The Parthenon west façade

The Parthenon (ancient Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple built for the Greek goddess Athena, the protectress of Athens, in the 5th century BC on the athenian Acropolis. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Greek temples ( Ancient Greek:, grc-Latn ho naós "dwelling" semantically distinct from Latin la templum " Temple A listing of Greek mythological beings Many of the gods and goddesses had Roman and Etruscan equivalents. ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. The Acropolis of Athens is the best known Acropolis (high city The "Sacred Rock" in the world It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. In the context of the art architecture and culture of Ancient Greece, the classical period corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art. The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present particularly in the areas of Sculpture The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy, and is one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Athenian democracy developed in the Greek City-state of Athens The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of restoration and reconstruction. List of Ministers for Culture and Science 1971–1985 List of Ministers for Culture and Athletics 1985–present See also ^[1]

The Parthenon replaced an older temple of Athena, called the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. The Older Parthenon or Pre‐Parthenon, as it is frequently referred to constitutes the first endeavour to build a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury, and for a time served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. For the US government securities see Treasury security. Also see Treasury management. The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue In the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin. After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s, and it even had a minaret. Most of Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th century until its declaration of independence in 1821. A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger For the mountain formation see Minarets (California. Minarets ( Arabic manara (lighthouse منارة but more usually مئذنة On 28 September 1687 an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures, with Ottoman permission. Thomas Bruce 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine ( July 20, 1766, Broomhall Fife - November 14, 1841, Paris) These sculptures, now known as the Elgin or Parthenon Marbles, were sold in 1816 to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed. The Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of Classical Greek Marble sculptures inscriptions and architectural members The Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of Classical Greek Marble sculptures inscriptions and architectural members The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Greek government is committed to the return of the sculptures to Greece, so far with no success.

Design and construction

The Parthenon from the south. In the foreground of the image, a reconstruction of the marble imbrices and tegulae (roof tiles) forming the roof is visible, resting on wooden supports. The imbrex and tegula (plurals imbrices and tegulae) were overlapping Roof tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture

The first endeavour to build a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the present Parthenon was begun shortly after the Battle of Marathon (c. ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. The Battle of Marathon ( Greek: Μάχη τοῡ Μαραθῶνος Machē tou Marathōnos) during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 490-88 BC) upon a massive limestone foundation that extended and leveled the southern part of the Acropolis summit. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 This building replaced a hekatompedon (meaning "hundred-footer") and would have stood beside the archaic temple dedicated to the Athena Polias. The Older or Pre-Parthenon, as it is frequently referred to, was still under construction when the Persians sacked the city in 480 BC and razed the Acropolis. The Older Parthenon or Pre‐Parthenon, as it is frequently referred to constitutes the first endeavour to build a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia ^[2]

In the mid-5th century BC, when the Athenian Acropolis became the seat of the Delian League and Athens was the greatest cultural centre of its time, Pericles initiated an ambitious building project which lasted the entire second half of the century. The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue The most important buildings visible on the Acropolis today – the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the temple of Athena Nike – were erected during this period. The Parthenon was built under the general supervision of the sculptor Phidias, who also had charge of the sculptural decoration. Phidias (or Pheidias; in Ancient Greek,; c[[ 80 BC]] c 430 BC) son of Charmides was an ancient Greek The architects, Iktinos and Kallikrates, began in 447 BC, and the building was substantially completed by 432, but work on the decorations continued until at least 431. An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Iktinos (or Ictinus) was an Architect active in the mid 5th century BC Kallikrates (also spelled Callicrates was an ancient Greek architect active in the middle of the fifth century BCE Some of the financial accounts for the Parthenon survive and show that the largest single expense was transporting the stone from Mount Pentelicus, about 16 kilometres from Athens, to the Acropolis. The funds were partly drawn from the treasury of the Delian League, which was moved from the Panhellenic sanctuary at Delos to the Acropolis in 454 BC. The island of Delos ( Greek: Δήλος Dhilos) isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos

