Parthenon is a one of the numerous Greek temples positioned in the Athenian Acropolis in Greece. The temple was built in honour of any Greek goddess called Athena whom the Greeks believed to be their protector. Parthenon was a development task of the Athenian 'prime minister' or otherwise 'leader' after the old Parthenon temple was destroyed in the marathon invasion by the Persians. Perikles' commitment in rebuilding the temple was proven in summoning for a discussion to deliberate among other activities the reconstruction of the temples ruined during the Persian invasion. Despite the conference not taking place, Perikles continued with his plans to build Parthenon. However, Perikles passed away before he accomplished his dream of building the temple. Despite Perikles death his aspiration resided on as the development of the temple was commenced in 447 BC and completed in 438 BC (Jenkins 40). The decor of the temple however extended until 432 BC. The building of the Parthenon was under the general oversight of the sculptor Pheidias who was simply also in charge of the sculptural designs. Iktinos and Kallikrates were the architects of the Parthenon (Murray 99).
Parthenon can be reported to be the "most celebrated" one of the ancient Greek temples (Neils 67). The sculptures designing the temple are thought to be some of the high peaks of the Greek art work. The temple also stands as the "symbol of early Greece" as well by Athenian democracy. Parthenon just like almost all of the Greek temples was used as a treasury of the "Delian category" (Jenkins 75). The Parthenon was later modified to a Religious cathedral in the 5th century and focused on Virgin Mary. It was later turned to a mosque in the early 1460s after the Ottoman Turk conquest. The glorious temple of Parthenon was later ruined on the 26th of Sept 1687 when "Ottoman Turk ammunition dump" in the temple was swollen by Venetian bombardment (Hurwit 295).
Parthenon was built of marble and was embellished with an increase of sculptures than every other temple in the annals of Greece. Relating to Neil, Parthenon included three quality styles specifically Doric, Ionic and Corithian (Neils 67). The architectural refinements of the Parthenon were unique. The elusive symmetry between your curvature of the system on which the column stood, the wick of the cella surfaces and the little burge of the pillars as they surge historically known as entasis seemed fantastic. Like many Greek classical temples, the Parthenon has a little parabolic upwardly curvature designed to drain rain water. The perpendicular elements were also relatively sloped normally inwards or on the building (Neils 103 & 104). Amazingly, financial accounts were imprinted at the stele set up on the Akropolis. These financial accounts helped to look for the time when the building was built. The cult statue of Athena Parthenos was sculptured from silver- ivory by Pheidias and was dedicated to the Parthenon in a panatheneaic event in the entire year 438/7 B. C.
The ninety-two metopes on the Parthenon were carved in high- pain relief (Neils 160). Metopes were only carved on constructions that functioned as treasuries. The metopes on the east aspect of the Parthenon above the primary entrance identified the mythic attack between the Olympian gods and the giants. The westerly area metopes on the other hands showed mythological battle of the Athenians against the Amazons. The issue of Lapiths helped by the Theseus against Centaurs is signified in the southerly part metopes ().
The ionic frieze was situated high on the cella surfaces within the peristyle (Neil, 199). The freize exhibited an idealized description of the panathenaic march from the Dipylon Gate in the Kerameikos to the Acropolis. The march was usually kept annually with a special march occurring through the fourth season. Athenians as well as the foreigners needed part in the procession honoring the goddess Athena and sacrifices and a present of Peplos, a dress that was specially made by chose Athenian ladies called ergastines were wanted to the goddess.
The east pediments describe the birth of Athena from her father's head. The Greek mythology details the delivery of Athena. Her father Zeus had a horrible headaches and asked Hephaestus, the god of the fireplace and the forge, to aid him. Zeus asked Hephaestus to attack his head along with his forging hammer and on so doing, his mind split and out came Athena
The Parthenon is the symbolic representation of Greek background and culture. The structure of the Parthenon instructs a lot about the Greek culture. The pediments portrayed the misconceptions linked to the Greek culture. The east pediments identified the instants surrounding the delivery of Athena from her father's mind, show that Greeks were polytheists. . The Athenians directly associated the birth of the Athena to democracy credited to strange way in which their government came into being. Civic life of the Athenians is clearly proven by god-like humans and human-like gods on the frieze (Jenkins, 14). The carving skills of the Greek are noticeable in the carvings in and beyond your temple. They were made by a great sculptor Pheidias who is also well-known for making the yellow metal and ivory statue of Zeus for the temple at Olympic thought to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It really is known that the first sculptor to start a voyage to carve the human form with total realness was a Greek in 600 B. C. Parthenon is also a great mark of Athenian theater. There three eminent shapers of the Athenian dramatic art and that of the whole world. Euripides, Sophokles, and Aischylos produced a lasting culture of theatre and books.
The Parthenon certainly is the most outstanding monument for the ancient world. In addition, it is a symbol of the Greek culture. The mythical and historical circumstances that bounded its development have drawn many researchers about the world. The survival of Parthenon is truly incomprehensible. It braved vandalism, open fire, earthquake, quarrying for building materials (Jenkins, 14) in the ancient greek language. Parthenon is still being researched despite its dating many years before. More discoveries are being made especially from the lacking sculptures. The Parthenon sculptures are popular in the world as they show the magnificent work of art from traditional Greece. They are also approved for influencing traditional western civilization in the aspects of theatre, remedies, democracy, philosophy, and background (Jenkins, iv). This is exactly what seduced me to choose this historic monument.
Relevance of Parthenon to the society
There are numerous places of interest in Europe and especially I Greece. . Among all tourist attractions, Parthenon has booked a particular place in the region of tourism. The 2500 years of age ruin has attracted tourists of visible like Bill Clinton. The glorious temple was built under the supervision of your Greek sculptor, Pheidias and was later dedicated to Athena Parthenos whom the Greeks thought to be their protector. The architecture of the Parthenon that consists of beautiful marble and numerous columns, as well as the Athena Parthenos gold-ivory statue will be the most well-known aspects.
The Parthenon was one of Perikles, a renowned ruler of traditional Athens, building programs. The democratic skills manifested in Perikles laid a good foundation for democracy in Europe. Democratic skills of Perikles were shown throughout is life as the 'president' of ancient Greek as he was able to use his democratic skills to persuade the Athenians that his guidelines were at the best of their interest. For instance, after the Persian invasion that remaining the more mature Parthenon demolished, Perikles welcomed the rest of the Greek for a convention to deliberate among other activities the rebuilding of the Parthenon. Notable also was the success of Perikles to make calmness with Persians in 449/8 B. C. Therefore Parthenon can be regarded as an icon of Athenian democracy that distributed to other parts of European countries.
In summary, Parthenon remains the mark of Greek culture as of yet. The magnificent structures, and sculptures especially the gold-ivory Athena Parthenos created by a renowned Greek sculptor, Pheidias, completes the beautiful temple. Its background has fascinated several researches in several fields such as democracy, medication, archeology, background, and theatre. The democratic skills confirmed by Perikles developed a solid bottom part for democracy in Greece and European countries all together. A vacation to Greece is never complete without visiting Parthenon. It is surely a great experience reading about the Parthenon
Work cited
Beard, Mary. The Parthenon. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Jenkins, Ian. The Parthenon Sculptures. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Jenkins, Ian. Greek Structures and its own Sculpture. Cambridge: Harvard College or university Press, 2006.
Murray, Alexander S. A History of Greek Sculpture. Kila MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.
Neils, Jenifer. The Parthenon. Cambridge: Cambridge College or university Press, 2005.
Hurwit, Jeffrey. The Athenian Acropolis. Cambridge: Cambridge University or college Press, 1999.
