Metopes and the Ionic frieze of the Parthenon. The pediments of the Parthenon
As the gaps between the columns of the temple let the outer space pass to the temple, so the grooves of the flutes introduce space into the volume of the column, merge the building with nature.
Features of the Ionic order in the Doric Parthenon. The Doric order in the Parthenon is not as severe as in the temples of the archaic. It is softened by the introduction of some elements of the elegant Ionic order into the architecture. Behind the outer colonnade, on the upper part of the temple wall, one can see a continuous relief strip depicting the solemn procession of the Athenians. Continuous figured frieze - zophorus- belonging to the Ionic order, and, nevertheless, it was introduced into the architecture of the Doric Parthenon, where there should have been a frieze with triglyphs and metopes. It is noteworthy that under the ribbon of this relief, small ledges are visible, which are usually placed under the triglyphs of the Doric order. The builders of the Parthenon, obviously, did not dare to completely abandon the interpretation of the frieze as a Doric element and left shelves with ledges.
Some researchers also consider the eight-column end porticos of the temple to be an Ionic feature, indicating that six-column ones were more often used for Doric buildings. They explain the introduction of an eight-column portico and the desire to achieve greater harmony of the temple with a huge space surrounding the Parthenon on all sides, elevated on a high hill. The six-columned porticos would have been too narrow, and the building might have seemed small, lost, compressed. Eight-column wide porticoes connected it better and more organically with the space in which it was supposed to exist. The introduction of Ionisms can be explained by the desire to soften the severity of Dorica. The Parthenon no longer expressed the tense composure of the forces of the time of the Persian wars, but a jubilant feeling of victory.
Meaning of the Parthenon. Seven centuries after the construction of the Parthenon, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the Villa Tivoli near Rome will create buildings deliberately small in order to seem tall and strong to himself. And, nevertheless, he will not feel greatness, disappointment and skepticism will not leave him.
A person intending to climb the steps of the Parthenon, visible from a distance, approaching them, finds that they are huge in size and that there are smaller steps opposite the entrance. The temple grows in all its height, but its proportions are so harmonious and, as it were, similar to the proportions of a person, that it does not detract from a person, does not make him smaller, but, on the contrary, elevates, awakens a sense of high dignity. The Athenian near the Parthenon felt the unity of the community, of which he was a full citizen. In the architectural forms of the temple, the joyful awareness of the Greeks of the 5th century found a clear and complete embodiment. BC e. high value and boundless possibilities of man.
SCULPTURE OF THE PARTHENON
The Parthenon is richly decorated with sculptures. The Olympian gods and heroes, the battles of the Greeks with the Amazons and centaurs, the battles of the gods with giants, episodes of the Trojan War and solemn processions are depicted on its pediments, metopes, and friezes. In plastic images, the feelings and moods of the Greeks of the heyday of Athens were embodied. That is why fiction here is perceived as reality, and plots inspired by life acquire the character of a special sublime ideality. The sculpture of the Parthenon has a deep meaning. The greatness of man is revealed in visually visible images - an idea that is also expressed in the architecture of the temple.
Metopes of the Parthenon. Metopes were placed above the outer colonnade of the temple. Previously, relief metopes were usually located only on the eastern and western sides. They also decorated the Parthenon from the north and from the south. On the western side, in metopes, the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons was depicted; on the south - Greeks with centaurs; on the north - scenes from the Trojan War; on the east - the battle of gods and giants.
The metopes on the west side of the Parthenon are badly damaged. The northern metopes are also poorly preserved (out of thirty-two, only twelve): this part of the colonnade was badly damaged by a gunpowder explosion. This is all the more regrettable because here, apparently, the reliefs were especially well executed, since they were most often in sight. Along this side of the Parthenon a solemn procession passed through the Acropolis.
The sculptor, who decorated the metopes with reliefs on the north side, took this into account, and he coordinated the direction of the general movement and the development of the action on the northern metopes with the movement of a person along the temple. Indeed, on the first metope of the north side (if you go along the Parthenon from the Propylaea), the sun god Helios was depicted, as it were, opening the events, on one of the last closing ones - the goddess of the night Nyuks. These images corresponded to the beginning and end of the action. On the middle metopes, preparations for the campaign, farewell of the soldiers, departure, scenes of the Trojan War were shown. The entrance to the temple was from the east, and in the decorations of this side, the sculptors represented the most significant events. On the eastern metopes, the struggle and victory of the Olympian gods over the giants was shown.
