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The Parthenon (Παρθενών) (Athens)

Description of The Parthenon

Parthenon - Interesting Facts
Year of construction: 447-432 BC.
Exact dimensions:
Eastern side width: 30.875 m
West side width: 30.8835 m
Northern side length: 69.5151 m
South side length: 69.5115 m
The ratio of width to height: 9: 4
The number of stones used to build the Parthenon: approximately 13,400 stones.
Architects: Iktinos, Callicrates

Sculptor: Phidias or Pheidias
Cost of construction: 469 talents

The Parthenon (Παρθενών) is a classical temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dedicated to the goddess Athena, which the inhabitants of Athens considered their patroness. Construction began in 447 BC, when the Athenian state was at the peak of its power. The Parthenon was completed in 438 BC, although the finishing of the building continued until 432 BC. This is the most important preserved building of classical Greece, which is considered to be the zenith of Doric architecture.

The Parthenon is considered a symbol of ancient Greece, Athenian democracy and Western civilization, and one of the greatest cultural monuments in the world. For the Athenians who built it, the Parthenon and other ancient monuments of the Acropolis were and remain a symbol of the Hellenic victory over the Persian invaders and as thanks to the gods for this victory. At what the Athenians themselves almost did not spend on construction. Instead, they used a tribute from all the allies and colonies to build this beautiful building. Currently, the Ministry of Culture of Greece is conducting a program of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of a partially destroyed building.

The Parthenon was called "New" Parthenon since it replaced the older Parthenon. Previous temple was destroyed by the Persians who took the city of Athens in 480 BC during Greco- Persian Wars. It was constructed as a pagan temple devoted to the patron goddess of Athena who protected the city of Athens and all of region of Attica.

According to Greek mythology Athena was a symbol of wisdom. She was born from the head of her father, Zeus, the main god in the Ancient Greek Pantheon of Gods. It was believed that she never fell in love. Thus she remained a virgin or Parthenos in Greek. Thus it gives the name of the whole temple. Her statue, work of Phidias, stood inside. The statue of Athena made of gold and ivory with a wooden base stood at 12 meters high. In one hand she held a statue of Nike (goddess of victory), while another hand rested on a shield with a snake Erichthonius curled around its base. The helmet on the head of Athena had three large ridges, middle ridge with a sphinx and two sides ridges with griffins. The base of the statue depicted the birth of Pandora. Unfortunately the statue of Athena has not survived to the present day and its appearance is only known by the descriptions, images on coins and a few ancient copies. Many gift shops in Athens sell the replica of the famous Athenian statue.

The initiator of the construction of the Parthenon was Pericles, Athenian statesman, famous military leader and reformer. Design and construction of the Parthenon was carried out by a famous Greek architects Iktinos and Callicrates. Most of structure was created from a high quality Pentelic marble in a periptera outline (rectangular architectural structure surrounded by columns). The Parthenon was surrounded by 50 columns, 8 columns on the facade and 17 columns on each side. The ancient Greek knew that straight lines are distorted by a human eye so they used some optical deception in the construction. For example the diameter of the columns is decreasing toward the top and corner columns are inclined toward the center.

In the 5th century AD it was converted to Greek Orthodox Church and was dedicated to Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. With the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans it was turned into a Muslim Mosque in 1460's. Turkish lords added a minaret, a prayer tower, next to it. The greatest damage to this beautiful came on September 26th, 1687 when a Venetian cannon ball managed to ignite a gun powder warehouse inside the Parthenon, blasting it structure. In 1806 Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, visited the site and removed several structures from the site. These statues and marble pieces became known as Elgin Marbles. Today they are housed in the British Museum in London, UK. There is still great deal of debate whether these statues should be returned to the original site to reconstruct the Parthenon to its original condition or leave the things as they are now.

Etymology of the word Parthenon

Parthenon is derived from the word “Parthenos” (παρθένος), which means “maid, girl”, but can also mean “virgin, unmarried woman” and was especially used for the Greek goddess Artemis, the goddess of wild animals, hunting and vegetation, as well as for Athena, the goddess strategy and tactics, craft and practical reason. It was also suggested that the name of the temple hints at the girls (parthenoy), whose highest sacrifice with her life guaranteed the safety of the city during the war. Parthenos was also applied to the Virgin Mary, Parthenos Mary, when the Parthenon was transformed into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the last decade of the sixth century.

