Parthenon remains relevant to this day, and it seems that some things never go out of style. The fifth-century Athenian art has not become passé and cliché even in this new millennium, as there are always some questions raised about it and those need to be answered. The essay looks at the architecture of Parthenon and the culture during its era. It studies the institutions that possessed the power in the society and the cultural ideas circulating at the time. During the 5th century, Greece went through rapid and intense political change. Ancient commentators have described the change from the Oligarchy to tyranny and then democracy. Different and autonomous communities that had grown during centuries faced pressure for economic and social reasons. There was tension between the wealthy landlords and common population (Goldhill 2). Looking at the historical context, the magnificent temple, Parthenon still dominates the modern city of Athens. It was built between 447 and 432 BCE and withstood the test of time and survived the ravages of time and pollution damage along with lootings and explosions (Cartwright, 2012). It remains a testimony to the glory of the ancient city of Athens. The older shrines and temples were destroyed by the Persians when they sacked Athens in 480BC. When the Athenians returned to their city, it was agreed that these would not be re-built as a reminder of the sacrilege of the Persians. The large stone overlooking Athens and the Aegean has been used continually as a military fortress and later as a center of worship since 1300 BC. Athenians began construction of the Parthenon in 490 BC, and it was still unfinished when Persians invaded and destroyed everything. Construction of the temple began again in 447 BC (McLees 40). This period provided the polar for the great Renaissance of building in pagan Athens when the city bloomed beyond its enclosing walls of the third century. It was then that Great villa, philosophical schools, and monumental gymnasium was built in Agora (Stevenrtosn 2). Parthenon emerges as a unique building whose Christian significance gets enhanced because of its particular cultural position of the city. Athens had become one of the most important cities for the Greeks. Parthenon stood out as the major classical temple and a symbol for the cultural position for Athens (Anthony 1). The large stone, Acropolis, overlooking Athens was used as a military fortress and later became a center of worship. When occupied by the Turks, the Parthenon Church was turned into a mosque (McLees 42). The cultural atmosphere of that time reflect in the design. When Parthenon was constructed, the ancient Athenians were bound together within an ordered cycle of religious observance and ritual practices (Pollitt 2014). Religious ceremonies along with myths helped to form a strong community which can be seen in the architecture of the Parthenon. We can see for example in the sculptures the community of Athens in worship that can be put next to that image to two mythological subjects. Firstly the Amazons (wild women) being defeated and secondly centaurs in conflict with the civilized humans. The civilized world and its values are depicted and defined by the figures used in the sculptures (Goldhill 5). The arrangement of the west pediment of the Parthenon reveals a division between two camps of spectators: Eleusinians on Poseidon's side and Athenians on Athena's side. The division suggests the pediment be read on two levels and thus represents a struggle between Athena and Poseidon for Attica. Athena and Poseidon were worshipped together and the pediment though presenting the conflict, also suggests resolution. The west pediment suggests the victory of the Athenians over the Eleusinians and their interest in controlling political purposes (Athenians and Eleusinians 360). The Parthenon mattered to Byzantines because of its capacity to represent perceptibly personal conceptions of the blend of classical with the contemporary. Its significance lies in displaying the Golden Age of Athens. It means that the Catholic Parthenon, the Byzantine Parthenon, the Muslim Parthenon, and the Humanist Parthenon were deistic in their cultural history Athens (Anthony 71). Thus it was a symbol of political power. Looking at the patronage, the Parthenon was built under the supervision of the sculptor Phidias, who was responsible for is decoration. Architects, Iktinos and Kallikrates worked on the building and maximum is seen in the transportation of the stone from Athens to the Acropolis. Treasury of the Delian League supplied the funds ((Parthenon 3). Excavations at the Athenian Agora led to the discovery of various marble fragments that are from coffered ceilings and columns. Study of those fragments prove beyond doubt that the series of coffered ceilings came from the Parthenon and from the fragments of columns. They are from the fragments of columns and of Pentelic marble. Sixteen-fluted Doric columns in the Periclean age are rare (New Fragments of the Parthenon 132). Greek temples leave a much stronger impression when seen in reality. The first glimpse of the temple, situated at the top of the Acropolis, looks marvelous, even though in its ruins. In fact, no photograph or image is successful in portraying the power of Parthenon. There is something unique about the temple, its balance and something purely Greek that is impossible to replicate in an image (McLees 44). The construction was completed in 438 BC and was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. It is considered to be an important surviving structure and its decorative sculptures represent the high points of Greek art. The peripteral Doric temple housed the statue of Athena and the decorative stonework colored originally (Parthenon 1). Parthenon is regarded as the finest surviving example of a Doric order temple and a perfect one ever built. The cigar-shaped columns with a slight bulge and the upward curvature reinforced the building against earthquakes and shed rainwater (Parthenon 3). The only fairly well preserved, painting of the entire church is placed on the southern east wall of the ancient opisthodomos that seems to be used by the Byzantines and shows Virgin with the Child in her lap (Cutler173). The axis of the Propylaea was towards the north of the axis of the Parthenon and the most direct route to the main entrance of the Parthenon was through the northeast corner of the temple (Stevens 1).
Works Cited
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