Although the nearby Temple of Hephaestus is the most complete surviving example of a Doric order temple, the Parthenon, in its day, was regarded as the finest. The Temple of Hephaestus and Athena Ergane (Ναός του Ηφαίστου και της Αθηνάς Εργάνης also known as the Hephaisteion (Ηφαιστείον The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical The temple, wrote John Julius Norwich, "Enjoys the reputation of being the most perfect Doric temple ever built. John Julius Cooper 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO (born 15 September 1929) is an English historian travel writer and television personality The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical Even in antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the curvature of the stylobate, the taper of the naos walls and the entasis of the columns. In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate ( Greek: στυλοβάτης is the top step of the Crepidoma, the stepped platform on which colonnades of For the Spanish town see Cella Spain Naos redirects here For other meanings see Naos (disambiguation. In Architecture, entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes "^[3] Entasis refers to the slight bulge of the columns as they rise, though the observable effect on the Parthenon is considerably more subtle than on earlier temples with their noticeably cigar-shaped columns. The stylobate is the platform on which the columns stand. As in many other classical Greek temples,^[4] it has a slight parabolic upward curvature intended primarily to shed rainwater. The columns might therefore be supposed to lean outwards, but they actually lean slightly inwards; and since they are all the same height, the curvature of the outer stylobate edge is transmitted to the architrave and roof above: "all follow the rule of being built to delicate curves" Gorham Stevens observed when pointing out that in addition, the west front was built at a slightly higher level than that of the east front. ^[5] It is not universally agreed what the intended effect of these 'optical refinements' was; it is often suggested that it was to enliven what might have appeared an inert mass in the case of a building without curves, but the comparison ought to be with the Parthenon's more obviously curved predecessors than with a notional rectilinear temple.

Some studies of the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, conclude that many of its proportions approximate the golden ratio. In Mathematics and the Arts two quantities are in the Golden ratio if the Ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the The Parthenon's facade as well as elements of its facade and elsewhere can be circumscribed by golden rectangles. A golden rectangle is a Rectangle whose side lengths are in the Golden ratio, 1\varphi (one-to- phi) that is approximately 11 ^[6] This view that the golden ratio was employed in the design has been disputed in more recent studies. ^[7]

Measured at the top step, the dimensions of the base of the Parthenon are 69. 5 metres by 30. 9 metres (228. 0 x 101. 4 ft). The cella was 29. For the Spanish town see Cella Spain Naos redirects here For other meanings see Naos (disambiguation. 8 metres long by 19. 2 metres wide (97. 8 x 63. 0 ft), with internal Doric colonnades in two tiers, structurally necessary to support the roof. On the exterior, the Doric columns measure 1. 9 metres (6. 2 ft) in diameter and are 10. 4 metres (34. 1 ft) high. The corner columns are slightly larger in diameter. The Parthenon had 46 outer pillars and 19 inner pillars in total. The stylobate has an upward curvature towards its centre of 60 millimetres (2. 36 in) on the east and west ends, and of 110 millimetres (4. 33 in) on the sides. The roof was covered with large overlapping marble tiles known as imbrices and tegulae. The imbrex and tegula (plurals imbrices and tegulae) were overlapping Roof tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture

Sculptural decoration

Floor plan of the Parthenon

Detail of the West metopes, illustrating the current condition of the temple in detail after 2,500 years of war, pollution, erratic conservation, pillage and vandalism

South metope 3, one of the high-relief sculptures removed by Lord Elgin's expedition and now in the British Museum

The Parthenon, an octostyle, peripteral Doric temple with Ionic architectural features, housed the chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos sculpted by Phidias and dedicated in 439/438 BC. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. A portico is a Porch that is leading to the entrance of a building or extended as a Colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway supported by Columns This page is a glossary of architecture. A Aisle - subsidiary space alongside the body of a building separated from it by columns piers or The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical The Ionic order column forms one of the three '''orders''' or '''organizational systems''' of Classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Chryselephantine (from Greek χρυσός, chrysós, Gold, and ελεφάντινος, elephántinos, Ivory Athena Parthenos ( Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος literally "Athena the Virgin " was the title of a massive Chryselephantine Phidias (or Pheidias; in Ancient Greek,; c[[ 80 BC]] c 430 BC) son of Charmides was an ancient Greek The decorative stonework was originally highly coloured. ^[8] The temple was dedicated to the Athena at that time, though construction continued until almost the beginning of the Peloponnesian War in 432. By the year 438, the sculptural decoration of the Doric metopes on the frieze above the exterior colonnade, and of the Ionic frieze around the upper portion of the walls of the cella, had been completed. For the Spanish town see Cella Spain Naos redirects here For other meanings see Naos (disambiguation. The richness of the Parthenon's frieze and metope decoration is in agreement with the function of the temple as a treasury. In the opisthodomus (the back room of the cella) were stored the monetary contributions of the Delian League, of which Athens was the leading member.

