He Parthenon It is one of the most beautiful buildings ever built by man and the most important example of Ancient Greek architecture. Although it is currently in ruins, it still preserves a beauty that makes us think of what it would be like in its time of splendor.
What was the Parthenon really? Why was it built? What happened to him to reach this state until today? I encourage you to continue reading to learn a little about its history.
Travel back in time to Athens
To place ourselves at the time when the Parthenon was built, we must go back to the ancient city of Athensnothing more and nothing less than the 5th century before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Since the beginning of this century, Greek cities had been fighting united almost relentlessly against the Persian Empire. It is what is known as Medical Wars. Of all these cities, Athens was the most powerful. After many years of fighting, the Greek cities managed to defeat their enemy and peace finally came in the year 449 BC.
A few years later, in 443 BC, the politician and military man Pericles, who with his intelligence and cunning had contributed to the victory, was elected head of the government of Athens.
Under his rule, Athens consolidated its democracy and the city reached its maximum splendor. During the time he was in charge, he supported art, theater, philosophy and everything that had to do with culture, which thanks to him lived its best moment.
Athens had been destroyed after the wars and he set out to rebuild and beautify it as much as possible, also improving the lives of its citizens as much as possible, who finally lived a few years of peace and prosperity.
The Parthenon is built
One of the great achievements of Pericles, was to begin the reconstruction works of the Acropolis. The Acropolis of Athens It is the highest place in the city since it is on a plateau; The main temples dedicated to their gods were built there.
On the ruins of an ancient temple that had been burned by the Persians during the war, Pericles decided to build the most important temple of classical Greece: The Parthenon, built in honor of Athena Parthenos, goddess protector of the city, as gratitude for the victory. The works began in 447 BC and finished fifteen years later.
The architects were Ictine and Callicrates under the supervision of the also architect and sculptor Phidias.
Curiosities of the Parthenon
The Parthenon was made of white marble although there were several parts painted in bright and vivid colors. If you look closely, it is a rectangular temple surrounded by columns. There were also many areas decorated with relief sculptures depicting themes such as the fights of giants or centaurs and mythological scenes in which the gods were the protagonists.
Now, imagine that you are at the foot of a skyscraper. Normally, when we stand near a large building and look up, we get the feeling that it is a little deformed or even seems like it is going to fall, right? This is an optical illusion.
One of the great achievements of these Greek architects was that thanks to some mathematical and geometric tricks that they applied to the construction, they managed to make the Parthenon proportional to the human eye. That is to say, they “deformed” it on purpose. How?… Well, for example, by bulging the columns in the center or arching the base of the temple to correct the optical effects and make it appear that the lines were perfectly horizontal and vertical when viewed. The result was an elegant and harmonious temple.
What treasure was hidden in the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was designed to house the enormous statue of Athena, sculpted like the sculptures and reliefs of the temple, by Phidias himself, who is considered the best artist of the classical era. It was made of bronze, gold and ivory. It measured 12 meters, so for this reason the central room of the Parthenon became larger than was usual in the temples of the time. The imposing figure was standing on a pedestal and had a small pond at his feet. Everyone who entered was awestruck when they saw him!
In addition to this valuable figure, the Parthenon guarded great wealth since it housed the rich offerings that the goddess received (precious stones…), the riches generated by the silver mines and the treasury of the city of Athens.
What happened to the Parthenon and the statue of Athena?
The Parthenon withstood the test of time quite well for 2,000 years, but in the 17th century, Venice attacked Athens and a bomb fell on the temple, causing serious damage. From there, it continued to deteriorate.
In the 19th century, the Parthenon and other temples on the Acropolis were looted by the Earl of Elgin, who, without any shame, tore down most of the sculptures and took them to England. Since then, they have been exhibited in the British Museum.
As for the great statue of Athena, it was lost in the 5th century under unknown circumstances. We know what it looked like thanks to small replicas that were made of it in Antiquity and the description that the historian Pausanias wrote when he saw it in the 2nd century during his trip to Athens.
Do you have a couple more minutes? Take a look at this short video to get an idea of what the Parthenon looked like when it was built.
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