Athena Nike Research Paper

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COMPARISON ESSAY BETWEEN THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE AND MASONIC TEMPLE

Yunjin Jo
Anthropology 0803: The Art of Sacred Space
April 20, 2016

In the ancient Roman period, uncountable kinds of fabulous, sophisticated artworks and architectures were produced by well-skilled artisans, which were based on the society, culture, and that particular time period. Rome, founded in about 753BC by two legendary twins, Romulus and Remus, developed its artistic style, which was nonexclusive, and allowed syncretism, and it spread out throughout the globe. The Temple of Athena Nike is a typical representation of artistic roman building till date. This temple was built in 420 B.C., and it is clearly a typical ionic temple at Acropolis. This …show more content…

Ionic order is derived from the 6th century in Ionia. The Temple of Athena Nike is regarded to be the representative of the art style, and the Masonic Temple has an Ionic hall, which followed and expressed the artistic features in the modern timeline. It is clear that the Ionic style is one of three major architectural orders in the ancient Greek and Roman timeline, together with Doric and Corinthian orders. Based on the “Britannica,” the Ionic order is defined as “Order characterized by soaring columns with molded bases, capitals with volutes and a continuously sculpted frieze.” Additionally, Ionians who created the style are mostly Greek. Furthermore, based on the journal, “Archaic Ionic Capitals Found on the Akropolis,” it is described that the beginning of the order is from Assyria, and Ionic order’s column features have rolled up shaping the volutes. Volutes are the specific feature which is recognized by the order style of people. The order is mainly determined by its capital, “the volutes vertically from the shaft of the column…horizontal band.” Moreover, the ionic styles’ column shaft is regarded as slender when compared to the Doric order, and has plain pillar surfaces. Furthermore, the columns of ionic orders are mostly fluted. According to “The Cornice of the Temple of Athena Nike,” the writer reveals several features of the temple. Columns in the Temple of Athena Nike have cornice, …show more content…

Furthermore, while the Temple of Athena Nike, is limited by only one art style which is Ionic style, the Masonic Temple is not. Based on the history when the Temple of Athena Nike was built, it was when the region was undergoing war. Hence, people who had a craving for a victory built the temple for the goddess Athena, indicating the blessing of victory and wisdom. Consequently, the Temple of Athena Nike was constructed with the statue of Athena Nike and is regarded as an auspicious symbol, giving the city of Athens their win over Sparta, who were the citizens’ enemy at the period. Since the temple is dedicated to Athena, there are multiple ‘freizes’ inside it. According to the article, “The East and West Friezes of the Temple of Athena Nike,” the author, Permberton, looks at the political and religious meanings of the friezes of the Temple of Athena, and attempts to interpret the statues in the temple. The writer tries to explain the south frieze battle scene, distinguishing the Persian dress, and other battle scenes as well; also, the author cites ‘the battle of Magara,’ to be the most significant battle of that time. Permberton mentions, “The history of the fourth century and Boeotian military prowess may have motivated Diodoros to

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