Metopes

Main article: Metopes of the Parthenon

The ninety-two metopes were carved in high relief, a practice employed until then only in treasuries (buildings used to keep votive gifts to the gods). The Metopes of the Parthenon are a series of 92 Marble panels running along the outside walls of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and form part The Metopes of the Parthenon are a series of 92 Marble panels running along the outside walls of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and form part According to the building records, the metope sculptures date to the years 446-440 BC. Their design is attributed to the sculptor Kalamis. The metopes of the east side of the Parthenon, above the main entrance, depict the Gigantomachy (mythical battles between the Olympian gods and the Giants). See Gigantes y cabezudos for the giant figures of Spanish culture See Gigantes y cabezudos for the giant figures of Spanish culture The metopes of the west end show Amazonomachy (mythical battle of the Athenians against the Amazons). An Amazonomachy ( English translation: "Amazon battle" plural Amazonomachiai Ἀμαζονομαχίαι (Ancient Greek or Amazonomachies Αμαζονομαχίες The Amazons (in Greek, grc Ἀμαζόνες are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology, who were possibly historical The metopes of the south side—with the exception of the somewhat problematic metopes 13–20, now lost—show the Thessalian Centauromachy (battle of the Lapiths aided by Theseus against the half-man, half-horse Centaurs). In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a legendary people whose home was in Thessaly, in the valley of the Peneus and on the mountain Pelion. In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a legendary people whose home was in Thessaly, in the valley of the Peneus and on the mountain Pelion. For other uses see Theseus (disambiguation Theseus (Θησεύς was a Legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered In Greek mythology, the centaurs (from Ancient Greek: Κένταυροι - Kéntauroi are a race of creatures composed of part Human On the north side of the Parthenon the metopes are poorly preserved, but the subject seems to be the sack of Troy. The Iliou persis ( Greek:; also known as Iliupersis, esp in Latin; English: Sack of Ilium) is a lost epic of ancient

The metopes present surviving traces of the Severe Style in the anatomy of the figures' heads, in the limitation of the corporal movements to the contours and not to the muscles, and in the presence of pronounced veins in the figures of the Centauromachy. The Severe style, or Early Classic style was the dominant idiom of Greek sculpture in the period ca In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a legendary people whose home was in Thessaly, in the valley of the Peneus and on the mountain Pelion. Several of the metopes still remain on the building, but with the exception of those on the northern side, they are severely damaged. Some of them are located at the Acropolis Museum, others are in the British Museum and one can be seen at the Louvre museum. The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum located in Athens Greece on the archeological site of Acropolis. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France

Frieze

Main article: Parthenon Frieze

The most characteristic feature in the architecture and decoration of the temple is the Ionic frieze running around the exterior walls of the cella. The Parthenon Frieze is the low relief Pentelic marble sculpture created to adorn the upper part of the Parthenon ’s naos. In Architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an Entablature and may be plain or &ndash in the Ionic or Corinthian order &ndash The bas-relief frieze was carved in situ; it is dated in 442 BC-438 BC.

One interpretation is that it depicts an idealized version of the Panathenaic procession from the Dipylon Gate in the Kerameikos to the Acropolis. The Panathenaea (Παναθήναια "all-Athenian festival" was the most important festival for Athens and one of the grandest in the entire ancient Greek Kerameikos is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the city Acropolis (Gr akros akron edge extremity + polis city pl acropoleis In this procession held every year, with a special procession taking place every four years, Athenians and foreigners were participating to honour the goddess Athena offering sacrifices and a new peplos (dress woven by selected noble Athenian girls called ergastines). ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. A peplos (πέπλος is a body-length Greek garment worn by women in the years before 500 BC.

Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends, 1868 painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Joan Breton Connelly has recently argued for another interpretation of the Frieze, in which she attempts to prove that the iconography of the Frieze is based on Greek mythology. Phidias (or Pheidias; in Ancient Greek,; c[[ 80 BC]] c 430 BC) son of Charmides was an ancient Greek Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, OM, RA ( January 8, 1836, Dronrijp, the Netherlands. Joan Breton Connelly is a classical archaeologist and Professor of Classics and Art History at New York University. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance This interpretation postulates that the scenes depict the sacrifice of Pandora, youngest daughter of Erechtheus, to Athena. In Greek mythology, Pandora (from Greek:, "giver of all all-endowed" was the first woman Erechtheus (Ἐρεχθεύς in Greek Mythology was the name of a King of Athens, and a secondary name for two other characters In Homer This human sacrifice was demanded by Athena to save the city from Eumolpus, king of Eleusis, who had gathered an army to attack Athens. In Greek mythology, Eumolpus (also Eumolpos) was the son of Poseidon and Chione. Elefsina (Ελευσίνα Ancient/ Katharevousa: Eleusis is a town and municipality about 20 km NW of Athens. ^[9]

Pediments

The 2nd-century traveller Pausanias, when he visited the Acropolis at the end of the second century AD , only mentioned briefly the sculptures of the pediments (gable ends) of the temple, reserving the majority of his description for the gold and ivory statue of the goddess inside. Pausanias ( Greek:) was a Greek traveller and Geographer of the 2nd century CE, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure ( Entablature) typically supported by

East pediment

The East pediment narrates the birth of Athena from the head of her father, Zeus. ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology According to Greek mythology Zeus gave birth to Athena after a terrible headache prompted him to summon Hephaestus' (the god of fire and the forge) assistance. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Hephaestus (hɨˈfiːstəs or /hɨˈfɛstəs/ Greek Hēphaistos) was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. To alleviate the pain he ordered Hephaestus to strike him with his forging hammer, and when he did, Zeus's head split open and out popped the goddess Athena in full armour. The sculptural arrangement depicts the moment of Athena's birth.

Unfortunately, the center pieces of the pediment were destroyed even before Jacques Carrey created otherwise useful documentary drawings in 1674, so all reconstructions are subject to conjecture and speculation. . The main Olympian gods must have stood around Zeus and Athena watching the wondrous event, with Hephaestus and Hera probably near them. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. Hephaestus (hɨˈfiːstəs or /hɨˈfɛstəs/ Greek Hēphaistos) was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera (ˈhɪərə or /ˈhɛrə/ Greek) or Here ( in Ionic and Homer The Carrey drawings are instrumental in reconstructing the sculptural arrangement beyond the center figures to the north and south. ^[10]

West pediment

The west pediment faced the Propylaia and depicted the contest between Athena and Poseidon during their competition for the honor of becoming the city's patron. In Greek mythology, Poseidon ( Greek:; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the Sea and as "Earth-Shaker" Athena and Poseidon appear at the center of the composition, diverging from one another in strong diagonal forms with the goddess holding the olive tree and the god of the sea raising his trident to strike the earth. ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. In Greek mythology, Poseidon ( Greek:; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the Sea and as "Earth-Shaker" At their flanks they are framed by two active groups of horses pulling chariots, while a crowd of legendary personalities from Athenian mythology fills the space out to the acute corners of the pediment.

The work on the pediments lasted from 438 to 432 BC, and the sculptures of the Parthenon pediments are some of the finest examples of classical Greek art. Events By place Greece The Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens is completed by Ictinus and Callicrates Events By place Greece Sparta calls and hosts a conference of the Peloponnesian League. The figures are sculpted in natural movement with bodies full of vital energy that bursts through their flesh, as the flesh in turn bursts through their thin clothing. The thin chitons allow the body underneath to be revealed as the focus of the composition. A chiton ( Ancient Greek khitōn (χιτών was a form of clothing in Ancient Greece, worn by both women and men With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual The distinction between gods and humans is blurred in the conceptual interplay between the idealism and naturalism bestowed on the stone by the sculptors. ^[11] The pediments no longer exist.

Athena Parthenos

For more details on this topic, see Athena Parthenos. Athena Parthenos ( Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος literally "Athena the Virgin " was the title of a massive Chryselephantine

The only piece of sculpture from the Parthenon known to be from the hand of Pheidias^[12] was the statue of Athena housed in the naos. This massive chryselephantine sculpture is now lost and known only from copies, vase painting, gems, literary descriptions and coins. Chryselephantine (from Greek χρυσός, chrysós, Gold, and ελεφάντινος, elephántinos, Ivory ^[13]

