The Parthenon

When was the Parthenon constructed? 

447-432 BCE

Why was a new temple needed?

Destruction of the Persian Wars

Who commissioned it?

Pericles

What were the functions of the Parthenon?

Temple to Athena, Treasury of Delian League, Propaganda

How many columns were placed along the front, rear and sides?

8 x 17

What order were the exterior columns?

Doric

What is the opisthodomos?

Back porch

What is the Greek term for front porch?

Pronaos

Where were the ionic exterior columns placed?

Pronaos and opisthodomos

What is entasis?

Columns are narrower at the top and bulge in the middle

Why did the exterior columns lean in?

Optical illusion to appear straight from a distance

What was depicted on the North, South, East and West Doric frieze respectively? 

N- Greeks vs Trojans S- Centaurs vs Lapiths E- Gods vs Giants W- Greeks vs Amazons

What themes were highlighted by the Doric frieze

Victory of civilised peoples over barbarians

What was the subject matter of the Ionic frieze?

Great Panathenaic procession

What figures are seen on the Ionic frieze?

-Seated gods -Musicians -Horsemen -Animals being led to sacrifice -Women and youth

In which direction are the Ionic frieze figures moving?

West to East

What scene is depicted on the Western pediment?

Contest between Athena and Posiedon

What scene is depicted on the Eastern pediment?

Birth of Athena

What relevance do the pediments have to the temple and Athens?

They depict Athena, the patron goddess

Give two examples of the 9:4 ratio

-Length of structure : Width -Height of columns : Height of entablature

What optical illusion is used on the stylobate and architrave? Why?

Curved- optical illusion to appear straight at a distance

What statue is in the eastern cella?

Athena Parthenos (gold and ivory)

What are the purposes of the interior pool of water? 

-reflect light -keep ivory moist

What order are the interior columns of the western cella? 

Ionic

What was the function of the Western cella?

Delian League treasury

Why was the Delian League money now kept in Athens?

As a hegemon with growing power the treasury was moved from Delos to Athens

What are the dimensions of the Parthenon? 

69.5 x 30.8

What other feature enabled easy viewing of the friezes?

Colourful painting of figures

(1) Rachel Kousser (2009). Destruction and Memory on the Athenian Acropolis. The Art Bulletin, Vol 91 No. 3, pp. 263–282.

“The Parthenon, constructed between 447 and 432 BCE on the Athenian Acropolis, stands as the most lavish, technically refined, and programmatically cohesive temple on the Greek mainland, a fitting commemoration of the Athenians' spectacular and unexpected victories in the Persian Wars” pp263 

(2) Rachel Kousser (2009). Destruction and Memory on the Athenian Acropolis. The Art Bulletin, Vol 91 No. 3, pp. 263–282.

“ But as an ensemble, the Parthenon south metopes highlight the price of victory, not its effortless achievement” pp276

(3) Rachel Kousser (2009). Destruction and Memory on the Athenian Acropolis. The Art Bulletin, Vol 91 No. 3, pp. 263–282.

“In the Parthenon, the memory of the Persian sack was preserved not so much through concrete reference to the historical past as symbolically, through myth. As noted above, the battles displayed in the metopes and on the Athena Parthenos statue are critical here.” pp 276