The Parthenon - in Greek old Παρθενών / Parthenṓn , itself the “room of the virgins” ( παρθένος / parthénos ) - is a building located on the Acropole of Athens. This monument is not a temple, because no furnace bridge is associated there. It is acted in fact of a “temple treasure”, a building whose vocation is to put in safety the money of the league of Délos. A small temple on the acropolis was devoted to Athéna and was rebuilt later under the name of Érechthéion or temple of the Virgin. The Parthenon is probably most known of the traditional Greek monuments, it is also regarded since the Antiquité as models it completed doric temple.

History

Construction of the building

The Parthenon, financed by Périclès, was built in eleven years, of -447 with -436, on the site of a building destroyed at the time of the bag of the Acropolis in -480, during the medic Guerres. Phidias conceived of them the plans and carved decoration, the architect was Ictinos and the contractor Callicratès. Its construction required the work of hundreds of craftsman-artists (the two concepts were not clearly separate among Greeks of the Antiquité - cf Art of ancient Greece). Agatharcos took part in the Parthenon on the level of the prospects: it concretized its research there.

One still has some of the financial accounts of the building site. The Parthenon with the statue of Athéna and Propylées would have cost 2  000 talents, colossal sum which came partly from the treasure of the Ligue of Délos. Plutarque reports in its Vie of Périclès (14, 1-2) that this one proposed to take responsibility for its expenditure, provided that one registered his name on the monument. The anecdote is doubtful, but testifies to the resistances met at the time vis-a-vis this pharaonic project, including among the allies of Athens.

Its architectural refinement, the perfection of its proportions and the quality of its decoration were famous as of Antiquity.

Antiquity at the 19th century

The Parthenon is remained almost intact during several centuries. It was it probably at the 4th century, whereas Athens was nothing any more but one provincial village of the Roman Empire. About the 5th century, the statue of Athéna would have been taken along to Constantinople by an Roman Emperor. One loses then his trace: it was perhaps destroyed during the plundering of Constantinople at the time of the Fourth crusade, in 1204.

At the 6th century, the Parthenon is transformed into church devoted to the Virgin Mary. The reconversion in church led to the destruction of the interior columns and some interior walls. Certain statues of pagan gods probably were withdrawn and destroyed deliberately at that time.

In 1456, Athens is conquered by the Othomans who transform the Parthenon into mosque. Except a minaret which is added to him, it is modified little at that time. Many visitors of the 17th century testified to the good state of conservation of the building. Contrary to the reputation that made them Europeans later, the Othomans were generally respectful old monuments which were on their territory.

In 1674, the building is thoroughly drawn by an anonymous artist, guide of the marquis de Nointel, ambassador of Louis XIV of France near the Sublime Door. These statements, known as wrongly “of Carrey”, are today very invaluable to identify the many fragments of the decorations of the Parthenon.

In 1687, the Parthenon undergoes one of its more terrible wounds. The Vénitiens attack Athens and the Othomans strengthen themselves on the Acropolis, by using the Parthenon like explosives magazine. The September 26th, a Venetian ball touches the building, which explodes on the blow. The internal structures and what remained roof is destroyed, a good part of the pillars are decapitated, in particular in the southern part. The sculptures are seriously damaged. Many remains of decoration strew the ground and are then carried by the successive visitors, like travel souvenir.

Recent history

Europeans visit Athens. The ruins of the Parthenon then are abundantly drawn and painted. Sympathy to the cause of Greek independence gains all Europe, which worries about the conservation of the old monuments.

In 1801, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador with Constantinople, had given like objective to its team to measure, mould and draw antiquities Athenian, and more particularly those on the Acropole. The access them while being refused, a decree, act of the Chancellery of the Top dog, was necessary. In July 1801, the britannico-Turkish troops took again Cairo with the French; the Door could nothing any more refuse with the British ambassador. The text of the decree was suggested by the Chaplain of Lord Elgin, the Reverend Hunt. This one claimed the right to enter the citadel and to draw and mould the temples; right to set up scaffolding and to dig everywhere where they would wish to discover the old foundations; right to take along any sculpture or inscription which is not included/understood in the fortifications of the citadel. Only the interpretation of this long and ambiguous official text counted. Hunt could impose its version on Disdar, governor of Athens.

L.S. Fauvel, representative of France, were the only one with being able to be opposed to the British, by the great influence which he exerted in Athens, in the diplomatic and archaeological small war which opposed French and British in this city. However, it was in prison, decree, like all the French residing in the Ottoman Empire, at the beginning of the countryside of Egypt.