Older Parthenon

Main article: Older Parthenon

The first endeavour to build a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the present Parthenon was begun shortly after the Battle of Marathon (c. The Older Parthenon or Pre‐Parthenon, as it is frequently referred to constitutes the first endeavour to build a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the The Battle of Marathon ( Greek: Μάχη τοῡ Μαραθῶνος Machē tou Marathōnos) during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 490-88 BC). This building replaced a hekatompedon (meaning "hundred-footer") and would have stood beside the archaic temple dedicated to Athena Polias. The “older Parthenon”, as it is frequently referred to, was still under construction when the Persians sacked the city in 480 BC and razed the Acropolis. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia The existence of the proto-Parthenon and its destruction were known from Herodotus,^[14] and the drums of its columns were plainly visible built into the curtain wall north of the Erechtheum. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash The Erechtheum (Έρέχθειον Erechtheion) is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece Further material evidence of this structure was revealed with the excavations of Patagiotis Kavvadias of 1885-90. The findings of this dig allowed Wilhelm Dörpfeld, then director of the German Archaeological Institute, to assert that there existed a distinct substructure to the original Parthenon, called Parthenon I by Dörpfeld, not immediately below the present edifice as had been previously assumed. Wilhelm Dörpfeld (or Doerpfeld) ( 26 December 1853 &ndash 25 April 1940) was a German Architect, best known ^[15] Dörpfeld's observation was that the three steps of the first Parthenon consisted of two steps of Poros limestone, the same as the foundations, and a top step of Karrha limestone that was covered by the lowest step of the Periclean Parthenon. This platform was smaller and slightly to the north of the final Parthenon, indicating that it was built for a wholly different building, now wholly covered over. This picture was somewhat complicated by the publication of the final report on the 1885-90 excavations, indicating that the substructure was contemporary with the Kimonian walls, and implying a later date for the first temple. ^[16]

If the original Parthenon was indeed destroyed in 480, it invites the question of why the site was left a ruin for thirty-three years. One argument involves the oath sworn by the Greek allies before the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC^[17] declaring that the sanctuaries destroyed by the Persians would not be rebuilt, an oath from which the Athenians were only absolved with the Peace of Callias in 450. The Battle of Plataea was the final major Battle of the Greco-Persian Wars in southern Greece. The Peace of Callias is a purported treaty established around 449 BC between the Delian League (led by Athens) and Persia, ending the Persian ^[18] The mundane fact of the cost of reconstructing Athens after the Persian sack is at least as likely a cause. However, the excavations of Bert Hodge Hill led him to propose the existence of a second Parthenon, begun in the period of Kimon after 468 BC. Cimon (in Greek, Κίμων &mdash Kimōn) (510 Athens - 450 BC Citium, Cyprus) was an Athenian ^[19] Hill claimed that the Karrha limestone step Dörpfeld took to be the highest of Parthenon I was in fact the lowest of the three steps of Parthenon II, whose stylobate dimensions Hill calculated to be 23. 51x66. 888m.

One difficulty in dating the proto-Parthenon is that at the time of the 1885 excavation the archaeological method of seriation was not fully developed; the careless digging and refilling of the site led to a loss of much valuable information. In Archaeology, seriation is a Relative dating method in which assemblages or artifacts from numerous sites in the same culture are placed An attempt to make sense of the potsherds found on the acropolis came with the two-volume study by Graef and Langlotz published 1925-33. ^[20] This inspired American archaeologist William Bell Dinsmoor to attempt to supply limiting dates for the temple platform and the five walls hidden under the re-terracing of the Acropolis. William Bell Dinsmoor Sr (born Windham, New Hampshire 1886 died Athens, Greece July 1973 was an architectural historian of classical Dinsmoor concluded that the latest possible date for Parthenon I was no earlier 495 BC, contradicting the early date given by Dörpfeld. ^[21] Further Dinsmoor denied that there were two proto-Parthenons, and that the only pre-Periclean temple was what Dörpfeld referred to as Parthenon II. Dinsmoor and Dörpfeld exchanged views in the American Journal of Archaeology in 1935. ^[22]

