Transcript The Parthenon - Western Hills Choir

The Acropolis
“High City”
Dominating the Athenian landscape,
the Acropolis is unsurpassed in its
beauty, architectural splendor and
historic importance.
Facts about the Acropolis
• The first habitation remains on the Acropolis
date from the Neolithic period.
• The cult of the city's patron goddess was
established as early as the Archaic period
(650- 480 B.C.).
• During the Classical period (450-330 B.C.)
three important temples were erected on the
ruins of earlier ones, Pericles initiated this
rebuild.
The Parthenon
The Parthenon was built to
honor the goddess, Athena.
It was built between 448 and
432.
Pheidias: artistic director of
the Parthenon.
The temple was built to
house a huge gold and
ivory statue of the goddess
Athena, patron of the polis
of Athens.
Reconstructed view
and 39 foot tall statue of
Athena
The Parthenon is a Doric temple, which means that it consists
of a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps on
every side, and a colonnade of Doric columns extending
around the periphery of the entire structure.
Balance between height & length.
The larger of the two interior rooms housed the cult statue.
The smaller room was used as a treasury.
The Parthenon is the tangible and visible
representation of the of Athenian
imperial power. It was built at a time
when they were unencumbered by the
difficulties of the war.
Likewise, it symbolizes the power and
influence of the Athenian politician,
Perikles, who championed its
construction.
The
Colonnade
The Doric frieze with Lapiths and
Centaurs
freize: decorative, horizontal band
The metopes (square space
between veritcal sets) of the
Parthenon all represented
various instances of the
struggle between the forces of
order and justice, on the one
hand, and criminal chaos on
the other.
The relief sculptures on the building occupied the
triangular space above the triglyphs and metopes.
They showed the contest between Poseidon and
Athena for the right to be the patron deity of Athens
Other areas showed the birth of Athena from Zeus'
head.
The pedimental sculpture suffered badly when the
Parthenon was hit by a Venetian shell in 1687 and
the powder magazine inside exploded.
This reclining god (probably Dionysus) from the
east pediment gives some sense of the quality of the
sculpture.
The West Pediment
pediment: triangular spaces at ends
of temples
The Turks used the Parthenon as a
powder magazine when the Venetians,
sieged the Acropolis in 1687. One of
the Venetian bombs fell on the
Parthenon and caused a tremendous
explosion that destroyed a great part of
the monument which had been
preserved in a good condition until
then.
Elgin Marbles
The disaster was completed in the
beginning of the 19th century, when the
British ambassador in Constantinople,
Lord Elgin, stole the greatest part of the
sculptural decoration of the monument
(frieze, metopes, pediments), transferred
them to England and sold them to the
British Museum, where they are still
exhibited.
"The request for the restitution of the
Parthenon Marbles is not made by the
Greek government in the name of the
Greek nation or of Greek history. It is
made in the name of the cultural
heritage of the world and with the voice
of the mutilated monument itself, that
cries out for its marbles to be returned."
Evangelos Venizelos, Greek Minister of
Culture
View of Propylaia and
Parthenon from the Areopagus
The Propylaia
The Propylaia
Unfinished due to outbreak of war. The
colonnades along the west and east sides had a
row of Doric columns while two rows of Ionic
columns divided the central corridor into three
parts. The walls of the north wing were
decorated with painted panels or wall
paintings. The ceiling of the Propylaia had
coffers with painted decoration.
The Temple to Athena Nike
The Temple of Athena Nike
was constructed in ca. 420 B.C. by
the architect Kallikrates for Greeks
victory over the Persians. It is built
in the Ionic order. The relief frieze
on the upper section of the walls
depicts the conference of gods on
the east side, and scenes from
battles on the other three.
The Erechtheion
The Erechtheion
was built in ca. 420 B.C. It has the
famous porch of the Caryatids on
the south side. Named for
legendary Athenian king,
Erectheion. A relief frieze
decorated the exterior of the
building.
Nashville, Tennessee Parthenon
The largest
indoor statue in
the world.
Reproduction of
Pheidias's
original from
the fifth century