The floor plan of the Parthenon is peripteral (see fig. 1) which means that moving inside is easy. It consists of a single entranceway at the center outside and connected directly towards the naos where the statue of Athena is preserved. On the left and right sides, colonnades enclosed the naos but the columns were placed at equal intervals to allow the traffic inside. On each side, small openings in the walls were the entrance ways towards the other rooms within the temple. The style of the Parthenon is Doric (Green 53; Fergusson 104; Sayre 428). The evidence of this style can be seen on the capitals that form the entire portico. In a Doric architecture, columns had ridges from top to the bottom; the architrave rests onto the abacus. From this point, the abacus’ style forms the echinus which is the slanted design of the marble in order to connect the entire structure to the neck of the column. Drums (see fig. 2) are structures made individually and fitted together to form a single column. The ridges or flutes served as a design for the structure. In 500 B.C., a new form of government began to emerge in Athens called democracy which meant government of the people. Thus, with the establishment of the new system, more Athenians actively participated in political discussions and thus, the Parthenon's style was derived from the emergence of democracy which made acropolis the most visited public place. Iktinos and Kallikrates designed the structure from marble to symbolize the new Athenian freedom of expression (Sayre 428).
Phidias was the in-charge of the temple's ornaments. He and his team of sculptors created decorative, narrative, and symbolic miniature sculptures on pediments, metopes, and frieze where each contains imagery depicting scenes from Athenian history such as people and mythical animals. The metopes sculptures were placed in alternate with the triglyphs (see fig. 4) to emphasize every image. Therefore, triglyphs served as a ruler to maintain the equal spaces needed to sculpt the ends with 14 metopes while the sides of the temple consisted of 32 bas relief metopes. The figures on the pediment were mostly high relief works that half of their bodies remain freestanding. The statue of Athena was the important figure carved freestanding and was originally placed at the center of the temple (Nardo 45). Iconography in the Parthenon represents all the events that had great implications to the Athenian history. Sculptures do not necessarily created just to adorn the whole building. In this way, artists had created a visual history in which people both literate or not, can learn the history of Athens by looking at the carved figures. The carvings on the metopes depict the following events: eastern metopes show the Titans versus the Olympian gods; the west metopes showed the brutal Athenian-Amazonian conflict. Front metopes explain the events that occurred during the Trojan Wars; the remaining metopes located in the Parthenon’s rear illustrate the battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths (Nardo 45-46). The gold and ivory statue of Athena inside the temple was also sculpted by Phidias himself. Sayre states that the work was delicately and accurately executed since the masterpiece showed relaxed realistic human-like Athena whose agile posture reflects her sharp intelligence, standing in the temple’s center as if she was ready to spring into action to greet every visitor that came inside (428).
WORKS CITED
Fergusson, James. The Parthenon: An Essay on the Mode by which Light was introduced into Greek and Roman Temples. London: John Murray, 1883. Web. Open Library/Internet Archive. 11 Mar. 2016.
Green, Peter. The Parthenon: A History of Ancient Greece. New York: Newsweek Book Division, 1973. Web. Open Library/Internet Archive. 11 Mar. 2016.
“Ground floor plan layout restored version.” N.d. Digital Image. Web. Sweetpics.site. Accessed 11 Mar. 2016.
Nardo, Don. The Parthenon of Ancient Greece. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1999. Web. Open Library/Internet Archive. 11 Mar. 2016.
Sayre, Henry M. A World of Art. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2012. E-book.
Thomson, Aidan McRae. “Fluted Column Drum.” N.d. Digital Image. Web. Flickriver.com. Accessed 11 Mar. 2016.
W., Sarah. “Parthenon Diagram Illustration.” 8 Dec. 2013. Digital Image. Web. StudyBlue.com
