Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The parthenon research paper
Essay on parthenon
Essay on parthenon
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The parthenon research paper
The parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis in Athens, Greece and it is dedicated the the goddess athena to whom the people of athens considered their patron. The Parthenon started to be built in 447 B.C. when the athenian empire were at their most power. It was completed in 438 B.C. and they didn’t finish decorating the interior until 432 B.C. The Parthenon is forty-five feet tall and two hundred twenty eight by one hundred one feet long. Its sculptures are some of the greatest of greek art. The Parthenon is not the first one built there was a parthenon dedicated to athena that this one replaced, historians called the first one the pre-parthenon and it was destroyed in 480 B.C. during the persian invasion. Even though the parthenon was dedicated to athena it was mainly used as a treasury and much later was converted to a christian church dedicated to the virgin mary. After the Ottoman conquest, on September 27, 1687 it was an ottoman ammunition drop and the ammunition dump was ignited by a Venetian bombardment. In 1805 Thomas Bruce removed some of the sculptures that were still good with permission from the Ottoman Empire. The sculptures that were removed by him were known as the Elgin marbles or Parthenon marbles. In 1816 the sculptures were sold to a British museum where …show more content…
A small shrine was found and was probably dedicated to Athena and was used to get closer to her, but the Parthenon didn't ever host the cult of Athena polias, patron of Athens. A big fire happened soon after the 3rd century A.D. This fire took out the parthenon's roof and much of its interior. Repairs were made in the 4th century A.D. The repairs might have been done while Julian the apostate was ruling. The repairs that were made were a new wooden roof overlaid with clay tiles was put in to cover the entire Parthenon,this roof was more sloped than the original and it left the wings of the building
Notice the proportions of the Parthenon on the first image to the left, outlined in green, which show that the height of the columns is proportional to the height of the section between the roof and the columns, and that both are proportional to the height to the roof from the tip to the base. The second image on the left is a layout of the floorplan of the Parthenon and it is evident, in red, that the exterior dimensions of the structure form a Golden Ratio. There are also various other uses of the Golden Section in the floorplan, such as the location of the alter in the smaller green Golden Rectangle or the proportions of the 2 large rooms shown in blue. Perhaps the extensive use of the Golden Section in the Parthenon is due to the sacredness associated with the Golden Section in Greek history and the fact that the Parthenon was built in honour of a
Dedicated to Athena Parthenos (Athena the virgin) goddess of war and wisdom. Every god and goddess had worship temples to assure everything went well and nothing bad happened. Greeks gave sacrifices too, such as food, messages, and sacred tiles were all sacrifices they gave. The Parthenon was built in 480 BC but got destroyed while under construction in a battle between the Romans and Greeks. The Parthenon was rebuilt in 447 BC, with the original statue that first stood in 480 BC. ("The Parthenon Frieze." The Parthenon Frieze. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.)
After learning more about these two buildings, I discovered that the Romans were “inspired” by Greek architecture. The columns used in both are common to Greek architecture. Based on the photos that were viewed from online searches, it appears that the Romans were more ornate during the construction of their temple which can be seen by their choice of building materials, such as marble. The Parthenon seems to have had more simple lines. It was rectangular in shape as opposed to the Pantheon that was rounded in many areas, particularly where the sculptures of the gods were. This was to lend to the idea that they were on the same level and that no god was given more preferential treatment since the Pantheon was to honor all of them equally. The structures resemble one another in that they both have those ominous columns as a way to emphasize the dominion the gods had over the
The Greeks finished building an exquisite temple to their beloved goddess, Athena in the year 432 BCE. (Sayre 60). The name of this enriched, unique temple was the Parthenon. The Parthenon took the Greeks approximately fifteen years to complete and as Pericles stated, it was built to give gratitude to their goddess Athena for the salvation of their city, Athens and all of Greece in the Persian Wars (Sayre 60). It was also a symbol of their power and superiority among other cultures. It was something the Greeks took great pride in and recognized it to a great extent. The Parthenon was built on the highest point of the city of Athens to look over the precious Greek city. On the exterior walls of the Parthenon there was beautiful artwork that adorned the walls, also known as the Parthenon Frieze (“The Parthenon Frieze”, par 1). According to the National Geographic video, “Parthenon Marbles Battle”, two thousand years after the Parthenon was built, in the late 1600's the Parthenon was blown up during a war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, which left the Parthenon almost in complete ruins. Then, in the early 1800's, there came Lord Elgin, who was a huge fanatic of Greek history. Because Greece was currently under conquest by the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin made the Ottoman Empire a deal and bought the remains of the Parthenon Frieze artwork along with other sculptures as well. Elgin sent these unique sculptures of art work back to his country, England. Since then these sculptures became known as the "Elgin Marbles", and currently sit in the British Museum at London (“What are the 'Elgin Marbles”, par 1). However, do these fine pieces of artwork truly belong to Elgin? There has been a lot of controversy throughout the years of whet...
