Where, when and who built the Parthenon. The most famous temple in Greece is the Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess Athena the Virgin. What the Temple of Athena Parthenon looked like
The famous ancient Greek temple, the Parthenon, is located on the famous Acropolis of Athens. This main temple in Ancient Athens is a magnificent monument of ancient architecture. It was built in honor of the patroness of Athens and all of Attica - the goddess Athena.
The construction date of the Parthenon is considered to be 447 BC. It was installed thanks to the found fragments of marble tablets, on which the city authorities presented resolutions and financial reports. Construction lasted 10 years. The temple was consecrated in 438 BC. on the festival of Panathenaia (which translated from Greek means “for all Athenians”), although work on decorating and decorating the temple was carried out until 431 BC.
The initiator of the construction was Pericles - Athenian statesman, famous commander and reformer. The design and construction of the Parthenon was carried out by the famous ancient Greek architects Ictinus and Kallikrates. The decoration of the temple was made by the greatest sculptor of those times - Phidias. High quality Pentelic marble was used for the construction.
The building was built in the form of a peripterus (a rectangular structure surrounded by columns). The total number of columns is 50 (8 columns on the facades and 17 columns on the sides). The ancient Greeks took into account that straight lines are distorted at a distance, so they resorted to some optical techniques. For example, the columns do not have the same diameter along the entire length; they taper somewhat towards the top, and the corner columns are also inclined towards the center. Thanks to this, the structure seems ideal.
Previously, in the center of the temple there was a statue of Athena Parthenos. The monument was about 12 m high and made of gold and ivory on a wooden base. In one hand the goddess held a statue of Nike, and with the other she leaned on a shield, near which the serpent Erichthonius was curled up. On Athena's head there was a helmet with three large crests (the middle one with the image of a sphinx, the side ones with griffins). The scene of Pandora's birth was carved on the pedestal of the statue. Unfortunately, the statue has not survived to this day and is known from descriptions, images on coins and a few copies.
Over many centuries, the temple was attacked more than once, a significant part of the temple was destroyed, and historical relics were looted. Today, some parts of the masterpieces of ancient sculptural art can be seen in famous museums around the world. The main part of the magnificent works of Phidias was destroyed by people and time.
Restoration work is currently underway; reconstruction plans include maximum recreation of the temple in its original form in ancient times.
The Parthenon, part of the Acropolis of Athens, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Parthenon sculpture in the British Museum. Part three: Ionian frieze August 24th, 2010
The 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 girls from the eastern wall - in the 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 several more slabs there. But only in the British Museum can one get a complete picture of this part of the Parthenon’s sculptural decoration.
In front of us is the corner of the western and southern walls. The male figure looks very strange: the body is depicted from the front, the legs are turned in one direction, the head in the other. The movement is thus stopped:
The length of the frieze that ran along the walls of the temple cella, behind the columns, is 160 meters, its height is 1 meter.
Preparations for the procession were depicted on the western wall. Some characters are already driving, some are standing. The flow of the main movement is directed to the left, but some figures are directed to the right. In this part of the frieze we see only men:
Now on the Parthenon itself there are copies of the reliefs. This is what the western façade looks like:
The Panathenaic procession on the frieze is an image, not a detailed document. Sculptors depict the most important things without going into details. The procession of the Athenians bifurcates: along the southern and northern walls, mortal people move towards the gods.
The sculptors depict horsemen with particular pleasure. The procession is multifaceted. On the frieze everything is flattened, sometimes, like knots, you have to untangle the legs of horses and riders. In the next room there is a special multimedia program that transforms the planar image on the frieze into a spatial one. Very exciting! By the way, when everything was painted, the plans were separated more clearly.
To the extent that 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 of all Athenians (and from the time of Peisistratus, formally, all Hellenes). His main rite was to bring a new fire to the Acropolis from the lower city. They took it from the Academus grove, planted under Cleisthenes at the end of the 6th century. BC e. Torches were lit on the altar of Eros or Prometheus, and young men assigned to each of the ten Athenian phyla (territorial units) carried it in a relay race to the Acropolis. 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 act of bringing fire was at 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 was drawn up near the Athenian cemetery of Ceramics. It included all full-fledged citizens, except slaves - indigenous people and Meteca migrants, old men, boys and girls. At the head was a girl-priestess with a ritual basket-kanun, in which a knife was hidden among the barley intended to feed the victim animal. Next, at the beginning of the procession, came the tallophores - noble elders in white robes, with flowering branches in their hands. The indigenous Athenians carried two diphros - solemn thrones without backs - for the gods. They were followed by sacrificial animals, cows and sheep, accompanied by young men and musicians, followed by metics in purple robes - men carried heavy boat-shaped scaphoses with honeycombs and other gifts to the gods and hydrias with water on their shoulders, women carried umbrellas. The third part, the tail of the procession, was made up of ephebe youths on horseback in black cloaks.” / Akimova L.I. Art Ancient Greece: Classic. – St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2007, p.184/
“The procession, approaching the Acropolis, took a model of the ship in the Prytaneum, the building where the city magistrates met, where the state seal and other symbols of the Athenian polis were kept. On the mast of the ship, a newly woven saffron peplos was fixed, fluttering and shining like the sun. At the entrance to the Acropolis, the ship was left below and the peplos was carried on the stulis mast removed from it; the ephebes on horseback dismounted. The rest of the procession walked up steep slope up. Having reached the Parthenon, the procession split into two branches - one went around 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 sacrifices, the central event of the holiday, the goddess was given a new peplos. With sunrise, the doors of the temple dissolved, and in the naos an extraordinary sight was revealed to the participants: they were greeted in all its splendor, illuminated by the first rays of the sun, by the colossal (about 12 m high) statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias, made of gold and ivory. Previously, in the temple of Polyada, peplos was placed on the knees of the 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. The Art of Ancient Greece: Classics. – St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2007, p.185/
So far we have looked at the reliefs of the northern side. On the southern wall we see the same set of characters, they are just grouped differently.
Horsemen alternate with chariots:
Men lead sacrificial animals:
The East Frieze looks completely different. Here people come closer to the gods. The movement becomes slower and gradually people stop.
In the central part of the relief, the priest and priestess receive sacred gifts - peplos and diphlos.
Parthenon
(Greek Παρθενών; English Parthenon)
Opening hours: from 8.30 to 19.00 every day except Monday.
The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patroness of Athens, and is rightfully considered one of the greatest examples of ancient architecture, a masterpiece of world art and plastic arts. The temple was founded on the initiative of Pericles, the famous Athenian commander and reformer. Its construction proceeded quite quickly - the temple was built from 447 to 438 BC (under the leadership of the architects Ictinus and Kallicrates), and its sculptural design and decoration (under the leadership of Phidias) was completed in 432 BC.
The first known temple to Athena in modern times, the existence of which is recognized by most scientists in the world, was built on the Acropolis, probably under Pisistratus. It was called the same as later the naos of the modern Parthenon - Hekatompedon, but during the campaign of Xerxes it, like other buildings on the Acropolis, was destroyed. There is a version about the connection between the ancient meaning of the word “hekatompedon” and the custom of child sacrifices (Greek “hekaton” - “hundred”, tome - “dissection”, “paidos” - “child”). Later, with the abolition of this cruel custom (babies were laid in the foundation of the building for the sake of its strength), the concept of “one hundred child sacrifices” was transferred to the original measure of the length of the naos (sanctuary) of the temple.
