The Historical Context Of The Parthenon, The Obelisks Of Ancient Egypt

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

Later conquerors removed many of these obelisks as souvenirs. Two great obelisks, which stood in Egypt for a millennium and a half, were brought to Rome to commemorate Julius Caesar. These became known as Cleopatra's needles. Ironically, one is now in London and

This essay aims to investigate two different time periods in the history of art. It will scrutinize the influence that the respective societal contexts had on the different artists, which in turn, caused them to arrange the formal elements in a specific way. I will be examining an Egyptian sculpture of the god Isis nursing Horus, her son, as well as the Vladimir Virgin icon, which dates from the Byzantine era. Experts vary on the precise ‘lifetime’ of the Ancient Egyptian civilization, but according to Mason (2007:10) it existed from 3100 BCE up to 30 BCE. The Byzantine era, which

The Parthenon was an amazing and expensive achievement of ancient Greece. Although it is mostly in ruins today, there is enough knowledge about its construction to allow others to recreate the structure. The Parthenon is often constructed not only to honor the ancient Greeks, but also to honor the culture and place where it is recreated. Although the Parthenon’s influence is tremendous throughout the western world, it is generally only faithfully represented in part- the nearest representations found during my research include the Walhalla and the Nashville Parthenon. This paper focuses mostly on the original building’s history and its influence on American architecture, with a short discussion on a site in Germany. Research was conducted through the use of our course’s textbook, our consortium library, and educational websites. After my research was concluded, I became particularly fascinated with the golden ratio, which is debated to have been used during the construction of the Parthenon. I would like to research this in future work.

The Athenian Greeks at the height of their power built a temple called the Parthenon which was a monument to their core values of perfectionism, humanism, and rationalism. It is important to understand that the human eye has imperfections which deceive the mind, so one can understand the unique steps that were taken to achieve the illusion of perfection to the human eye. The Greeks loved perfection, and as seen in the Parthenon, the Greek architects purposely made the Parthenon imperfect to account for the imperfections in the human eye. This was done so that when one views the Parthenon with the naked eye, it appears to be perfectly symmetrical, straight, and proportional. The entire Parthenon does not have a single right angle. An example of the Greeks compensating for the imperfections of the human eye is seen in the base of the Parthenon, which from a picture or in real life looks perfectly straight, but in reality it is actually curved slightly upward. It is curved because the Greeks knew that if you have a perfectly flat base for a building, it appears curved to the human eye. To account for that, the Greeks made it so that the base was already curved. The Greeks also curved the columns of the Parthenon inward, because if the columns were straight, it would appear to be curving outward. Again, the Greeks knew about how the human eye deceives the mind, and decided that they must trick the eye to please the mind. This was all done because the Greeks strived for

The ancient Greek civilization contributed many great new ideas and aspects to everyday life that shaped and inspired the modern day society. The Greeks are well known for their construction of temples, acropolis’ and other grand architectural structures. Among these structures stood one of the most famous, the Parthenon. The Parthenon was a symbol of Greek society and culture as it stood as one of Greece’s most important architectural buildings.

The Statue of Asklepios is a classic Greek sculpture that portrays a person of the most perfect and athletic form. The piece is of a man standing beautifully while draped in a toga. The toga is draped over his left shoulder and cuts across to the right side of his body near his lower abdomen and then continues to cover his legs until his ankle. The toga also is draped over the pieces entire back. The piece is missing his head, his left arm and both his right foot and almost its entire right arm. The piece has a smooth, but not glossy, exterior in all of the areas except for the parts that have been broken off. Asklepios is portrayed as an incredible fit and beautiful being. The abdomen is extremely muscular and shows off the miraculous fitness of the model. The toga has many wrinkles, creating a lot of shadow and darks and lights. It also is wrapped in a way that is both loose and tight in different areas of the sculpture. It is tied right next to the left pectoral and the left armpit. This piece emphasizes the muscular body of this man while at the same time portraying him standing in such a nonchalant way through the curvature and relaxed look of the figure. And unlike the Torso of a God, this piece clearly shows movement through the shape of the body and the folds of the toga because

During the fifth century and Eighth century BCE, The Etruscan Temples and The Parthenon were built and valued by their cultures for many spiritual and cultural reasons. Similar to the Parthenon, The Etruscan Temples are built with influences from Greece. However, Both have different appearances based off of there medium, purpose, and architecture. The Etruscan Temple and the Parthenon both have strong stances within there cultures and provide peace and empowerment for the population of the time. Both structures are two similar ancient buildings, though there differences in culture and architecture set them apart.

The Birth of Athena represents one of the most stunning births of Olympian deities, being immortalized on countless pottery objects. Athena’s status of goddess protector of Athens certainly provides an explanation for the numerous vases dedicated to her. The Yale amphora is not an exception. This Group E black-figure amphora is among the works of the greatest black-figure vase painter, Exekias, and its two panels vividly tell the story of Athena’s birth. While divine births are spectacular ipso facto, the birth of the goddess of wisdom is remarkable in that she emerged from the head of Zeus. Unlike Dionysus’s birth from the thigh of Zeus, which lead to the death of Semele, a mortal woman, Athena’s unusual birth came as a result of the swallowing of

lips. In traditional Egypt, the statues and monuments were considered a bridge between the divine gods and regular people.

Democracy was a revolutionary idea that moved the shaping of the law into the hands of many rather than a select few, or, in some cases, one tyrant or monarch. Politeia, which refers to both the literal city-states of Ancient Greece and the metaphorical and philosophical idea of citizens’ rights as expressed by Plato and other philosophers of the time, takes that idea of “power to the people” to a higher, more sacred level. Political participation was woven into the daily life of an Athenian citizen: emphasis was placed on the common good rather than the individual in a “radical egalitarianism, not in circumstances, but in responsibility”-- responsibility for the people (at least the people who were eligible) to shape the law around maintaining Athens’ values of valor, intellectualism, and patriotism. Civic engagement was an important expression of one’s identity and devotion to Greek society, and this paper will explore how that sacred dedication to civic engagement could have been a primary motivation in building--and creating the visuals of-- the Parthenon.

Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa located along the Nile River in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egypt was split into two sections, Upper and Lower Egypt. Lower Egypt covered the delta region where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Upper Egypt stretched from the Nile’s first cataract to within a hundred miles of the Mediterranean Sea. The ancient Egyptians settled by the Nile River because its annual flooding provided them with the reliable, rich soil that they needed to grow crops. They also developed wide-reaching trade networks along the Nile, in the Red Sea, and in the Near East. The Egyptians even based their seasons on the flooding of the Nile. The seasons were inundation (flooding), growth, and harvest. When the river did not flood, the nutrient level in the soil depleted greatly and their food shortages increased greatly.

One of the most well-known components of the Parthenon are the enormously beautiful and important marble sculptures that were placed in the pediment of the monument. These marbles are shrouded in controversy as to whom they belong: Greece or Britain. These marble sculptures were removed between 1801 and 1812 in order to protect them from possible destruction caused by the war between the Grecians and the Venetians, taken to Britain for refuge by the Earl of Elgin, and sold to the British Museum to be displayed. John Henry Merryman discusses his view on the issue of the ownership of marbles by presenting two main points and the validity of both sides. One aspect of his examination revolves around the legality of the removal of these sculptures.

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

This essay focuses on two different types of pyramids; the Step pyramid which was the first pyramid and the Great pyramid, which was the largest pyramid built in Egypt. The essay investigates the meaning of the selected forms for the Egyptian culture and explains their dialog with the cosmos.