Parthenon, a Symbol of Democracy
Today, after intense investigations into the Parthenon, it has been discovered that the construction of Parthenon involved intense, complicated work. Much of the work about Parthenon has been attributed to Pericles in the past. However, Pericles was simply one of the many officers involved in the construction of the Parthenon. The construction of major building in Athens involved many people since Athens was a democratic state. Parthenon construction involved negotiations and consultation with many agents (Neils).
There has been misinformation that the Parthenon’s frieze was the first part to be designed and constructed by the sculptors and architects. Currently, one learns that the frieze had not been planned …show more content…
First, it acted as temple for Athena, the goddess they believed to be their patron (Burkert). Parthenon was constructed to replace the previous Athena’s temple that had been damaged by Persians in a war between Athenians and Persians. Athena was a virgin deity and the temple was constructed in her honor and praise (Pelling). Secondly, Parthenon was constructed to manifest the power and culture of the Athenians. A lot of attention and care was provided to Parthenon’s architecture. The numerous optical refinements and the sculptures that adorn Parthenon depict the golden ages of Athens. Parthenon construction involved employment of the best artists of time under Pheidias. They created an overhanging multitudinous sculpture. The metopes within and around Parthenon showed battles such as those between: Greeks and Amazons; and Gods and giants. The metopes symbolically represented the superiority of the Greek culture over other cultures. The metopes demonstrated the power of the Athenians over the Persians with the Ionic frieze (a more literal art) showing celebrations of the Athena’s festival upon victory over Persians (Frazer). Parthenon itself was a physical manifestation of the greatness of …show more content…
Classical Athens today is viewed as the golden age of arts and literature. Even after Greece being conquered by Macedonia, Parthenon still reminded the greeks of their cultural power with its uniqueness (Conelly). Parthenon motivated the Attalids in the 5th Century when they were faced with conquest by the fearsome Gauls. The Attalids fought the Gauls and defeated them. They were proud of their victory and even compared it to the Athenian victory over Persians. They even dubbed themselves the new Athens. They constructed a great altar engraved in sculpture showing the battle between the gods and the giants for their god Zeus. This was very similar to what Athenians had done centuries before. The sculpture of Zeus body was similar to that of Poseidon that was located at the west pediment of Parthenon (Hurwit, The Parthen and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia). This excessive borrowing by the Attalids indicated their desire to link their glory at war with that of Athenians over
Today, after intense investigations into the Parthenon, it has been discovered that the construction of Parthenon involved intense, complicated work. Much of the work about Parthenon has been attributed to Pericles in the past. However, Pericles was simply one of the many officers involved in the construction of the Parthenon. The construction of major building in Athens involved many people since Athens was a democratic state. Parthenon construction involved negotiations and consultation with many agents (Neils).
There has been misinformation that the Parthenon’s frieze was the first part to be designed and constructed by the sculptors and architects. Currently, one learns that the frieze had not been planned …show more content…
First, it acted as temple for Athena, the goddess they believed to be their patron (Burkert). Parthenon was constructed to replace the previous Athena’s temple that had been damaged by Persians in a war between Athenians and Persians. Athena was a virgin deity and the temple was constructed in her honor and praise (Pelling). Secondly, Parthenon was constructed to manifest the power and culture of the Athenians. A lot of attention and care was provided to Parthenon’s architecture. The numerous optical refinements and the sculptures that adorn Parthenon depict the golden ages of Athens. Parthenon construction involved employment of the best artists of time under Pheidias. They created an overhanging multitudinous sculpture. The metopes within and around Parthenon showed battles such as those between: Greeks and Amazons; and Gods and giants. The metopes symbolically represented the superiority of the Greek culture over other cultures. The metopes demonstrated the power of the Athenians over the Persians with the Ionic frieze (a more literal art) showing celebrations of the Athena’s festival upon victory over Persians (Frazer). Parthenon itself was a physical manifestation of the greatness of …show more content…
Classical Athens today is viewed as the golden age of arts and literature. Even after Greece being conquered by Macedonia, Parthenon still reminded the greeks of their cultural power with its uniqueness (Conelly). Parthenon motivated the Attalids in the 5th Century when they were faced with conquest by the fearsome Gauls. The Attalids fought the Gauls and defeated them. They were proud of their victory and even compared it to the Athenian victory over Persians. They even dubbed themselves the new Athens. They constructed a great altar engraved in sculpture showing the battle between the gods and the giants for their god Zeus. This was very similar to what Athenians had done centuries before. The sculpture of Zeus body was similar to that of Poseidon that was located at the west pediment of Parthenon (Hurwit, The Parthen and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia). This excessive borrowing by the Attalids indicated their desire to link their glory at war with that of Athenians over