During the reign of Pericles, Athens achieved its greatest glory. After the end of the Greco-Persian wars, already on the prepared site, it was decided to build a new, more majestic and luxurious temple. The victorious attitude was also reflected in wasteful urban planning plans, which were financed mainly by the tribute levied by Athens on its allies. The best artists of that time were involved in the construction and huge amounts of money were spent. The builders of the Parthenon were the ancient Greek architects Ictinus and Callicrates. Then there was a period of the highest rise of ancient culture, and the temple of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis hill, to this day, proudly reminds the whole world of this.
The Parthenon is located at the highest point of the Acropolis of Athens. Therefore, the beautiful temple of the goddess Athena is visible not only from all corners of the city, but also from the sea, from the islands of Salamis and Aegina. The main facade of the temple is located at an angle to the Propylaea (entrance gate), which is located in the western part of the temple mount. Entirely permeated with light, the temple seems airy and light. There are no bright patterns on the white columns, as is found in Egyptian temples.
The Parthenon is a Doric peripterus, with elements of the Ionic order. It is located 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, the roof was covered tiled roof. On the side of the main (western) façade, more frequent steps were cut, intended for people.
The building itself (cella) has a length of 29.9 m (width 19.2 m), which was 100 Greek feet, and is bordered along the entire perimeter by an external colonnade (peristele). There are only 46 of these columns, 8 each from the end facades, and 17 each from the side facades. All columns are channeled, that is, decorated with longitudinal grooves. The height of the corner columns together with the capitals is 10.43 m (the same as in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia).
The lower diameter of the corner columns - embat, when proportioning the temple, was taken as the first module (1.975 m). For the vertical dimensions, the builders used the second module - the height of the abacus of the capital (0.3468 m). The amazing harmony of the building, which has been preserved to this day, despite the fact that only ruins remain of the great structure, is based, first of all, on the polyphony of relationships of quantities; the sizes of similar parts change depending on their place in the overall composition.
The columns of the Parthenon do not look like a continuous undivided mass, but are perceived as a row in which individual trunks are not lost. Hence the correlation of the colonnade with the rhythm of the triglyphs and metopes of the frieze, as well as with the rhythm of the figures of the Ionic frieze, which was located in the upper part of the walls of the naos, and on the internal colonnade of the porticoes.
The Parthenon was not only a temple, but also something of an art gallery or museum, and it provided an excellent backdrop for many works of plastic art. The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon was carried out under the leadership 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 continuous Ionic (inner) frieze, the sculptures in the tympanums of the pediments and the famous statue of Athena Parthenos.
The pediment and cornices of the building were decorated with sculptures. The pediments were decorated with the gods of Greece: the thunderer Zeus, the mighty ruler of the seas Poseidon, the wise warrior Athena, the winged Nike. For example, on the western pediment the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica is represented. The judges decided to give victory to the god whose gift would be more valuable to the city. Poseidon struck with his trident and a salty spring gushed out of the rock of the Acropolis. Athena struck with a spear - and arose on the Acropolis olive tree. This gift seemed more useful to the Athenians. Thus, Athena emerged victorious in the dispute, and the olive tree became the symbol of the city.
Along the perimeter external walls cella, at a height of 12 meters, the famous Parthenon frieze stretched like a ribbon, the details of which, however, from below were almost indistinguishable. This frieze is considered one of the pinnacles of classical art. Of more than 500 figures of boys, girls, elders, on foot and on horseback, not one repeated the other; the movements of people and animals were conveyed with amazing dynamism. The figures are not flat, they have the volume and shape of the human body.
The metopes were part of the traditional, for the Doric order, triglyph-metope frieze, 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 the centaurs with the Lapiths was depicted, in the south - the battles of the Greeks with the Amazons (amazonomachy), in the west - probably scenes from the Trojan War, in the north - battles of gods and giants (gigantomachy). To this day, only 64 metopes have survived: 42 in Athens and 15 in the British Museum.
In general, the architectural appearance of the Parthenon takes its origins from wooden architecture: built of stone, the temple retained, in its outline, the lightness and grace of a wooden building. However, the external simplicity of these outlines is deceptive: the architect Iktin was a great master of perspective. He very accurately calculated how to create the proportions of the structure in order to make them pleasing to the eye of a person looking at the temple from bottom to top.
The Greeks built temples from limestone, the surface of which was covered with plaster and then painted. But the Parthenon is built of marble. During construction on the Acropolis, near Athens, on Mount Pentelikon, deposits of snow-white Pentelic marble sparkling in the sun were discovered. During production, it is white in color, but when exposed to the sun's rays it turns yellow. The northern side of the building is exposed to less radiation - and therefore, the stone there has a grayish-ashy tint, while the southern blocks have a golden-yellowish color. Using ropes and wooden sleds, marble blocks were transported to the construction site.
The masonry was carried out without any mortar or cement, that is, it was dry. The blocks were regular squares, they were carefully ground along the edges, adjusted to size to each other, and fastened with iron staples - pyrons. The column trunks were made from separate drums and connected with wooden pins. Only the outer edges of the stones were carefully trimmed, internal surfaces were left unprocessed, “to be stolen.” The final finishing, including the flutes on the columns, was carried out after the stones were in place.
The roof was made of stone, rafter construction, reproducing earlier wooden floors, and covered with double-shaped marble tiles. The chiaroscuro on the deeply embedded flutes of the columns and in the intercolumns (between the columns) emphasized the spatiality of the building’s composition and its connection with the surrounding landscape.
The central hall of the temple was illuminated only by the light falling through the doorway and numerous lamps. In this twilight, in the center of the temple stood the statue of Athena Parthenos, which was made by Phidias himself. It was upright and about 11 m high, made in the chrysoelephantine technique (made of gold and ivory, on a wooden base), and the eyes were inlaid precious stones. According to ancient custom, the statue of a deity placed inside the temple should face east, towards to the rising sun, therefore the entrance to the Parthenon was on the east side.
The ancient Greeks considered the Parthenon to be the home of the deity and believed that the goddess Athena descended from Olympus at times to be embodied in her statue. Every year, on the festival of Athena, a peplos (veil) woven by the Athenians was placed on the statue of the goddess. On it were woven pictures of the exploits of the goddess, especially her victories over the giants.
Phidias depicted Athena in long, heavy robes, with her left hand resting on a shield, under which the serpent Erichthonius was coiled. The shield that Athena held depicted scenes of the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons, and the battle of the gods with the giants. Among the characters in the first scene, Phidias depicted himself as a bald old man swinging a stone. Such courage was considered sacrilege. Added to this were accusations of abuses that Phidias allegedly committed with the gold and other jewelry he received to create a statue of Athena. As a result, in 431 BC, the great sculptor was imprisoned. According to some sources, Phidias died in captivity, according to others, he was sent into exile.
Plates of pure gold (1.5 mm thick), depicting the robe of the statue of the goddess Athena, were periodically removed and weighed - they formed part of the state treasury. According to Pericles, gold could be borrowed from the goddess if necessary, for example, to wage war, and then returned. Any citizen could donate his goods or weapons to the temple of Athena. Alexander the Great, after defeating the Persians on the Granicus River in 334 BC, sent 300 shields captured from the enemy to Athens. The temple was also used to store gifts to the goddess. Gold and silver caskets, figurines, weapons, and vessels were located in all rooms of the Parthenon - there were inventories for each room.
