Parthenon. License. A large coiled snake resided behind the shield. The Parthenon, built by the Athenians in the mid-5th century B.C.E., is widely considered to be the most important architectural achievement of the ancient world. The Parthenon is the symbolic representation of Greek history and culture. Defeating the Persians at Marathon in 490 BCE, at Salamis in 480 BCE, and at Plataea in 479 BCE, the Parthenon was symbolic of the superiority of Greek culture against ‘barbarian’ foreign forces. Ancient History Encyclopedia. To give the illusion of true straight lines, the columns lean ever so slightly inwards, a feature which also gives a lifting effect to the building making it appear lighter than its construction material would suggest. It also contains traces of iron which over time has oxidised, giving the marble a soft honey colour, a quality particularly evident at sunrise and sunset. the Parthenon. Parthenon: 1 n the main temple of the goddess Athena; built on the acropolis in Athens more than 400 years B.C. Translate Parthenon into Spanish proper noun The temple of Athena Parthenos, built on the Acropolis in 447–432 BC by Pericles to honor Athens' patron goddess and to commemorate the recent Greek victory over the Persians. It was entered through large wooden doors embellished with decorations in bronze, ivory, and gold. Cite This Work Athens definition, a city in and the capital of Greece, in the southeastern part. The outer columns of the temple were Doric with eight seen from the front and back and 17 seen from the sides. Depicted in the procession are dignitaries, musicians, horsemen, charioteers, and the Olympian Gods with Athena centre stage. The pediments portrayed the myths linked to the Greek culture .The east pediments described the instants around the birth of Athena from her father’s head, show that Greeks were polytheists.. Parthenon definition is - a Doric temple of Athena built on the acropolis at Athens in the fifth century b.c.. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Books The smaller room contained four Ionic columns to support the roof section and was used as the city’s treasury. It was built in the mid-5th century bce and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”). The restoration works will be completed in 2020. The Parthenon is currently being restored and thus, is surrounded by scaffoldings and cranes. All the interior walls except the east side were blown out, columns collapsed on the north and south sides, carrying with them half of the metopes. Parthenon synonyms, Parthenon pronunciation, Parthenon translation, English dictionary definition of Parthenon. The Parthenon sculptures are well known in the world as they show the magnificent work of art from classical Greece. The gold parts could also be easily removed if necessary in times of financial necessity. See more. This was more usual for a treasury building and perhaps reflects the Parthenon’s double function as a religious temple and a treasury. The acropolis itself measures some 300 by 150 metres and is 70 metres high at its maximum. Over time the confederation transformed into the Athenian Empire, and Pericles therefore had no qualms in using the League’s funds to embark on a massive building project to glorify Athens. It is considered one of ancient Greece's greatest architecture accomplishments. Each entrance has an additional six columns in front of it. The combination of these refinements makes the temple seem perfectly straight, symmetrically in harmony, and gives the entire  building a certain vibrancy. The larger room housed the cult statue and was surrounded by a Doric colonnade on three sides. Dionysos from the Parthenon.by James Lloyd (CC BY-NC-SA). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The construction of the Parthenon tells a lot about the Greek culture. The Parthenon was conceived in a way that the aesthetic elements allow for a smooth transition between the exterior and the interior that housed the chryselephantine statue of Athena. The Parthenon had 92 metopes carved in high relief (each was on average 1.2 m x 1.25 m square with relief of 25 cm in depth), a frieze running around all four sides of the building, and both pediments filled with monumental sculpture. … There is a double row of columns at either end. The roof corners also carried lion-headed spouts to drain away water. The statue must have been nothing less than awe-inspiring and the richness of it - both artistically and literally - must have sent a very clear message of the wealth and power of the city that could produce such a tribute to their patron god. This was in contrast to the normal 6x13 Doric arrangement, and they were also slimmer and closer together than usual. They were filled with around 50 figures sculpted in the round, an unprecedented quantity of sculpture. The gables, as well as the statue of Athena, were the work of Phidias and described several important scenes. Apr 4, 2019 - Parthenon, temple that dominates the Acropolis at Athens. Within, the inner cella (or opisthodomos) was fronted by six columns at the back and front. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. by Mary Harrsch (Photographed at the Nashville Parthenon, Tennessee) (CC BY-NC-SA). Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Oct 2012. It was a temple to honor the goddess Athena for nearly 900 years, and originally had a huge idol to her. Please help us create teaching materials on Mesopotamia (including several complete lessons with worksheets, activities, answers, essay questions, and more), which will be free to download for teachers all over the world. The most important sculpture of the Parthenon though was not outside but inside. The temple measured 30.88 m by 69.5 m and was constructed using a 4:9 ratio in several aspects. The colonnade surrounds an inner masonry structure, the cella, which is divided into two compartments. Parthenon, temple that dominates the hill of the Acropolis at Athens. Details such as weapons and horses reigns were added in bronze and coloured glass was used for eyes. From the rubble, the Turks cleared a space and built a smaller mosque, but no attempt was made to gather together the fallen ruins or protect them from any casual artefact robber. Many of the metopes on the other sides of the building were deliberately damaged and figures in the central part of the east pediment were removed. The Parthenon was built between the middle of the fifth century and 432 BC by architects Callicrates and Ictinus, under the supervision of Phidias, who was also entrusted with the sculptural decoration. Pentelic marble from the nearby Mt. Meaning of Parthenon. Written by Mark Cartwright, published on 28 October 2012 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parthenon. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2020) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Web. Other sophisticated architectural techniques were used to combat the problem that anything on that scale of size when perfectly straight seems from a distance to be curved. The Ancient History Encyclopedia logo is a registered EU trademark. 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