the Acropolis of Athens, the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the temple of Athena Nike
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01. [ ENGLISH ] The BEST COLLECTION of PAINTINGS for the ACROPOLIS of ATHENS and the PARTHENON.
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01. [ ENGLISH ] The BEST COLLECTION of PODCASTS and YOUTUBE VIDEOS for the ACROPOLIS of ATHENS and the PARTHENON
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Acropolis
Landmarks: The Acropolis
The Timeless Symbol
All great works of architecture, sculpture and painting in ancient Greece were commissioned by the state and its authorities for religious, political or ideological purposes. For the Acropolis, the city’s age-old center of worship, Pericles proposed (and the Athenian people agreed) the construction of three temples in honor of the city’s patron goddess, Athena, in four of her manifestations (Athena Parthenos and Athena Promachos in the Parthenon, Athena Polias in the Erechtheion, Athena Nike in the temple of the same name).
At the same time, these magnificent works with their splendid architecture and elaborate sculptural decoration of the pediments, metopes and friezes conveyed a variety of political and cultural messages to local people and foreigners alike: Athens’ preeminent position as an economic, military and political superpower; the superiority of the democratic polity from the viewpoint of principles, institutions and operational effectiveness; as well as the creativity and high esthetic standards of its citizens.
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The 19th century French engineer Auguste Choisy once stated that the Parthenon represented “the supreme effort of genius in pursuit of beauty.”
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THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS
The UNESCO site claims:
The Acropolis, which rises 260 feet above city of Athens, was occupied as early as Neolithic period. It was fortified in the Late Helladic (Mycenaean) period.
The Athenian Acropolis is the supreme expression of the adaptation of architecture to a natural site. This grand composition of perfectly balanced massive structures creates a monumental landscape of unique beauty consisting of a complete series of masterpieces of the 5th century BC. The monuments of the Acropolis have exerted an exceptional influence, not only in Graeco-Roman antiquity, a time when in the Mediterranean world they were considered exemplary models, but in contemporary times as well.
These buildings have been much damaged on various occasions over the centuries.
The Acropolis of Athens The way it was
A Reconstruction of the Acropolis
The Acropolis was cleared and rebuilt in 19th century. The Temple of Athena Nike reconstructed, and a portion of the Parthenon. Modern reconstruction began in the 20th century with much of it completed before World War I, although Parthenon was not finished until 1933. In 1930s Temple of Athena Nike was again torn down and reconstructed. The reconstruction of the Acropolis was supervised by Nicholas Balanos who unfortunately used steel as concealed reinforcement. This has has since rusted, lost its strength, swelled and cracked the marble. The cracks allow further weathering. Further damage has been caused by air pollution (more in the last 40 years than in the last 400), and by the feet of visitors (4 million a year).
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Parthenon
447-432 BCE
Iktinos and Kallicrates
View of the Parthenon from the Propylaia
Plan of the Parthenon
an octostyle temple with amphi hexastyle prostyle
Cross section and detail of a longitudinal view of the sanctuary of the Parthenon by G. P. Stevens
(storage area and opisthodomos omitted)
Athena Parthenos, and a reconstruction of the interior of the Parthenon
with the statue of Athena Parthenos
Like many cult statues, that of Athena was over-lifesize, standing 40 feet (12 m) high on a pedestal. Phidias constructed the statue around a wooden frame, covering the skin area with ivory and the armor and drapery with gold. This combination of media is calledchryselephantine, from the Greek chrysos, meaning "gold" and elephantinos,meaning "made of vory."
The original statue has long since disappeared and has been reconstructed from descriptions, small copies, and images on coins. Athena was armed and represented in her aspect as the goddess of war. She was shown standing and confronted her viewers directly, wearing Medusa's head on her breastplate and holding a Nike in her right hand and a shield in her left. Both shield and pedestal were decorated with reliefs by Phidias. This colossal statue embodied Athena's importance as the patron goddess of Athens. Her central position in the pediments and the offering of the peplos in the frieze reflected her wisdom and power as well as the Athenians' devotion to her.
Reconstruction of the Parthenon, from the west, by G. P. Stevens
East Façade of the Parthenon
The Parthenon's convex stylobate
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THE PARTHENON
Plan of the Parthenon
showing positions and subjects of architectural sculpture
The Parthenon Pediments
Jacques Carrey, drawing, 1674
East pediment, right side, Parthenon
(Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)
The two pediments of the Parthenon, now in the British Museum, London, are almost 100 feet wide at the base and 11 feet high at the central peak.
Drawings made in 1674 by a Flemish artist (sometimes identified as Jacques Carrey) record the condition of the pediments of the Parthenon before the disastrous gun powder explosion of 1687. Carrey's rendering of the east pediment sculptures shows them still in a relatively good state of preservation, although the central figures had disappeared.
East Pediment, left side, Parthenon, Athens
The depth of the pediment bases is, however, only 36 inches, thus restricting the space available for the sculptures. Since the sides of the pediments slope toward the corner angles, Phidias had to solve the problem of fitting the sculptures into a diminishing triangular space.
The two goddesses on the left half of the east pediment, possibly Iris or Hebe, Demeter, and Persephone, reading from right to the left, are posed so that they fit logically into the triangular space. Their repeated diagonal planes relate to the two diagonals of the pediment, while the graceful curves of their garments harmonize with the architectural curves of the Doric order below.
