Huge amounts were allocated for the construction of the temple in Athens. The costs were not in vain. The Parthenon is still the pearl of world architecture. Its greatness has been inspiring and beckoning for over 2500 years.
Warrior Goddess City
The amazing city of Athens is located in Greece. He set the direction for democracy, developed a philosophy, formed the foundations of the theater. Another merit is the ancient Parthenon: an outstanding monument of ancient architecture, preserved to this day.
The city was named after the goddess of war and wisdom - Athens.
According to legend, she and the ruler of the seas Poseidon started a debate about which of them will worship the inhabitants. The god of the oceans struck a rock with a trident to show his strength. There the waterfall began to play. So he wanted to rid the citizens of droughts. But the water was salty and became a poison for plants. Athena, on the other hand, grew an olive tree that produced oil, fruits, and firewood. The goddess was chosen as the winner. Her name was given to the city.
Subsequently, the Parthenon was built in honor of the defender of the city. The Temple of Athena is located on the Acropolis, that is, in the upper city.
The customer of the house of the goddess
Ancient Athens is one of the twelve independent cities of Attica (the middle part of Greece). His golden age fell on the V century BC. e. His ruler Pericles did a lot for the policy. The man was born into a family of Athenian aristocrats, although he later vehemently supported democracy. With the people, he drove out the current leader from the city and took his throne. The new politics and the mass of reforms Pericles introduced made Athens a cultural center. It was on his initiative that the Parthenon temple was founded.
One of the traditions of the Greeks was that the shrines were reduced to specially designated places and had the common name Acropolis. It was the top of the city. It was fortified in case of an attack by enemies.
Parthenon predecessor
The first temple of Athena was built in the middle of the VI century BC. e. and was called Hekatompedon. It was defeated by the Persians in 480 BC. e. Since then, several more attempts have been made to build a shrine, but constant wars have ravaged the budget.
The next to thank the goddess was Pericles. In 447 BC e. The construction of the Parthenon temple began. In Greece at that time it was relatively calm, the Persians finally retreated, and the monument on the Acropolis became a symbol of success and peace. It is worth noting that the construction was included in the plans of the ruler to restore Athens. Interestingly, the funds that were spent on construction, the lord borrowed from the money that was collected by the Allies for the war with the Persians.
Start of construction
At that time, the Acropolis was actually a dump of what remained of the walls of previous temples. Therefore, for starters, I had to clean the territory of the hill. The main shrine was in gratitude to Athena for her help in defeating the enemies at the Battle of Marathon. Often the goddess of military affairs was called Athena Virgo. This is another answer to the question of what is the Parthenon. Indeed, from ancient Greek the word "parthenos" is translated as "virgin" or "virginity".
The foundation was the remains of the building, everything that collapsed. The best artists, engineers and sculptors of that time were invited to work. Architectural geniuses Iktin and Kallikrath were called upon to design. According to the documents that remained, it is known that the first developed a plan, and the second architect monitored the work. Their team worked on the temple for sixteen years. In 438 BC e. they passed the job. In the same year, the building was consecrated. In fact, the sculptors worked until 432 BC. e. The decoration was led by a close friend of Pericles and the artistic genius Phidias.
The phenomenon of the temple
Pericles was often accused of squandering. Parthenon demanded huge expenses. The Temple of Athena was worth 450 silver talents. For comparison - one such coin could make a warship.
When the disgruntled people rebelled, the ruler cheated. He said that he would return the expenses, but then he would become the sole sponsor of the temple, and after centuries the descendants would only thank him. Ordinary people also wished fame, agreed that the expenses were recorded on the townspeople, and no longer protested. By the way, it was on financial checks (at that time it was marble planks) that the researchers set all the dates.
I had to visit the Parthenon and the Christian shrine. In the period of Byzantium (V century), the place of worship of Athena was transformed into the church of St. Mary.