The term "Parthenon", apparently, at first was used only for a specific room of the temple. It is still being discussed which room was originally named the Parthenon. Some historians believe that the Parthenon was the room in which Peplos (women's outerwear made of light fabric in folds, sleeveless, worn over the tunic), presented to Athena at the Panathena festival, was woven by Arreforoy, a group of four young girls chosen for serving Athens every year.

The first example, when the term Parthenon began to refer specifically to the entire building, is contained in the writings of the 4th century BC. orator Demosthenes. In the reports of the 5th century building, the building is simply called ho naos (“temple”). It is believed that the architects Iktinos and Callicrates called the building Hekatompedos or Hekatompedos (“one hundred feet”) in their lost treatise on Athenian architecture, and in the 4th century and later called Hekatompompos or Hekatompedon is also mentioned by the 1st century historian - Plutarch, who referred to the Parthenon as Hekatompedos Parthenon.

Since the Parthenon was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, it was sometimes called the Temple of Minerva, the Roman name of Athens, especially in the 19th century.

Parthenon History

The Parthenon is without doubt the most famous and most recognizable of all Greek temples. It was built in 447 - 438 BC. during the classical period of Greece under the leadership of the famous Athenian architect and sculptor, Phidias, as well as Iktin and Callicrates. The early history and first use of a large limestone rock, known today as the Acropolis, is unknown to sacred rites. They were forgotten long before the writing of the first data on the history of Athens. Neolithic remnants found on the slopes of the Acropolis point to a permanent settlement on a hill, at least around 2800 BC, long before the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures, which in turn gave rise to classical Greek civilization. In the Mycenaean period (1600-1100 BC), powerful fortifications were located at the highest level of the Acropolis, which defended the palace - the temple of the Mycenaean kings who also served as priests.

Old Parthenon

The oldest or proto - Parthenon, as it is often called, was still built when the Persians captured the city in 480 BC and destroyed the Acropolis. The existence of proto-Parthenon and its destruction was known from the works of Herodotus, and the drums of his columns are clearly visible, embedded in the wall north of Erechteon. Further physical evidence of this building was discovered during the excavations of Panagiotis Kavvadias in 1885-90. The findings of this archaeological work allowed Wilhelm Dörpfeld, then director of the German Archaeological Institute, to assert that there was a clear substructure of the original Parthenon, called the Parthenon I Dörpfeld, immediately below the modern building. Dörpfeld’s observation was that the three steps of the first Parthenon consisted of two steps of particular limestone, as well as the upper step of Karrch, which was covered with the lowest step of the classical Parthenon. This platform was smaller and just north of the final Parthenon temple, which indicates that it was built for a completely different building, which is now completely covered by a modern temple. Also, the analysis of the stones indicated that the ancient proto-Parthenon began to be built just a few years before the destruction and at the time of the Persian Wars apparently was not finished.

If the original Parthenon was indeed destroyed in 480, then the logical question arises as to why the site was destroyed and abandoned for thirty-three years. One of the arguments concerns an oath made by the Greek allies before the battle of Plata in 479 BC, declaring that the sanctuaries destroyed by the Persians would not be restored. From this oath, the Athenians were released only after the peace of Kallias in 450 (a treaty concluded about 449 BC between the League of Delians (led by Athens) and Persia, ending the Greek-Persian Wars). The fact of the cost of reconstructing Athens after the Persian seizure is at least part of the likely cause.

Classic Parthenon

The Parthenon is not the first temple which stands in its present place. Before that, there was another temple dedicated to Athena, the patroness of the city. But he was burned by the Persian soldiers of King Xerxes in 480 BC. The enterprising Greeks used the remains of the first temple in the construction of fortifications in the northern part of the Acropolis. Not much is known about this temple and it is not known whether it was completed at the time of the war with the Persians. Its massive foundations were made of limestone, and the columns were made of Penteli marble, a material that was first used by the Greeks. The current classical Parthenon was built between 447-432 BC, as the center of the architectural complex of the Acropolis. Pericles initiated an ambitious construction project that lasted the entire second half of the century. During this period, the most important buildings visible today on the Acropolis were erected - the Parthenon, the Propelyaria, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon was built under the general guidance of the artist Phidias, who was also responsible for the sculptural decoration. The architects Iktin and Callicrates designed the temple and it was dedicated to the goddess Athena Pallas or Parthenos ("virgin" in Greek), hence the name Parthenon.