The statue of Athena, a great work of ancient sculpture, having existed for more than 900 years, perished in the storms of time, and can only be judged by several unsuccessful copies. Today, the site where the statue of Athena stood is marked by several rectangular stones.
The Parthenon was designed in the smallest details, completely invisible to an outside observer, and aimed at visually lightening the load on the load-bearing elements, as well as correcting some errors in human vision. Architectural historians separately highlight the concept of curvature of the Parthenon - a special curvature that introduced optical corrections. Although the temple seems ideally rectilinear, in fact, there is almost not a single strictly straight line in its contours: the columns are not placed vertically, but slightly inclined into the building; the width of the metopes increases towards the center and decreases towards the corners of the building; the corner columns are somewhat thicker in diameter than the others, since otherwise they would appear thinner, and in cross section they are not round; the entablature slopes outward and the pediments inward. To compensate for the future reductions, the Greeks increased the size of the upper parts of the building and reduced those that are closer. It is also known that a horizontal line of considerable length in the middle appears concave. In the Parthenon, the lines of the stylobate and steps are made not straight, but slightly convex, which compensates for visual distortion.
The emphasized contours and ornament were also intended to enhance the readability of relief images at high altitudes. Lightness and flexibility distinguish the architecture of the Parthenon from its predecessors: the temples at Paestum, Selinunte, or the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The sizes of individual parts were determined “by eye,” varying them in such a way that, when viewed from below, they created a feeling of regularity and identical relationships. This principle is called the “law of angles” (meaning the angle of view of the observer). Our eye mentally continues the axes of the columns upward and connects them at one point, located somewhere high in the sky, above the temple. A person, under the shadow of the colonnade, in the openings of neighboring columns, as in a picture frame, sees landscapes arranged by architecture. From the outside, from all points of view, the Parthenon looks like a statue on a pedestal. When assessing the Parthenon, from an average distance (about 35 m), the temple looks harmonious and solid; up close it impresses with its monumentality and seems even larger than it actually is. The position of the temple building relative to the Acropolis hill is also important: it is moved to the southeastern edge of the rock, and therefore visitors see it as distant; in fact, the large Parthenon does not overwhelm with its size and “grows” as a person approaches it.
The popular belief that Greek temples were always white is actually wrong. In ancient times, the Parthenon was very colorful, and according to modern tastes, it was even almost clumsily painted. The tenia and undersurface of the echinus were red. The lower surface of the cornice is red and blue. The red background emphasized the whiteness, the narrow vertical projections that separated one frieze slab from the other stood out clearly in blue, and the gilding shone brightly. Painting was done with wax paints, which, under the influence of hot sun rays, impregnated the marble. This technique ensured an organic combination of the natural texture of marble and color; the stone was painted, but remained slightly translucent and “breathed.”
The greatest temple of Ancient Greece, the Parthenon, went through all the stages of its history with it. For some time, the Parthenon stood untouched, in all its splendor. With the decline of Greece began the decline of the temple.
In 267 BC, Athens was invaded by the barbarian tribe of the Heruli, who sacked Athens and started a fire in the Parthenon. As a result of the fire, the roof of the temple was destroyed, as well as almost all the internal fittings and ceilings. During the Hellenistic era (about 298 BC), the Athenian tyrant Lacharus removed the gold plates from the statue of Athena. After 429, the statue of Athena Parthenos disappeared from the temple. According to one version, the statue was taken to Constantinople and installed in front of the Senate building, and later it was destroyed by fire.
Due to the strengthening of the cult of the Mother of God, under Emperor Justinian I (527-565), the Parthenon was turned into the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary (“Parthenis Maria”). In general, ancient temples easily turned into Christian ones. The transition from a pagan temple to a church affected the architecture of the Parthenon. In ancient times, the entrance to the Parthenon was located in the eastern part under the pediment, the sculptures of which depicted the birth of Athena. However, it is in the eastern part of the Christian temple that the altar should be located. As a result, the temple was remodeled and the internal columns and some walls of the cella were removed, which is why the central slab of the frieze was dismantled. The sacred eastern part of the Christian temple could not be decorated with the birth scene of the goddess Athena. These bas-reliefs were removed from the pediment. The colonnades were filled with stones. Most of the sculptures of the ancient Parthenon were lost: those that could be adapted for Christian worship were left, but most of them were destroyed.
In 662, the church was solemnly transferred miraculous icon Our Lady of Atheniotissa (Our Lady of the Most Holy Athens). In 1458, after a two-year siege, the last Duke of Athens surrendered the Acropolis to the Turkish conquerors. In 1460, by order of Sultan Mohammed II, the Parthenon was turned into a mosque, the altar and iconostasis were destroyed, the paintings were whitewashed, and a high minaret was erected above the southwestern corner of the temple, the remains of which were demolished only after the Greek Revolution. The new ruler of Athens placed his harem in the Erechtheion. At the beginning of Turkish rule, Athens and the Acropolis disappeared from the routes of Western European travelers: a serious obstacle was the periodically renewed hostilities between the Venetians and the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Turks had no desire to protect the Parthenon from destruction, but they also did not have the goal of completely distorting or destroying the temple. Since it is impossible to accurately determine the time of overwriting the Parthenon metopes, the Turks could continue this process. However, overall, they carried out less destruction of the building than the Christians did a thousand years before Ottoman rule, who transformed the magnificent ancient temple into a Christian cathedral.
Beginning in 1660, there was a period of peace between the Venetians and the Ottomans, and travelers began to visit Athens again. Not only travel notes, but also studies of the Greek ancient heritage became widespread. But this peace turned out to be short-lived. A new Turkish-Venetian war began. Finally, in 1687, during the siege of Athens by the Venetians led by Francesco Morosini, a gunpowder warehouse was built in the temple. The cannonball that flew in through the roof on September 26 caused a huge explosion, and the Parthenon became ruins forever. After the explosion of the Parthenon, its further destruction no longer seemed reprehensible. Removing surviving fragments of sculptures and reliefs was considered not robbery, but salvation, because previously the Turks simply smashed sculptures and burned them into lime for construction. When a few days later the Turks surrendered and the Venetians entered the territory of the Acropolis, they decided to take to Venice, as trophies, the figure of Poseidon and the horses of his quadriga - the remains of the composition “The dispute between Athena and Poseidon” on the western pediment. When they began to be removed, the sculptures, which were barely holding on after the explosion, fell and broke.
A few months after the victory, the Venetians gave up power over Athens: they did not have enough forces to further defend the city, and the plague made Athens a completely unattractive target for invaders. The Turks again established a garrison on the Acropolis, albeit on a smaller scale, among the ruins of the Parthenon, and erected a new small mosque. During the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Parthenon, having lost its protection, was increasingly destroyed.
The Parthenon's misfortunes ended only at the beginning of the 19th century, when the famous robber of ancient monuments, Lord Elgin, took to England 12 figures from the pediments, 56 slabs with reliefs from the Parthenon frieze, and a number of other fragments of the monument, and sold them to the British Museum, where they, are still the most valuable exhibits. Today, sculptures from the Parthenon are found in many museums around the world. In particular, the British Museum contains sculptures of Helios and Selene - corner fragments of the pediment “Birth of Athena”. In recent decades, there has been a tendency towards the return of lost relics to the Parthenon. An important issue for the Greek government at the present stage is also the return of the Elgin marbles.
