Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Greek architecture parthenon
The Parthenon and its influence on today
The Parthenon and its influence on today
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Parthenon in Athens is the most important and characteristic monument of ancient Greek. It is an Athenian temple to the goddess Athena and considered to be a great architectural achievement of world history. It is a unique symbol of freedom and democracy. Built between 447-432 BC, it was a symbol of Athens when the city was at the height of its power.
The Parthenon is built in the Doric order, one of the oldest Greek architectural styles. By the 5th century Greece was transitioning into a new style, the ionic and the Parthenon was an incredible piece of Doric style. The Doric order is defined by the use of tapered, grooved columns that have a wide, smooth top called capital. Half of the panels contain three vertical columns; these are called triglyphs and represent the wooden beams that Greeks used before temples were created. In between there are metopes, blank panel that
…show more content…
were commonly decorated scenes so that figures appear raised from the background. Although the Parthenon is considered a Doric temple, it does contain a few Ionic elements. The Parthenon is the largest of the Doric temple, at 228 feet long and 101 feet wide with total 34 feet tall columns. It was designed by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates. The Greek was very conscientious about their art and modeled both sculpture it was not simple enough to build that massive temple. They also needed it to be filled with sculpture. The interior room once held a 38 foot tall gold and ivory statue of Athena, which was lost. Building a huge impressive temple and incredibly accurate sculptures display how Athenians highly thought of themselves. On the other hand The Pantheon is another ancient Roman temple which was built in 126 CE.
Its dome remains the largest dome in the world up until now (to this day). Historically the original name of the Pantheon was lost. But we know that ‘pantheon’. The Pantheon has the open structure of columns in front of the main entrance. The triangle roof of the portico called the pediment. It was originally filled with bronze sculptures. The portico has eighth Corinthian columns in front, each a roughly forty feet tall and two groups of four columns behind those. At the back of the portico, near the main entrance, are several niches that probably held statues of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar and Marcus Agrippa.
The Parthenon and the Pantheon are both historically amazing temples. The Pantheon borrows much of its exterior design from Greek famous Greek temple The Parthenon. The Parthenon was build to goddess Athena whose statue was in gold and held in the interior but was lost. While Pantheon temple was built to all ancient Rome gods. The Parthenon was in Greece while The Pantheon was in
Rome.
The Parthenon was an amazing and important temple. Dedicated to Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, it was a very important temple to the Greeks. Greeks worshiped all of their gods by building temples for them and giving sacrifices. Most of the sacrifices were sacred tiles designed especially for the gods, not many were human.
There are varying similarities seen in the forms of the buildings along with their original purposes. One similarity is the context for why both structures were built. They were both created as places of worship for the gods. In Athens, a statue of Athena was placed in the Parthenon and she was worshiped for her victory in battle. Where as in Rome, the Pantheon was built to worship many gods and emperor deities. These
In the time of Ancient Greece, the Parthenon was the epitome of all Greek temples, possessing desired traits from hut-like temples, the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, and other temples. All the column styles were established in 6th century BCE, but the styles were named afterwards (Spawforth 62). The chief column styles of Greek temple building were Doric and Ionic, and they were named in the 5th century BCE (Spawforth 62). The Corinthian column style was named in the 4th century BCE (Spawforth 62). Doric columns from the 4th century BCE are skinnier than the 6th century BCE columns (Spawforth 62). The “Aeolic” column, related to the Ionic column, was developed by the Aeolian Greeks (Spawforth 62). The Ionic and Aeolic columns has scrolls at the top, but only the Aeolic column’s scrolls spring outwards in a vertical direction, making it unique from the Ionic column (Spawforth 62). The Doric columns were created by the Dorians; the Ionic columns were created by the Ionians (Jenkins 15, 17). Each column consists of a column, base, shaft, capital, and entablature. The entablature consists of the architrave, frieze, and cornice (Summerson). The Romans used columns as ornaments, but the Greeks used the columns for structural stability (Summerson). The Parthenon was a Doric temple (Spawforth 64). The Parthenon was the centerpiece of acropolis renewal (Jenkins 76). The marble is from Mount Pendelikon (Jenkins 76). The Parthenon is a culmination of long tradition (Jenkins 28). The Parthenon is the Romantic Symbol of a cultural age; it is viewed with great fondness and nostalgia in the Western civilizations’ cultural memory (Nardo 12). The Parthenon is not at ground level; it stands on a three step stylobate (Corbett). In the 6th century, the ...