The Parthenon temple is archeoastronomically combined with the constellation Hyades. In Greek mythology, the Hyades were the five daughters of the Atlas and the half sisters of the Pleiades. After the death of his brother Hyas, the crying sisters turned into a group of stars, which was later associated with the rain. It is difficult to say whether this fact is a coincidence or whether it had a special role in the construction of the Parthenon temple.

The main function of the temple was to store the treasury of Athens, as well as to store the monumental statue of Athena, made by sculptor Phidias of gold and ivory. The temple and the statue were consecrated in 438 BC, although the work on the sculptures of its pediment continued until the completion of the Parthenon in 432 BC.

The construction of the Parthenon temple cost the Athenian treasury 469 talents of silver. It is almost impossible to create a modern equivalent of this amount of money, but it would be useful to look at some facts. One talent was the cost of building one trireme, the most advanced warship of that era. Also, one talent paid for the month of work of the entire crew of this ship. At the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenian Navy had 200 triremes in the city navy, and the annual gross income of the city of Athens at the time of Pericles was 1,000 talents, with 6,000 other talents in reserve for its treasury. That is, the Parthenon building cost a substantial amount for the city treasury. Some of the financial accounts of the Parthenon survived and show that the largest separate expenditure in the construction of the temple consisted in transporting stone from Mount Pentelicus, about 16 kilometers from Athens and from the Acropolis. All were transported about 13,400 stones.

The roof of the Parthenon temple is supported by eight Doric columns on the facade and seventeen columns on the flanks in accordance with the established 9: 4 ratio. This ratio exists in many proportions of the Parthenon temple, its length to height, as well as many other building relationships, the distance between the columns and their height. The Parthenon is not the largest temple in ancient Greece, but it is the most thoughtful in its design and ratios of different sizes.

Parthenon: History - Orthodox Shrine

A large fire broke out in the Parthenon building shortly after the middle of the third century AD, which destroyed the roof of the temple and most of the interior of the sanctuary. The destruction of Athens in the year 276 is also attributed to the barberic pirates. It is believed that they destroyed most of the public buildings of the city, including the Parthenon. Repairs were carried out in the fourth century AD, possibly during the reign of the pagan emperor Julian the Apostate. To cover the sanctuary a new wooden roof with a clay tile was installed. The new roof was erected under a greater slope than the original roof, and left the wings of the building were open.

The relative good preservation of the Parthenon temple is explained by the fact that it was used for various purposes and no one could disassemble the ancient structure on the building material. Immediately after the formation of Christianity as the state religion in the Ancient Roman (later Byzantine) Empire in 425, the Parthenon was not destroyed. The Greeks respected their ancestors and even the ideologically distant monuments of ancient paganism were preserved. In the 590s AD, the Parthenon was transformed into a Greek Orthodox church and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. Then the statue of the goddess Athena disappeared. It was apparently taken out and broken into pieces.

The orientation of the Parthenon building was changed to face the east, as required by the Christian tradition. The main entrance was located at the western end of the building, and the Christian altar and iconostasis were located on the eastern side of the building adjacent to the apse where the church was built. A large central entrance (the Royal Entrance) with adjacent side doors were made in the wall separating Cella (the inner part of the temple), which served as the nave (elongated interior space) of the church. The gaps between the columns and the peristyle were immured, although a number of doorways allowed access. Icons were painted on the walls and many Christian inscriptions were carved on the columns of the Parthenon temple. These repairs inevitably led to the removal and destruction of some sculptures.

The Parthenon became the fourth most important center of Christian pilgrimage in the Eastern Roman Empire after Jerusalem, Constantinople and Ephesus. In 1018, Emperor Basil II went on a pilgrimage to Athens immediately after his final victory over the Bulgarians, with the sole purpose of praying in the Parthenon. In the medieval Greek archives, the Parthenon is called the Temple of the Blessed Virgin of Afeniotis.

