The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens between 447 and 432 BC, in the age of Pericles, to celebrate victory over the Persians and Athenian power. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, "the virgin", the city's protector. Its name probably means "the hall of the virgin".
Architecture
The architects Ictinus and Callicrates designed a peripteral Doric temple, ringed by columns on every side: 8 on the short sides and 17 on the long ones, 46 outer columns in all, each over 10 metres tall. It is built entirely of Pentelic marble, quarried on Mount Pentelicus 16 km from Athens. It also includes Ionic elements, such as the continuous frieze around the cella.
The Parthenon is famous for its optical refinements: the stylobate curves slightly, the columns swell halfway up and lean inwards, and the corner columns are thicker and closer together. There is hardly a perfectly straight line in the building, yet it looks perfectly regular. See the architectural orders.
The sculptures
The sculptor Phidias directed the sculptural decoration, carried out by dozens of artists:
| Part | Subject |
|---|---|
| East pediment | The birth of Athena from the head of Zeus |
| West pediment | The contest between Athena and Poseidon for Attica |
| Metopes (92) | Battles of gods and giants, Greeks and Amazons, Lapiths and centaurs, the Trojan War |
| Frieze (about 160 m) | The Panathenaic procession, with horsemen, chariots, offering-bearers and the gods |
| Cult statue | Athena Parthenos, about 12 metres tall, gold and ivory, by Phidias, now lost |
The temple's fate
| Period | Use |
|---|---|
| 5th century BC-4th century AD | Temple of Athena and city treasury |
| From about the 6th century | Christian church of the Virgin |
| 1204-1458 | Catholic cathedral under the Frankish dukes |
| 1458-1833 | Ottoman mosque, with a minaret |
| 1687 | An explosion caused by a Venetian cannonball destroys the centre of the temple |
| 1801-1812 | Lord Elgin has most of the sculptures removed and taken to London |
| Since 1975 | Major scientific restoration programme |
The London marbles
About half the surviving Parthenon sculptures are in the British Museum in London, where they arrived in the early 19th century with Lord Elgin. Greece seeks their return and in the Acropolis Museum has left their places empty beside casts. Other fragments are in the Louvre, the Vatican and elsewhere; some, such as the piece from the Salinas Museum in Palermo and fragments from the Vatican Museums, have been returned in recent years.
Restoration
Since 1975 a scientific committee has been restoring the Acropolis monuments: dismantling blocks, removing old rusting iron clamps that split the marble, replacing them with titanium and filling missing parts with new Pentelic marble. That is why the Parthenon almost always has cranes and scaffolding.
See also the Acropolis, Greek art and the goddess Athena.