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Distinctive characteristics of the parthenon
Essays about the parthenon
Implications of Pericles' rules to Athens
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The Parthenon
Introduction
One of the most famous structures from Ancient Greece is the Parthenon. A temple built for the guardian goddess of the city, Athena. Figure 1 is a picture of the Parthenon. I have Chosen the Parthenon because I think it is one of the best examples of a classical building. In my work I will review the architecture. To do this I will use different works from different authors and sources. After which I will present my ideas and thoughts.
The Parthenon, a temple for Athena, was built on top of the acropolis in Athens. It was built there because the older buildings and temples of Athena on it were destroyed after a Persian attack on the city in 480BC. The Parthenon was rebuilt because two earlier versions of a temple
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Figure 1 shows a bust of Pericles. He was “a nobleman with inherited wealth”. He is considered to be mainly responsible for the growth of Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire. “He had the vision and power to create a new Athens which would be the envy of the ancient world.” The Parthenon was built after a battle that took place in Marathon, which was 42km away from Athens. The Athenians successfully defeated the Persians in the battle. This had established the power and strength of Athens. The reason for Pericles to build the Parthenon was to “underline the political dominance of Athens”. He wanted to rebuild the whole acropolis after the Persians had attacked and burned down most of the buildings and temples on it. He was so determined that he had taken the money that was raised by the city to help with any Persian attacks in the future and used it in building the Parthenon and rebuilding the whole acropolis. The construction of the Parthenon started in the year 447BC and was completed in 438BC. The people building the temple were both Athenians and foreigners. For their work they received a salary of one drachma a day. The architects for the temple were Ictinus and Callicrates, while it was built under the supervision of sculptor Phidias. Although the Parthenon was completed, the statues were not. It took another six years for them to be …show more content…
Although it was built as a temple, it was used as a treasury were money raised by the city was stored. The name for the temple “refers to the cult of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin) that was associated with it”. It is “universally acknowledged as the masterpiece of the Doric order.” Although the Parthenon is considered a Doric temple it used some ionic attributes. Such as thinner columns and a continuous frieze around all four sides. Also, four ionic columns were used to support the roof. The Parthenon is a Doric peripteral temple. “It consists of a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps on every side, and a colonnade (8 x 17) of Doric columns extending around the periphery of the entire structure”. In front of each entrance there are additional 6 columns. It is the largest Doric Greek temple. The temple was built using Pentelic marble from a nearby mountain, Mount Pentelicus. To complete the Parthenon, 22000 tonnes of marble was used from the mountain. Inside the Parthenon there were 2 rooms. The bigger room (naos) had the large statue of Athena. The smaller room (opisthodomos) was used as a treasury. The temple measures at 30.88m by 69.5m and is 14m
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.)
This week’s unit 2 assignment objective is to discuss the similarities and differences in culture as seen via the Parthenon and Pantheon. Both structures were great buildings of their time. They represented the spirituality of ancient Greeks and Romans. The Parthenon of Athens, Greece was a building. While the Pantheon celebrated the gods of Romans.
"The Parthenon Frieze." The Parthenon Frieze. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 20142 June 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
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
From the Egyptians to Romans, architecture achievements of the ancient world have left a huge impression on todays modern world. They all have left a tremendous impression on modern civilizations. There are numerous architectural monuments to write about. In this essay I will be discussing about the Pantheon and Colosseum, the famous architectural buildings of the Roman Civilization. I will discuss the history, significance, and analyze the qualities of the architecture.
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.
Brief History Though the Persian wars were possibly over before the Parthenon was being considered, the wars played a vital role for Athens and her temples. During the wars, the armies of Persia attacked Athens and sacked the city leaving much of it in ruins, including the new temple in honour of Athene atop the Acropolis that was under construction. During the struggle, many of the states in Greece joined together to fight against the Persians and decided that they should not rebuild any of the temples that had been destroyed by the Persians to have an eternal memory of the devastation they caused and the lack of respect they have for religion. The once impressive city of Athens was reduced to dust, with small basic houses and nothing really imposing.
The foundation of Greek culture was balance, reason, and harmony which can be unveiled in their art. As the civilization heavily revolved around religion, massive temples were built to serve the Gods. Greeks believed in many Gods, meaning they had polytheistic views . This notion of polytheism passed down to the Romans who adopted nearly the exact same deities and built similar architecture as well. One of the most famous buildings of worship was the Greek Parthenon built around 447-432 B.C.E, worshipping the goddess Athena . While building these brilliant pieces of art, concepts regarding laws and the natural world from philosophers were being incorporated in the structure. Pillars were often built in temples and various buildings in both Greek and Roman cultures. Doric, ionic, and Corinthian stand as the main three pillars built; each of them becomes increasingly more elaborate by order. For example, the Corinthian was the most intricate. Romans quickly developed a taste for this form of architecture and incorporated into theirs later on. The Romans however were very inventive, and began to develop the arch, vault and dome to add to what they emulated from the Greeks. Using these elements the Romans built what is known as the Coliseum, built over a 10 year span from around 70 AD to 80 AD. The Coliseum was said to hold 50,000 spectators and was used for entertainment
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.
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 the focus point, it was supposed to drawn in the most people. To this day the Parthenon draws in a large amount of people from all over the world. The Parthenon was built between 447-432 BCE. It costs the city 469 talents. The Parthenon is mostly Doric columns with a few ionic to draw attention to certain areas. The back room of the Parthenon was said to house Athena’s treasure while the front room holds the statue of Athena. The Parthenon was built so anyone that walks through the arch way will be able to see all angles and inside the Parthenon to see the statues and the details of the
...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.
Perikles, an Athenian politician, built the Parthenon in 447 B.C. This was a time when Athens was considered in today’s terminology, a superpower, and it was completed in 432 B.C. The Pantheon was completed in 14 A.D during the reign of Augustus Caesar, was built by his deputy Marcus Agrippa, and despite the length of time between the erection of both temples, they each reflect the style of the Greek architectural order.
Throughout history, there have been several significant architectural movements. The last, and perhaps most enduring movement is that of Classic Greece. Although for centuries, the architecture of ancient Greece has been admired, mimicked, and replicated, its beginnings are somewhat surprising to one unfamiliar with the history of the region. It is important to understand the history and mechanics of Classic Greek architecture in order to fully appreciate its form, function, and beauty. “Ancient Greek architects strove for the precision and excellence of workmanship that are the hallmarks of Greek art in general. The formulas they invented as early as the sixth century B.C. have influenced the architecture of the past two millennia” (metmuseum.org).