During the Latin occupation ie after the Fourth Crusade of 1204, the Parthenon was turned into the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady for about 250 years. During this period, the tower is a bell tower of the church, was used as a watchtower. It was located on the southwestern corner of Cella. The vaulted tomb was built under the floor of the Parthenon.

The Parthenon - The Mosque

Mosque Parthenon in the Middle Ages

During the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans, the Parthenon was turned into a Muslim mosque in 1460. Turkish rulers turned the bell tower into a minaret, a prayer tower, next to it. Of course, no one could even think of an idea to disassemble something from a new temple or rob it. The greatest damage to this beautiful building was made on September 26, 1687, when a shot from a Venetian cannon hit the powder storage inside the Parthenon temples. Subsequent explosion caused serious damage to the entire temple. In addition about 300 people were killed.

In 1806, Thomas the Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, visited and studied the Acropolis complex and Parthenon in particular. He also took several statues from the mountain, paying the Turks for them. These statues and marble became known as Elgin Marble. Today they are housed in the British Museum in London, UK. These statues are still the subject of heated debate. Namely, should the British side return the article back to the Parthenon to the historic place or leave it as it is now?


The Parthenon is the first photograph taken in the 1830s. It shows that the Parthenon mosque was partially restored.

Parthenon - Function

Although the Parthenon is officially a temple and, as a rule, is called so, in fact it is not such in the usual sense of the word. A small sanctuary was found inside the building, on the site of an old sanctuary, probably dedicated to Athena as a way to approach the goddess, but the Parthenon was never the center of the cult of Athena Pallas, the patron saint of Athens. Even the colossal statue of Athena bu Phidias was not associated with any cult and, as we know, did not inspire any religious fervor. Parhenon had no priestess, no altar, no cult name. According to Thucydides, Pericles once mentioned the statue as a gold reserve, stressing that it "contains 40 talents of pure gold, and it was all removable." Thus, the Athenian statesman implies that the metal obtained from chasing coins can be reused without any insult to the Greek goddess. The Parthenon should be seen as a grand setting for the ornate statue of Phidias, and not a cult building. Many Greek writings say that many treasures were kept in the temple, such as Persian swords and small precious metal figures.

Also, the sculptural composition of the Parthenon temple gave the Greeks and foreigners an idea of ​​the sequence of genealogical narratives that track the Athenian history throughout the centuries: from the birth of Athena to the great epic battles of the Bronze Age, the Athenian War of Erechtheus and Evmolp. For these scenes of historical events, Greek teachers could visually show the chronology of the city. In fact, this is one big comic. The Parthenon establishes and perpetuates the myth of Athens, the memory of the history of the city and the identity of its inhabitants.

Parthenon temple architecture

Cella (Inner room) Parthenon was unusually large for a Greek temple. This was done to accommodate the huge statue of the gods Athena Palad. A colonnade of six Doric columns supported the front and back porch, and a colonnade of 23 small Doric columns surrounded the statue in two floors. Placing the columns behind the statue was an unusual decision, since in the previous Doric temples the columns stood only on the flanks, but the Parthenon’s large width and length allowed the dramatic backgrounds of the double columns instead of the wall.

The back room protected the treasures of Athens, and four columns of the Ionic type supported its roof. The introduction of elements of the Ionian architectural type in the main Doric temple was for other drama of the general interior. While the integration of Doric and Ionic elements in a single temple was not a new development in Greek architecture, but still remained a rarity. This architectural solution gave the Parthenon temple a delicate balance between strict and elegant visual characteristics.

All the temples in Greece were built for inspection only from the outside. Most of the inhabitants of Athens never entered the Parthenon temple itself and could only see the inside statues through the open doors. Any visitor was fascinated by the brilliant gold leaves covering the white skin of the ivory goddess. The monumental statue of Athena was clearly visible, standing on the back of dim cella. The statue was framed by Doric columns that made the interior of the Parthenon visually larger than it looked from the outside. Unfortunately, the gold from the statue disappeared in ancient antiquity. In 296 BC Tyrant Lakars took all the gold from the statue of Athena to pay for his army. At some point in the fifth century, the great iconic image of the statue of Athena was stolen by one of the emperors and taken to Constantinople, where it was subsequently destroyed, possibly during the siege and capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD.

