolis.
• From 1801-1812, Elgin’s agents removed
about half of the surviving sculptures from
the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the
Proplylaea and Erechtheum.
• The marbles were transported by sea to Britain.
In Britain, the acquisition of the marbles was
supported by some, while others compared
Elgin’s actions to vandalism or looting.
• Following a public debate in parliament and
subsequent exoneration of Elgin’s actions, the
marbles were purchased by the British
government in 1816 and put on display in the
British Museum.
Current Parthenon Restoration
• Started in 1975 and
thought to be completed in
10 years
• Previous restoration
efforts in 1898 included
replacement of iron
clamps; Greek Architect
Nicholas Balanos did not
add the lead coating that
the ancient Greeks had
used to prevent corrosion
• Iron swelled and cracked
marble
• Restoration continues
today
Erechtheum –
dedicated to Athena and Poseidon
Athena – left side
Poseidon – right side
• Sacred Snake
– Spirit of
Cecrops
– Well-being
essential to
safety of the
city
– Fed honeycakes by
priestesses
This olive tree is said to be a descendant from the one
Athena planted.
• Porch of Caryatids
– Sculpted figures
serving as an
architectural
support in the
place of columns
Caryatid Porch of Erechtheum
A Closer Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X872rmThCF8#t=238
How do the Caryatids represent a change from the
old way of thinking to the new way of thinking that is
being brought in during the Hellenistic Period?
Odeon of Herodes Atticus; 161 AD; Roman
Aeropagus – Mars Hill
Paul at Areopagus
• “New teaching”
(Acts 17:19)
• Not official
judicial procedure
Leonoard Porter, "Saint Paul Preaching on the Areopagus"
2010, oil on linen, 12" x 19"
– Echoes the trial of
Socrates
– Proclaiming new
deities and leading
the populace to
question its beliefs
in the traditional
gods
Exit Ticket
• On the front of your ticket,
write the question you asked
while watching the video at the
beginning of the presentation.
• On the back of the ticket, write
the answer. If your question
was not answered, leave it
blank.