Reclining male figure (Dionysos?)
from the East Pediment, left side, of the Parthenon
c. 437-432 BCE
Marble, over-life-size
(British Museum, London)
The reclining male nude to the left could be either Heracles or Dionysos. His limbs, like those of the goddesses, form a series of zigzag planes. His torso outlines a gentle curve, which is repeated in the domed head and organic muscle structure beneath the skin. Despite the naturalism of his pose and organic form, however, this figure is idealized; it has no facial expression or personality.
Three female figures (Goddesses? Fates?)
from the right side of the east pediment of the Parthenon
Marble, over-life-size
c. 437-432 BCE
(British Museum, London)
Mirroring the two seated females and the male on the left of the pediment is the group of three goddesses on the right. Their identity has been disputed by scholars because they have no attributes. Though posed slightly differently than their counterparts on the left, they match them closely. The reclining goddess relates to Dionysos/Heracles, and the two seated figures match Demeter and Persephone in the way they turn and wear curvilinear garments outlining their bodies.
The most dramatic correspondence between the two sides of the east pediment occurs at the angles. On the far left are the marble remnants of Helios's horses, pulling the chariot of the sun. They rise, beginning their daily journey across the sky. On the far right, a single horse's head descends, echoing the triangular shape of the pediment. This is a horse from the chariot of Selene, a moon goddess. Its form shows a remarkable understanding of anatomy, and the Classical genius for relating it to an aesthetic purpose. Phidias has created the illusion of a triangular cheek plate with one curved side, blood vessels, and muscles pushing against the inside of the skin. The right eye bulges from its socket, and the ear and clipped mane emerge convincingly from beneath the surface. The open mouth produces another triangular space, echoing the head, cheek plate, and the pediment itself.
The Parthenon Metopes
The Parthenon metopes are carved from Pentelic marble. Now housed in the British Museum, London, they illustrate four mythological battles. The best preserved were originally located on the south wall and represented the battle between Lapiths, a Greek tribe, and Centaurs, who were part human and part horse.
Lapith and Centaur
metope from the Parthenon, Athens
c. 447-438 BCE
Marble. Height 4' 5"
(British Museum, London)
According to this myth, the Lapiths invited the Centaurs to a wedding, but the Centaurs got drunk and tried to rape the Lapith boys and girls. The violent energy of the battle contrasts dramatically with the relaxing gods on the east pediment.
Each metope is approximately four feet square and contains high relief sculptures. There were fourteen metopes on the short east and west sides, and thirty-two on the long north and south sides. Most of them showed scenes of single combat.
The three other metope battles depicted Greeks against Amazons on the west, the Trojan War on the north, and Olympians overthrowing Giants on the east. Each set of metopes expressed one aspect of the Greek sense of superiority. The Lapiths and Centaurs symbolized the universal human conflict between animal instinct or lust - exemplified by the drunken Centaurs - and rational self-control -embodied by the Lapiths.
The Greek victory over the Amazons symbolized the triumph of Greek patriarchal culture over an earlier matriarchy. In the Trojan War, west triumphed over east, and in the clash between Giants and Olympians, the more human Greek gods wrested control of the universe from the primitive and cannibalistic pre-Greek Titans. According to the Parthenon metopes therefore, the civilization of Classical Greece was rational, patriarchal, and western, with an established human-based religion.
The Parthenon Frieze
Over the outside of the inner wall of the Parthenon, a 525 foot Ionic frieze illustrated the Greater Panathenaic procession.
Sectional drawing the Parthenon
Phidias and the Frieze of the Parthenon (1868)
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912)
(Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery)
Women and Elders
Detail of the east frieze from the Parthenon
c. 447-438 BCE
Marble. Height 3' 6"
(Louvre Museum, Paris)
Gods and Goddesses
Detail of the east frieze from the Parthenon
c. 447-438 BCE
Marble
(British Museum, London)
The peplos incident
Detail of the east frieze from the Parthenon
c. 447-438 BCE
Marble. Height 3' 6"
(British Museum, London)
The Greater Panathenaic procession was held every four years, and the entire city participated and presented a sacred robe to Athena. The continuous nature of the Ionic frieze, uninterrupted by triglyphs, is consistent with its content. Thus the shape of the frieze corresponds with the form of a procession. In order to maintain the horizontal plane of the figures, Phidias adopted the sculptural convention of isocephaly (from the Greek isos, meaning "equal" and kephalos,meaning "head"). When a work is isocephalic, the heads are set at approximately the same level.
TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE SCULPTURE
Nike (Victory) Adjusting Her Sandal
Relief from the balustrade of the Temple of Athena Nike
Marble. 3 feet 6 inches high
c. 410-404 BCE
(Acropolis Museum, Athens)
The best example of relief sculpture from the Temple of Athena Nike is Nike Adjusting Her Sandal, originally located on a balustrade of the parapet. This figure combines a graceful curved torso with diagonal planes in her legs. The sheer, almost transparent drapery called "wet drapery" because it appears to cling to the body - falls in a pattern of elegant repeated folds. Behind the Nike is the remnant of an open wing. Its smooth surface contrasts with the activated drapery, and at the same time echoes and frames the torso's curve.