A visitor going to the Acropolis, stepped over the Propyla to the magnificent Parthenon with a full view of the western pediment and the northern colonnade. When the viewer came closer, the details of the sculptural metopes became more and more intelligible, and already in the immediate vicinity of the base of the columns, part of the frieze became visible. Moving along the sides of the Parthenon and looking up at the majestic temple, the Athenian could view a comic of marble dedicated to various scenes from Greek history. On the one hand there are scenes from the mythical battle of the Greeks with centaurs, and on the other side of the Parthenon there is a visual series from the Trojan War. On one fountain there is an image of the birth of Athena, and on the other there is a dispute between Athena and Poseidon about patronage over the city. Of course Athena won this dispute and Athens was named after her. This was, of course, the scenes that every Athenian recognized.

The Parthenon represents an engineering breakthrough in the construction of buildings and structures. However, its stylistic convention became the paradigm of classical architecture, and its style influenced architecture over many centuries. The Parthenon was a great temple, but by no means the largest in the Greek world. His aesthetic appeal and fame created a model of refinement of the established norms of Greek architecture, however, as well as the quality of his sculptural decoration. The Parthenon embodies all the ideals of Greek thought during the apogee of the classical era with the help of artistic means. The idealism of the Greek way of life, the attention to detail, and the understanding of mathematical harmony in the natural world, were the factor that separated them from the barbarians in the eyes of every Athenian. These ideals are represented in the ideal proportion of a building, in its intricate architectural elements, and also in anthropomorphic statues that adorn it.

The peristyle colonnades reach more than ten meters in height, and are inclined slightly towards the center of the building in its upper part (about 7 cm), while the platforms on which they stand bends so that the corners of the building decrease 12 cm closer to the ground. the middle.

Sculptures of the Parthenon

The statue of Athena Pallas, the work of Phidias and dedicated in 439 or 438 BC, was housed in the temple of the Parthenon. The original has not been preserved, but copies of this statue have been preserved throughout the Mediterranean. However, the construction of the statue did not end the construction of the Pargenon building. The temple was dedicated to Athena at that time, although the construction itself continued until almost the beginning of the Peloponnesian War in 432. By 438, the sculptural decoration of the Doric metopes on the frieze over the outer colonnade and the Ionic frieze around the upper part of the walls was completed. The opishodomus (opisthodomus) (back room cella) kept cash deposits of the allies of Athens. Interestingly, most of the Parthenon temple was built with the money of the Allies, and not the inhabitants of the city. If the city of Athens were forced to pay for such an expensive structure, they would hardly have been able to see the Parthenon in its modern dimensions.

Most of the sculptures today are lost. They were either destroyed or stolen. Only a very small number of sculptures remain in place; Most of the surviving sculptures today are stored in the British Museum in London. They are known as Elgin Marbles. Also, several statues are kept in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, but several artifacts are also located in the Louvre, and in museums in Rome, Vienna and Palermo.

Metopes of the Parthenon

The frieze of the Parthenon entablasa consisted of ninety-two metopes, fourteen in the east and west, and thirty-two in the north and south. They were carved with high relief, a practice applied until then only in treasuries (buildings were used to preserve divine gifts for the gods). According to the building, the metope sculptures refer to 446-440. BC. The metopes of the eastern side of the Parthenon temple above the main entrance depict the Gigantomachy (a mythical battle between the Olympic gods and giants). The metopes of the western side depict Amazonomachia (the mythical battle of the Athenians against the Amazons). The metopes of the south side of the Parthenon temple show Thessalian Centauromachy (the battle of the Lapiths, helped by Theseus in the war against the centaurs). Metops 113-21 are missing, but drawings from 1674, attributed to Jacques Kerry, show a series of people. They were interpreted differently as scenes from weddings by lapifs, scenes from the early history of Athens and various myths. On the north side of the Parthenon, the metropes are poorly preserved, but they probably depict scenes from the Trojan War. Some metopes still remain on the building, but, with the exception of those on the north side, they are badly damaged. Some of them are located in the Acropolis Museum (42 images), others are in the British Museum (about 15), and one in the Louvre Museum.

