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 …show more content…
The Parthenon was built to express greatness of their influential society and honor the goddess Athena. The Golden Age of Athens is some times referred to as the Age of Pericles, one of the greatest leaders seen throughout our history. The Parthenon would not have been possible without the efforts and supervision of Pericles, one of the greatest historical leaders. Pericles dominated Greek politics for over twenty years. He gained his political start with the help of Ephialtes, together they reorganized the voting process to involve a popular assembly destroying the power of the Areopagus or the old noble council. This action completely reformed the democratic system in Athens. This reform was affluential part to the legend of the power of Athenian democracy. (PBS) Many critiques of Pericles made gabs at this personal life in which his first wife born him two legitimate sons, he later divorced her. His later foreign lover was Aspasia she was described by Socrates as the most intelligent and witty woman of her time. Pericles treated her as an equal, which was unheard of during that age. They lived together but were never married. It was common for them to host the most intellectual company for parties and conversation. Pericles was forced to defend Aspasia in a trial has he later gained power, and the only way his rivals could harm Pericles was by attacking those that were close to him.(PBS)
During the 5th Century Athens, also known as the Golden Age of Athens, lasted from around 470 to 300 BCE. One of the greatest impacts for the Athenians and Greece would be the works that the statesman, Pericles (495-429 BCE) began to create, thus, the massive change to Greek culture and architecture. One of Pericles’ most prominent achievement would be as the leader of the Delian League, who would soon form the Athenian Empire (Mark). He also created the city-state to inherit democracy. According to Violatti via Greek Philosophy, this was a time of profound political and social change in Athens: democracy had replaced the old way of doing politics. Pericles also reestablished literature, philosophy, and religion by seeing to the reconstruction of the Parthenon and the Acropolis it sits on. The architectural idea behind the detail of the Parthenon was astonishing. After the death of Pericles, Athens began free falling back into its old ways via the War with Sparta for a short time.
The Parthenon is a classical style of ancient Greek architecture and the most important building in the city and it self replaced on older temple of Athena, which called Pre-Parthenon. It was built and completed in 438 B.C buy Iktinos and Kallikrates, after that destroyed by Persian in 480 B.C. The Temple all made form marble and its 20 miles far from Athens. Later
“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 Acropolis is a large worship complex built on a mountain overlooking the city of Athens. Both the residents of the city and those traveling to Athens would have been able to see it at all points throughout the day. Inside the structure lies the Parthenon, the main temple, dedicated to the goddess Athena, who was the guardian of the city of Athens. The location itself was a holy site as it was believed to be the place where Athena won against Poseidon and earned her patronage. Poseidon gave the Greeks a salt well where as Athena gave them a olive branch, and as her gift was deemed better, they erected the Parthenon in her name. There is also a smaller temple dedicated to Poseidon in the Acropolis. The olive branch given to them was said to be within the Parthenon and the salt well was said to be in the temple to Poseidon. Finally, the Parthenon is covered in the carved stories of the victories of both Athens and Athena herself. These re-introduced their beliefs and glorified Athena for her helping of
In approximately 450 BC Athens’ premier statesman, Pericles, initiated a program of works designed to embellish his city in order to demonstrate the superiority of the city of Athens3. This crowing achievement of this program was The Parthenon, supervised by Pheidias3. It was built on the Acropolis; a mass of rock sharply rising out of the plain around Athens. The Parthenon is a replacement for an unfinished earlier temple that was destroyed by the Persians; the archaic remains of this were partially used to construct this magnificent building. The construction began in about 447 BC and was completed by 432 BC3. The three major elements forming the sculpted ornament on The Parthenon consists of the metopes, pediments, and the frieze. While
The Parthenon, one of the most famous ancient Greek structures, located in Athens, was built to honor their deity Athena. citizens built ornate temples to honor and worship their pantheon, or collective group, of gods, such as Ares the god of war and Hermes the god of travel. The gods had legendary tales of glory, romance, and adventure. The Parthenon was considered a work of art as well as a sacred space for the worshipers of Athena the ancient Greek goddess. The Parthenon was built on the approximate location of another temple that was destroyed by the Persians while it was still in construction. “When work began
Phidias, who is an exceptional sculptor, built one of the greatest temples in the ancient world: the Parthenon. Today, The Parthenon appears to be prominent. Phidias devoted this temple to Athena, and built it for the Acropolis of Athens. Although the Parthenon was built in the 5th Century BC, some of the temple still stands today.
