The Parthenon: The Epitome of Greek Culture

Most every great culture in history has something for which they are famous. The Mayan civilization has the calendar, the Romans have the Colosseum, and I would like to suggest that the epitome of Greek culture is the Parthenon. It reflects the ideas and religious beliefs of the Greeks and incorporates the architectural brilliance seen first with the Greek people. The frieze, the religious idea behind the building of the temple, and the attention to detail in the Parthenon shows a genius that can only be claimed by the Greeks.

First, the Parthenon frieze is an example of how unique the Parthenon is to the Greeks. The frieze is “[t]he most characteristic feature in the architecture and decoration of the temple” (Wikipedia contributors). It was made to “. . . depict the people of Athens in two processions that begin at the southwest corner and parade in opposite directions until they converge . . . at the east end of the Parthenon” (“Greek Architecture”). The procession mentioned in this source that the frieze represents is an annual parade for the goddess Athena, for whom the Parthenon was built. This piece of art is a two-tiered banner which wraps around the interior wall – the banner on the top depicts the gods and goddesses sitting and talking to one another while the bottom banner shows the Greek citizens marching in the Panathenaic procession. Both banners move toward the central scene on the east end of the building (Sakoulas, “Parthenon Frieze”). This scene shows the folding of the peplos which was a cloth made by the virgins who were devoted to Athena (“Greek Architecture”).The fact that the gods were shown above the citizens in the frieze was not so much to show that they were more important than the citizens or that the ...

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...me the base for the way some buildings were made. However, one must not forget that it all started with the Greeks and how they left their thumbprint on society with the Parthenon because it incorporated many of the revolutionary ideas of the Greeks.

Works Cited

Green, Peter. The Parthenon. New York: Newsweek, 1973. Print.

“Greek Architecture.” The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.

“Parthenon.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.

Sakoulas, Thomas. “The Parthenon.” Ancient-Greece.org. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.

---. “Parthenon Frieze.” Ancient-Greece.org. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.

Wikipedia contributors. "Parthenon." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Mar. 2011. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.