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Recommended: Parthenon architecture
The British Museum, founded in 1753, has a collection of over 8 million objects that span over two million years of human history. The British Museum pays special homage to the ancient Greeks, boasting a wide and varied assortment of historic art pieces for the public to enjoy -- including sculptures from the Parthenon.
The Parthenon
The Parthenon serves as a dedication to the Greek goddess Athena. Located on the high point of Acropolis, it was constructed from 447 to 438 BC in the Doric style of architecture. Unlike other Doric temples, however, the Parthenon was richly decorated and exhibited unique features such as subtly curved columns.
Inside the temple stood a statue of Athena made of ivory and gold. In front of Athena’s statue was a shallow pool of water that reflected its image.
Pediment
Below the roof of the Parthenon is the pediment, which featured critical scenes from Athena’s life. The west pediment (top) depicts the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the patronship of Athens and the east pediment (bottom) illustrates Athena’s birth from Zeus.
Metopes
Another key feature of the Parthenon is its
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Wrapping around the outer part of the temple’s inner chamber, the frieze depicts the procession of the Panathenaic Festival, or Great Panathenaia. The festival, dedicated to the Goddess Athena, occurred every four years and included events such as musical and athletic contests. Consisting of 115 blocks and with a length of 160 meters, the frieze features over 200 animals and 378 human figures. Its narrative begins on the Parthenon’s southwest corner and splits into two processions in opposite directions before converging over at the east end of the Parthenon. The majority of the frieze is dedicated to the cavalcade, which is the formal procession of people on
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.)
Greek artists showed value for the individual. All people were portrayed in Greek art, from the sagging old woman to the ideal athlete. Although early Greek art focused on the human ideal, their later art shows that the Greeks appreciated all forms, and found the human body in general to be a beautiful thing. Even the gods in Greek art showed how highly the Greeks valued humanity. The gods were depicted as humans, and were made to human scale; no huge overpowering deity was ever portrayed in their art. The Greeks appreciated themselves in their art as much as they appreciated the gods. Even on the most famous temple of all time, the Parthenon, humans were portrayed. The frieze that adorned the upper face of the Parthenon depicted the human procession in honour of the god Athena.
...the Athenian Parthenon’s in some ways its powerful imagery has caused it to be acknowledged it as one of the most wonderful examples of Hellenistic art and architecture.
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
On the Acropolis of Athens, there are a large number of votive images dedicated to Athena the city goddess in various medium, including marble, terracotta, bronze, relief and vase painting. Among these votive images of Athena, most of them are represented in a standing pose, either frontally facing the viewers or showing her profile (e.g. the bronze Athena Promachos (figure 1)); some of them are captured in the middle of an action (e.g. Athena in Gigantomachy on the pediment of the Parthenon (fg. 2)). However, the so-called Endoios Athena is a statue of Athena represented in a seated position. Although the seated position is not rare in reliefs, such as Athena on the East frieze (fg. 3) and on the metopes of the Parthenon (fg. 3), the so-called Endoios Athena is the only seated marble statue of Athena on the Acropolis in the history. (Mylonopoulos, The Acropolis of Athens in the 6th and 5th Century BCE, Lecture Notes at Columbia University, March 31)
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...
... made such a great impression that it has carried through to our present day buildings such as the White House. The Athena Parthenos has been recreated by the Romans and then most recently by recreated by Alan LeQuire which is in Nashville. (See Fig 2.) We can get a glimpse with LeQuire’s recreation of how that statue may have been in ancient Greece standing in the Parthenon with such majestic greatness.
To what extent were propaganda and national pride as important as religion in the design, construction and decoration of the Parthenon? Although the decision to build the Parthenon was highly controversial in Athens because of the politics that surrounded it, was the Parthenon erected simply as sign of dedication to the gods? Or was it to fuel the dwindling pride of the Athenian citizens? By studying the structure, decoration and design, I hope to come to a conclusion as to whether the Parthenon was simply physical evidence of Athenian pride or whether it was pride in religion.
Between history and showcasing, the Greek and Egyptian are utilized quite brilliantly in the Museum's organization. They set precedents not only culturally and historically that the museum goer can trace throughout the other galleries, but an implication that one can learn a lot about the culture just by observing the very nature of how it was showcased—whether it be the open flow between cultures to implicate a deep connection, or a system of separation to indicate category and purpose—there is so much more to be taken than the mere observation of singular artifacts and summaries.
statue was found in the Hera's Temple. Contained in the Temple of Zeus was one
Humanism was important to the Greek culture because they believed focusing on human values were key to life. The cella frieze in the Parthenon reflects this way of thinking. It’s located in the interior of the Parthenon, adorning the area above the columns. The cella frieze is one continuous ionic frieze that wraps around the entire room. Scholars believe it depicts Athenians celebrating the Greater Panathenaia, which was a celebration to the Goddess, Athena, performed every four years. Blaise Nagy, a writer of the American Journal of Archeology states, “…the most commonly held view among scholars is that the frieze depicts a contemporary version of the festival. According to F. Brommer, author of the magisterial Der Parthenonfries, the frieze ought to be regarded as a kind of document for celebrations of the Panathenaia from the period of the construction of the Parthenon” (56). In this depiction, Poseidon and Apollo are bestowing their blessings on the celebration. With both immortal, worthy Gods, and mortal, unworthy Athenians on the cella frieze together, it confirms the Greek’s belief in humanism. To have the Gods and mortals in the same depiction together was something that had never been done before. Professor Jeffrey M. Hurwit from the University of Oregon s...
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
...ory of the contest between Athena and Poseidon to claim Athens, in which Athena won and thus being worshipped by people (Hyginus, pp. 264). Therefore, the Parthenon was built to dedicate to Athena, their virgin patron.
The Parthenon was built to house the goddess Athena, but was first used as a treasury. There is some symbolism to its location as the acropolis on which the temple is sited, was also the place other temples had been, but the Athenians rebuilt after the Persian wars and the Parthenon was according to this week’s reading from Reed College, one of those structures built ‘to commemorate their victory and in gratitude to heaven’ (n.d, Reed College)