The idea of recreating the Parthenon was brought to life in the USA. In the city of Nashville (Tennessee), architects W. Dinzmoor and R. Garth, in 1897, built a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, restored according to the latest scientific data of that era. Restoration of the temple began in the 19th century. In 1926-1929 the northern colonnade was restored. Following this, an attempt was made to restore the pediment sculptures, the originals of which were partly lost and partly ended up in foreign museums.
But despite constant restoration work, even today, the Parthenon continues to slowly but surely collapse. For recent years, the poisonous smog and suffocating stench of modern Athens, just like the marks left here by hordes of tourists, cause significant damage to the Parthenon marble.
In the eyes of contemporaries, the Parthenon was the embodiment of the glory and power of Athens. Today the Parthenon is rightfully considered one of the greatest examples of ancient architecture, a masterpiece of world art and sculpture. This is the most perfect creation of ancient architecture and even in ruins is an amazing, exciting monument...
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For almost 2,500 years, the Parthenon has reigned over Athens, the Temple of the Virgin Athena - the symbol of the city, the pride of ancient architecture. Many experts consider it the most beautiful and harmonious temple of the Ancient World. And most tourists who see the Parthenon with their own eyes share this opinion.
History of construction
For many years after the destruction of the main temple of Athena, the Hekatompedon, by the Persians, there was no sanctuary in Athens worthy of the patroness of the city. Only after the end of the Greco-Persian wars in 449 BC. e. the Athenians had enough money for large-scale construction.
The construction of the Parthenon began during the reign of Pericles, one of the greatest political figures of Ancient Greece. This was the "golden age" of Attica. Recognition of the leading role of Athens in the fight against the Persians led to the creation of the Delian Maritime League, which included 206 Greek city-states. In 464 BC. e. The treasury of the union was transported to Athens. After this, the rulers of Attica had virtually no control over the funds of most of the states of Greece.
The money was used not only to fight the Persians. Huge amounts of money were spent by Pericles on grandiose construction work. During his reign, a magnificent temple ensemble grew on the Acropolis, the center of which was the Parthenon.
Construction of the Parthenon began in 447 BC. e. at the highest point of the Acropolis hill. Here back in 488 BC. e. The site for the new temple was prepared and work began on its construction, but at the initial stage they were interrupted by the renewed war.
The Parthenon project belonged to the architect Ictinus, and the progress of the work was supervised by Callicrates. The great sculptor Phidias took an active part in the construction of the temple, who was engaged in the external and internal decoration of the building. The best craftsmen of Greece were involved in the construction, and the general control of the work was carried out by Pericles himself.
The consecration of the temple took place in 438 at the annual Panathenaic Games, but the finishing work on the building was finally completed only in 432 BC. e.
Architectural appearance of the Parthenon
Architecturally, the temple is a classical peripterus with one row of Doric columns. There are 50 columns in total - 8 on the end and 17 on the sides. The width of the end sides is larger than the traditional one - 8 columns instead of 6. This was done at the request of Phidias, who sought to achieve the maximum width of the cella, the interior space. The height of the columns was 19.4 meters with a diameter at the bottom of 1.9 m. The corner ones were somewhat thicker - 1.95 m. Towards the top, the thickness of the columns decreased. Each column has 20 longitudinal grooves - flutes - machined into it.
The entire building rests on a three-stage base 1.5 m high. The size of the upper platform of the base, the stylobate, is 69.5 by 30.9 meters. Behind the outer row of columns, two more steps with a total height of 0.7 m were built, on which the walls of the temple stand.
The main entrance to the Parthenon was located on the side opposite the main entrance to the Acropolis - the Propylaea. Thus, to get inside, the visitor had to walk around the building on one side.
The total length of the temple (without the colonnade) is 59 m, width 21.7. The eastern part of the temple, where the sanctuary of Athena itself was located, had an external size of 30.9 m and was called the hecatompedon, “one hundred feet” (Attic foot - 30.9 cm). The length of the cella was 29.9 m. The cella was divided into three naves by two rows of 9 Doric columns. In the middle nave there was an altar of the goddess, as well as the famous statue of Athena Parthenos, the creation of Phidias.
The western part of the building was occupied by an opisthodome - a room in which offerings to Athena and the state archive were kept. The dimensions of the opisthodome were 13.9 x 19.2 m. It was here that the treasury of the Delian League was transported. The name of the opisthodome, Parthenon, was subsequently transferred to the entire temple.
The building was built from marble quarried from Mount Pentelikon, 20 km away. from Athens. The peculiarity of Pentelicon marble is that, being almost white immediately after extraction, over time it acquires a yellowish color. This explains the golden hue of the Parthenon. The marble blocks were held together with iron pins, which were inserted into drilled grooves and filled with lead.
Unique project Iktina
Art historians consider the Parthenon to be a standard of harmony and harmony. His silhouette is flawless. However, in reality there are practically no straight lines in the outlines of the temple.
Human vision perceives objects somewhat distorted. Iktin took full advantage of this. Columns, cornices, roofing - all lines are slightly curved, thereby creating the optical illusion of their ideal straightness.
A building as significant as the Parthenon, located on a flat area, would visually “press through” the base, so the stylobate was made rising towards the center. The temple itself was moved away from the center of the Acropolis to the south-eastern corner, so as not to overwhelm the visitor entering the citadel. The sanctuary seems to grow as you approach it.
The solution to the colonnade is interesting. Ideally straight columns would seem too thin, so they have an imperceptible thickening in the middle. To create a feeling of lightness of the building, the columns were installed slightly inclined towards the center. The corner columns were made slightly thicker than the others, which gave the building visual stability. The spans between the columns increase towards the center, but to the viewer walking along the colonnade it seems that they are exactly the same.
By using this feature of human perception in the Parthenon project, Iktin thereby discovered one of the fundamental principles on which the architecture of subsequent centuries grew.
Parthenon sculptures
The best craftsmen of Greece took part in the work on the sculptures of the temple. The general supervision of the sculptural decoration of the sanctuary was carried out by Phidias. He is also the author of the main shrine of the Parthenon - the statue of Athena the Virgin.
The best preserved is the bas-relief frieze that encircled the entire temple above the colonnade. The total length of the frieze is 160 meters. It depicts a solemn procession in honor of Athena. Among the participants in the procession are elders, girls with palm branches, musicians, horsemen, chariots, and young men leading sacrificial animals. Above the entrance to the temple is depicted the final act of Panathenaia - the priest of Athena, surrounded by gods and the most prominent citizens of Attica, accepts peplos (a type of women's outerwear) woven by the Athenians as a gift to the goddess.
Remarkable works of art are the Parthenon metopes - relief images that were located above the frieze. Of the 92 metopes, 57 have survived to this day. The reliefs are grouped thematically and are dedicated to subjects common in Hellas. Above the eastern entrance was depicted the battle of the gods with the giants, above the entrance to the opisthodome in the west - the battle of the Hellenes with the Amazons. The metopes of the south reproduced the battle of the Lapiths with the centaurs. The metopes of the northern part, which told about the Trojan War, suffered the most.
The pediment sculptures have survived only in fragments. They depicted key moments for Athens. The eastern group reproduced the scene of the birth of Athena, and the western pediment depicted the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the right to become the patron of Attica. Depicted next to the gods legendary personalities history of Athens. Alas, the condition of the sculptures does not allow us to accurately determine the identity of most of them.
In the central nave of the temple there was a statue of Athena 12 meters high. Phidias used the chrysoelephantine technique when he was first created wooden frame sculptures, and on it were fixed plates of gold, representing clothing, and ivory, imitating open parts of the body.
