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