The figure was part of a relief depicting Victories (Nikai) erecting trophies or bringing sacrificial animals to Athena. Emphasis is on beautiful decoration - a departure from the style of the Parthenon scultures in the new interest in transparent drapery, elegance, and mannered gracefulness.
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Propylaia
437-432 BCE
Mnesikles
View of the Propylaia
Plan of the Propylaia
The Propylaia from the east
The Propylaia is the entrance to the Acropolis. It was abandoned unfinished in 432 because of the Peloponnesian War. It was built on a problematic slope, but with a grandiose plan. It is T-shaped in design, with six Doric columns at both east and west ends, and in pairs of three either side of central ramp. The wall is pierced by four doors (two on each side) at head of a flight of five steps that mark the transition between eastern and western porticoes (and moment of entry onto the Acropolis). In western side there are rectangular hallways with a wall on one side and columns on other (three Ionic columns).
The architect, Mnesikles, envisioned two large buildings to the right and left of portico, within the Acropolis. They were begun, but never completed. He also planned two smaller rooms on outside to west, but only one to north was completed, with three columns "in antis" and a window on either side of the door. The room was intended to be a Pinakotheke (picture gallery) and was adorned with movable paintings on wooden boards.
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Erechtheion
421-414, 409-406 BCE
View of the Erechtheion from the southeast
Plan of the Erechtheion
Reconstruction of the west elevation of the Erechtheion
View of the Erechtheion from the west
This building was called the Erechtheion (Erechtheum) by Pausanias, but it is not its official name. It is located on the north side of the Acropolis. It went through two building phases.
It is a strange shape with four sets of columnar supports, four levels, and three structural units, each with own roof. The reason for complexity lies in configuration of rock surface and previous terracing in the area, and in necessity of building around various cult spots in one of the most sacred places on the Acropolis. The area contained many signs and remains of Athens' mythical past (salt-water well and trident marks associated with Poseidon).
The interior was thoroughly destroyed in later times and is now very uncertain. It once contained a wooden statue of Athena Polias, a much venerated image. Various other Attic deities were located in this building, including Erechtheus.
The building is an example of Ionic elaboration and elegance; it is a highly decorative building. It has an elaborate north porch and an unusual south porch (Porch of the Maidens). The building was partially reconstructed in 1837-46, and completely rebuilt in 1903-09.
Porch of the Maidens
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Temple of Athena Nike
427-424 BCE
This little Ionic temple is located on a narrow bastion of the gateway. It was pulled down to make way for a gun battery, and has since been rebuilt at least twice. It has 3 columns (tristyle) "in antis" on both façades (but the west façade is false)
Temple of Athena Nike Restored
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Athena Nike
ike means "Victory" in Greek, and Athena was worshiped in this form, as goddess of victory, on the Acropolis, Athens. Her temple was the earliest Ionic temple on the Acropolis sanctuary, completed c. 427 BC during the unrest of the Peloponnesian war. Its small size was compensated by its prominent position at the south east corner of the Acropolis, on a steep bastion to the right of the entrance (propylaea); there the citizens worshipped the goddess in hope of a prosperous outcome in the long war fought on land and sea against the Spartans and their allies. The Temple of Athena Nike was an expression of Athens' ambition to be the leading Greek city state in the Peloponnese.
Temple architecture and sculpture
The Temple of Athena Nike is a tetrastyle (four column) Ionic structure with a colonnaded portico at both front and rear facades (amphiprostyle), designed by the architect Kallikrates. This building was erected on top of the remains of an earlier sixth century temple to Athena, which the Persians had sacked in 480 B.C. The total height from the stylobate to the acme of the pediment while the temple remained intact was a modest 11 feet. The ratio of height to diameter of the columns is 7:1, the slender proportions creating an elegance and refinement not encountered in the normal 9:1 or 10:1 of Ionic buildings. Constructed from white pentelic marble, it was built in stages as war-starved funding allowed.
A cult statue of Athena Nike stood inside the small 5 m x 5 m naos. The account by ancient writer Pausanias describes the statue as made of wood, holding a helmet in her left hand, and a pomegranate (symbol of fertility) in the right. Nike was originally the "winged victory" godess (see the winged Nike of Samothrace) The Athena Nike statue's absence of wings led Athenians in later centuries to call it Nike Apteros (wing-less victory), and the story arose that the statue was deprived of wings so that it could never leave the city.
The friezes of the building's entablature were decorated on all sides with relief sculpture in the idealized classical style. The north frieze depicts a battle between Greeks entailing cavalry. The south freize shows the decisive victory over the Persians at the battle of Plataea. The east freize shows an assembly of the gods Athena, Zeus and Poseidon, rendering Athenian religious beliefs and reverence for the gods neccessary to the social and political climate of 5th Century Athens.
Some time after the temple was completed, around 410 B.C a parapet was added around it to prevent people from falling from the steep bastion. The outside of the parapet was adorned by exquisitely carved relief sculptures showing Nike in a variety of activities, the best-known illustrating Athena adjusting her sandle.
Reconstruction of the Temple of Athena, drawing of parts of the Frieze (drawings by José-Manuel Benito Álvarez)
Acropolis, Athena Nile, Athens BM 424
The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Artist/Maker Unknown
Battle between Greeks and Orientals. Block from the South frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike, Athenian Acropolis. Marble, made in Athens, ca. 425 BC.
Dimensions H. 45 cm (17 ½ in.)