Descriptions and copies of the statue have been preserved. The goddess was depicted wearing a comb helmet and standing at full height, but otherwise eyewitness accounts differ. Famous geographer of the 2nd century AD. e. Pausanias claimed that Athena held a spear in one hand, and in the palm of her other hand stood the messenger of victory, Nike. At Athena’s feet lay a shield, and on the goddess’s chest was an aegis - a shell with the head of Medusa the Gorgon. In the copies, the goddess rests on a shield, but there is no spear at all.
On one side of the shield the battle of the gods with the giants was depicted, on the other - the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons. Ancient authors passed on the legend that Phidias depicted Pericles and himself on the relief. Later for this he was accused of blasphemy and died in prison.
The further fate of the Parthenon
The temple was highly revered throughout Greece even after the decline of Athens. Thus, Alexander the Great made rich donations to the Parthenon.
However, the new rulers of Attica treated the sanctuary with much less respect. In 298 BC. e. By order of the tyrant Lahar, the golden parts of the statue of Athena were removed. In the 2nd century AD e. There was a severe fire in the Parthenon, but the building was restored.
Timeline of changes in the appearance of the Parthenon from the moment of construction to the present day
In 426, the Parthenon became the Temple of Hagia Sophia. The statue of Athena was transported to Constantinople, where it was destroyed in a fire. In 662, the temple was reconsecrated in honor of the Mother of God, and a bell tower was added to it.
The Turks, who conquered Athens in 1460, built a mosque in the Parthenon, rebuilding the bell tower into a minaret, and in 1687 tragedy struck. During the siege of Athens by the Venetians, a Turkish gunpowder warehouse was set up in the temple. The cannonball hitting the barrels of gunpowder caused a powerful explosion, which destroyed the middle part of the building.
The destruction of the temple continued in peacetime, when city residents stole the marble blocks for their own needs. At the beginning of the 19th century, the bulk of the sculptures were exported to England with the permission of the Sultan. Nobody cared about the building itself until Greece gained independence. The Parthenon was recognized as part of the historical heritage of Greece, and restoration work began in the 20s of the 20th century. The Foundation for the Preservation of the Parthenon, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been established.
Work to restore the Parthenon is ongoing. Alas, there is no hope of seeing the temple in its original form - too much has been lost. However, even in its current state, the Parthenon is a masterpiece of ancient architecture and leaves no doubt about the genius of the architects and builders who once erected it.
The main feature in the design of the Parthenon is the combination of features of the Dorian and Ionian orders in a single design. As is known, these orders had significant differences in general proportions, types of capitals, appearance of columns, and the nature of the entablature. Dorian in its main features, the Parthenon, as we remember, also had some features taken from the Ionian order. It is typical for Dorian temples to have not eight (as in the Parthenon), but six columns on the facade. The lighter proportions of the order and the continuous frieze are also features that came from Ionics. Let's not forget about the four Ionian columns in the treasury. Such a combination of two orders in the architecture of one building is a fundamentally new phenomenon, practically never seen before in Greek architecture. The reasons for the appearance of this feature, as many scientists quite rightly believe, are not only artistic, but also ideological.
The Greek people of the ancient era were divided into several groups (they are usually called tribes), the most important among which were the Dorians (Dorians) and the Ionians (Ionians). According to the ideas that existed at that time, the difference between them was revealed not only in the fact that each of these tribes had its own dialect, but also in the presence of certain character traits supposedly characteristic of these tribes. The Dorians were considered more simple, straightforward, and stern, while the Ionians were considered more refined, prone to elegance and luxury in everyday life, more committed to various innovations than the traditional Dorians. Although, from the point of view of modern science, these differences within the ancient Greek ethnos have no more than a ten-degree significance, the Greeks themselves considered them very important.
The Athenian Maritime League was originally a union of only Ionian poleis. In addition to the real power of Athens, their leading role in the war with the Persians, the circumstance that helped create this association was the old tradition, according to which Athens was considered the metropolis (homeland) of all the Ionians, the center from where they spread to the islands of the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor. Subsequently, many Dorian policies also joined the union. The desire to present Athens as a natural center for the unification of all Greeks, regardless of their tribal affiliation, became one of the leading lines in the politics of the Athenian polis. Thus, the Parthenon, which was intended to be the main temple of the union, turned out to be a building in which the features of the two orders organically merged. The Athenians wanted the Parthenon to be considered their temple by all Greeks.
Let us now turn to the Parthenon sculpture. Let us remember that the main task of the temple was to store the chrysoelephantine statue of Athena. Despite the importance of this statue, the “sculptural component” of the temple was not limited to it. It included two large pediment compositions from a number of sculptures, separate sculptural groups executed in high relief on the metopes (on all four sides) and an Ionian frieze in low relief. The entire sculpture located on the temple is made of Pentelicon marble, but some details (weapons and images of horse harness) are made of metal. A number of details and the background were painted.
Plutarch, talking about the construction of the temple, was amazed at the speed with which it was built (Plut., Pericl., XIII, 2)212. But no less surprising is the speed with which the sculpture was created. Since both the metopes and the frieze were integral parts of the structures, they had to be completed before the construction was completed. Since the cornice and roof, judging by the reports we mentioned above, were completed in 438 BC, one can think that the creation of sculptural groups on the metopes and frieze covered the time from 447 to 438. BC. At the time of the consecration of the temple in 438, the compositions on the pediments were not yet completed, and the work on their manufacture and installation was completed only in 432.213
Previously, it was a very popular opinion that Phidias personally supervised and supervised all sculptural work, but today this opinion is abandoned. The work of producing such a significant number of sculptures (2 pediment compositions, 92 metopes and the entire frieze) in such a short time (until 438) required, of course, the participation of large group masters In addition, it was at this time that Phidias was busy making a chrysoelephantine statue of Athena. Most likely, Phidias participated in the discussion of the subjects of the metopes, frieze and pediments, but he is unlikely to have created sketches for many of them, although it cannot be considered that he completely withdrew from this work.
The Parthenon is richly decorated with sculpture. Olympian gods and heroes, battles of the Greeks with Amazons and centaurs, battles of gods with giants, episodes of the Trojan War and solemn processions are depicted on its pediments, metopes, and friezes. The feelings and mood of the Greeks during the heyday of Athens were embodied in plastic images. That is why fiction here is perceived as reality, and plots inspired by life acquire the character of a special sublime ideality. The Parthenon sculpture contains deep meaning. The greatness of man is revealed in clearly visible images - an idea that is also expressed in the architecture of the temple 37.
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 south (ill. 39). On the western side, the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons was depicted in the metopes; in the south - Greeks with centaurs; on the north - scenes from the Trojan War; in the east - the battle of gods and giants 38.
The metopes on the western 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 unfortunate because here, apparently, the reliefs were especially well executed, since they were most often in plain sight. Along this side of the Parthenon there was a solemn procession along the Acropolis.
The sculptor who decorated the metopes on the northern side with reliefs took this into account, and he coordinated the direction of the general movement and the development of action on the northern metopes with the movement of people along the temple. Indeed, on the first metope on the northern side (if you walk along the Parthenon from the Propylaea) the sun god Helios was depicted, as if opening events, and on one of the last, the final ones, the goddess of the night Nyux. These images corresponded to the beginning and end of the action. The middle metopes showed preparations for the campaign, farewell of the soldiers, departure, and scenes of the Trojan War. The entrance to the temple was from the east, and in the decorations of this side the sculptors represented the most significant events. The eastern metopes showed the struggle and victory of the Olympian gods over the giants.