Southern metopes. Battles of the Greeks with the centaurs. The best preserved are 18 metopes of the south side of the Parthenon facing the cliff. The proximity of the cliff, obviously, prevented the person standing on the Acropolis near the temple from perceiving them. They were clearly visible from afar, from the city below. Therefore, the masters made the figures especially voluminous. The reliefs differ from each other in the nature of execution, no doubt that different masters worked on them. Many have not come down to us, but those that have survived are striking in their masterful depiction of the battle. These metopes represent the battle of the Greeks with the centaurs. Framed squares show scenes of violent life-and-death fights, various situations of struggle, complex positions of bodies. There are many tragic themes here. Often centaurs triumph over defeated people. In one of the metopes, the Greek tries in vain to defend himself against the advancing enemy, in the other, a Hellene prostrated on the ground and a centaur triumphant over him are shown. In such slabs, the deep drama of the event resounds in full voice - the death of a hero in a battle with a terrible evil force. The winning Greeks are also depicted: one, who grabbed the weakening enemy by the throat, the other, swung at the centaur, is about to strike him a decisive blow. Sometimes it is impossible to predict who will be the winner. In one metope, a Greek and a centaur are likened to two high waves colliding with each other. The masters of the classics balance the opposing forces in the metopes and achieve, in general, a harmonious impression from each monument. Classical sculptors always show the inner boiling of passions, complex, sometimes tragic conflicts in an outwardly calm, restrained form. Each individual image is agitated and dynamic, but as a whole the whole scene is usually brought into a state of compositional harmony. Each metope has its own, unique theme - sometimes tragic, sometimes victoriously bravura, sometimes filled with the tension of an inhuman struggle, sometimes calm. The nature of feelings is expressed with crystal clearness and purity. These images are infinitely far from the theatrical pathos, insincerity, meaningful reticence that will appear in the art of later centuries. The classics are extremely truthful when they depict something terrible and tragic; it remains whole and harmonious even in the expression of great suffering. The masters of high classics are able to show with restraint, with deep calmness, what the artists of later eras will narrate with a tremor in their voice.
Frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze (zophoros) of the Parthenon, with a total length of 160 meters and a width of about a meter, is a particularly integral work, harmonious with the deep interconnectedness of all its images.
In the third year of each Olympiad (fourth anniversary), around the end of July according to our calendar, after gymnastic and musical competitions, a solemn procession to the Acropolis began. By this day, the girls were preparing fabric for the ancient wooden statue of Athena. The fabric was reinforced on the mast of the ship, which was carried by hand. The ship was followed by priests, rulers of the city, noble Athenians, ambassadors. Chariots moved along the streets, riders rode on horseback.
The frieze shows the procession of the Athenians on the day of the Great Panathenaic feast. The movement on the reliefs starts from the southwestern corner of the temple and goes in two streams. One part of the people depicted on the frieze is heading east along the south side of the Parthenon, the other - first along the west, then turns and goes along the north side of the temple to the east frieze, where the gods are shown. The participants in the actual procession, passing near the Parthenon, saw these reliefs - a generalized, ideal image, an echo of real life.
West side of the frieze. On the relief slabs, you can see how the riders are preparing for the procession: they are talking to each other, tying their sandals, saddling and slowly leading their horses, taming too hot horses. The images are full of vitality, especially the scene where, near two talking young men, a horse drives away a horsefly or a fly from its leg. Then the riders begin their movement, following each other. The composition of the western part is the beginning of the entire frieze: the movement of the procession will move to the north side of the temple. At the same time, it is perceived as a completely finished relief, since along the edges, as if framing it, are the figures of calm young men. Depicted near the northwestern corner, as it were, stopped the riders for a moment, who in the next moment will still continue their journey on the reliefs of the north side. The procession goes from right to left. It is noteworthy that according to the remains of figures on the western metopes, one can speak of a general movement on them, on the contrary, from left to right. Thus, the actions on the frieze and metopes seem to cancel each other out. This balance corresponded to the front side of the temple, along which the path of the solemn procession did not go. To avoid monotony in the image of galloping horsemen, the master interrupts the movement in two places. So, he shows on one of the slabs a dismounted young man, facing against the movement, putting his foot on a stone. The sculptor, as it were, gives the viewer an opportunity to rest, and after a pause, movement begins again.