Credit line Former Elgin Collection
Accession number GR 1816.6-10.161 (Cat. Sculpture 422)
Location Main floor, room 19, Athens & the Acropolis, 430-400 BC
Photographer/Source Jastrow (2006)
Nike Temple 1850/80
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Healing the Parthenon: Inside the Mammoth Restoration Project
An inside look at the work of the Acropolis Restoration Service, which is responsible for returning the Sacred Rock to its full glory.
Giota Sykka | September 26th, 2017
© Shutterstock
Architects, archaeologists, engineers, conservators, draughtsmen, marble masons and workers – the staff of the Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA) – are the people we may see around us on every visit to the Acropolis, on scaffolding, on cranes, running the organized work areas. On a daily basis, they deal with the structural problems of these ancient monuments, dismantling ailing parts that need “healing,” conserving architectural members, completing them where necessary with new Pentelic marble, and repositioning them.
Nontheless, the lowering of every pedimental block or metope panel is for them a unique experience; of course, it’s even more amazing for those visitors who happen to be on the rock at the time of these delicate procedures. The crew’s preparation for the lowering of the central orthostate block of the Parthenon’s west pediment began at 7 am.
There was tension in the air and it seemed everyone’s adrenaline was pumping, but there was collaboration, and synchronization, too. First, iron fasteners holding the marble were cut, then modern cement had to be removed, wedges and lifting bands were put in place and, by one o’clock in the afternoon, the 7.5-ton orthostate had been lowered safely back to earth. The actual procedure of lowering it 10mtook only ten minutes, but it had required months of preparation and meticulous coordination among the crew members.
The repair of the orthostate and other architectural members of the west pediment, damaged by the corrosion and the expansion of iron reinforcements installed by a previous restorer, Nikolaos Balanos, in the 1920s and ‘30s, as well as of five other stones from the pediment’s triangular central area (“tympanum”), is part of a new program of works recently begun on the Acropolis. It’s being funded under theEuropean support package ESPA 2014-2020. The reconditioning of these 2,500-year-old architectural members will take two years and the work will be done on the spot.
Also planned are restoration works on the north wall of theParthenon’s Cella, while activities such as the fluting of columns in the Pronaos (east porch) and the rehabilitation and repositioning of marble roof beams over the monument’s western colonnade will also continue. The budget for completing these latest interventions comes to €5 million.
The fundamental studies required for the new works were approved last year by Greece’s Central Archaeological Council, after the loss of the Acropolis Monuments Conservation Committee’s (ESMA) longtime president, Prof. Charalambos Bouras, who, before his death, had drafted the necessary documents for the planned interventions on the Parthenon’s west pediment.
The 7.5-ton central orthostate block of the Parthenon's west pediment is being lifted by a crane.
WHAT DO WE SEE TODAY?
What do visitors see today on the Acropolis? “There are currently two work sites, one for the Parthenon and one for the walls of the Acropolis,” says Vasiliki Eleftheriou, director of YSMA.“For the Parthenon, we have three projects running, focusing on the west pediment, the north wall of the Parthenon’s Cella and the carving of flutes on a column of the Pronaos.
The project involving the walls, also approved and included in the formal program of works, has begun in the area north of the Propylaia (you can see it while walking through the Plaka district) and will continue north of the Erechtheion.” Work on the monuments often requires lengthy timetables. “The set-up of a site can take two or three months, as we follow all the necessary preparatory procedures, including things like tendering bids for the procurement of materials,” Eleftheriou continues. Tenders are also required for the removal of the old crane now standing in the middle of the Parthenon, to make way for the newer one, visible now on the temple’s west side. The whole procedure can take 3-4 months.
“When will we see the Parthenon without scaffolding…?” was a question that often concerned the late Bouras, and it’s also one that continues to engage ESMA’s current president, professor emeritus of architecture Manolis Korres. “Today, we’re seeing thePropylaia without the scaffolding it had,” says YSMA’s director Eleftheriou, taking the opportunity to emphasize the works that have already been finished and the significant changes that have been made.
“With the work completed there, we have handed back the monument and the whole double gateway is now clear of scaffolding. The Parthenon requires additional work, in part because one job often leads necessarily to another. I’d like to believe we will eventually see it without scaffolding, but this will involve a combination of factors: staff, time and procedures.” There are a few areas of the Parthenon that will remain at risk until the works on it are completed in 2020. “We have some loose ends to tie up,” Eleftheriou explains.
© Dimitris Vlaikos
“The walls of the Parthenon’s Cella will take us a few years, but the dangerous parts have already been removed. Repositioning of architectural members also takes time.” The lintel over the entrance in the Parthenon’s west wall still requires treatment, as it was previously restored by Balanos using concrete reinforced with low-grade iron. After the removal of these modern materials, the two original internal beams whose parts are preserved must be restored and supplemented with new marble. “It will be our next rescue operation,” notes Eleftheriou. “Everything is done in order of priority.”
Scientists aren’t just interested in restoring these monuments; they’re also concerned about what caused the damage in the first place. Seismic activity is being studied and monitored, but the greatest disasters appear to have been due to human actions. In the 1970s, the scientific community was greatly concerned with the effects of atmospheric pollution, but researchers have also been examining climatic changes and their consequences for a long time, and both issues remain relevant.
