ANCIENT
GREECE
GARDINER CHAPTER 5-5
PP. 125-134
THE ATHENIAN ACROPOLIS
Under the leadership of Pericles the Athenians begin rebuilding the
Acropolis which had been sacked by the Persians in 480 BCE
Greeks defeat Xerxes
Athens emerges from the war w/enormous power and prestige
478 BCE the Greeks form an alliance for mutual protection called
the Delian League -> each member state paid a tribute
Athens assumes the dominant role -> Delian treasury transferred to
Athens in 484 BCE -> Pericles converts the Delian League into an
Athenian Empire
Pericles uses the surplus money of the Delian League to pay for the
Acropolis building project -> the source of financing was tyranny
and abuse of power
PORTRAIT OF PERICLES
Famous Roman copy of portrait
statue of Pericles by Kresilas
HERM = a bust on a square pillar
429 BCE, from a bronze original
Pericles wears the helmet of the
strategos -> general
Unblemished features, classically
aloof face, would have had a
perfect body -> not a portrait of
actual features
PERICLEAN ACROPOLIS
Centerpiece of the Periclean
building program on the Acropolis
was the PARTHENON/TEMPLE OF
ATHENA PARTHENOS
Rebuilt in 447-438 BCE after the
sack of the Persians in 480
Four main 5th century buildings on the
Acropolis
1.
Temple of Athena Nike
2.
Propylaia
3.
Parthenon
4.
Erechtheion
PARTHENON: ARCHITECTURE
Architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates
Cella and sculptural decoration overseen
by Phidias
Parthenon represents the perfection of
proportions in the Doric Greek temple
design
Well spaced columns, slender shafts,
capitals
Controlling idea of symmetria of the parts
x=2y+1 -> harmonious design and
mathematical precision of the size of the
elements
Fusion of Doric and Ionic (frieze around
cella walls) elements -> showing Ionians
were descended from Athenians? Or,
Athens as leader of ALL Greeks
ATHENA PARTHENOS
Phidias, Athena Parthenos in the
cella of the Parthenon on the
Acropolis, 438 BCE
Model of the lost chryselephantine
statue of Athena -> 38 ft tall gold
and ivory, fully armed, and holding
Nike (Victory) in her hand
centauromachy reliefs on soles of
sandals, amazonomachy on
exterior of shield, gigantomachy
on interior of shield
All allusions to the defeat of the
Persians and the triumph of order
over chaos, civilization over
barbarism
PATHENON: METOPES
Every one of the 92 Doric metopes
decorated with relief sculpture
South side metope shows Lapith
versus centaur -> centauromachy
-> centaur exulting over defeated
Greek -> shows the difficulty of the
battle against a dangerous enemy
-> again echoes the war against
the Persians
PARTHENON:
PEDIMENTS
East pediment – celebrates the
birth of Athena
West pediment – contest between
Athena and Poseidon to
determine who would be Athen’s
patron deity
Detail from east pediment left side
show Helios and his horses -> horse
emerge from the floor suggesting
rising sun
Olympian presences yet relaxed
organic forms -> human anatomy,
mechanics of muscles and bones
PARTHENON: IONIC FRIEZE
Every inch of the
524 ft Ionic frieze
decorated with
reliefs
Represents the Panathenaic Festival
procession held every four years
Starts on west side/rear of the cella ->
proceeds down long sides and ends on
eat side over the doorway to the cella
Assigns the key role to the citizens of
Athens and the gods are approving
spectators
PROPYLAIA
The Propylaia = new monumental
entrance to the Acropolis
Mnesikles disguised the change of
ground level by splitting it into
eastern and western sections ->
each one resembling a Doric
temple façade
Wide space between central
columns -> central ramp -> stairs
on either side for pedestrians
Inside were tall slender Ionic
columns supporting split level roof
-> again mixing Ionic and Doric
orders
ERECHTHEION
421-405 BCE -> temple to replace
the Archaic Athena temple
destroyed by the Persians
To be a multiple shrine -> house the
ancient wooden image of the
goddess -> Athena’s olive tree ->
Poseidon’s trident mark -> and the
ruins of the Archaic temple
Asymmetrical form is unique for a
Greek temple -> reflected the need
to incorporate preexisting shrines
Antithesis of the Parthenon
4 sides of different character and
each on a different ground level
Most striking and famous feature
of the Erechtheion is the South
porch
CARYATIDS replace the ionic
columns = female statue columns
Role of the caryatids was
decorated architectural supports
TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE
427-424BCE
The little temple of Athena Nike
designed by Kallikrates
Ionic temple at the entrance to
the Acropolis
4 columns on both the east and
west facades
Part off the frieze depicts the
BATTLE OF MARATHON
Around the bttm edge of the
building were reliefs of Nike
HEGESO STELE
Grave stele of Hegeso, from the
Dipylon cemetery in Athens,
400BCE, marble, 5’2” high
Subject is the deceased girl and
her maid in her home -> unusual
Serene moment of daily life ->
picking out a piece of jewelry
Jewelry box represents the
marriage dowry -> even in a
scene of only women the
dominant position is displayed
Patriarchal society
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