The Parthenon (ancient Greek Παρθενών) is a famous monument of ancient architecture, an ancient Greek temple located on the Athenian Acropolis, the main temple in ancient Athens, dedicated to the patroness of this city and all of Attica, the goddess Athena the Virgin (Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος). Built in 447-438 BC. e. architect Kallikrates according to the project of Iktin and decorated in 438-431 BC. e. under the leadership of Phidias under the reign of Pericles. Currently, it is in a dilapidated state, restoration work is underway. The Parthenon is a Doric peripter with elements of the Ionic order. It stands on a stylobate (69.5 m long and 30.9 m wide) - three marble steps, the total height of which is about 1.5 meters, and was covered with a tiled roof. From the side of the main (western) facade, more frequent steps were cut, intended for people. The temple has 8 columns on the facades and 17 on the sides (considering the corner ones). This is one of the Ionic features of the Parthenon: the ratio of 6 to 13 was common for the Doric peripter. The height of the columns is 10.4 m, they are composed of 10-12 drums. The diameter of their base is 1.9 m, at the corner columns - 1.95 m. At the top, the diameter narrows. Twenty flutes are carved on each column. The plan of the Parthenon is based on the well-known ratio of length to width, which is determined by the diagonal of the quadrilateral.
The interior (59 m long and 21.7 m wide) has two more steps (total height 0.7 m) and is an amphiprostyle. On the facades there are porticos with columns, which are just below the columns of the peristyle. The eastern portico was the pronaos, the western portico the posticum.
The cella, located on the east, was 29.9 m long (19.2 m wide), which was 100 Greek feet. Therefore, it was often called the hekatompedon (hundred-foot temple). Two rows of Doric columns (9 in each) ended at the wall with a transverse row next to three additional columns and formed three naves, the middle of which was much wider than the other two. It is believed that on the architrave of the first tier of columns stood the second one, which supported the ceilings. In the central nave stood a statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias. A hypephrus was arranged above the statue.
In the opisthodom (19.2 m long and 13.9 m wide), called the Parthenon (then this name spread to the whole temple), there were four tall columns, most likely Ionic. Two small doors led from here to the side aisles of the cella. Initially, gifts to the goddess were kept here. In 464 BC. e. the treasury of the Delian League was transported here. For a long time, the state archive was also located in the opisthodome.
The Parthenon was thought out in the smallest detail, completely invisible to an outside observer and intended to visually lighten the load on the supporting elements, as well as correct some errors of human vision. Architectural historians single out the concept of curvature of the Parthenon - a special curvature that introduced optical adjustments. Although the temple seems to be perfectly straight, in fact, there are almost no strictly straight lines in its contours:
The stylobate has a slight rise towards the center, otherwise from a distance it would seem that the floor is sagging.
The corner columns are inclined towards the middle, and the two middle ones towards the corners. This was done to show them straight.
All columns have entasis, thanks to which they do not seem thinner in the middle, but not as large as in archaic temples.
The corner columns are somewhat thicker in diameter than the others, otherwise they would appear thinner. They are not round in cross section.
Echin is almost straight, its offset is very small (0.18 of the upper diameter of the column).
The height of echinus and abacus is the same.
The height of the architrave is equal to the height of the frieze. Their relation to the cornice: 10:10:4.46.
The entablature is tilted outward, and the pediments are inward.
This technique was first discovered by Iktin, the architect of the Parthenon, and was first used here in full. In addition, from the point of view of optical reduction, sculptural details were also made, which were placed at a height.
As Whipper notes, the harmony of the Parthenon follows from analogies, from the repetition of the same proportions in terms of both the outer colonnade and the quadrangle of the cella and its inner colonnade. The setting of the temple building relative to the Acropolis hill is also important: it is moved to the southeastern edge of the cliff and therefore visitors see it as distant, in fact the large Parthenon does not suppress its size and “grows” as a person approaches it
The temple was built entirely of Pentelian marble, quarried nearby. During production, it has a white color, but under the influence of the sun's rays it turns yellow. The northern side of the building is exposed to less radiation - and therefore there the stone received a grayish-ashy tint, while the southern blocks give off a golden yellowish color. Tiles and stylobate are also made of this marble. The columns are made up of drums fastened together with wooden plugs and pivots.