Regarding the effects of high temperatures, Eleftheriou states that: “we have yet to come to a consensus on monitoring methods, since the research is ongoing. YSMA is also collaborating with various programs at polytechnic schools, so we are still very much in the middle of things.”
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The Acropolis at night taken from Mt Lycabettus. Photograph: Why Athens
Best places to photograph the Acropolis
The Acropolis and Parthenon in pictures
The Acropolis in Athens is one of the most photographed and recognised landmarks in the world. The temples on the sacred rock are considered the most important monuments in Western civilisation and have influenced architecture more than anything else since. We’ve put together a selection of our favourite vantage points to photograph from on your next trip to Athens.
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The Acropolis from Mt Lycabettus
Standing 277 meters above sea level, Lycabettus Hill is the highest point in central Athens. The view from Lycabettus Hill is best enjoyed at sunset whilst waiting for the lights of the Parthenon, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the Panathenaic Stadium to illuminate at dusk. You will also be reminded that Athens is surrounded by sea with spectacular views across the Aegean.
Photograph taken 15 minutes before sunrise, 0.625 exposure time, focal length 140.
The Acropolis from Ardettos Hill
Ardettos Hill adjoins the Panathenaic Stadium in central Athens to the Southeast of the Acropolis. The hill is paved and has particularly good views over the Panathenaic Stadium and Mt Lycabettus. Heavily treed, there are only a few points from which you can photograph, however the outlook is unique with the Temple of Olympian Zeus in the foreground and a perspective on the Acropolis not often seen.
Photograph taken 2 hours after sunset, 0.7692 exposure time, focal length 80.
The Acropolis from Strefi Hill
BY WHY ATHENS 5
Strefi Hill is located in the inner city suburb of Exarchia, Northeast of the Acropolis and has commanding views over Athens. It is one of the best places to capture both Lycabettus Hill and the Parthenon. The land was owned by the Strefis family who operated a quarry on the site from the mid 1800’s through to 1920 and its rock was used in the surrounding areas to construct buildings still standing today. After the closure of the quarry, trees were planted to control the dust from affecting the newly built surrounding suburbs and in 1963 the Strefis family gifted the entire site to the City of Athens. Photograph taken 30 minutes before sunset, 1/640 exposure time, focal length 62.
The Acropolis from Philopappos Hill
Also known as the Hill of the Muses, Philopappos Hill is located just to the Southwest of the Acropolis and is so close it feels like you are in touching distance. In ancient times it is said that this is where Theseus and the Amazons did battle. A short walk from the base of the Acropolis, at the top you will find the famous Monument of Philopappos which is visible from much of Athens, dedicated to Julius Antiochus Philopappos, a prominent Roman consul and administrator in 114AD.
Photograph taken 70 minutes before sunset, 1/500 exposure time, focal length 62.
The Acropolis from Pnyx Hill
Pnyx Hill overlooks the Ancient Agora, directly to the west of the Acropolis and offers spectacular visibility both day and night. The earliest democratic assemblies in Athens occurred here dating back to 507BC after being moved from the Ancient Agora. The hill is easily accessible by foot from the inner suburb of Thissio and is a favoured point to take photos from during a full moon and for stargazing in the clear night skies above Athens.
Photograph taken 120 minutes after sunset, 1/3 exposure time, focal length 66.
The Acropolis
There is no better place to explore and capture the detail of the Acropolis and the Parthenon than climbing the archaeological site itself. The ancient city of the Acropolis includes the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylea.
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View of the Erechtheion, with its southern Porch of the Caryatids. Replicas stand in for the original maidens, who (except for one in London) now reside in the Acropolis Museum
© Corbis/Smart Magna
Acropolis Timeline
A history of construction, destruction, reuse and survival
Sophia Stylianou | October 8th, 2015
3500-3000 BC
The caves on the slopes of The Rock were first inhabited in the Neolithic period.
Mycenaean Period
The Bronze Age kings of Athens had their palace here and fortified the hill (in the 13th cent. BC) with a strong circuit wall 760 m in length.
8Th Century BC
The Mycenaean palace was replaced by a temple dedicated to Athena Polias.
6Th-5Th Century BC
The religious importance of the Acropolis grew, with the erection of shrines dedicated to Pallas Athena.
480 BC
The sanctuary was completely destroyed by the Persians. Cimon prohibited any rebuilding, to remind the Athenians of the destruction wrought on their city by invaders and to prevent them from becoming complacent.
479 BC
After the Greek victory at Marathon, Pericles’ master plan for the reconstruction of the Acropolis was put into action. The Parthenon and the Propylaia were erected first, followed later, during the Peloponnesian War (between Sparta and Athens), by the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.
Roman Period
The Acropolis acquired new votive offerings and statues, many of which were later destroyed by the early Christians. The Parthenon became a Christian cathedral and was re-named Panaghia Athiniotissa (Virgin of Athens).
Ottoman Period
The Acropolis’ buildings were converted into mosques or torn down for material used to strengthen its fortifications.
1687
The Venetians, under Francesco Morosini, bombarded the Acropolis, causing an explosion that created the gap still to be seen today in the south side of the Parthenon’s colonnade (the north side has been reconstructed). Further destruction was carried out by Britain’s Lord Elgin, who used a saw to cut up and remove (1801-1812) much of the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion, including one Caryatid.