Southern metopes. Battles of the Greeks with the centaurs. 18 (out of 32) metopes on the south side of the Parthenon facing the cliff are the best preserved. The proximity of the cliff obviously made it difficult for a person standing on the Acropolis near the temple to perceive them. They were clearly visible from a distance, from the city below. Therefore, the masters made the figures especially voluminous.
The reliefs differ in the nature of their execution; there is no doubt that different masters worked on them. Many have not reached us, but those that have survived amaze with their masterful depiction of the battle. These metopes represent the battle between the Greeks and the centaurs 39 . The square frames show scenes of fierce life-and-death fights, various struggle situations, and complex body positions.
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 from the advancing enemy; in the other, a Hellene is shown prostrate on the ground and a centaur triumphant over him. In such slabs, the deep drama of the event sounds loudly - the death of a hero in a fight with a terrible evil force(ill. 40, 41). The victorious Greeks are also depicted: one has grabbed the weakening enemy by the throat, the other has swung at the centaur and is about to deal him a decisive blow (ill. 42, 43). Sometimes it is impossible to predict who the winner will be. In one metope, a Greek and a centaur are likened to two high waves colliding with each other.
Classical masters bring countervailing forces in metopes into balance and achieve a generally 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 excited 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 victorious and bravura, sometimes filled with the tension of inhuman struggle, sometimes calm. The nature of feelings is expressed with crystal clarity and purity. These images are infinitely far from the theatrical pathos, insincerity, and meaningful reticence that will appear in the art of later centuries. Classics are extremely truthful when they depict something terrible and tragic; it remains whole and harmonious even in the expression of great suffering. Masters of high classics are able to show with restraint, with deep calm, what artists of later eras will narrate with trembling voices.
Frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze (zophorus) of the Parthenon (ill. 44), with a total length of 160 meters and a width of about a meter, is a particularly solid work, harmonious with the deep interconnectedness of all its images.
In the third year of each Olympiad (quadrennial), around the end of July according to our calendar, after gymnastic and musical competitions, a solemn procession to the Acropolis began. For this day, the girls were preparing fabric for the ancient wooden statue of Athena. The fabric was secured to the mast of the ship, which was carried by hand. The ship was followed by priests, city rulers, noble Athenians, and ambassadors. Chariots moved through the streets and riders galloped on horses.
The frieze shows the procession of the Athenians on the day of the Great Panathenaia. 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 goes east on the southern side of the Parthenon, the other goes first along the western side, then turns and walks along the northern side of the temple to the eastern frieze, where the gods are shown. 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 horsemen prepare for the procession: they talk to each other, tie their sandals, saddle and slowly lead their horses, and tame too hot horses. The images are full of vitality, especially the scene where, near two young men talking, a horse drives away a horsefly or fly from its leg. Next, the riders begin their movement, following each other (ill. 45, 46, 47). The composition of the western part is the beginning of the entire frieze: the movement of the procession will move to the northern side of the temple. At the same time, it is perceived as a completely finished relief, since along the edges, as if framing it, stand the figures of calm young men. Depicted near the northwestern corner, it seemed to stop for a moment the horsemen who were in next moment will still continue their journey on the reliefs of the northern side.
The procession goes from right to left. It is noteworthy that the remains of figures on the western metopes can speak of a general movement on them, on the contrary, from left to right. Thus, the actions on the frieze and metopes seemed to cancel each other out. This balance corresponded to the end side of the temple, along which the path of the solemn procession did not go. To avoid monotony in the depiction of galloping horsemen, the master interrupts the movement in two places. Thus, he shows on one of the slabs a dismounted young man, facing the opposite direction of the movement, placing his foot on a stone (ill. 47). The sculptor seems to give the viewer’s eye a chance to rest, and after a pause the movement begins again. The distribution of actions on the metopes and frieze of the western facade, as well as the features of the composition, convince us of the consistency of the work of the sculptors and architects of the Parthenon, of the deep unity of architecture and plasticity of this beautiful classical structure.
North side frieze. The frieze on the northern side of the temple is longer. It shows not only horsemen, but also chariots, priests with sacrificial animals, musicians, and young men with sacred gifts. The movement at the beginning is faster than on the western part and uneven. The horses gallop, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. Riders sometimes get close to each other, and it seems that they are crowded (ill. 48). Sometimes they are placed more freely. One gets the impression of a pulsating, intense rhythm, as if one could hear the fractional clatter of horse hooves. Sometimes the procession is stopped by a figure appearing against the flow. And again the horses are galloping after her. The beauty of the composition of the northern frieze is enhanced by smooth, flexible contour lines and low, seemingly breathing relief forms.
In front of the horsemen, the flower of Athenian youth, representatives of the best families of the city 40, chariots are shown, steadily drawn by powerful, beautiful horses. Sometimes the harness is not visible because it was painted with paint that has not survived. In this part of the frieze there are many smooth rounded contours - wheels, the croup of horses, the curves of their bodies, the hands of charioteers. The mood is calm, movements are measured.
The speed of the chariots gradually slows down. An oncoming figure seems to stop them. From quickly galloping horsemen and the slow movement of chariots, the master moves on to the calm procession of elderly Athenians who carry olive branches in their hands. Their gestures are restrained. Some talk to each other, others turn back, as if looking at the procession following them.
In front of the elders, four young men carry hydrias - water vessels - on their shoulders (ill. 49). On the right, one bends down and picks up a jug from the ground. The figures are placed freely, dispersed. The sacrificial rams are led by priests talking to each other (ill. 50). One of them affectionately strokes the ram on the back. In front of them are shown musicians in long robes, with flutes and lyres, then strangers with gifts - baskets filled with fruits and bread. At the end of the northern frieze you can see priests with sacrificial bulls. One of the bulls lifted his muzzle and seemed to roar pitifully. The beautiful figures of the drivers express sadness - their heads are drooping, one is tightly wrapped in a cloak (ill. 51). The last, corner figure completes the frieze, as if closing the composition and stopping the movement.
Everything is brought into harmonious harmony in the picture of the festive Panathenaic procession. At first the figures were filled with tension. Closer to the eastern part of the frieze, the procession participants walk solemnly. The masters of the classics did not like the raggedness of action, lack of agreement, they preferred clarity and logical completeness. The procession on the frieze of the longitudinal side of the temple also corresponded to the direction of action on the northern metopes.
Southern frieze. The southern frieze suffered more severe damage, but on it you can also see participants in a calm and majestic procession. Riders ride three deep, but there is no crowding or commotion. The master shows young men in smart leather boots with cuffs, short armor, and sometimes in cloaks. They seem amazed at the solemn celebration; obviously, this is the first time they are participating in it. As on the northern side, chariots and drivers with sacrificial animals move here. Some bulls walk obediently, others, moaning pitifully, are restrained by the servants (ill. 52, 53). The group, which shows two priests walking behind a bull, is impeccable in the beauty of its composition and rhythm. One of the priests turned around as he walked and, bending slightly, looked back.
East frieze. Traffic on the northern and southern friezes is directed towards the eastern part of the temple. The eastern frieze depicts seated gods. Noble Athenians are coming towards them from right and left. The Olympians greet the procession in two groups. The left faces the characters of the southern frieze. Right - to those approaching from the north. The closer to the center, the less often the figures are shown.