Name

The origin of the Parthenon's name is unclear. According to Jeffrey M. Hurwit, the term "Parthenon" means "of the virgin" or "of the virgins", and seems to have originally referred only to a particular room of the Parthenon; it is debated which room this is, and how the room acquired its name. One theory holds that the "parthenon" was the room in which the peplos presented to Athena at the Panathenaic Festival was woven by the arrephoroi, a group of four young girls chosen to serve Athena each year. A peplos (πέπλος is a body-length Greek garment worn by women in the years before 500 BC. The Panathenaea (Παναθήναια "all-Athenian festival" was the most important festival for Athens and one of the grandest in the entire ancient Greek A maiden acolyte in the cult of Athena Polias on the Athenian Acropolis. ^[23] Christopher Pelling asserts that Athena Parthenos may have constituted a discrete cult of Athena, intimately connected with, but not identical to, that of Athena Polias. ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. ^[24] According to this theory, the name of Parthenon means the "temple of the virgin goddess", and refers to the cult of Athena Parthenos that was associated with the temple. ^[25] The epithet parthénos (Greek: παρθένος), whose origin is also unclear,^[26] meant "virgin, unmarried woman", and was especially used for Artemis, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation, and for Athena, the goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Greek mythology, Artemis language|Greek] ( Nominative), ( Genitive))] was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister ^[27] It has also been suggested that the name of the temple alludes to the virgins (parthenoi), whose supreme sacrifice guaranteed the safety of the city. ^[28]

In any case, the first instance in which Parthenon definitely refers to the entire building is in the 4th-century BC orator Demosthenes. For the Athenian general see Demosthenes (general. For the ancient physician see Demosthenes Philalethes. In the 5th-century building accounts, the structure is simply called ho neos ("the temple"). The architects Mnesikles and Kallikrates are said to have called the building Hekatompedos ("the hundred footer") in their lost treatise on Athenian architecture,^[29] and in the 4th century and later the building was referred to as the Hekatompedos or the Hekatompedon as well as the Parthenon; the 1st-century AD writer Plutarch refers to the building as the Hekatompedon Parthenon. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c ^[30]

Treasury or temple?

Architecturally, the Parthenon is clearly a temple, formerly containing the famous cult image of Athena by Phidias and the treasury of votive offerings. In the practice of Religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the Deity, spirit or Daemon that it embodies or represents ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. Phidias (or Pheidias; in Ancient Greek,; c[[ 80 BC]] c 430 BC) son of Charmides was an ancient Greek Since actual Greek sacrifices always took place at an altar invariably under an open sky, as was in keeping with their religious practices, the Parthenon does not suit some definitions of "temple," as no evidence of an altar has been discovered. An altar is any structure upon which Sacrifices or other offerings are made for religious purposes or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place Thus, some scholars have argued that the Parthenon was only ever used as a treasury. While this opinion was first formed late in the 19th century, it has gained strength in recent years. The majority of scholarly opinion still sees the building in the terms Walter Burkert described for the Greek sanctuary, consisting of temenos, altar and temple with cult image. Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, February 2, 1931) a scholar of Greek mythology and cult, is an emeritus Sanctuary has multiple meanings A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar Temenos ( from the Greek verb "to cut" plural temene is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain especially to kings ^[31]

Later history

Christian church

The Parthenon survived as a temple to Athena for close to a thousand years. It was certainly still intact in the 4th century AD, by which time it was already as old as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is now, and far older than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. NotreDameFlyingButtressjpg|right|thumb|250px|Notre Dame de Paris Flying Buttress]] Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 But by that time Athens had been reduced to a provincial city of the Roman Empire, albeit one with a glorious past. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Sometime in the 5th century AD, the great cult image of Athena was looted by one of the Emperors, and taken to Constantinople, where it was later destroyed, possibly during the sack of the city during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD. In the practice of Religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the Deity, spirit or Daemon that it embodies or represents Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS The Fourth Crusade (1202&ndash1204 was originally designed to conquer Muslim Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt.

The Parthenon's position on the Acropolis allows it to dominate the city skyline of Athens.

Shortly after this, the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church. In Byzantine times it became the Church of the Parthenos Maria (Virgin Mary), or the Church of the Theotokos (Mother of God). Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, It was the fourth most important pilgrimage in the Eastern Roman Empire after Constantinople, Ephessos and Thessalonica. ^[32] In 1018, the emperor Basil II, went on a pilgrimage to Athens directly after his final victory over the Bulgarians for the sole purpose of worshipping at the Parthenon. Basil II, surnamed the Bulgar-slayer (Βασίλειος Β΄ Βουλγαροκτόνος Basileios II Boulgaroktonos, 958 &ndash December 15 1025 ^[32] In medieval Greek accounts it called the Temple of Theotokos Atheniotissa and often indirectly referred to, as famous without explaining which temple they were referring to precisely, thus establishing that it was indeed well known. ^[32]

At the time of the Latin occupation it became for about 250 years a Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady. The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople (original Latin name Imperium Romaniae, " Empire of Romania " is the The conversion of the temple to a church involved removing the internal columns and some of the walls of the cella, and the creation of an apse at the eastern end. For the Spanish town see Cella Spain Naos redirects here For other meanings see Naos (disambiguation. APSE standing for Ada Programming Support Environment is a program or set of programs to support Software development in the Ada programming language. This inevitably led to the removal and dispersal of some of the sculptures. Those depicting gods were either possibly re-interpreted according to a Christian theme, or removed and destroyed.