Hunt had obtained the right for all the British to enter on the Acropole. Disdar also authorized it to use the material (carriage and scaffolding) of Fauvel. Most important was the interpretation of the decree that Hunt succeeds in imposing. Indeed, the difference between “digging and taking along” or” to take along and dig” seemed tiny. Disdar made also an error. It offered to Elgin two métopes, in reward of the victory of Cairo. It was the breach by which Hunt and Lusieri were engulfed.

In ten months, half of the sculptures were removed, like seven métopes and twenty flagstones of the plank, which one sawed into two and which one gave up the back because of their weight. During the summer and the autumn 1802, two others métopes and six flagstones of the plank were descended from the Acropolis. In September 1802, Lusieri wrote in Elgin: “I have the pleasure, My Lord, to announce to you that we have the eighth métope now, that with the Centaur carrying the woman. She us because much of problems and I was obliged to be a little barbarian. ”

All this work was done thanks to the decree and also thanks to a continuous sending of various gifts to the Turkish administration, in order to preserve its benevolence. But, in 1803, the new ambassador in Constantinople, Elgin substitute, refused to ask for the renewal of the decree, and he wrote to the British consul in Athens, Logotheti, which one was to take any more no statue or column on the monuments. In 1805, Voïvode of Athens prohibits any excavation in Attic. The evil was made, three years after the departure of Elgin and the voyage of many boats, it remained still 40 marble cases in Pirée.

These parts are today with the British Museum. The Greece claims the restitution of it, but the British Museum, whose collections are inalienable, does not want to intend some to speak. The Musée of Louvre has also three fragments, the majority of the remainders being preserved at the museum of the Acropole, with Athens.

After the independence of Greece, in 1832, the minaret of the Parthenon is destroyed, like all the modern and medieval buildings.

The site today

Today, it is necessary to go to Louvre, the museum of Athens and British Museum if one wants to see the whole remaining of the decoration of the planks and pediments of the one of the most beautiful ancient buildings.

Development, restorations recent

August 1st

Architectural data

The Parthenon measures 69,5 meters out of 30,88 meters, colossal dimensions for a treasure but modest compared to the large preceding temples, like the Héraion of Samos or the Artémision of Éphèse, which exceeds all the hundred meters. It is carried out in Marbre Pentélique.

The building is arranged so as to emphasize the statue of Phidias: the Péristasis (external space of the colonnade), the Pronaos (hall of entry in the naos) and the Opisthodome (symmetrical, with the back of the pronaos) are strongly reduced for sparing place. The Naos 9,815 meters broad and is surrounded by a colonnade making back return behind the statue. The second room, behind the statue, shelters the treasure of the league of Délos.

The sècos (left closed building) is amphiprostyle (colonnade only on the small sides) and hexastyle (with 6 columns), elevated of two degrees. It is surrounded by a colonnade (or gantry) octostyle and not hexastyle, as it is the use at the time. Drawn according to a rigorously doric plan, it counts twice more columns in length, are 17 (8 × 2 + 1 for the angle) × 2 for the lengths and 8 × 2 - 4 (corner columns) for the frontages, for a total of 46 columns.

Optical corrections

A system of very precise optical correction makes it possible to give the illusion of a verticality and a perfect horizontality whereas the Stylobate S and the Architrave S are curved. Moreover, the columns are not parallel but are tilted towards a break point located in height (what is seen more especially as the column is far from the center of the temple). Lastly, the columns themselves are modified for these optical reasons: the corner columns are thicker (because, being detached on the vacuum, they would seem if not too thin) and they are, which very current, is slightly reinflated with the ⅓ the height (the eye tending to see at this place a throttling).

In addition to the esthetic aspect, these corrections have also, more prosaically, of the technical advantages: they facilitate the water run-off by the curve of the ground, and reinforce the structure of the whole by the widening of the corner columns. However, they make also more delicate the size of each block of stone, as well as the work of jointoyage.

Decorations

In the beginning, the Parthenon had a rich person decoration of painted marble, as well outside as inside the building.

The statue of Athéna

Descriptions speak about a statue Chryséléphantin E (of Or and Ivoire) the twelve meters height made up of a wood carcass on which were posed ivory plates. This material being fragile and being able to desiccate itself, one maintained it by means of an oiled water which one kept at disposal in a basin. The oil film left a protective film preventing evaporation and giving a gloss to the ivory.

There exist still several marble copies of this statue: Athéna was out of weapons, bearing helmet and shield. On this last the combat against the Amazones was represented. Périclès and Phidias would have been included there like characters, which, for the time, were scandalous, the religious art having to remain anonymous and not glorifier the author.

