Ancient Greek Culture: The Parthenon In Athens

The Parthenon’s columnscoloms are colonnade and fluted, baseless, with square capitals. There is a three stepped base and supports with an entaylatune. The roof structure consists of plain architecture. There is a bend of stone, a Frieze of alternating triglyphs and metopes. The East and West end both have low triangular pediments, with a relief sculpture. Both the East and West have eight colonnade columns. The North and South sides have seventeen small cloric colonnade columns, that enclose an interior rectangular chamber, originally in three aisles, that close at The Great Cult Statue. The only light comes through the doorway, and through some marble roof tiles. The Parthenon is 101.34 feet wide, and 228.14 feet long. In short, the Parthenon is

Many people consider the Parthenon to be an extraordinary building. Why is this building so celebrated and influential? The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the building’s history, examine the intricate architectural choices, and explore the extent to which selected Classically-inspired architectural works have taken influence from the Parthenon.

One of the most impressive accomplishments of Ancient Greece is the remarkable structure of the Parthenon on the Acropolis. The Parthenon is one of the most inspiring works of architecture known to mankind. The project of the extraordinary Acropolis was taken on by one of the most influential leaders of history, Pericles. Pericles influenced not only the building of one of the grandest works but the example of democracy displayed by the Greeks. The architecture was unique for its time, it featured excellent structure,the breathtaking Metopes featuring the epic battles of the gods, the Frieze a detailed sculpture displaying a procession of Greeks, and was built to house the magnificent statue of Athena adorned in gold. The Parthenon was

Agrippa, Augustus’ right-hand man, constructed this building as a temple to all the gods; however, a fire destroyed this temple in 80 CE and so Domitian built the reconstruction. The Pantheon we are familiar with has a significantly different design than the original one, and this is why this specific temple is so dislike to the rest of the Roman temples. Before it was burnt, the Pantheon stood in a podium at the end of a large rectangular court. The surroundings of this temple have changed in order to provide a unique experience to its visitors. For example, the temple has en enormous dome with a 27-foot oculus that opens to the sky. This oculus lets a shaft of light come through creating an emphasis wherever the reflection is. Visitors were driven nowhere but to the light at the center of the dome. This building was built for greeting foreign embassies, adjudicating disputes and hold court (Janson). Moreover, the Pantheon is extraordinary because of the potential and strength of concrete. Some other materials used in the process of building the temple include travertine, tufa, brick, and pumice. These materials varied in order to reduce its weight. The colored marble on the wall symbolized imperial authority. The sphere is though to symbolize eternity and perfection and the bronze panels symbolized a starry night sky.

“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 Parthenon is created as an optical illusion. It appears to consist of straight lines but in fact, almost every surface is built to lean and curved from its columns to its foundations. It gives a unique insight into the best that ancient Greek sculptors could produce at the best period of Greek art. The Parthenon is a Doric peripteral temple; it consists of a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps, and a colonnade of Doric columns. The three main types of columns used in Greek temples and other public buildings are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Many of the sculpture

The rectangular structure covers over 23000 square feet. Builders made complex adjustments geometrically to make the structure appear perfectly straight from all vantage points.[1] A temple of this magnitude reinforced the idea, and the realty, that Athens was the predominant city state of that period. Religion was much more personally and societally institutionalized. Completely circling the cella , the inner chamber, is the Parthenon frieze. Sculpted of marble in low relief, a majority of the frieze is devoted to a depiction of the great procession held each year on Athena's birthday.[2] This great parade made it's way through Athens and ended at the Parthenon. Animal sacrifices were then made, and then ceremony or services were presided over by priests. Every four years a great celebration was held, the Greater Panathenaia. Athletic games, military competition and art and poetry competitions were held. But the procession and the Parthenon remained first and fore

The Parthenon is a beautiful building located in the center of Athens atop of the acropolis. It was built to help Athens become the most beautiful city in all of the Greek city-states. The project of building the Parthenon began in 447 BC by Pericles, the ruler. The structure is more than 200 pous long and 100 pous wide. The Athenians were careful, not to make the building too tall making it appear flimsy nor too wide making it appear squat. The Parthenon is built in one of the three orders used to build buildings in ancient Greece. The order of the Parthenon is called the Doric order. The Doric order is the most simplest and is also the lowest and widest.The Parthenon is a temple that was built to honor the goddess, Athena. Both in and outside

It is a rectangular structure surrounded by columns. The columns are characteristic of the Doric order with very simple decorations and a short stature. A statue of Athena served as one of the main decorations. The Parthenon’s architect made use of the Greek knowledge of mathematics, especially geometry, to produce striking visual effects. The proportions of the Parthenon are said to approximate the golden ratio, yet another example of the Greek use of mathematics in design. To date, much of the Parthenon has been restored. It is currently a protected historical monument, and a major tourist attraction (Parthenon, nd).