During Ottoman rule

In 1456, Athens fell to the Ottomans, and the Parthenon was converted again, into a mosque. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger Contrary to subsequent misconception, the Ottomans were broadly respectful of ancient monuments in their territories and did not willfully destroy the antiquities of Athens, but at the same time made no special effort to protect them. In times of war they were willing to demolish them to provide materials for walls and fortifications. A minaret was added to the Parthenon, and its base and stairway are still functional, leading up as high as the architrave and hence invisible from the outside. For the mountain formation see Minarets (California. Minarets ( Arabic manara (lighthouse منارة but more usually مئذنة Otherwise, the Ottomans did not further modify the building. European visitors in the 17th century, as well as some representations of the Acropolis hill, testified that the building was largely intact.

The southern side of the Parthenon, which sustained considerable damage in the 1687 explosion

In 1687, the Parthenon suffered its greatest blow when the Venetians under Francesco Morosini attacked Athens, and the Ottomans fortified the Acropolis and used the building as a gunpowder magazine. The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica Francesco Morosini (1619 &ndash 1694 was the Doge of Venice from 1688 to 1694 at the height of the Great Turkish War. On 26 September a Venetian mortar, fired from the Hill of Philopappus, blew the magazine up and the building was partly destroyed. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a ^[33] Morosini then proceeded to attempt to loot sculptures from the now ruin. The internal structures were demolished, whatever was left of the roof collapsed, and some of the pillars, particularly on the southern side, were decapitated. The sculptures suffered heavily. Many fell to the ground, and souvenirs were later made from their pieces. Consequently some sections of the sculptural decoration are known only from the drawings made by Flemish artist Jacques Carrey in 1674. ^[34] After this, much of the building fell into disuse and a smaller mosque was erected.

The 18th century was a period of Ottoman stagnation; as a result, many more Europeans found access to Athens, and the picturesque ruins of the Parthenon were much drawn and painted, spurring a rise in philhellenism and helping to arouse sympathy in Britain and France for Greek independence. Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture" was the intellectual fashion at the turn of the 19th century that led Europeans like Lord Byron to lend their support for The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Amongst those early travellers and archaeologists were James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, who were commissioned by the Society of Dilettanti to survey the ruins of classical Athens. For a definition of "dilettante" see the Wiktionary entry. What they produced was the first measured drawings of the Parthenon published in 1787 in the second volume of Antiquities of Athens Measured and Delineated. In 1801, the British Ambassador at Constantinople, the Earl of Elgin, obtained a firman (edict) from the Sultan to make casts and drawings of the antiquities on the Acropolis, to demolish recent buildings if this was necessary to view the antiquities, and to remove sculptures from them. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Thomas Bruce 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine ( July 20, 1766, Broomhall Fife - November 14, 1841, Paris) Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings He took this as permission to collect all the sculptures he could find. He employed local people to detach them from the building itself; a few others he collected from the ground, and some smaller pieces he bought from local people. The detachment of the sculptures caused further irreparable damage to what was left of the building, as some of the frieze blocks were sawn in half to lessen their weight for shipment to England.

Independent Greece

When independent Greece gained control of Athens in 1832, the visible section of the minaret was demolished from the Parthenon, and soon all the medieval and Ottoman buildings on the Acropolis were destroyed. However the image of the small mosque within the Parthenon's cella has been preserved in Joly de Lotbinière's photograph, published in Lerebours's Excursions Daguerriennes in 1842: the first photograph of the Acropolis. ^[35] The area became a historical precinct controlled by the Greek government. Today it attracts millions of tourists every year, who travel up the path at the western end of the Acropolis, through the restored Propylaea, and up the Panathenaic Way to the Parthenon, which is surrounded by a low fence to prevent damage. A Propylaea, Propylea or Propylaia (in Greek &mdash Προπυλαια is any monumental Gateway based on the original Propylaea that serves