During Classical Greece the Parthenon was built as temple to the Goddess Athena, as symbol of the state’s wealth and superiority, along with serving as the treasury. The architecture uses a bit of both Doric and Ionic orders. On the outside rim of the temple Doric columns, triglyphs and metopes are used but on the inside of the temple Ionic friezes were used. Both the metopes and friezes were completely filled with painted sculptures depicting the gods, Athenians, and conquered enemies. The themes center on gods or Athenians being victorious over chorus. One of the main stories shown in the Parthenon is the story of the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena being chosen as the patron Goddess of Athens over the Sea God, Poseidon. Poseidon was a war god who offered the people a beautiful but useless saltwater spring while Athena offered an olive tree. The people of Athens choose the olive tree symbolizing their culture valuing peace and prosperity over the chorus of war. The Parthenon also shows the Ancient Greeks value in mathematics and idealized perfection. The columns were carved to bulge slightly as well as tilting inwards, which creates the illusion that the columns were both straighter and taller than they were. Other illusions they used to give the appearance of perfection included arching in the middle just enough to ensure what would not pull and stop the eye from seeing the ends of the steps rise. Ancient Greeks valued their gods, perfection, mathematics, wealth and
The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis to honor Athena, but mostly because it honored Athens itself to build it (Stockton, 4). The Athenians wanted it to house a giant statue of gold and ivory which was made by a man named Pheidias (Stockton, 1). "Pheidias’ forty-foot high statue of Athena Parthenos consisted of a frame made of wood, metal, clay, and plaster. Athena’s clothing was of gold-plate—made removable in case of emergency. Athena’s face, hands, and feet were of ivory, her eyes of precious jewels. She stood wearing a foot-length dress and a helmet, a crowned symbol of victory in her right hand and a spear in her left.
The Parthenon was built to honor the goddess of wisdom, Athena. When structures are built using straight lines they tend to look slightly distorted due to the science of optics. The architects Iktos and Kallikretes were skilled architects of their time and they used illusory tactics to create an ideal aesthetic for The Parthenon. The architects compensated for these visual illusions by counteracting them in their design. The end result is a structure that is not composed of straight lines, but when viewed by the human eye, looks perfectly straight. Plato would have mentioned one of his famous dictums, ?That which changes least is most real.? He would have viewed Iktos and Kallikretes designs as less real than other designs that do not u...
Building the Parthenon was a greater feat than they ever would have known. Work on the Parthenon began in 477 BC. A much smaller shrine already stood on this site, one to which we can attribute various pieces of surviving decorative material--lions and snakes, a cornice incised with flying birds, and a blue-bearded trinity that may conceivably represent Cecrops, Erechtheus, and Poseidon. If such an edifice in fact existed, it was torn down to make way for a huge limestone platform, roughly 252 by 103 feet in size, that was built as a base for the new temple. The slope of the Acropolis was such that while on the north side the foundations rested directly on bedrocks, the southeast corner needed to be built up with no less than twenty-two courses, in order to correct a vertical drop of thirty-five feet. This was only the beginning of the temple. The actual base of the new temple was smaller than the platform, as can be still be clearly seen. The temple itself was Doric, with a peristyle of six columns at each end and sixteen along the sides. Except for the lowest course of the base, the structure was to be built entirely of Pentelic marble.
== == = == Sculpture of the Parthenon Viewtech
The city's walls had already been rebuilt right after the end of the second Persian War so Pericles rebuilt temples, public grounds, and other impressive structures. One of the most famous structures to result from Pericles' building project was the Parthenon. The Parthenon and other such structures re-established Athens's glory and while some Athenians criticized the projects as too lavish, most Athenians enjoyed the benefits of the program. A major benefit to the Athenian people was that there was an abundance of work in the polis. The 5th century BCE was also an important time for Athenian thought.
A diversity of skilled laborers was employed to build a framework required to raise stones required to make ceramic tiles for rooftops. Specialists were utilized to measure the fittings to fortify the block of stones to form the essential paraphernalia for modeled scenes. Athenian sculptors discretely etch sculptures for the roof and columns of the temple’s structures. Columns are made of limestone and marble as a foundation to support the ceilings. For example, the Parthenon, made in 447 B.C. to 432 B.C. in Greece, representation of a municipal designed by architects that took interest in each part of the development. The Greek establishments have been fundamental to the general architectural exquisite components regularly that utilizes of reconstructing a whole building. Despite the fact that the Ancient Greeks constructed numerous buildings, the temple best represents the points and techniques for the designs that the Greeks signify. The temple ordinarily fused on at least one or more sections of columns encompassing each of the four sides. The perpendicular formation of the temple adjusted to a request to alter the course of structures bound together by the standards of symmetry and
Pericles, like so many other Athenians, wanted Athens to once again be glorious. He created a massive building program designed to improve Athens and its reputation. During this period of time many important cultural buildings and places were reconstructed including the Acropolis which was the former home of many sacred temples. Among the new temple building projects was the Parthenon a huge temple that has since become a Greek staple and a major historical and cultural landmark. With a new age of creativity came newfound advances in the arts. These advances would give a foundation for the arts of today. Athens had reached the age of peace and prosperity one that it had never seen before and never would see
The Parthenon is an amazing Greek temple that was built 2,500 years ago. Even the architects of today have numerous questions about how it was constructed and how it has held up through its eventful past. The Parthenon's detailed appearance is not its only meaningful quality. The Parthenon was constructed as a temple to the goddess, Athena, and as an icon of the Greek people themselves. The Parthenon represents the Greek ideals of humanism, idealism, and rationalism.
The Parthenon was built during the Golden age in Athens, Greece. The Parthenon is made of mainly columns; there is a 9:4 ratio. It was almost destroyed in war; the ruins that remained were dedicated to Athena. The purpose of the Parthenon was to house the statue of Athena, made of ivory and gold, and also Athena’s treasure. The ratios and the equations used to make the Parthenon were used as a sign of the harmony in the natural world around us. The mathematical harmony in the world shows how we can work with the world rather than destroy to make it what we want. The Parthenon also has no straight lines. The columns of the Parthenon are angled going up getting smaller the higher they get. This was done so that you could get the best lighting
interior of the Parthenon. "The statue seems to have been over 12 meters tall, nearly 40