1833-1861
Greece’s first Curator of Antiquities, Kyriakos Pittakis, cleared the Acropolis of most of its post-Classical additions and launched the first restoration of modern times, of the Athena Nike temple, in 1835.
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The Parthenon's east side
The Timeless Beauty of the Parthenon
The Parthenon we see today was built atop the Sacred Rock in the 5th century BC. Following the construction of this exquisite piece of architecture, the Greek idea of beauty – kallos – became embodied in stone
The Acropolis, from the Greek words akron (edge) and polis (city), is Greece’s most emblematic monument, an ancient citadel on a flat-topped rock that rises 150 meters (490 ft) above sea level from the heart of the city. Extending 70 meters high, 300 meters long and 150 meters wide, it was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king. While the earliest artifacts on the Acropolis slopes date to the Middle Neolithic era, there have been documented habitations elsewhere in Attica from the Early Neolithic period (6th millennium BC). There is also evidence that a Mycenaean megaron stood atop the hill during the Late Bronze Age. So, as you make your way up to the Acropolis monuments, bear in mind that people have been ascending this outcrop for approximately 6,000 years – nearly 200,000 visitors made the climb in 2014 alone.
PARTHENON
The Parthenon rose as the visual centerpiece of the Sacred Rock after the mid-5th century BC, built at the direction of Pericles, who employed a host of architects, artists, highly skilled stone masons and especially his friend Pheidias, the master sculptor. Pheidias, assisted by junior sculptors working in his style, produced all the temple’s lavish exterior and interior sculptural decoration, including the colossal statue of Athena Parthenos, whose face and arms were covered with ivory and the rest with gold plates weighing a total of 44 talents (1,140 kilograms). The Parthenon’s importance as a temple of Athena was overshadowed, however, by its role as a giant message board, whose sculptures reminded Athenians of the legendary greatness of Greeks. Its metopes depicted classic conflicts in which they had prevailed: the Trojan War, the Centauromachy, the Gigantomachy and the Amazonomachy.
Although 2,500 years have passed since the Parthenon’s creation, this extraordinary monument is impressive even today for its optical refinements and other innovative elements. Built in 447-438 BC, it was one of the largest Doric temples of Classical antiquity, whose estimated 13,400 blocks of marble were transported 16 kilometers from the quarries on Mount Penteli.
“ As you make your way up to the Acropolis monuments, bear in mind that people have been ascending this outcrop for approximately 6,000 years-near 200, 000 visitors made the climb in 2014 alone. ”
The Erechtheion’s north porch, one of the Acropolis’ many Classical masterpieces that influenced architectural designs in ancient Rome and elsewhere through the ages.
ERECHTHEION
The unusual shape of this Ionic temple, built between 421 and 406 BC, is due not only to the sloping terrain of its setting, but also to its need to accommodate a number of individual shrines. Moreover, it was the site of marks in the rock made by Poseidon’s trident and of Athena’s sacred olive tree. Below the floor of the north porch was the mark of the thunderbolt hurled by Zeus to kill the legendary King Erechtheus.
According to Pausanias, the Erechtheion was divided into two sections. The eastern part, dedicated to Athena Polias, housed her sacred cult statue, which was draped with a freshly woven peplos during the annual Panathenaic Festival. The western part was reserved for other deities and local heroes. The temple was burned by the Roman General Sulla in 86 BC, repaired under the Emperor Augustus, then later converted into a Christian church, before becoming a Frankish palace. During the Ottoman period, it served as the residence of the Turkish governor’s harem.
TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE
The construction of this diminutive temple may have been conceived in 448 BC, but it was not completed until 421 BC, based on plans by the architect Kallikrates. The cella of this fully Ionic temple housed a wooden cult statue of the goddess Athena, while the extant sections of the frieze represent an assembly of the Olympian gods and battles between the Athenians and other Greeks or foreigners. Several frieze blocks were looted by Lord Elgin and are currently in the British Museum.
Some of the Acropolis' scattered architectural members that evoke the numerous elegant shrines and dedications once characterising the Sacred Rock of ancient Athens
BRAURONEION, CHALKOTHEKE, ATHENA PROMACHOS
The Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia was dedicated to the goddess as a divine protectress of women undergoing pregnancy and childbirth. The cella contained her wooden cult statue (xoanon), while a second statue of Artemis, carved by Praxiteles, was added in the mid-4th century BC. To the east of the Brauroneion was the Chalkotheke, a 4th century BC storehouse, used for the safekeeping of bronze votive offerings, while to the north stood Pheidias’ gigantic bronze statue of Athena Promachos (467 BC).
BEULE GATE
Named after the French archaeologist, Charles Ernest Beule, who discovered it in 1852, this outer gateway was part of the fortifications built in the late 3rd century AD to protect the sacred precinct, possibly after the Herulians sacked Athens in AD 267.
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The Parthenon
© Dimitris Vlaikos
1. The aesthetic result is primarily due to two characteristics: evmetria (the perfectly balanced ratios of surfaces and volumes) and the use of architectural refinements.
2. The building’s architectural ratio of length-to-width is 9 to 4, a proportion that also appears throughout the temple in many of its lesser dimensions.
