The Parthenon in Athens

There are few archaeological sites that are as iconic as the Parthenon in Athens. Situated on the Acropolis the temple of Athena has stood as a symbol for Athens and Greece for almost two and half thousand years.

Athena was the patron god of Athens. In fact she was so revered by the inhabitants of Attica that they named the city after her. The current incarnation of the Parthenon though, was not the first temple built on the site. Evidence shows that the Mycenean priest-kings from 1600BC-1100BC had fortified temples on the site. Even as late as the 6th century BC there is archaeological remains of at least two large temples dedicated to Athena.

Parthenon from the West - Mountain - Released into PD

The first limestone sanctuary construction though didn’t begin until circa 488BC, shortly after the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians levelled of the southern part of the Acropolis summit. Large foundations were constructed from locally sourced limestone, construction though was far from complete when the Persians sacked Athens in 480BC. The Older Parthenon’ was razed to the ground.
Thirty years were to pass before the Athenians were in a position to construct a new temple. There are two commonly given reasons for the delay in construction. Firstly there was an agreement amongst the Greek states that no destroyed sanctuaries would be rebuilt. More importantly though was the cost involved in any construction upon the Acropolis.

In 447BC the Athenian state was almost at the peak of its power. Pericles had made himself the ruler of the city, and as a general his military victories cemented his popularity. Pericles wanted a building project to ensure that the dominance of Athens was recognised. The Acropolis was obviously the best place to show off any building, and so Pericles ordered the construction of the Parthenon, the Propylaia and Erechtheion.

Pericles employed the sculptor Pheidias to supervise the construction of a temple to Athena. The building was to follow the plans of Iktinos and Kallikrates, two prominent architects of the time.
One major stumbling block was the cost of any new construction. Surviving records show that the total cost was 469 silver talents, enough money to keep forty Greek warships afloat for a year. At the time it was estimated that the total annual income for Athens was a thousand talents. A large part of the building cost was spent on the transportation of building material from Mount Pentelicus, ten miles outside of Athens.

Parthenon from South - Thermos - CC-BY-SA-2.5

The problem of cost though was overcome by moving the treasury of the Delian League to the Acropolis, from the Panhellenic Sanctuary at Delos, and then making use of the funds. The Delian League was a collaboration of Greek states, formed to fight the threat of the Persian Empire. The threat from Persia though had reduced by 447BC, and with the signing of a peace treaty in 449BC, Pericles believed that Athens could make better use of the money. Pericles was also confident of Athens’ dominance over their Greek neighbour, so that there would be no complaint.

Construction though as well as money took time, and although the temple was dedicated to the goddess in 438BC it was not until 432BC that construction was completed. Even then it was a further year before all decorations were finished. When completed the building extended to 228 feet long, 101 feet wide and some 34 feet high. There is no evidence of an alter within the temple, and the primary function of the new building appears to be to house a statue of Athena. The statue though was no normal statue, of gigantic proportions it was sculptured by Pheidias. Made from wood, gold and ivory, it was said to stand forty feet tall.

The Parthenon was constructed out of white marble and built in the Doric style. Doric relates to the proportions of the building, with thick and short columns. The Doric style is described as the easiest Greek construction styles, consisting as it does of a stylobate (the base) and fluted column shafts..
Some of the most obvious features are its pillars, forty-six outer ones, including eight on the faade, as well as nineteen inner pillars. These columns extend around the outside of the whole building, whilst inside they help define the interior rooms. There are two main interior rooms, a large naos’ housing the Pheidias statue, and a smaller treasury. The columns and pillars held up a roof in antiquity consisting of large overlapping marble tiles.

Parthenon at Night - Ggia - CC-BY-SA-3.0

Whilst the Parthenon was constructed out of white marble, it was not a plain building. The decorative stone work was original vividly coloured. It is the decorations that set it aside from many other temples of the period. These decorations are divided into the Metopes, Pedimental Sculptures and the Frieze.

There are ninety-two metopes on the Parthenon, each carved in high relief. Each metope displays a battle of good versus evil, either from history or mythology. Carved between 446BC and 440BC, the ones which remain on the temple are badly damaged although the ones on display in various museums, including the British Museum are better preserved.

On the west face, there is a mythical battle by the Athenians against the Amazons. There is some evidence though that the Amazonomachy, may have some basis in real events. The eastern end metopes display the Gigantomachy, the fight between the Olympian gods and the Giants. The north side shows what is believed to be the Trojan war, although these metopes are the least well preserved. The best preserved metopes are on the south and display elements of the Centauromachy. The Centauromachy, was the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, the Athenian king Theseus was said to have aided the Lapiths.

The metopes were all carved in the Early Classic style, or Sever Style. The style was an attempt by the Greek sculptors to show the human form, and so depictions are more lifelike.

The east and western ends of the Parthenon each have a set of Pedimental relief sculptures. Larger than the metopes, the Pedimentals show elements of Athena’s life.