The masonry was carried out without any mortar or cement, that is, it was dry. The blocks were regular squares. They were carefully turned along the edges and adjusted in size to each other. The interior remained rough-finished, saving time and reducing labor costs. At the very bottom lay orthostats - large squares, on which much smaller stones are already located, making up a regular masonry. Horizontally, the blocks were connected with iron braces inserted into the grooves and filled with lead. Vertically, the connection was carried out using iron pins.
The ceilings were wooden. The ceilings inside, obviously, were cassetted, since it is believed that the outer ones - stone - imitate the inner ones.
The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, as Plutarch notes, was carried out under the guidance of the great master Phidias and with his direct participation. This work is divided into four parts: the metopes of the outer (Doric) frieze, the solid Ionic (inner) frieze, the sculptures in the tympanums of the pediments, and the most famous statue of Athena Parthenos.
Main article: Doric frieze of the Parthenon
The metopes were part of the triglyph-metopic frieze, traditional for the Doric order, which encircled the outer colonnade of the temple. In total, there were 92 metopes on the Parthenon containing various high reliefs. They were connected thematically along the sides of the building. In the east, the battle of centaurs with lapiths was depicted, in the south - Amazonomachy, in the west - probably scenes from the Trojan War, in the north - gigantomachy.
64 metopes survive: 42 in Athens and 15 in the British Museum. Most of them are on the east side.
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Bas-relief frieze
East side. Plates 36-37. Seated gods.
Main article: Ionic frieze of the Parthenon
The outer side of the cella and the opisthodom was girdled on top (at a height of 11 m from the floor) by another frieze, Ionic. It was 160 m long and 1 m high and contained about 350 foot and 150 equestrian figures. The bas-relief, which is one of the most famous works of this genre in ancient art that has come down to us, depicts the procession on the last day of the Panathenaic. On the north and south sides, horsemen and chariots are depicted, just citizens. On the south side there are also musicians, people with various gifts and sacrificial animals. The western part of the frieze contains many young men with horses, who are mounted or have already mounted them. In the east (above the entrance to the temple) the end of the procession is shown: the priest, surrounded by the gods, receives the peplos woven for the goddess by the Athenians. Nearby are the most important people of the city.
96 plates of the frieze have been preserved. 56 of them are in the British Museum, 40 (mainly the western part of the frieze) - in Athens. Gables
Main article: Gables of the Parthenon
Fragment of the pediment.
Giant sculptural groups were placed in the tympanums of the pediments (0.9 m deep) above the western and eastern entrances. To this day, they have survived very poorly. The central figures almost did not reach. In the center of the eastern pediment in the Middle Ages, a window was barbarously cut through, which completely destroyed the composition that was there. Ancient authors, however, usually bypass this part of the temple. Pausanias - the main source in such matters - mentions them only in passing, paying much more attention to the statue of Athena. Sketches by J. Kerry dating back to 1674 have been preserved, which provide a lot of information about the western pediment. The eastern one was already in a deplorable state at that time. Therefore, the reconstruction of the gables is for the most part only guesswork.
The eastern group depicted the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. Only the side parts of the composition have been preserved. A chariot drives in from the south side, presumably driven by Helios. Before him sits Dionysus, then Demeter and Kore. Behind them is another goddess, possibly Artemis. From the north, three seated female figures - the so-called "three veils" - have come down to us, sometimes considered as Hestia, Dione and Aphrodite. In the very corner there is another figure, apparently driving a chariot, since in front of it is the head of a horse. It's probably Nux or Selena. Regarding the center of the pediment (or rather, most of it), one can only say that there, definitely - due to the theme of the composition, were the figures of Zeus, Hephaestus and Athena. Most likely, there were the rest of the Olympians and, perhaps, some other gods. A torso has been preserved, attributed in most cases to Poseidon.
On the western pediment is the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica. They stood in the center and were located diagonally to each other. On both sides of them were chariots, probably in the north - Nika with Hermes, in the south - Iris with Amphitrion. Around were the figures of the legendary characters of Athenian history, but their exact attribution is almost impossible.