What is the Parthenon and what is its main purpose, the Turks did not know. In 1460, Athens passed into their hands, and the Church of Our Lady (i.e., the temple of the goddess of warriors) was converted into a mosque.
1687 was a fateful year for Athena Virgin. The Venetian ship fell into the building with a core and almost completely destroyed its central part. Architecture suffered from the inept hands of art guards. So, dozens of statues were broken when vandals and cultural advocates tried to remove them from the walls.
Features, Attractions
At the beginning of the 19th century, Lord Elgin took permission from the Ottoman Sultan to transport statues and carved walls to England that were preserved. Thus, tens of meters of valuable stone were saved. The architectural structure of the Parthenon, or rather parts of it, is still preserved in the British Museum in London. The Louvre and the Acropolis Museum also boast such exhibits.
Partial restoration began after the restoration of the country's independence. This happened at the end of the 19th century. Then for the first time they tried to restore the original face of the Acropolis.
Today this unique place is being restored.
Upper Town Ensemble
The temple became a crown and glorified the Acropolis of Athens. Parthenon is a classic of ancient Greece. The room is spacious, surrounded on all sides by columns. For the construction did not use cement, the masonry was dry. Each block is a regular square. Blocks were fastened, which clearly corresponded to each other, on iron pins. All marble slabs were perfectly polished.
The territory was divided. Allocated space for the treasury. A separate room was for the statue of Athena.
The main material is marble. It has the property of gilding under the light, so its sunny side is yellower, and the other part has a grayish tint.
The heyday of the temple fell on the heyday of Greece. After the fall of the country, Athena's house also collapsed.
The main guest of the temple
All sculptural work was carried out under the leadership of the Greek sculptor and architect Phidias. But he decorated the most important part of the temple himself. The center of the shrine and the crown of his work was the statue of the goddess. Parthenon in Greece was known for her. The height was 11 meters.
A tree was taken as a basis, but the figure was framed in gold and ivory. The precious metal was used for 40 talents (this was equal to the weight of about a ton of gold). The miracle that Phidias created did not survive to this day, but it was recreated in detail. The image of the sculpture was engraved on coins, hundreds of small statues of Athena (copies from the Parthenon) ordered temples from neighboring cities. All this has become material for the restoration of the most accurate reproduction.
Her head was in a helmet that did not cover her beauty. In the hand is a shield that depicts the battle with the Amazons. According to one legend, the author knocked out his portrait and the portrait of the customer there. In the palm of her hand she holds a statue of the goddess of victory in Ancient Greece - Niki. Against the great Athena, it seems tiny, although in fact its height is more than two meters.
In order to better understand what the Parthenon is and how much it corresponded to the then view of reality, you can read the myths of Greece. Athena was the only deity who stood in armor. Often she was represented with a spear in her hand.
In the years 438-437 BC. e. Phidias completed work on the statue of Athena. Further, her fate was not easy. The author was accused of stealing gold. Subsequently, part of the expensive plates were removed and replaced with bronze. And in the V century, according to some accounts, she finally died in a fire.
Birth of a goddess
What is the Parthenon and in honor of whom it was built, every Greek knows. The main temple of the ancient city was erected to glorify the wisdom and justice of its patroness - the beautiful Athena.
The appearance of the goddess on Olympus is unusual. She was not born, but got out of the head of her father Zeus. This scene is depicted in the east wing of the temple.
Zeus, the main god, was married for some time to the lord of the ocean, a woman named Metis. When the wife became pregnant, they predicted to God that he would have two children. A daughter who will not yield to him in courage and strength, and a son who will be able to throw his father off the throne. By trick Zeus made his beloved decrease. When Metida became tiny, her husband swallowed it. With such an act, God decided to outsmart fate.
The Parthenon Temple would not have existed if Athena had not been born. After some time, Zeus became ill. The pain in his head was so intense that he asked his son Hephaestus to split his skull. He hit his father with a hammer, and an adult beautiful woman in armor - Athena - got out of her head.
Subsequently, she became the patroness of warrior heroes and home crafts.