All civilizations that have ever existed in the world have had their own unique forms of art that distinguish each from the other. This has been evident in trends such as culture, religion, economics and even art and architecture. The influence that Ancient Greeks had on architecture is enormous and has influenced modern day architecture all around the world. They were the first to look at buildings as not only a place to live, work and worship the Gods, but also a way of communicating to generations and civilizations to come, ancient Greek beliefs and philosophy. More specifically, the Greek temple is the most distinguished and influential form of public religious architecture in the history of

The Pantheon, built in Rome around AD 126, is in great condition yet today. More massive than the Parthenon, the exterior of the Pantheon still looks smoother. The eight Corinthian columns that line the front entrance are not as intrusive as the Doric columns of ancient Greece. They are thinner and ornately decorated. Also, the Pantheon gains its giant size because of its high walls, not by resting its foundation on a mountainous staircase. Again, this makes the temple more delicate than the Parthenon and this difference also infers that the Romans felt much more secure from the dangers of invasion. Unlike the Parthenon that was destroyed by enemies, the Pantheon still stands content. Continuing inside, the walls of the Pantheon are intrinsically a genius of splendor. They are decorated with ornate designs of Corinthian columns and mock windows. The beauty of the three dimensional wall fixtures is exemplified by sunlight let in by the large oculus at its zenith.

Many of Rome’s paramount architectural accomplishments can be found in, and around Italy. These sites include the Pantheon, the Arch of Titus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Roman Forum, and Ancient Roman Aqueducts, along with the Colosseum. Many of these architectural feats have been replicated throughout Roman territory. Their domain stretched all over Europe, Northern Africa, and even into the Middle East. Today we are still able to enjoy much of Rome’s artistry, which can be linked to the how their engineers manufactured these monuments. Roman architects created structurally sound buildings by making use of the vault, and the arch. These engineers also created concrete, a binding agent holding the structures together. All of these forms were later replicated throughout the empire (Lake Oswego School District, 2012:1).

The Arch and Dome were the most distinctive features of the ancient Roman architecture. Roman buildings significantly differed from those of Greek and so the new architectural style was created. Mainly because of high population densities and wealth in the cities, the ancient Romans discovered their own architectural solutions. In particular, they applied arches and vaults as well as building materials enabling them to attain the unprecedented progress in the construction of public structures. The Colosseum, the basilicas, the Baths of Caracalla and the baths of Diocletian, the aqueducts of Rome, the Pantheon, are all relevant proofs of genuinely Roman architectural innovations. These impressive buildings all served important public functions, In contrast to Greek aesthetic axioms; these objectives were attained with a wide scope of public effect. Roman architects and civil engineers used the skills necessary to build the best possible roads, bridges, baths, forums, theaters, etc. The works of the roman architects are so sufficient that they still stand today. These include arches, columns, roads, and buildings, such as theaters, amphitheaters, and circuses, which were designed for recreation. The Romans eagerly embraced Greeks’ sophistication, so much that it became the foundation. In one respect, however, Rome’s arched construction, in which a roof is

“This worship took the form of building elaborate temples and sanctuaries, holding festivals, making animal sacrifices, and offering them the fruits of the harvest” (Pearson, A. 2014). Athens’ patron goddess was Athena who is the goddess of wisdom, warfare, practical reason and handicraft. As temples were often “built to celebrate a city’s success or to thank a patron God for help during times of war,” (Pearson, A. 2014) it is often believed that the Parthenon’s sole purpose was to be a temple dedicated to Athena; however, it also symbolized the “wealth and exuberance of Athenian power” (Ancientgreece.com, 2012). This secondary source written by Pollard J.R.T. and Adkins A.W.H. supports this concept stating that “The Parthenon and other Athenian temples of the late 5th century proclaim the taste and power of the Athenians rather than their awe of the gods” (Pollard J.R.T. and Adkins A.W.H. 2016). Another religious aspect of the Parthenon is the Parthenon frieze (appendix 1) which runs around the outside of the cella wall. The Parthenon frieze depicts the Panathenaic Procession which is a Greek religious festival where “the sacrifice of several animals were offered... contests were held, and portions of epic poems were recited” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016). Unfortunately, many of the sculptures on the Parthenon frieze are in poor condition so historians cannot be certain as to what the Parthenon frieze illustrates as it is possible that it could represent a mythical

As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” however long it took to build the capital, the days, months, years, centuries of work can be viewed as a long lasting landmark which paved the way for new and challenging architecture to come (How Roman architecture influenced modern architecture [sa]). According to Tony Rook (2013: [sp] ch.2) the typical Roman temple shows the Etruscan tradition combined with the Greek one. Although some of their premature concepts were acquired from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, Roman architects transformed the body of architecture for all time to come, offering buildings and structures that has never been before, along the side of public buildings and infrastructure that could be used by