Sculpture of the Parthenon in the British Museum. Part Three: The Ionian Frieze August 24th, 2010
An Ionian frieze depicting the Panathenaic procession occupies the huge hall of the British Museum. Only a few of his slabs are now in other collections. Procession of Athenian Maidens from the East Wall - Louvre: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egastinai_frieze_Louvre_MR825.jpg
Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis - in the Acropolis Museum: http://ancientrome.ru/art/artwork/img.htm?id=1643
There are also a few more plates. But only in the British Museum can one get a holistic view of this part of the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon.
Before us is the corner of the western and southern walls. The male figure looks very strange: the body is depicted in the front, the legs are turned in one direction, the head in the other. The movement is thus stopped:
The length of the frieze, which went along the walls of the cella of the temple, behind the columns, is 160 meters, its height is 1 meter.
The preparation for the procession was depicted on the western wall. Some characters are already on their way, some are standing still. The flow of the main movement is directed to the left, but some figures are turned to the right. In this part of the frieze, we see only men:
Now on the Parthenon itself there are copies of the reliefs. Here's what the west front looks like:
The Panathenaic procession on the frieze is an image, not a detailed document. Sculptors depict the most important thing without going into details. The procession of the Athenians bifurcates: along the southern and northern walls, mortal people move towards the gods.
Sculptors depict riders with special pleasure. The procession is multifaceted. On the frieze, everything is flattened, sometimes, like knots, you have to unravel the legs of horses and riders. In the adjacent hall there is a special multimedia program that transforms a planar image on a frieze into a spatial one. Very exciting! By the way, when everything was painted, the plans were divided more clearly.
As far as the movement of the horses and the postures of the riders are individualized, all the young men are so similar. Just brothers! The ideal type dominates, nothing personal.
This is not the army of Qin Shi Huangdi.
What was the Panathenaic procession depicted on the frieze?
“The holiday was many days, solemn and magnificent; he demanded the presence on it of all Athenians (and since the time of Peisistratus, formally, of all Hellenes). His main rite was to bring a new fire to the Acropolis from the lower city. They took it in the grove of Akadem, planted under Cleisthenes at the end of the 6th century. BC e. torches were lit on the altar of Eros or Prometheus, and the young men assigned to each of the ten Athenian phyla (territorial units) carried him to the Acropolis in a relay race. The winner received a strange prize: hydria with water. However, in the ritual of cosmogony it is quite natural: after all, this “water” is the parent of “fire”. The action of bringing fire was night - in accordance with the night ritual of the passions of the sun god in the underwater world.
Early in the morning, at sunrise, a procession formed near the Athenian cemetery of Keramik. It included all full-fledged citizens, except for slaves - indigenous people and Meteks, old people, young men and women. At the head was a priestess girl with a ritual eve basket, in which a knife was hidden among the barley intended for food for the victim animal. Further, at the beginning of the procession, there were thallophores - noble elders in white robes, with flowering branches in their hands, Indigenous Athenians carried two diphros for the gods - solemn thrones without backs. They were followed by sacrificial animals, cows and sheep, accompanied by young men and musicians, followed by meteki in purple robes - men carried heavy boat-shaped scaphos with honeycombs and other gifts to the gods and hydrias with water on their shoulders, women - umbrellas. The third part, the tail of the procession, was made up of ephebe youths on horseback in black cloaks. /Akimova L.I. Art of Ancient Greece: Classics. - St. Petersburg: ABC Classics, 2007, p.184 /
“The procession, approaching the Acropolis, took the model of the ship in the Prytaneum, the building where the city magistrates met, where the state seal and other symbols of the Athenian policy were kept. Newly woven saffron peplos was fastened on the mast of the ship, fluttering and shining like the sun. At the entrance to the Acropolis, the ship was left below and the peplos was carried on the mast-styulis removed from it, the horse ephebes dismounted. The rest of the procession climbed the steep slope to the top. Having reached the Parthenon, the procession split into two arms - one bypassed the temple from the north, the other from the south, and they met at the far end of the temple, where the Great Altar was located and where sacrifices were made. After the offering of sacrifices, the central event of the holiday, the goddess was presented with a new peplos. At sunrise, the doors of the temple were dissolved, and an extraordinary spectacle opened up in the naos: they were met in all its splendor, illuminated by the first rays of the sun, a colossal (about 12 m high) statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias, made of gold and ivory. Previously, in the temple of Polias, peplos was placed on the knees of a seated goddess. In the Parthenon, where the statue was standing, after the ceremony it entered the temple treasury. Then the multi-day agony began. /Akimova L.I. Art of Ancient Greece: Classics. - St. Petersburg: Azbuka-classic, 2007, p.185 /
Until now, we have considered the reliefs of the northern side. On the south wall we see the same set of characters, they are just grouped differently.