Pantheon and Hagia Sophia Pantheon and Hagia Sophia are two extremely outstanding architectural pieces of their times. They have been built according to the traditions of those particular times. The materials used to built these buildings and the purpose for which they were used are all very important aspects and have been briefly covered in this report. Pantheon The statesman Agrippa built pantheon in 27 B.C. Then it was completely rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian. The Pantheon is remarkable for its size, its construction, and its design. The dome was the largest built until modern times. The present structure was probably originally built as a temple for all the pagan gods. We do hear of it as being a law-court and a reception area for Emperor Hadrian meeting his quests too. Some say that the rotunda of the building was once a Roman bath. Due to all this mystery, the Pantheon is often referred to as the Sphinx of Rome. The visitor will probably not appreciate the construction as much as the Flavian amphitheatre, but it is still a great masterpiece of engineering and well worth a visit. Most Roman and Greek temples at the time of the Pantheon's construction were large, colonnaded, rectangular enclosures with sanctuaries situated in their centers. The Pantheon was different. It consisted of a large circular drum topped with a hemispherical dome. It is a masterpiece of both engineering and art a lasting memory of Ancient Rome’s might. Roman architecture is architecture of wall and enclosed tactile space. Individual column with entablature is no longer the basic architectural unity. Spatially, it shows a development from closed, simple space units and regular articulation to more complex spatial relations, more fluid interpenetrati...
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 philosophical ideas of Plato that relate to the Parthenon include whether the structure is an element of the Visible World or the Intelligible World. In my opinion, Plato would view the Parthenon as an object in the Visible World. The Parthenon is a one of a kind monument that is tangible and exists in our real world. The Parthenon is an architectural project and deals with forms of science and mathematics. Plato's view of science and mathematics are categorized as forms in the Intelligible World, which are intangible. Through analysis of illusory tactics, the Tripartite Soul, the simile of the line, and the artistic qualities of architecture, Plato's, as well as my view of the Parthenon will become evident.
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.
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.
Besides being the Athenians greatest architectural achievement, the Parthenon serves a basic purpose. The Parthenon is a temple devoted to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and guardian of the city- state of Athens that got its name from her. The temple marked the zenith of ancient Greek architecture (Glancey 26). The structure was built to protect and shelter the statue of Athena, which was sculpted by Phidias. The enormous statue of Athena consisted of gold and ivory and stood up to be approximately nine to eleven meters. Unfortunately, this statue of Athena was thought to be lost in the future and was later replaced. Upon construction of the Athenian pride and symbol, the Parthenon successfully stood for 2,500 years. Later, the Parthenon was converted into a church for Virgin Mary of Athens in the sixth century AD. The condition and position of the building seemed well until the fait of the Parthenon changed in the future when two major collisions occurred.
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
The end of the Geometric period resulted in the beginning of the Orientalizing Period, dated between 700-600 BC. Within this time frame, Greek introduced a new innovation, the Peripteral Temple. For many years prior, a row of colonnade was used on the interior primarily to hold up the roof of the building. In contrast, columns are seen being used on the outside, creating a visual wall around the building exposing parts of the interior. With in the temple existed the megaron style, carried forward from Bronze Age homes. It was also in eastern influenced period, the first real stone temples, and terra cotta roof tiles came to exist to hold the weight on these new stone temples. The population grew drastically, introducing new techniques and styles, which blended to form designs with balance and symmetry. It was during this period, two major Greek designs were developed, the Ionic and Doric order. (Pedley, 2012: pg. 180) The Doric order, being the first and most simple, consisted of baseless columns placed closely together as the Greeks did not know how much weight the shortened columns could hold. Reason behind this was the lack of length in the columns were believed to hold less weight and therefore forced into being placed closer together. This closely set arrangement created a very bold statement in the Doric temple. The Capital, which sat on top of the concaved shaped shaft, was left plain but when grouped alongside others, suggested a bold harmony. In contrast, the Ionic order was less bulky and more delicate than the Doric order. The top of the capital is decorated with two scrolls, also known as volutes, which could have resembled a shell or animal horns. Above the capital, held room for a surrounding frieze depictin...
The style of the Parthenon is very different than the pantheon. the Parthenon is built with a hole at the top of the roof and it is built very sturdily.odess.
...on. It is important to understand the history and mechanics of Greek architecture in order to fully appreciate it. The ancient Greeks were very well known for their beautiful temples. They were able to devise several different ways to create beautiful buildings and implement those designs. The ancient Greeks set the architectural foundations for the rest of the world with their three orders. The three styles, or orders, are the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The three distinctive styles are referred to as orders because they display proportionate, ordered, and coordinated parts. The Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders serve a functional purpose, as well as lend so much beauty to structures. “All the world’s culture culminated in Greece, and Greece in Athens, all Athens in its Acropolis, all the Acropolis in the Parthenon” (Nardo, 61).
While houses, and stoas did have columns they were certainly not as ornate as columns on temples like the Parthenon. So to an ancient Greek the column would have been primarily associated with monumental temples. However, in Rome the collm j was used in a number of different buildings from, basilicas, to baths, to the emperor’s palace. The use of columns as decorations also began in Roman times as seen in buildings like the colosseum. In much more recent times, elements from both Greek and Roman architecture have been combined and used on numerous important buildings. Some of the most obvious examples of this are courthouses, which often have a very striking columnar faced emulating that of Greek and Roman temples. So through the study of ancient architecture one can understand why this architectural style means today, as well as what it means