The Parthenon : A Greek Masterpiece

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

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

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 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.

Nashville's Parthenon is the world's only full-scale replica of the ancient Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The original Parthenon was completed in 438 BCE and was a temple to the goddess Athena, protector and patron goddess of Athens. It is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Classical Greek architecture, and today, nearly 2500 years later, it remains a symbol of the ideals of ancient Greek democracy. Nashville's Parthenon was originally built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. The previous year, however, Tennessee celebrated its hundred-year anniversary as a state, but the six-month Centennial Exposition was not held until 1897 so that the necessary funds could be raised. Like other fairs and expositions of the Victorian

The Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, built between 447 BCE and 432 BCE to honor the Greek goddess Athena. The Parthenon located in the acropolis is located on the top of a big hill. This could be a tactic to protect the structure from invaders, however, this is also symbolic of wanting to be closer to the gods, in this case closer to Athena. This great architectural piece made of huge slabs of marble creates a sense of grandness only the gods deserved. The architect included relief sculpture of larger than

The Parthenon was built on 447—438 BCE. The architects of this building were Iktinos and Kallikrates. It is a Doric temple. It consisted of eight columns on its two main facades and seventeen on the sides surrounding the entire temple. The front of the west represents the fight of Athena and Poseidon to get the patronage of the city. The frieze shows the representation of the Panathenaic procession, the most important religious festival in Athens. The scene is along the four sides of the building and includes figures of gods, beasts and about three hundred and sixty people. The Parthenon had the great statue of the goddess Athena Parthenos, who made ​​Phidias. It was 38-foot-tall and made with

The Parthenon is known for being one of the greatest achievements of the Athenians. The massive building is a work of perfection and beauty. The Parthenon, which took ten years to build was placed on the highest point of the Acropolis that overlooks the Athenian City. Constructed entirely of marble and embellished with sculptures, the Parthenon is one of the finest examples of the Classical style. It has columns that are specific to the Classical style.

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.

The Parthenon is located on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece; is a former temple which was dedicated to Greek goddess Athena, whom the Athens considered their leader. According to the British Museum (2015), The Parthenon was built nearly 2500 years ago and has a long and complex history. After thousands of years it became a church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque and then finally resulted in a archaeological ruin. After the result of a ruin, the buildings were reformed in which various sculptures were damaged. During the 1800’s after the Parthenon being damaged, the Elgin marbles (Elgin) a part of the remaining sculpture, was removed and given to a British museum. For hundreds of years there has been a question if the British museum should return the Elgin marbles back to the Athenians or not. I believe that that the safest and most beneficial place for the Elgin marbles is the British museum, therefore the British should not return the marble to the Athenians.

The priestess entered the inner chamber of the Parthenon carrying a basket heavily laden with rich offerings for the Goddess. Eirene did not know if Athena even cared for the lavish display - heavy gold bracelets and finely woven cloths, gems and a necklaces that spoke to the wealth of Athens and the abundant blessings of her patron Goddess. As usual, Eirene made running commentary as she laid out the baubles and draped the jewelry at the foot of the great chryselephantine statue.

The Parthenon in Athens is the most important and characteristic monument of ancient Greek civilization, it is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. It shows the finest point of Greek architecture, history and ancient Greek religious beliefs. The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to Athens patron goddess, Athena (Herbert, 2006:3). Athena was the goddess of civilization, wisdom, weaving, crafts and war. She never had a consort or lover, and so she was often known as Athena Parthenos ("Athena the virgin") which is were the Parthenon's name, derives from.

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