Acropolis Research Paper

After the acropolis site was completely destroyed, Athenian society became unstable as a result of the numerous wars Athens had suffered from. However, at this time Athens was beginning to become a dominant city and Pericles wanted to make sure he represented Athens in this way. Pericles knew his only choice was to rebuild the acropolis. This was a way for Pericles to show the local Athenians that the Acropolis is about honouring the gods and also allows for athenians to embrace their religion. He believed that by doing this it would also help strengthen the Athenian democracy. After its rebuilding the Acropolis became extremely religious. Pericles wanted to help restore faith and religion back into society and turn Athens back to how it orignally

In the article Acropolis written by Norbert Brockman, it say that the acropolis was a hill where all the temples were and where important building that were for the city of Athena were located. Then the temple were destroyed when the Persian invaded Athena. It took a lot of money, that came from the people of other city-states, to rebuild theses monuments and temples. The Acropolis is located on a plateau.There is a statue of Athena at the top. To the Athenian Athena was their protector.

Acropolis means the “top of the city”, so it would only be reasonable that military meetings or religious activities of the city-state’s would occur here (Sayre 111). The Acropolis in Athens is home to some of Greek’s most famous architectures such as the Parthenon and the

Ancient Olympia was situated in a valley in Elis, in western Peloponnisos. It was not a town, but a sanctuary with buildings related with games and the worship of the gods. Ancient Olympia was a national chapel of the Greeks contained any treasures, such as temples, monuments, altars, theaters, statues, and prayerful offerings of brass and marble to the gods. The sanctuary, known as the Atlis, consists of an disorderly arrangement of various buildings. Enclosed within the temenos are the Temple of Hera the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the altar, where the sacrifices were made. To the north of the sanctuary can be found the Prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city-states.

Athens was located in the region of Attica, a fertile valley and rich in minerals. The city was a cultural powerhouse: the cradle of democracy, the birthplace of many great philosophers, of politics, of architecture and theatre, of history, science and mathematics, with a formidable naval fleet that defeated the Persian army. Athenians had access to education and freedom to pursue their interests in war or business. (Mark, 2011)

The Athenians built the Parthenon in 447 BC, as a replacement of their first temple and a monument of victory after leading the Greeks to victory against the Persians. Funded by the wealthy members of the society and money appropriated by the recently moved from the Bank of Delian league, the Parthenon stood as political statement of democracy in addition to its religious function. Geographically located at the highest point of the city and within proximity of the acropolis, Athenians and visitors would be able to witness the grandeur of Athenian wealth during their height of power. Being a cultural center for art and the leaders of the other Greek City-States during the war, the Athenian claim to being the most quintessential Greeks. Through

This project was the building program on the Acropolis. He insisted that his countrymen supported him in the construction of a building that would reflect the status of imperial Athens. In his speech, he said, “All kinds of enterprises should be created which will provide an inspiration for every art, find employment for every hand… we must devote ourselves to acquiring things that will be the source of everlasting fame.” Pericles wanted something that reflected Athens in a positive light. He believed that Athens led all the Greeks in culture, even calling it the “school of Greece.”

That is twice the size of Sparta’s military strength. So it is a very well protected city-state. With the Acropolis being the highest point in Athens, all people felt safe and secure as no one was likely to reach them. Since the Acropolis was taken for as a sanctuary, the Athena Parthenon was constructed there, to show that goddess Athena was watching over them at the highest point of the city(Zaremba). Athens also had colossal wall surrounding the city-state.

Through the month of April and into May the AP Language and Composition classes picked independent novels to read in small literature circles. While this was a great oppertunity, the novel Petropolis written by Anya Ulinich should not be used as a novel for the entire class. Even though the novel does not belong in the ciriculum for every school it still contains valuable lessons and is a wonderful book. The only major problem with the content of the novel is the adult situations, with the inappropriate content (drinking and smoking) and abundant underage sex scenes this novel would be a struggle to get into the ciriculum without parents or the school boards censorship. Parents may not approve of their child reading some of the situations in a classroom setting and may want to opt their child out of having to read the

Pericles started the rebuild programme of the acropolis to celebrate the victory over the Persians and also because it was in ruins from the number of wars it had suffered. At the time Athens was slowly becoming a dominant city in Greece and Pericles wanted to showcase Athens in that way. Pericles realised that the city was never properly rebuilt after the last Persian war, every grand temple was still burnt to the ground and as a soon to be popular city , this was no way for an empire to look. Pericles did not want his city to be resembled as ruined. He also built a new meeting hall for the assembly along with other public buildings. As Pericles had a great passion for the arts, he also incorporated sculptures to make the city look even more

The city of Athens is at the center of Ancient Greece. Most of what we know of ancient Greek culture depends on records from this principal polis. Athens is the birthplace of democracy and has been called the cradle of western civilization. The polis of Athens included about 2500 square kilometers of territory. Surrounding poleis ranged somewhere in the 250 square kilometer region, making Athens the largest. The

The ancient Greek Acropolis was dedicated to the Goddesses Athena. Acropolis in Greek means “The Sacred Rock, The high city” (“Ancient Greece” 3). The Acropolis is known world wide. There are many extravagant buildings and monuments

“The Parthenon was commissioned by Pericles sometime after Greek victories over the Persians between 490 and 480 BC” (Glancey 26, 27). During the Persian Greek wars, Athens believed that Athena watched over them and that she helped them throughout the war. The Parthenon represents the wealth, power, society, and culture of Athens. The building of the Parthenon cost the Athenians four hundred and sixty nine talents, which symbolized Athens as wealthy.

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

Sparta was known in Greek as Sparti. The city lied at the southern end of the central Laconia plain, on the right bank of the Eurotas River. Its population was about 100,000 and it was located in the Laconia region. It had a fairly temperate but very dry climate. Sparta’s also depended on agriculture for their sustenance. They had a mandatory military service. Their system of leadership was Oligarchic and their descendants were mostly the descendants of the Dorian invaders. Athens, on the other hand, was the largest capital city of Greece. Its citizens were about 140,000. The region in which Athens was situated was Attica. The city of Athens had a Mediterranean climate. Athenians depended on trade and agriculture for survival. They did not have a military based system. They practiced Democracy and their descendants were mostly from Ionian descent. (Diffen, n.d).