3. Optical refinements, particularly the curvature of horizontal and vertical surfaces, are at their most perfect in the Parthenon. They represent ingenious architectural solutions that result in the monument combining harmonious proportions and an imposing appearance with the temple’s setting at an angle to the hill. The intentional absence of any straight lines endows the monument with grace and vitality.
4. The fact that each of the temple’s 92 metopes was decorated with relief sculpture was unprecedented at that time.
5. The frieze depicting the procession of the Greater Panathenaia is generally thought to represent the three stages of the most sacred procession of the Athenians: on the west end, the preparations; along the two long sides, a cavalcade of horses and riders, sacrificial animals, musicians and members of Athenian society; while on the east end, the presentation of the sacred peplos, a scene attended by the 12 gods of Olympus.
6. The strikingly vivid rendering of the 360 figures depicted on the frieze, which had a total length of 160 meters and a height of just over 1 meter, reflects its creation as one of the proudest moments in the history of human art.
7. There may be two processions shown in the frieze, the first representing the original (pre-Cleisthenes) division of Attica into four tribes and the second its later division into 10 tribes. The frieze would thus balance the older traditions of the city’s past with its democratic present, as expressed in Pericles’ Funeral Oration recorded by Thucydides.
8. Only on the Acropolis were mortals (especially the Athenians themselves) depicted interacting with gods—if the Parthenon’s frieze actually shows the Panathenaic Procession and if the Athena Nike temple’s frieze shows historical, not mythical, battles.
9. The east pediment depicted the birth of Athena, while the west pediment illustrates the contest between the goddess and Poseidon. According to legend, Athena competed with the god of the sea for possession of the city of Athens. The central figures were larger-than-life, with Poseidon reaching a height of 3 meters.
10. The external appearance of the Parthenon was further enhanced by the polychromy of its sculptural decoration. The triglyphs were painted blue, as was also the background of the frieze, while the background of the metopes was white or red. In addition, all garments and objects were colored.
11. The Parthenon is such a sturdy construction that architect Manolis Korres, Greece’s leading scholar on the Acropolis, once remarked that it could support the entire weight of the aircraft carrier Nimitz, adding: “The ancients built for eternity.”
USEFUL TIPS & INFO!
We advise you to begin your tour of ancient Athens at the Acropolis. Admission is €12, but this ticket also provides entrance to the other main archaeological sites. If you start somewhere else, you will pay separately for your admission there and then have to pay an additional €12 for the Acropolis.
• When the sun is strong and temperatures are high, it’s better to go early in the morning, definitely not at midday.
• No two structures on the Acropolis overlap, so each one has the appearance of a painting whose background consists entirely of the blue Attic sky.
• Because your visit will involve a fair bit of walking, particularly uphill, and the marble stones can be quite slippery, it is advisable to wear a good pair of rubber-soled shoes.
• Don’t forget to take a look at the olive tree behind the Erechtheion, which according to legend can be traced back to the original sacred tree of the goddess Athena.
• Tel. (+30) 210.321.4172
• Admission: Full: €12
• Reduced: €6 Includes admission to all the main archaeological sites in the historical center.
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Theater Of Dionysus
Landmarks: Theater Of Dionysus
Educating the Citizens
Theatrical performances in Athens began in the late 6th century BC in the framework of religious festivals in honor of Dionysus, at the first theater in the history of European civilization, on the southern slopes of the Acropolis. The great works of outstanding tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides) not only provided Athenians with a source of quality entertainment, but also indirectly disseminated among spectators the values of justice, democracy, belief in the gods and in the city’s time-honored institutions, while warning them of the dangers of extremist ideas and acts that undermined the binding structures of communities. Even criticism of the state and politicians (nowadays taken for granted) was a phenomenon that appeared here for the first time in history, through the comedies of Aristophanes. Other significant innovations included the financing of theatrical performances by wealthy citizens and the granting by the state of free admission to the poor. This latter was introduced by Pericles as one of the great achievements of democracy but he was accused by the opposition of pursuing populist policies with public money.
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Dionysus: God of Wine and Ecstasy
Worshipped in temples, theaters, public festivals and private parties, Dionysus brought joy and relief to ancient Greek life
John Leonard | March 9th, 2016
Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine, often seems a familiar, likable figure, perhaps because wine and its associated rituals are such a characteristic ingredient of our own modern-day existence. Like other deities, Dionysus appears in human form and is credited with divine powers; yet thanks to his love of drinking, dancing, music and uninhibited merry-making with free-spirited friends, he offers an even more evocative reflection of the human condition and represented a favorite figure in ancient Greek religion and art.
Dionysus was the son of Zeus, ruler of the Olympian gods, and Semele, a Theban princess and daughter of King Cadmus. After his mother was tricked and killed by Hera (Zeus’ vengeful wife), Dionysus was rescued from Semele’s womb by his father and implanted in his thigh. On his son’s birth, Zeus placed Dionysus in the care of nymphs who inhabited the mythical mountain Nysa – variously located by mythologists somewhere to the east, perhaps even in distant India. As he matured, Dionysus took up wandering from land to land, accompanied by an entourage that included his tutor, Silenus, satyrs, maenads and the lustful god Pan, a human-like figure with the horns and legs of a goat. Silenus was the leader of the satyrs: hybrid woodland creatures envisioned as men with horses’ ears, tails and sometimes legs. The maenads were “raving” women inspired by Dionysus, who also loved drinking, dancing and attaining a state of ecstasy. Dionysus took as his wife Ariadne, who had aided Theseus in escaping the labyrinth at Knossos before being left by the Athenian hero on a Naxian beach. After Ariadne’s death, Dionysus entered Hades and brought both her and Semele to Mt Olympus to live as immortals. In ancient art, Dionysus is often pictured carrying a thyrsus, a wooden staff entwined with ivy and capped with a pine cone and vine leaves.