The Athenians talk decorously with each other, as if all the time remembering the proximity of their patrons. Here are girls with bowls and jugs in their hands, stately women. Their figures are slender. The flowing folds of the cloaks are like the grooves of the Parthenon columns. The sublime and significant ideas embodied in the architectural forms of the temple are, as it were, repeated in its details, in the decor, in the simple and ordinary - in the beautiful folds of people’s clothes (ill. 54).
The gods seated on their thrones are significantly larger than the mortal Athenians. If the gods wanted to stand up, they would not fit on the frieze. This is how they differ from ordinary people, otherwise similar to the wonderful Olympians. On the left sit Zeus on a throne with a backrest, Hera, who turned her face to him, Iris and Eros, Ares, Demeter, Dionysus and Hermes. On right side- Athena, Hephaestus, then Poseidon, Apollo, Peytho 41 and then Aphrodite. In the center of the frieze above the entrance to the temple are depicted the priest and priestess of the goddess Athena (ill. 55,56).
It is noteworthy that the placement of the gods on the eastern frieze is consistent, with some exceptions, with the placement of the gods on the eastern metopes, where they fought the giants. It is also no coincidence that the movement in the eastern metopes and in the eastern part of the frieze is directed towards the center from the corners. This gives the sculptural decoration of the temple unity and a deep connection with the architecture. The Parthenon frieze is the creation of a genius. There is reason to believe that in his execution direct participation received by Phidias.
Pediments. The pediment compositions of the Parthenon are the pinnacle in the development of this type of Greek sculpture after the sculptures of the temples of Artemis on Corfu, Athena on the island of Aegina and Zeus in Olympia. The statues, attached with lead for strength, were at a great height and therefore had a slight tilt of the upper part forward, so that when viewed from below they were better visible (ill. 57). Over two and a half millennia they have suffered greatly, and what is now kept in museums is only the remains of beautiful sculptures. Most of them remained in ruins.
On many statues one can see traces of rain streams that poured through the cornice openings for centuries 42. But even in this state, these ancient sculptures make an indelible impression.
West pediment of the Parthenon. Athena and Poseidon argued, according to myth, for primacy in Attica. They were supposed to bring gifts to the city. Poseidon, striking the ground with his trident, carved out a source. Athena, thrusting a spear into the ground, created the olive, a tree that bears fruit - olives. The Greeks gave preference to the goddess, and she became the patroness of their city. This dispute was depicted in the center of the west pediment of the Parthenon (ill. 71).
To imagine how the figures on the pediment were located in ancient times, researchers had to do a lot of work. Surviving descriptions of ancient authors, random sketches of travelers - everything was taken into account. Before the explosion of the Parthenon, the western side (ill. 58) was in better preservation than the eastern, judging by the famous drawings of the artist Carrey, who accompanied it in the 17th century. French ambassador on a trip to Greece 43 (ill. 59, 60). Ancient authors also left descriptions of the Parthenon statues.
On the western pediment were located from left to right the following statues: Cephisus, Nymph, Kekrop, his three daughters and son, Nike, Hermes, Athena, Poseidon (part of this statue is in Athens, part of it in London), Iris, Amphitrite, three daughters and grandson Erechthea, Ilis (in Athens), Callirhoe. Apparently, the babies of Boread were also presented, as well as sculptures of the olive tree planted by Athena, the source of Poseidon, the horses and chariots on which the gods arrived 44 .
The deities of the rivers flowing in Athens - Ilis and Kephis, shown in the corners in the form of young men, indicate the scene of action. On the left is the god of the river Cephisus. The outline of his figure resembles the elastic bend of a wave. This impression is helped by the smoothly flowing folds of clothes flowing from his hands, like streams of water (ill. 61, 62).
The statue of the Ilisa River in the right corner is much worse preserved. The river god is also full of life and tension. However, if Kephis showed open and brightly impetuous movement, then Ilis is restrained and reserved. The different interpretations of the images are not accidental and are caused by the location of the figures on the pediment. Kefis, with his dynamic impulse, seemed to point to the unfolding composition. Ilis, which completed it and was located near the cliff of the Akronol rock, stopped a person’s attention and returned him to the center of the pediment.
In front of Cephisus was Kekrop, the ancient Attic deity of the earth, the mythical founder of cities in Attica, which is why Attica is sometimes called Kekropia, and the Athenians - Kekrop. According to legend, he was the first king and under him there was a dispute between Athena and Poseidon. Usually depicted as a man with a snake's tail instead of legs, he sits on its rings, leaning on them with his hand. His daughter gently pressed herself against his shoulder (ill. 63, 64). His daughters were the goddesses of dew and saviors from drought 45, the closest companions of Athena - Aglaurus, Pandros, Herse 46. The most ancient Attic hero Erechtheus, son of the earth, pupil of Athena, the ancient deity of earthly fertility, whose cult later merged with the cult of Poseidon, is shown on the right side of the pediment, not far from Ilis. Here are the daughter of Erechtheus Creus with her son Ion, as well as Leucothea with the baby Polemon.
The statues of deities are full of life. Even the poorly preserved marble torso of Poseidon’s wife Amphitrite convinces of the former perfection of her sculptural image. The plasticity of the forms testifies to the hand of a great master. The movements of the goddess of the seas are confident, noble and leisurely (ill. 65). The goddess of the rainbow Iris, connecting heaven and earth, mediator between the Olympians and people, quickly rushes forward towards a strong, gusty wind 47. She is wearing a short and light, as if wet, chiton, tightly adhered to the body and forming many small beautiful folds (ill. 66-68). A feature of the classical composition, in which individual figures are dynamic, and general action balanced, is also evident in the pediments of the Parthenon. Despite the strong contrast between the actions of various characters, the overall impression of the entire ensemble of the statue remains harmonious. Each figure seems to exist in space, lives independently, without touching the others, but still has a very strong effect on them.
Athena and Poseidon. The middle of the Parthenon pediments is not marked, as in earlier temples, by a single figure. The central statue in such compositions appeared in archaic buildings, with an odd number of columns at the ends. The tallest figure on the pediment then corresponded to the middle column. Gradually, the architects moved from an odd number of columns at the ends to an even number. But the sculptural compositions of the pediments of the temple of Athena on the island of Aegina, as well as Zeus in Olympia, still retained, according to ancient traditions, the main figure of the deity in the center. Only in the Parthenon the sculptural composition of the pediments fully corresponds to the architecture of the temple. Only fragments of the statues of the arguing gods Athena and Poseidon located in the center have survived, but they are also very expressive. Greek masters knew how to permeate all elements of a work with a single and integral feeling. Even part of a broken statue therefore preserves its mood and idea. Thus, in a small fragment of the statue of Athena, the majesty of the goddess appears in a proud turn of her head, in a strong turn of her shoulders (ill. 69).
Poseidon's hand, striking with the trident, was raised. This can be understood even from that insignificant fragment of the statue, which time has not spared (ill. 70). The formidable strength of the Olympian, his power is embodied in the generalized and integral forms of the torso. Every muscle of Poseidon seems to be saturated with life. General ideal ideas about the power of the deity are conveyed here in the forms of the human figure. The Greek sculptor, who sought to show the perfection of God, thereby simultaneously affirmed the limitless possibilities of man with the harmony of his spiritual and physical development. In a visually clear, tangible image taken from life, not private and small, but integral and deep feelings and thoughts were expressed. The idea that excited humanity happily found a concrete form of expression in art at this time.