The eastern pediment shows the story of Athena’s birth from the head of Zeus. To relieve a headache, Zeus had Hephaestus strike him with his hammer. From the wound the goddess Athena appear fully clad in her armour. There is only supposition as to what the full relief would have shown in antiquity, as even by the 17th century the central elements had been destroyed.

The western end depicts the story of how Athena became the patron god of Athens. A contest between Poseidon and Athena had been resolved by each god supplying a gift to the inhabitants of the city. Athena provided an olive tree, whilst Poseidon gave a salt water spring. Gaps in the relief are filled with figures from other Athenian legends.

The pediments were completed after the metopes, from 438BC to 432BC, and as a result show a slightly differing style. Described as classical style, the figures show natural movement and finer detail.

The last relief is the Ionic frieze that runs around the upper edge of the exterior walls. Carved in situ, from 442BC to 438BC, on a narrow band, the band is only three and half feet wide. There is debate about what the frieze actually depicts.

The north, west and south faces show a procession of musicians, horsemen and animals, whilst the east face shows a scene of a child handing an offering to an old man. This procession of people could be a representation of the annual procession to honour Athena. Although some archaeologists argue that the frieze depicts a scene from Greek mythology where Pandora was sacrificed to Athena to save the city of Athens from attack.

As patron god of Athens it is obvious why the great building was dedicated to Athena. The name Parthenon though does raise debate. Parthenon means of the virgin’, although it is not clear whether the virgin relates to the goddess, or to the four girls chosen to serve in the temple each year.
Athens became part of the Roman Empire, as the dominance of Greece in the Mediterranean reduced. The Parthenon remained intact for many centuries, although by the 5th century AD parts of the building had been looted. One of the Roman Emperors had images and sculptures removed to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. During this period the building was also converted into a Christian church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This conversion did mean an alteration to the building structure, as an apse was created and some of the internal columns were removed.

The Parthenon remained a church for many hundreds of years until the arrival of the Ottoman Empire in Athens. In 1456 the Parthenon was converted from a church into a mosque. This conversion also altered the appearance of the Parthenon as a minaret, a tower for the call to prayer, was added. The Ottomans though were fairly respectful to the existing structure, and as a result there was no mindless vandalism. Many reports are suggestive that the Parthenon was predominately intact right through until the 17th century.

This position though was to end in 1687. The Venetian Empire was at war with the Ottomans, and in 1687 the Venetian forces attacked Athens. The Ottomans fortified the Acropolis, and stored their armaments and gunpowder in the Parthenon. The Acropolis of course came under attack, and a Venetian mortar managed to ignite the gunpowder in the Parthenon. The resulting explosion partly destroyed the Parthenon, the roof collapse and many of the columns were decapitated. The Venetian forces also looted many of the internal structures. As a result the Parthenon became a shell of its former self.

The independent Greece managed to regain control of Athens in 1832. They were unable to do much with the remains of the once great temple. They removed the Ottoman buildings from the hill, removing the minaret from the Parthenon at the same time. The Parthenon though was a derelict wreck.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, the Greek government set about restoring the Parthenon, and its neighbouring buildings. The restoration is not designed to build the Parthenon back to its ancient image, but to mitigate against the damage caused since the mortar explosion of 1687. Since this date the structure has been further damaged by earthquakes as well as acid rain. This restoration project is not a short-term project and it is not cheap. Whilst funding has been received from the European Union, tourists to the Acropolis are expected to pay a hefty admission fee to view the temple, in order to help fund the ongoing work

Unfortunately you cannot talk about the Parthenon without raising the question of the Elgin Marbles. During the 18th century Athens was still in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, but western Europeans were frequenting it as part of the Grand Tour or for other tourist interests. The Earl of Elgin, the British Ambassador in Constantinople, received permission from the Sultan in 1801 to examine the Parthenon and the Acropolis. Elgin took this permission to mean that sculptures and friezes could be removed from the site. This he did with fervour.

As a result the Marbles arrived at the British Museum, whilst other sculptures turned up at the Louvre, the Copenhagen Museum, and many other European museums. Few were left in Athens, and even fewer on the Parthenon itself. The Greek government has been lobbying the British government to return the Elgin Marbles to Athens, for them to be displayed in a purpose built museum. So far though there has been no compromise, so the Marbles remain on permanent display in the British Museum. Whilst the display is not a complete representation, it does provide an insight into what the Parthenon may have looked like almost two and a half thousand years ago.

The Parthenon has always been commonly known as a temple to Athena. Architecturally speaking then the building is clearly a temple, especially as it contained numerous statues and images dedicated to the goddess. There is no physical evidence that the workings of a temple, the sacrifices and devotions, ever took place within its walls. Some archaeologists and historians now argue, that there is more evidence that the Parthenon only ever operated as a treasury.

No matter its original purpose the Parthenon is certainly one of the iconic symbols of Greece, and of the wider ancient European culture. It is a wonder of an ancient civilisation that should be observed first hand, failing that though take a trip to the British Museum for a feel for how the building may have looked in all its finery.

Copyright - First Published 10th March 2010