Research Paper On The Parthenon

596 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Parthenon architecture

The British Museum, founded in 1753, has a collection of over 8 million objects that span over two million years of human history. The British Museum pays special homage to the ancient Greeks, boasting a wide and varied assortment of historic art pieces for the public to enjoy -- including sculptures from the Parthenon.

The Parthenon

The Parthenon serves as a dedication to the Greek goddess Athena. Located on the high point of Acropolis, it was constructed from 447 to 438 BC in the Doric style of architecture. Unlike other Doric temples, however, the Parthenon was richly decorated and exhibited unique features such as subtly curved columns.
Inside the temple stood a statue of Athena made of ivory and gold. In front of Athena’s statue was a shallow pool of water that reflected its image.

Pediment

Below the roof of the Parthenon is the pediment, which featured critical scenes from Athena’s life. The west pediment (top) depicts the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the patronship of Athens and the east pediment (bottom) illustrates Athena’s birth from Zeus.
Metopes

Another key feature of the Parthenon is its …show more content…

Wrapping around the outer part of the temple’s inner chamber, the frieze depicts the procession of the Panathenaic Festival, or Great Panathenaia. The festival, dedicated to the Goddess Athena, occurred every four years and included events such as musical and athletic contests. Consisting of 115 blocks and with a length of 160 meters, the frieze features over 200 animals and 378 human figures. Its narrative begins on the Parthenon’s southwest corner and splits into two processions in opposite directions before converging over at the east end of the Parthenon. The majority of the frieze is dedicated to the cavalcade, which is the formal procession of people on

Show More
Related

  • Greek Pride in the Individual

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    Greek artists showed value for the individual. All people were portrayed in Greek art, from the sagging old woman to the ideal athlete. Although early Greek art focused on the human ideal, their later art shows that the Greeks appreciated all forms, and found the human body in general to be a beautiful thing. Even the gods in Greek art showed how highly the Greeks valued humanity. The gods were depicted as humans, and were made to human scale; no huge overpowering deity was ever portrayed in their art. The Greeks appreciated themselves in their art as much as they appreciated the gods. Even on the most famous temple of all time, the Parthenon, humans were portrayed. The frieze that adorned the upper face of the Parthenon depicted the human procession in honour of the god Athena.

    Read More

  • Altar of Zeus: New Style to Old Ideas

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...the Athenian Parthenon’s in some ways its powerful imagery has caused it to be acknowledged it as one of the most wonderful examples of Hellenistic art and architecture.

    Read More

  • Hatshepsut Values

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Classical Greece the Parthenon was built as temple to the Goddess Athena, as symbol of the state’s wealth and superiority, along with serving as the treasury. The architecture uses a bit of both Doric and Ionic orders. On the outside rim of the temple Doric columns, triglyphs and metopes are used but on the inside of the temple Ionic friezes were used. Both the metopes and friezes were completely filled with painted sculptures depicting the gods, Athenians, and conquered enemies. The themes center on gods or Athenians being victorious over chorus. One of the main stories shown in the Parthenon is the story of the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena being chosen as the patron Goddess of Athens over the Sea God, Poseidon. Poseidon was a war god who offered the people a beautiful but useless saltwater spring while Athena offered an olive tree. The people of Athens choose the olive tree symbolizing their culture valuing peace and prosperity over the chorus of war. The Parthenon also shows the Ancient Greeks value in mathematics and idealized perfection. The columns were carved to bulge slightly as well as tilting inwards, which creates the illusion that the columns were both straighter and taller than they were. Other illusions they used to give the appearance of perfection included arching in the middle just enough to ensure what would not pull and stop the eye from seeing the ends of the steps rise. Ancient Greeks valued their gods, perfection, mathematics, wealth and

    Read More

  • The Endoios Athena: Athena Seated

    2191 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kroll, John H. The Ancient Image of Athena Polias. Hesperia SupplementsStudies in Athenian Architecture, Sculpture and Topography, Vol. 20: pp. 65 – 76 + 203. 1982. E-journal.

    Read More

  • How Did The Parthenon Influence The Pantheon

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Parthenon was built to house the goddess Athena, but was first used as a treasury. There is some symbolism to its location as the acropolis on which the temple is sited, was also the place other temples had been, but the Athenians rebuilt after the Persian wars and the Parthenon was according to this week’s reading from Reed College, one of those structures built ‘to commemorate their victory and in gratitude to heaven’ (n.d, Reed College)

    Read More

  • The Parthenon

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Parthenon is an amazing Greek temple that was built 2,500 years ago. Even the architects of today have numerous questions about how it was constructed and how it has held up through its eventful past. The Parthenon's detailed appearance is not its only meaningful quality. The Parthenon was constructed as a temple to the goddess, Athena, and as an icon of the Greek people themselves. The Parthenon represents the Greek ideals of humanism, idealism, and rationalism.