The Athenians began the construction of The Parthenon in 447 BCE. It was eventually burned down by the Persians in 480 BCE, while still under construction. It was known to be dedicated to the goddess Athena, and after its destruction, much of its ruins were made use of in the building of the fortifications at the Acropolis. The temple remains a partial mystery to us, and whether or not it was still under construction when it was destroyed has been argued. Its main foundations were made of limestone, and the columns of Pentelic marble. The main function of the temple was to hold a statue of Athena made by Pheidias out of gold and ivory.
The Acropolis is a rock formation reaching 400ft above ground level and is about 7 acres big. It clearly highlights the highest level of human creativity and was a source of pride for Athenians, not just because it was the biggest building of its age but because it represented power and wealth. These temples were not meant to be meeting places but homes for the communities god or goddess and a place to keep offerings. The Greek government owned the Parthenon, but it was commissioned by Pericles the great Greek statesman. The architects working on this grand design were called Iktinos and Kalilkrates two famous architects and the sculptor was Phidias who built the Athena Parthenos.
The Parthenon is located in Athens, Greece and was completed in 432BC. It was championed by Perikles, a local politician. It was built as a temple for the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom, courage, justice, law, and mathematics. Additionally, she was seen as the patron goddess of Athens (Athena, nd). The Parthenon was built at the height of Athenian power, and served the additional function of a show of strength and wealth (Parthenon, nd).
The Parthenon was built by Pericles in honor of the goddess Athena and because of the victory over Persia. It was built to replace a temple that had been destroyed by Persia. The Greek temple was used for more than a thousand years, transforming into a church and then a mosque. Only Two years after Its completion the Peloponnesian War began and the people’s symbol changed for them. Before the war, it was their pride of civility among those whom they considered to be barbaric. A grudging reality set in after the war; their golden age had passed. Some believed that they were not worthy of such a grand legacy, simply because they felt they were unable to provide it with an even greater
The Parthenon or its full name which is the Periclean Parthenon of Athens is a classical Greek structure ordered by the Athenian General at that time, General Pericles, who was responsible for the construction of many important temples. The Parthenon was considered the best temple built by Pericles. It was built as a replacement for a damaged Athenian temple, which was destroyed by the Persian Empire in 480 BCE. The construction of the Parthenon was in the hands of two architects Iktinos and Kallikrates. The cost of the constructions was 469 silver talents. Soon in the middle of the 5th century BCE the construction of the Parthenon had begun. It had costed 469 silver talents for the construction of the Athenian temple. In 432 BCE, the construction of the Athenian temple finished with the same designs like many other Greek temples. The majority of many Greek temples had the same structural design, with lots of supporting columns to hold up the triangular roof. Inside is an interior room where a statue for all who come to worship is located. The interior room was too small to fit all the worshippers inside, so the worshipper had to stay outside to pray, unless they wanted to bring offerings to Athena. Inside the interior room of the Parthenon was a statue of the Greek Goddess of wisdom, Athena. This is because they believed that Athena had helped the Athenians fight against the Persian Empire. They also
The Parthenon was one of the buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. The original building was built as an offering to honor Athena the goddess of wisdom the people of Athens believed that she was the one that watched over their city. The leader that was put in charge of sculpture in the Parthenon was Phidias he was responsible for all the sculptures. The building was completed in 432 BCE it took about 15 years for the construction to be complete. Sadly, the Parthenon was horribly damaged by the Persians when they attacked Athens in 480 BC. After the war was over the city was in ruins and they needed to repair other buildings so the rebuilding of the Parthenon was delayed for about 30 years. Pericles started construction in 447 BC to try to
In 447 BCE, Pericles promoted a massive reconstruction plan on a part of Athens that the Persians had destroyed in their savage of the city-state. He proposed the building of the Parthenon on the remains of an earlier temple on the Acropolis. The proposal of the Parthenon pleased the citizens of Athens because it was a celebration of Athenians achievements. It also pleased them because it served as a place of worship to the goddess Athena. Except for the timber roof supports, the entire Parthenon was built with marble from the quarries of Mt. Pentelicon. Not only did Pericles want to build this structure for the purpose of a temple, he wanted people to remember him for generations to
After reviewing the lectures and smart history materials, I found that the Parthenon was very interesting. I believe that the Parthenon is one of the most beautiful architectural structures in Greek history. It was built around 447-432 BCE, and is located on the hill of Acropolis. Individuals named, Iktinos and Kallikrates were the architects of this temple. This structure was actually so important and popular that replicas of this temple were built in other locations such as Nashville, Tennessee. The Parthenon is made completely out of marble and was built in devotion to a Greek goddess named Athena. This temple shows the authority, prosperity and culture of the Athenian society (Ancient-Greece).