The planks

Doric order obliges, the external plank is made of Triglyphe S (three vertical bands) alternating with Métope S (left punts) on which are carved traditional scenes:

• Ilioupersis ;scene of the bag of Troy (frontage northern: 32 métopes; three métopes are preserved);
• Centauromachie (southern frontage: 32 métopes);
• Gigantomachie (frontage is: 14 métopes);
• Amazonomachie (western frontage: 14 métopes).

The Naos (or concealed ) has its own external plank, of Ionic order this time, therefore uninterrupted. It is this one which one generally names “Frise of the Parthenon” or “Plank of the Panathénées” because it is indeed what it seems to represent.

Of complex structure, being 160 meters long, including/understanding 360 characters, it represents a procession including/understanding men, hero éponymes Greek tribes, gods, horses of a cavalcade and various pertaining to worship objects. Many tanks for the apobatai (plural of ἀποϐάτης / apobátês ) is also present. They are warriors of weapons jumping moving of the tanks to go up there after having run to side; these athletes took part in a contest and the best of them received like price an oil amphora drawn from the crowned olive-trees. It is possible that this religious gasoline exercise comes owing to the fact that Érichthonios passed for the inventor of the tank.

Among the mortals are perhaps - the exégètes do not agree - the ergastinai / ἐργαστῖναι , women charged to weave the Péplos which one equipped a statue with wood of olive-tree of Athéna Polias ( Πολιάς , “protective of the city”, kept in the Érechthéion) during Panathénées. It is notable that mortals are represented: indeed it is one of the rare ceremonies to which they were invited.

One proposes another interpretation of the subject of this plank.

One discovered the existence of this legend thanks to the bits of a part of Euripide found on a piece of papyrus. It is about the history of Érechthée, one of first kings d' Athènes, who had to push back the army of a rival, Eumolpe. He consults the oracle of Delphes which says to him that he must sacrifice one of his daughters, virgin, to save the city. He will do it and thus save his people.

If it is supposed that the plank represents this legend: The procession of the riders then becomes the army of Érechthée which gathers to celebrate the victory. In the scenes power station, the man wearing a dress of priest would be then Érechthée. Folded clothing would be funerary clothing that the young girl will have to carry at the time of the sacrifice. And finally the woman being held beside Érechthée would be his wife, Praxithée, first priestess of Athéna. She turns to another of her two other daughters who approaches with a linen or a knife of ceremony on the cushion that she carries on the head.

This proposal also makes it possible to explain the presence two gods Olympian and the juxtaposition of the elements of the sacrifice. Many arguments feed this interpretation. In particular, the fact that Érechthée was to have its temple on the Acropolis.

The plank has, like the other forms of religious art for the Greeks, no value esthetic in oneself: it is a representation. Moreover, it was placed too high to be admired. It is however, for a modern public, one of the most completed Greek planks. Moreover, although sometimes of delicate interpretation, it informs about the daily life and depicts scenes of the procession with wealth of details.

Pediments

The temple has two pediment S triangular carved, carried out between 438 and 432 av. J. - C. They were described by Pausanias (I, 24,5-7), which makes possible today the distinction between the two, currently very mutilated. The pediment east represents the birth of Athéna, the western pediment the quarrel between Athéna and Poséidon for the attribution of the Attique (see also with Athens ).

The function of the Parthenon

Contrary to the generally spread idea, the Parthenon would not be a temple but a treasure. It is not a building of worship but a monument intended to shelter the colossal ex-voto which is the statue of Athéna Parthénos, work of Phidias. It was conceived by this entire last from this point of view. Its secondary function, like treasure, was to accommodate the metal reserves monnayé of Athens and the treasure of the Ligue of Délos.

That the Parthenon is not a temple deduces from the following observations:

• the statue of Athéna Parthénos which occupies the principal room in the East is not a statue of worship but an offering: it was the subject of no known rite, no priestess was not attached there.

• If the Parthenon were the temple of Athéna Parthénos, it should be rather called Parthénion (in the same way that Artémision is the temple of Artémis, Héraion the temple of Héra, etc)
• Athéna which makes the principal liturgical object on the Acropole, in particular at the time of the celebration of the Panathénées, is Athéna Polias, whose pertaining to worship statue, the xoanon (out of wood), is preserved at the Érechthéion, which was the true temple of the Acropolis.
• In the beginning, the term of Parthenon indicates only the Western room of the building, which contains the offerings and the reserves of monnayé metal, before preserved in the Old Temple of Athéna Polias.

The Parthenon is thus from the point of view of its function comparable with the votive churches of Delphes (the Trésor of the Athenians for example), of Olympie or Délos: it is a treasure, at the same time because it is built around the statue of Athéna Parthénos and because it comprises room-strong.

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