    Read More

  • Athena Parthenos: The Goddess of Wisdom

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... made such a great impression that it has carried through to our present day buildings such as the White House. The Athena Parthenos has been recreated by the Romans and then most recently by recreated by Alan LeQuire which is in Nashville. (See Fig 2.) We can get a glimpse with LeQuire’s recreation of how that statue may have been in ancient Greece standing in the Parthenon with such majestic greatness.

    Read More

  • Propaganda and National Pride in Building the Parthenon

    2500 Words  | 5 Pages

    To what extent were propaganda and national pride as important as religion in the design, construction and decoration of the Parthenon? Although the decision to build the Parthenon was highly controversial in Athens because of the politics that surrounded it, was the Parthenon erected simply as sign of dedication to the gods? Or was it to fuel the dwindling pride of the Athenian citizens? By studying the structure, decoration and design, I hope to come to a conclusion as to whether the Parthenon was simply physical evidence of Athenian pride or whether it was pride in religion.

    Read More

  • Ancient Civilization Sculpture

    1661 Words  | 4 Pages

    This statue of Aphrodite shows the dedication the Greeks had to their gods. The bronze goddess, holding her right arm in the air, gives off a powerful attitude. As the pose itself of the statue is not bland and more active, it gives the impression that this was created during the classical period of Greece when sculpture began having more relaxed, natural poses. The lack of more painstaking muscle and bone structure probably places it in the earlier part of the classical period though. What is most intriguing about the sculpture is the white eyes she is given that, in the face of a more natural, realistic human form, the eyes seem to retain an essence that reminds the viewer that this statue is of a goddess and no ordinary human being.

    Read More

  • Plato on the Parthenon

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Parthenon was built to honor the goddess of wisdom, Athena. When structures are built using straight lines they tend to look slightly distorted due to the science of optics. The architects Iktos and Kallikretes were skilled architects of their time and they used illusory tactics to create an ideal aesthetic for The Parthenon. The architects compensated for these visual illusions by counteracting them in their design. The end result is a structure that is not composed of straight lines, but when viewed by the human eye, looks perfectly straight. Plato would have mentioned one of his famous dictums, ?That which changes least is most real.? He would have viewed Iktos and Kallikretes designs as less real than other designs that do not u...

    Read More

  • Ancient Greek Olympics

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    statue was found in the Hera's Temple. Contained in the Temple of Zeus was one

    Read More

  • Essay On The Parthenon

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Parthenon was the focus point, it was supposed to drawn in the most people. To this day the Parthenon draws in a large amount of people from all over the world. The Parthenon was built between 447-432 BCE. It costs the city 469 talents. The Parthenon is mostly Doric columns with a few ionic to draw attention to certain areas. The back room of the Parthenon was said to house Athena’s treasure while the front room holds the statue of Athena. The Parthenon was built so anyone that walks through the arch way will be able to see all angles and inside the Parthenon to see the statues and the details of the

    Read More

  • The Parthenon Sculptures Should Be Returned to Greece

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 adorned the walls, also known as the Parthenon Frieze (“The Parthenon Frieze”, par 1). According to the National Geographic video, “Parthenon Marbles Battle”, two thousand years after the Parthenon was built, in the late 1600's the Parthenon was blown up during a war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, which left the Parthenon almost in complete ruins. Then, in the early 1800's, there came Lord Elgin, who was a huge fanatic of Greek history. Because Greece was currently under conquest by the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin made the Ottoman Empire a deal and bought the remains of the Parthenon Frieze artwork along with other sculptures as well. Elgin sent these unique sculptures of art work back to his country, England. Since then these sculptures became known as the "Elgin Marbles", and currently sit in the British Museum at London (“What are the 'Elgin Marbles”, par 1). However, do these fine pieces of artwork truly belong to Elgin? There has been a lot of controversy throughout the years of whet...

    Read More

  • Why Was the Parthenon Dedicated to Athena?

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dedicated to Athena Parthenos (Athena the virgin) goddess of war and wisdom. Every god and goddess had worship temples to assure everything went well and nothing bad happened. Greeks gave sacrifices too, such as food, messages, and sacred tiles were all sacrifices they gave. The Parthenon was built in 480 BC but got destroyed while under construction in a battle between the Romans and Greeks. The Parthenon was rebuilt in 447 BC, with the original statue that first stood in 480 BC. ("The Parthenon Frieze." The Parthenon Frieze. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.)

    Read More

  • The Human-like Gods

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ory of the contest between Athena and Poseidon to claim Athens, in which Athena won and thus being worshipped by people (Hyginus, pp. 264). Therefore, the Parthenon was built to dedicate to Athena, their virgin patron.

    Read More

More about Research Paper On The Parthenon

Open Document