“In ancient art, Dionysus is often pictured carrying a thyrsus, a wooden staff entwined with ivy and capped with a pine cone and vine leaves.”
Bacchus (with Pan) by Michelangelo in 1496 or 1497.
(Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence)
Dionysus fathered several children with Ariadne, including Oenopion(“wine-drinker”) and Staphylus (“grape-related”), who became an Argonaut, a general and the founder of Peparethos, a colony on Skopelos. He also had a son with Aphrodite, who became a favorite figure in Roman times –Priapus, the well-endowed, ithyphallic god of male procreative power.
Religious worship of Dionysus came to Greece from Asia Minor; perhaps, as Homer intimates, via Thrace. Similar prehistoric gods already existed, at least by the second millennium BC, whom Dionysus absorbed. He was considered a latecomer to the Greek pantheon and an exotic, somewhat foreign divinity. His cult entered Attica from the direction of Thebes, first being established at a temple just inside the Attica/Boeotia frontier, at a spot later overlooked by the border fort of Eleftheres. From there, his wooden cult statue (xoanon), according to the traveler Pausanias, was transferred to Athens. Another ancient tradition holds that the wandering Dionysus befriended Icarius, a farmer from the deme of Icaria just north of Mt Penteli, whom he taught to grow grapes. Afterwards, an autumn harvest festival emerged that included feasting, drinking and music – believed by some scholars to have spawned other such rural celebrations and ultimately the City Dionysia in Athens.Thespis, another legendary Icarian, is said to have first brought theatrical performances to Athens, where he was the earliest-known actor to win a prize (534 BC) at the City Dionysia.
Dionysus was considered a latecomer to the Greek pantheon and an exotic, somewhat foreign divinity.
Dionysus between Satyr and Maenad. Amphora by the Andokides Painter, ca 530 BC.
(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
As the god of wine, Dionysus was a popular figure worshiped regularly in Athens, especially at nightly aristocratic drinking parties, symposia, which were all-male occasions for drunken camaraderie, music, hired female entertainment and ultimately orgiastic communal sex.
Athenians honored Dionysus in a series of annual festivals, celebrated at three key spots sacred to the god: the “Lenaeum” (location unknown); the sanctuary “In the Marshes” (location unknown); and at his temple on the south slope of the Acropolis, adjacent to the Theater of Dionysus. The main features of these events included processions, sacrifices, feasting, drinking, music, jesting, mockery, the singing of dithyrambs (wild, choral songs or chants) and the performance of tragedies, comedies and ribald satyr plays.
Wine-Drinking Contest of Herakles and Dionysus. Mosaic from Antioch, 3rd c AD.
(Princeton University Art Museum)
The Rural Dionysia (December/January) were small celebrations held by communities at various sanctuaries outside Athens, to which urban residents would travel on festival days. The larger City Dionysia (March/April) focused mainly on the carrying of Dionysus’ wooden cult image from the Lenaeum to his Acropolis-slopes temple and on a three-day theatrical contest in which new plays were presented. The Lenaea (January/February) also featured a theatrical contest and a lavish public banquet with meat provided at state expense. The Anthesteria (February/March) celebrated the opening and tasting of the maturing wine from the most recent vintage. Also, the wife of the King Archon, a leading state official, was ceremonially wedded to Dionysus at the Lenaeum. Lesser festivals included the Oschophoria(October/November), when vine clippings bearing ripe grapes were carried by noble-born youths (ephebes) in a footrace from Limnae (southern Athens) to coastal Phaleron. The Haloa harvest festival (December) was celebrated almost exclusively by Athenian women, but primarily staged at the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. It featured the dedication of first fruits (grapes, grain), accompanied by lusty activities and sex-related symbols and confections.
The Theoinia was a local form of Dionysian worship, celebrated with feasts and sacrifices at small shrines. It often involved select families whose ancestors were believed to be direct descendants of Dionysus’ original followers. The Bacchanalia was the Roman-era festival of Dionysus (Bacchus). Two of the most illuminating ancient texts concerning Dionysus are the seventh Homeric Hymn (7th/6th cent. BC) and the Bacchae of Euripides (405 BC). Aristophanes’ comedy The Acharnians (425 BC) offers a humorous glimpse of the Rural Dionysia. On the Homeric Hymn’s telling of Dionysus being captured by pirates and his transformation of them into dolphins, with the exception of their helmsman, Robin Osborne (2014) concludes: “Few recognize Dionysus as a god…and only those who do retain their humanity.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Leonard is an archaeologist, journalist and teacher who has contributed extensively to Greece’s English-language media as a columnist and feature writer since 2007.
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01. [ ENGLISH ] The BEST COLLECTION of PAINTINGS for the ACROPOLIS of ATHENS and the PARTHENON.
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01. [ ENGLISH ] The BEST COLLECTION of PODCASTS and YOUTUBE VIDEOS for the ACROPOLIS of ATHENS and the PARTHENON
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