East pediment of the Parthenon. On the eastern pediment, mainly since the entrance to the Parthenon was from the east (ill. 72), a great event for the Hellenes is represented - the birth of Athena (ill. 73). This is a pan-Hellenic plot, more significant than the dispute between Athena and Poseidon 48 . In the center are depicted the gods on Olympus, in the corners there are no longer the Athenian rivers Cephisus and Ilis, but the sun god Helios and the goddess of the night Nyux in the waters of the Ocean. On the left, Helios rode out in a chariot; on the right, it was night—Nyux was hiding in the Ocean with her horse. With the birth of Athena, the sunny day began for the Hellenes and the night ended.
The central figures - Zeus on the throne, Athena flying out of his head, Hephaestus, the goddess Ilithyia helping at birth, Nike laying a wreath on the head of the born Athena - were not preserved due to later alterations of this part of the temple. The pediment sculptures showed how the world reacts to a great event. Iris 49 stormily rushes forward, reporting the news of the birth of wise Athena (ill. 74). She is greeted by the Mountains sitting in front of her - the daughters of Zeus, opening and closing the gates of heaven (ill. 75). Their heads have not been preserved, and it is impossible to judge from their faces how they perceive Iris’s message, but the plasticity of movement reveals their feelings and attitude to what they heard. The one located closer to Iris clasped her hands in joy and recoiled slightly, as if in amazement at this news. The other, sitting further, moved towards the messenger of the gods. It’s as if she hasn’t heard everything yet and wants to find out what Iris is saying.
By varying the degree of reaction of these characters sitting nearby, the master wants to emphasize that from the center of the pediment to its corners it is as far as from Olympus to the waters of the Ocean. Therefore, the young man sitting further from the Mountains, Cephalus 50, does not seem to hear the message of Iris (ill. 76). He turns his back to Olympus and looks at Helios leaving the Ocean. The harmony of forms in this statue is impeccable. In the interpretation of a strong, strong neck and compact volume of the head, in the modeling of muscles that well convey the movement of the body, there is no rigidity characteristic of early classical statues; The calm state of an active, strong person is expressed. The usual image of a youthful figure takes on a special sublimity. The ancient Greek master knows how to see and show a simple phenomenon of life as beautiful and significant, without resorting to spectacular poses and gestures in his compositions.
The statue of Cephalus captures attention with the complexity and at the same time clarity of the movement presented. Although the young man sits with his back to Olympus, the master managed to convey the desire to turn around in his seemingly calm body. The beginning of the slow movement is noticeable in the position of his left leg. The figure is plastic and three-dimensional; it rather lives independently in space rather than being connected to the flat background of the pediment. The statue of Cephalus, like other images of the Parthenon, is not as strongly subordinated to the plane of the pediment as the statues on earlier temples.
To the left is Helios riding out on a chariot. The quadriga would have cluttered the corner, and the sculptor limited himself to depicting two horse faces protruding from the waters of the Ocean. The plasticity of the marble sculptures, the beautiful lines of the proud bend of the horses’ necks, the majestic tilt of the horses’ heads, as in a poetic metaphor, embodies the feelings of contemplating the solemnly and smoothly ascending luminary 51 (ill. 77). The head of Helios and his horses are matched on the right by the half-figure of the goddess of the night Nyux and the head of her horse, plunging into the waters of the Ocean. The horse's muzzle is shown with its lip hanging over the lower border of the pediment. She seemed to be snoring from fatigue and hurried to the cool water. Goethe admired her, saying that the horse is depicted as it came from the hands of nature itself (ill. 78).
Moira statues. The statues of the goddesses of fate - Moira are located on the right side of the pediment near the torso of Nux 52. Despite the damage, they captivate a person with their beauty. Parts of the statues preserve the feeling that once lived in the whole work, and are as expressive as excerpts from the majestic Greek epic or the tender lines of an ancient lyric poet (ill. 79, 80, 81). Moirai live in the complex organism of the pediment and are subordinate to its composition. Their connection with the triangular shape of the frame appears, in particular, in the fact that the figures are placed on benches that gradually rise towards the central part. The closer to the birthplace of Athena, the more mobile the sculptural masses of the statues, the more dynamic, restless the poses, and the more intense the forms. The excitement of the images increases from the calm figures in the extreme corners to the pathos of the central scene.
The consistent increase in emotionality is noticeable not in the facial expressions, because Moira’s heads have not been preserved, but in the plasticity of their expressive movements. Right Moira lay down on a low bed, covered with folds of her wide clothes. The embodiment of peace and relaxation, she rested her elbow on her friend’s knees and pressed her shoulder to her chest. The middle one, sitting higher, is restrained in its movements.
Drawing her legs together, she leaned forward slightly towards the girl reclining at her knees. The left Moira, towering above them, seemed to have heard about the birth of Athena a moment ago and responded to it, rushing top part torso to Olympus. Her whole being is permeated with trembling excitement. From the deep serene peace of the right Moira to the restrained and measured movements of the middle one, then to the agitation and impetuosity of the left one, a dynamic composition of the group, saturated with a rich inner life, develops.
The artistic power of most classical monuments of Greece is not lost, even if the subject or the names of those depicted are unknown. It is no coincidence that other goddesses are sometimes seen in Moira statues. The theme of such works is the consciousness felt and conveyed by the ancient master of the significance of man, the limitlessness of his capabilities, and deep admiration for his beauty. The statues of Moira are not an illustration of how the ancient Greek imagined the goddesses of fate. The sculptor embodied in them his idea of various human states - serene rest, calm activity, intense emotional impulse.
The statues of Moira are large and seem larger than human ones. They are majestic not in size, but in the solemnity of their poses and strict harmony. Everything small and ordinary is alien to their images. At the same time, their greatness is not abstractly ideal. It is deeply vital. Moiras are beautiful with purely human, feminine beauty. The smooth contours of their figures are perceived as extremely earthly. Clothes in other similar statues of classical times become, as it were, an echo of the human body. Delicate shapes are emphasized by folds of light chitons. These folds run like streams after a violent rain from picturesque beautiful hills, flowing around the heights of the chest, gathering near the waist, framing the roundness of the legs, and flowing out in light streams from under the knees. Everything is covered with a living network of folds, only tight knees, rounded shoulders and chest protrude above the moving flows, sometimes fractional, sometimes heavy and viscous.
The plastic reality of marble forms gives vitality to Moira’s images. In the statues of maidens huddled close to each other, the cold stone acquires the tenderness and warmth of the human body. The beauty of a perfect man, which illuminated the Greek master, found its expression in the sculptures of ancient goddesses. Moira miraculously combines complexity and simplicity. The universal and the personal, the sublime and the intimate, the general and the particular form an inextricable unity here. It is difficult to name another work in the history of world art in which these eternally conflicting qualities would be more holistically united.
The sculptural decoration of the eastern side of the Parthenon was carefully thought out. Above the metopes, depicting the battle of the Olympians with the giants, rose a pediment with the birth of Athena. Located deeper behind the outer colonnade, the frieze put a person in a solemn mood, as if preparing him to contemplate the statue of Athena Parthenos. The marble sculptures of the Parthenon are sublime and optimistic. They instill deep faith in human capabilities, in the beauty and harmony of the world 53 . The unity of architectural forms and sculptural decorations of the Parthenon embodies the great ideas of a great era so completely and brightly that even after millennia, with traces of barbaric destruction, this work is able to radiate impulses of noble feelings experienced by its creators. Contemplation of the Parthenon gives a person great joy, elevates him and ennobles him.
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