The Parthenon and The Akropolis

The Akropolis of Athens is one of the most famous ancient archaeological sites in the world.

“City on top of a hill” is the translation for good reason, as it stands over four hundred feet above the city of Athens. It was built in honor of the goddess of war, Athena- the overseer of the lands. In 480 B.C., the Persians under absolute ruler Xerces attacked and burned, leveled, and looted the old temples and almost every other structure at the Akropolis. For nearly thirty years this city atop the hill stood barren over Athens as a constant reminder of their near demise, the destruction of Democracy. The upcoming years from 450 B.C. to 400 B.C. would be a response to this realization, a scoffing rejection to the notion. Nike was theirs, the gods were with them. This timeframe becomes the Golden Age of Athens under the rule of the suave Perikles. These years would see the rise of Bronzes and a Doric temple that defies the senses. In fact, everything from sports, art, architecture, navy, and with it- economy, it all rose to greet Athens. The Akropolis was to be the perfect vantage point to view their strength. Here was where the Olympians watched as the beacon of civilization thrived. The Akropolis, in other words, was sacred.

Determined to bring the Akropolis to a level of splendor not seen before, Pericles initiated a massive building project to reinvigorate the people and their sense of Greekness, to stand above the Temple of Athena Nike and Erechteion. The Parthenon would be one of the most expensive temples ever built in that time. With over 22 tons of marble used to bring it to life, the Parthenon was the crown Jewel of Democracy, of wisdom, of art. Of war. This temple housed the forty-foot tall personification of adorned Athena adorned in gold and ivory, holding Nike in her outstretched hand. She would have resided in a chamber surrounded by a wrapping frieze approximately one hundred sixty feet long depicting a great celebration and metopes of great battles between centaur and Lapith, a God against a Titan, and a Greek against an Amazon. These Athenian men within the metopes are healthy, yes, but more importantly, they were of one people. The entirety of the Parthenon stood due to its stable use of Doric columns, and light passed through splendidly. The Doric Frieze on the Eastern facade showed the birth of the goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus. Like the rest of the exterior, these sculptures were all presented in technicolor.

The Parthenon and the Akropolis are important to the understanding of Athenians as well as Greece as a whole because they stand for everything the Greeks stood for. Power, democracy, riches, culture, religion. Along the same lines, it was in the ability to connect these beliefs to their gods and goddesses through art and architecture that truly summarizes the magnitude of the Parthenon and in turn, the Akropolis.