Riders alternate with chariots:
Men lead sacrificial animals:
The east frieze looks completely different. Here people approach the gods. The traffic becomes slower and gradually people stop.
In the central part of the relief, the priest and priestess receive sacred gifts - peplos and diflos.
The Parthenon Temple is one of the symbols of Greece, a monument of ancient architecture, located in the central part of the Acropolis of Athens.
The Parthenon is an ancient temple, the main symbol of the capital of Greece, Athens and the whole country. Together with other buildings of the Acropolis of Athens, the Parthenon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is dedicated to the patroness of the city, Athena the virgin, who is also considered the patroness of all of Attica - the area around the city.
Translated from the ancient Greek Parthenon means "pure", "virgin". Athena was awarded this epithet for her virginity, which was one of the fundamental qualities of the goddess. Scientists believe that the Christian cult of the Virgin Mary subsequently grew out of the cult of the warrior maiden Athena.
The temple is located in the center of the Athenian Acropolis - the upper city of Athens. The Acropolis of Athens is a hill in the center of the city, which is a rock 150 m above sea level with a gentle top. On the upper platform of the acropolis, measuring 300 m by 170 m, various temples, palaces and sculptures have been located since archaic times.
Architecture of the Parthenon
Thanks to the developed culture of the Athenian polis, history has conveyed to this day the names of the people who built the temple. The one who built the Parthenon is told by the marble tablets on which the city authorities wrote down their decrees. The author of the project is the architect Iktin, the architect Kallikrates supervised the construction of the temple, the great sculptor Phidias produced the exterior decoration of the building and was the author of the sculptures that adorned the pediments and the interior of the temple. The general leadership was carried out by the great statesman and founding father of the Athenian democracy, Pericles.
The Parthenon is a classical ancient Greek temple, rectangular at its base, surrounded on all sides by a Doric colonnade. The central facades have 8 columns each, the side facades have 17 columns each, the total number of columns in the Parthenon is 50.
The Parthenon is interesting primarily for its unique architectural design used in the construction of the temple. In order to avoid optical distortions, the authors of the project resorted to innovative architectural techniques: the columns were thickened in the central part, and the corner ones were also inclined towards the center of the temple and had a slightly larger volume. During the construction of the temple, the principle of the golden section was used. Thanks to the methods used by the architects, the impression of absolutely straight lines of the temple and its perfect appearance is created.
The temple is almost entirely built of expensive Pentelian marble, and gold was widely used in the original decoration. The temple stands on three steps one and a half meters high; steps used to enter the building were carved from the central western facade of the building. The total length of the building is 70 m, width - 31 m, height - 14 m.
Far from all the treasures of the Parthenon have survived to this day: such a masterpiece of the temple as the 13-meter statue of Athena Parthenos by the great sculptor Phidias, which once stood in the center of the Parthenon, has been lost forever for mankind. Of the many sculptural groups representing scenes from the life of ancient gods and decorating the pediments of the building, only 11 have survived to this day, another 19 sculptures were barbarously cut down in the 19th century and taken to Great Britain, where they are now stored in the British Museum.
History of the Athenian Parthenon
Marble tablets, on which the city authorities wrote down their decrees and orders, have preserved for us the exact date when the Parthenon was built. The time of the beginning of construction is 447 BC. e. The construction of the temple took 10 years, after which in 438 BC. e. it was open. The construction of a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena cost the city treasury 700 talents - more than 18 tons of silver.
In the III century BC. e. Athens survived the Heruli invasion, during which the Parthenon was sacked and burned. The roof, floors and doors of the temple were damaged. During the restoration, the ancient builders did not seek to restore the Parthenon in its original form, so architectural distortions were introduced into it.
