FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT THE PARTHENON
Added on: 11th May 2016
THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS, WHERE THE PARTHENON
IS LOCATED, IS ALSO CALLED “THE SACRED ROCK”
AND WAS BUILT FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES. DURING
WARTIME THE GREEKS USED THE ACROPOLIS
TO GET A BETTER VIEW OF THEIR ENEMIES’ POSITIONS
NEOLITHIC REMAINS DISCOVERED ON THE SLOPES OF
THE ACROPOLIS INDICATE A CONTINUOUS SETTLEMENT
ON THE HILL FROM AT LEAST 2800 BCE, WELL BEFORE
THE MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN CULTURES THAT LATER
GAVE BIRTH TO THE SO-CALLED ARCHAIC GREEK
LONG BEFORE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PARTHENON
THE SITE HAD BEEN A SACRED PLACE AND SEAT OF
OTHER TEMPLES. FOR THAT MATTER, THE PARTHENON
ITSELF REPLACED AN OLDER TEMPLE OF ATHENA,
WHICH HISTORIANS CALL THE PRE-PARTHENON, OR
OLDER PARTHENON, THAT WAS DESTROYED IN
THE PERSIAN INVASION OF 480 BCE
THE NAME PARTHENON COMES FROM ONE OF
ATHENA’S MANY EPITHETS: ATHENA PARTHENOS,
MEANING “ATHENA THE VIRGIN.” PARTHENON MEANS
‘’HOUSE OF PARTHENOS,’’ WHICH WAS THE NAME
GIVEN IN THE FIFTH CENTURY BCE TO THE CHAMBER
INSIDE THE TEMPLE THAT HOUSED THE CULT STATUE.
THE TEMPLE ITSELF WAS KNOWN AS THE
‘‘LARGE TEMPLE,’’ WHICH REFERRED TO THE LENGTH
OF THE INNER CELLA: ONE HUNDRED ANCIENT FEET.
FROM THE FOURTH CENTURY BCE THE WHOLE
BUILDING ACQUIRED THE NAME THE PARTHENON
CONSTRUCTION OF THE PARTHENON STARTED IN
447 BCE AND WAS COMPLETED IN 438 BCE BUT
DECORATING THE TEMPLE CONTINUED UNTIL 432
BUILT BY THE ARCHITECTS ICTINUS AND CALLICRATES
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE SCULPTOR PHIDIAS,
THE PARTHENON IS CONSIDERED BY MOST MODERN
ARCHITECTS AND HISTORIANS THE SUPREME
EXPRESSION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
GENIUS AND REPRESENTS THE MARRIAGE OF
SIMPLICITY AND POWER. THE TEMPLE IS ALSO
CONSIDERED TO BE THE CULMINATION OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE DORIC ORDER, THE
SIMPLEST OF THE THREE CLASSICAL GREEK
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED BY SOME CONTEMPORARY
HISTORIANS (INCLUDING ART HISTORIAN SIR JOHN
BOARDMAN) THAT THE FRIEZE ABOVE THE DORIC
COLUMNS OF THE PARTHENON DEPICTS THE 192
GREEK WARRIORS WHO FELL IN THE BATTLE OF
MARATHON AGAINST THE PERSIANS IN 490 BCE.
THERE IS AN INSPIRING SYMBOLIC SIDE TO THE
WHOLE AFFAIR, WITH THE BUILDING SHOWCASING
THESE FALLEN HEROES BEING PRESENTED IN A
CEREMONIOUS MANNER TO THE OLYMPIAN GODS
SOME OF THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE PARTHENON
SURVIVE AND SHOW THAT THE LARGEST SINGLE EXPENSE
WAS TRANSPORTING THE STONE FROM MOUNT PENTELICUS,
ABOUT SIXTEEN KILOMETRES FROM ATHENS,
TO THE ACROPOLIS
A RESTORATION PROJECT FUNDED BY THE GREEK
GOVERNMENT AND THE EUROPEAN UNION IS NOW
ENTERING ITS FORTY-SECOND YEAR, WHILE THE
ANCIENT ATHENIANS NEEDED A LITTLE LESS
THAN A DECADE TO BUILD IT
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