In March 2011, archaeologists announced that they had discovered five metopes of the Parthenon temple in the southern wall of the Acropolis, which was expanded when the Acropolis was used as a fortress. According to local newspapers, archaeologists claimed that the Parthenon images were placed there in the 18th century, when the wall of the Acropolis was being repaired. The white pental marble they were made of was different from the other stone in the wall, so there is no doubt that they belonged to the Parthenon complex. Previously it was assumed that the missing metopes were destroyed during the explosion in 1687.

Bas-relief Frieze of the Parthenon

The most characteristic feature of the architectural decoration of the Parthenon temple is the Ionic frieze, located on the outer walls of the cella, which is the internal building of the Parthenon. The bas-relief frieze was cut out by masters after the wall was made of blocks. It dates from 442 BC to 438 BC.

One of the interpretations of the images explains that this is an idealized version of the Panathenien procession from the Dipilon gate in Ceramique to the Acropolis. This procession was held every year, and especially magnificent processions took place every four years. These days, the Athenians and foreigners participated in the celebration of the goddess Athena, offering sacrifices and a new peplos (a dress woven by selected noble Athenian girls called ergastins).

Another version of this Parthenon ornament explains this image as Athenian genealogy through a series of succession myths established in the distant past. The central panel above the door of the Parthenon possibly depicts the daughter of King Erehtus, who was sacrificed, which ensured the victory of the Athenians over Eumopohl and his Thracian army. The great procession leading to the eastern edge of the Parthenon shows the post-war thanksgiving sacrifice of cattle and sheep, honey and water, and then the triumphal army of Erechtus, returning from victory. It represents the first procession of the Panathenes in the mythical times on which the historical Panathenai processions were based. Today, there are 96 plates of bas-relief frieze. Of these, 56 are in the British Museum in London, 40 (mostly the western part of the frieze) - in Athens.

Pediment of the Parthenon

The traveler Pausanias, when he visited the Acropolis at the end of the 2nd century AD, only briefly mentioned the sculptures of the pediment of the Parthenon temple, dedicating most of his description of the statue of the goddess inside of gold and ivory.

Western pediment

On the western pediment of the Parthenon temple, there is a dispute between the goddess Athena and the god of the seas of Poseidon over the city of Athens and the whole region of Attica. On both sides of the central gods were chariots: on the left, probably, Nicea and Hermes, on the right, Iris and Amphitryon. The supporters of Athena are shown in detail in the extreme part of the pediment behind the left chariot, and the defenders of Poseidon are shown behind the right chariot. It is believed that the corners of the gable are decorated with Athenian water deities, such as the Kefisos river, the river Ilissos and the nymph Kallirhoe. This statement is prompted by the graceful forms of the body position of the sculptures, which is an attempt by the artist to impress the current river. Near the left god of the river are sculptures of the mythical king of Athens (Kekrops) with his daughters (Aglauros, Pandros, Hers). The statue of Poseidon was the largest sculpture in the pediment until it broke during the attempt of Francesco Morosini to remove it in 1688. The back of the body was found Luceri in the foundation of a Turkish house in 1801. It is currently located in the British Museum along with other parts of the Parthenon temple and other buildings of the Acropolis. The front part was opened by Ross in 1835 and is currently stored in the Architectural Museum of the Acropolis of Athens.

Each statue on the western gable has a fully finished and worked back that would not be visible to visitors from below, which indicates that the sculptors made great efforts to accurately depict the human body.

Eastern pediment

The figures on the corners of the Parthenon pediment depict the passage of time for a whole day. Tetrippa Helios and Selena are located in the left and right corners of the pediment, respectively. The horses of the Helios chariot rise to the sky at the beginning of the day; while Selena's horses struggle to stay on the pediment when the day comes to an end.

Over the centuries the Parthenon influenced design of many civil and religious structures in the Western World that we see today. However if you want to see the full scale reconstruction of the Parthenon you can visit Nashville, Tennessee in USA.