For over a thousand years, the Parthenon was a pagan temple., however, after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the formation of Byzantium, it was converted into a Christian church, presumably in the 6th century AD. e. During the turbulent medieval history of the Balkans and Athens in particular, the Parthenon either became a Catholic church or returned to the disposal of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In the 15th century, Athens and all of Greece were conquered by the Ottoman Turks, after which the Parthenon was turned into a mosque, and a military garrison, a pasha's palace and even a harem were located on the territory of the Athenian Acropolis. A heavy blow for the Parthenon was the Great Turkish War between the Christian states of Europe and the Ottoman Empire. During the storming of Athens by the Venetians in 1687, the Parthenon was destroyed. The territory of the acropolis was fired from cannons, after which the temple, which housed the powder warehouse, exploded.
The Venetians who captured the city noted the colossal damage caused to the Parthenon by their own artillery. Three dozen columns were destroyed, the roof collapsed, some of the sculptures were destroyed, and the central section of the building collapsed. Since that time, the Parthenon was turned into ruins and was never used as a temple again.
During the 18th century, the Parthenon was slowly destroyed: local residents used the ruins of the building as a building material, and numerous European hunters for antique values exported elements of sculptures and decoration of the building to their countries. The picture of the destruction of the Parthenon was completed by the British ambassador to Turkey Thomas Bruce, who at the beginning of the 19th century brought to the UK more than 200 boxes with sculptures, fragments of columns and other artifacts of the Parthenon.
As a result, it is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to the question "Who destroyed the Parthenon?". The destruction of the great temple is the work of many people: from the Ottoman rulers of Greece and the inhabitants of Athens to connoisseurs of ancient art from Europe.
After Greece gained independence in the first half of the 19th century, the territory of the acropolis was cleared of later buildings, such as a minaret, a medieval palace, and even sculptures from the Roman period. The restoration of the temple began in the 19th century, but it was prevented by the earthquake of 1894, which further destroyed the building. The reconstruction of the Parthenon by Greek architects continued from the beginning of the 20th century until the middle of the century, after which the temple acquired its modern look. However, restoration and archaeological work did not stop after that and continue to this day.
What now
In our time, the Parthenon is the main attraction of Athens, one of the national shrines of Greece and the heritage of all mankind. The ideal appearance of the temple, although not fully preserved to this day, not only gives an idea of the cultural and technical achievements of ancient Greece, but is also a symbol of the possibilities of human genius. The Parthenon annually attracts millions of tourists to Athens, and since 1987, together with the entire territory of the Acropolis of Athens, it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Where is the Parthenon
The Parthenon is located on the territory of the Acropolis of Athens in the very center of the Greek capital. In order to get to the hill of the Upper City, you need to get to the center of Athens. When traveling with the Athens Skytrain, you must get off at the Acropolis station of the Athens Metro Red Line. Also, a large pedestrian street Dionisiou Areopagite leads to the hill with the temple located on it.
Excursions to the Acropolis
You can visit the territory of the acropolis on your own, for this you need to purchase a ticket at the box office at the entrance to the territory of the archaeological site.
Opening hours of the Acropolis of Athens: 8:00 - 20:00, seven days a week.
Ticket price: 12 EUR, the ticket is valid for 4 days from the date of purchase.
When visiting the acropolis, it is strictly forbidden to touch the ancient buildings, including the columns, with your hands.
Ordering an individual tour of the acropolis and visiting the main sights with a Russian-speaking guide will cost 320 EUR. The program of this excursion also includes a sightseeing tour of Athens. Duration of the tour: from 2 to 5 hours.
Most likely under the leadership of Phidias. About 80% of the original frieze, 524 feet (160 meters) high, has survived - 420 feet (130 meters). The rest is known only from drawings by the French artist Jacques Carrey, made in 1674 13 years before the shelling of the temple by the Venetians, who destroyed it.
Most of the frieze is now in the British Museum in London (constituting the bulk of the so-called Elgin Marbles). Almost everything else is in Athens, with other ruins in six different institutions: fragments of a frieze can be found in the Beasley Archives in the Ashmole Museum, Oxford, the Spurlock Museum, Erban, the Sculpture Gallery, Basel, and other places.
Encyclopedic YouTube
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✪ Phidias, Frieze of the Parthenon, 438-432 BC
✪ Classic: Sculptural group of the eastern pediment of the Parthenon
✪ Battle of the Lapiths with the centaurs, Metope of the Parthenon, Myron, ca. 440 BC e.
Subtitles
We are in the British Museum. Before us is the frieze of the Parthenon, which encircled the temple. The frieze was not located on the outside ... Yes, mostly inside the portico. The figures are carved rather shallowly, and although they were painted much brighter, I think that they were difficult to see. In general, we observe the procession of the inhabitants of Athens on the birthday of Athena, the patron goddess of the city. The procession crossed the whole city and only then reached her temple. Yes, to the Parthenon. Inside the temple stood a gigantic sculpture of the goddess Athena by Phidias. So what is depicted here is not a mythological plot, but an episode from the life of the Athenians themselves. That is, they put themselves on a par with the gods. The townspeople who participate in the procession look very idealistic and noble. And the procession ends with a sacrifice, where the gods and goddesses themselves are present. In a word, in a sense, gods and people ... The boundary between them is blurred. Let's take a closer look at the procession. To begin with, let's say that it is very long: it stretched along two walls of the building. The procession began rather slowly… Yes, and it is gradually gaining strength and energy. There are dozens of horses and riders here, and they are all depicted in slightly different ways. Horses partially overlap other horses, overlap riders. There is an incredible sense of rhythm, a sense of movement. After all, this is a frozen picture of stone, right? It is motionless, but everything is arranged so skillfully: the hooves of the horses, their legs, the legs of the riders... The anatomy of the horses, their muscles, their veins are worked out... And it is clear that, as you said, all the horses are located differently, and all together they create a sense of movement. I can almost hear their hooves clatter! The male figures have broad shoulders, narrow hips, beautiful torsos, powerful muscles in the arms. They have beautiful faces, very calm. We see how people, the Athenians, tame the strength and recalcitrance of the wild nature, embodied in horses. There is something amazing in the fact that the animal rampages, rears up, and the rider just sits and holds the reins with nobility. He is so confident in himself that he even turns around, not at all worried that the horse might buck. There is something noble and heroic about it. So, if the frieze really depicts a Panathenaic procession, and this is the generally accepted version, although some historians offer other options. Then this is most likely a peplos folding scene. It was woven by the Athenians, which was considered a great honor. And, of course, then he was solemnly carried around the city to be put on the statue of the goddess Athena in the temple, in the Parthenon. This group of sculptures was located above the main entrance to the temple. You could go up the stairs from either side, but to get into the main hall you would have to go right under it, you would look up at the gods. These figures are poorly preserved. There is a certain stillness about them, and they are more isolated from each other than the mishmash of horses and riders in the procession that I like so much. But what is especially interesting in these figures is how the drapery is made. It was as if one of the sculptors working under Phidias simply liked to play with these draperies. They twist, move, gather into folds. Before us are three figures that are sitting face to face, but one man turns away. And here's one of those figures... I've never seen anything like it. Ares, god of war. It is he? Yes. He's so... human and divine at the same time. We don't see his face, but his perfect body and the confidence with which he holds himself... His posture, his movements - the way he raises his knee and leans back, and looks... In this revenge, a feeling of complete serenity. And yet his gestures are so human! He is absolutely comfortable in his own body, and the sculptor managed to express this very skillfully. Frieze is amazing in its diversity, complexity and unity... In understanding the diversity of human movements, the relationship between man and animal, man and God. In this sense, the frieze is like a mirror that reflects how the Greeks saw themselves in this world. Subtitles by the Amara.org community
Construction
In the Life of Pericles, Plutarch reports: “he managed all the projects and acted as an overseer for him (Pericles) - Phidias ... Almost everything was under his control, and as we have already said, he was responsible for all the work and other masters on duty of friendship with Pericles” . From the description it follows that Phidias was not an architect (this term usually refers to the creative embodiment of the project), most likely he was a manager. It is thanks to these indirect evidence (the famous statue of Phidias Athena Parthenos and his leading role in the construction plans of Pericles) that we can conclude that Phidias is the author of the frieze. The frieze includes 378 human figures and 245 animals. It was 160 meters long (524 feet) when completed, 1 meter high and its maximum depth reached 5.6 cm. The frieze consists of 114 blocks averaging 1.22 meters in length each, it depicts two parallel processions . An extraordinary innovation in the construction of the Parthenon was that the naos, following the six-column pronaos, supported