Dispute over the marbles

Life-size pediment sculptures from the Parthenon in the British Museum

Today, the Parthenon Marbles which were removed by the Earl of Elgin are in the British Museum. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. Other sculptures from the Parthenon are now in the Louvre in Paris, in Copenhagen, and elsewhere, but most of the remainder are in Athens in the Acropolis Museum, which still stands below ground level a few metres to the south-east of the Parthenon, but will be soon transferred to a new building. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum located in Athens Greece on the archeological site of Acropolis. ^[36] A few can still be seen on the building itself. The Greek government has been campaigning since 1983 for the British Museum sculptures to be returned to Greece. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία ^[37] The British Museum has steadfastly refused to return the sculptures, and successive British governments have been unwilling to force the Museum to do so (which would require legislation). Nevertheless, talks between senior representatives from Greek and British cultural ministries, and their legal advisors took place in London on 4 May 2007. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. These were the first serious negotiations for several years, and there are hopes that the two sides may move a step closer to a resolution. ^[38]

Reconstruction

Restoration work on the Parthenon in February 2004

In 1975, the Greek government began a concerted effort to restore the Parthenon and other Acropolis structures. The project later attracted funding and technical assistance from the European Union. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in An archaeological committee thoroughly documented every artifact remaining on the site, and architects assisted with computer models to determine their original locations. In some cases, prior re-construction was found to be incorrect. Particularly important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the Acropolis Museum. A crane was installed for moving marble blocks; the crane was designed to fold away beneath the roofline when not in use. The incorrect reconstructions were dismantled, and a careful process of restoration began. The Parthenon will not be restored to a pre-1687 state, but the explosion damage will be mitigated as much as possible, both in the interest of restoring the structural integrity of the edifice (important in this earthquake-prone region) and to restore the aesthetic integrity by filling in chipped sections of column drums and lintels, using precisely sculpted marble cemented in place. Marble is a nonfoliated Metamorphic rock resulting from the Metamorphism of Limestone, composed mostly of Calcite (a crystalline form of New marble is being used from the original quarry. Ultimately, almost all major pieces of marble will be placed in the structure where they originally would have been, supported as needed by modern materials.

Originally, various blocks were held together by elongated iron H pins that were completely coated in lead, which protected the iron from corrosion. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly Stabilizing pins added in the 19th century were not so coated and corroded. Since the corrosion product (rust) is expansive, the expansion caused further damage by cracking the marble. ^[39] All new metalwork uses titanium, a strong, light, and corrosion resistant material. Titanium (taɪˈteɪniəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Ti and Atomic number 22

Pollution hazards

Acropolis and Parthenon at night

An immediate problem facing the Parthenon is the environmental impact of the growth of Athens since the 1960s. Corrosion of its marble by acid rain and car pollutants has already caused irreparable damage to some sculptures and threatens the remaining sculptures and the temple itself. Acid rain is Rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually Acidic It has harmful effects on plants aquatic animals and infastructure Over the past 20 years, the Greek government and the city of Athens have made some progress on these issues, but the future survival of the Parthenon does not seem to be assured.

Media

See also

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, USA is a full-scale replica of the original Greek Parthenon. The Parthenon in Nashville Tennessee is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens.

• New Acropolis Museum
• Erechtheum
• Nashville Parthenon - a full scale and polychromed replica of the original as seen by the ancients
• National Monument, Edinburgh
• Greek temple

Notes

References

Printed sources

Online sources

Further reading

External links

• The Acropolis of Athens: The Parthenon (official site with a schedule of its opening hours, tickets and contact information)
• The Acropolis Restoration Project (Greek Government website)
• The Athenian Acropolis by Livio C. Stecchini (Takes the heterodox view of the date of the proto-Parthenon, but a useful summary of the scholarship. )
• UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Acropolis, Athens
• Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County — The Parthenon
• The Parthenon Marbles
• Google Sketchup 3D Model of Parthenon (simplistic)
• Parthenon virtual tour Interactive 360° panoramas in high resolution.
• Parthenon 'The Golden Age of Pericles'
• The Friends of the Acropolis

Campaigning websites

• The Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles - the official page by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
• Marbles Reunited
• Acropolis of Athens - AcropolisofAthens.gr - one monument, one heritage
• Parthenon 2004 - The Campaign to Return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens