The Athenian Acropolis part 1 PDF

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Summary

Elizabeth Colantoni
Spring 2016...

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Athens controlled money Pericles: - used money to rebuild structures in Athens that the Persians destroyed - led Athens - his reign is considered the height of Greek civilization, not just Athens, democracy - Delian league gave money to Athens as part of the agreement Acropolis: - where a lot of money from the Delian league was poured into - big, rock outcrop on the city of Athens - religious center of Athens - where many of the most sacred buildings are - considered the most sacred place of the city - Acropolis--literally means high city Back story: - protected citadel at the beginning - according to them, Attica was inhabited by Autochthonous people - Kekrops--chose Athena to be goddess of the city - Erectheus was king - Aegeas committed suicide then Theseus becomes king - Theseus said to bring the mini villages around Attica to one cohesive city, there’s archaeological evidence of Athens becoming a fortified city- 8m high wall of masonry--in ancient times thought to have been built by the Cyclopses - later, it became Athens’ religious center - remains of a pediment from the Archaic period on the Acropolis, painted, Archaic smile - when the Persians sacked, the Athenians had already started building a temple to Athena--it was sacked--probably intended as a victory monument for early victories against the Persians ironically--never finished--called the Pre-Parthenon - covered with dedicative statues, columns, etc--the broken ones were buried (yay!) - Destroyed buildings originally were intended to remain so as a monument to the Persian’s barbarity, but eventually they built over them - ultimately, often seen as the greatest Greek temple ever built, was, not immediately, built over the Pre-Parthenon Parthenon, Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Maiden), Athens, c 447-432 BCE: - know the architects----Iktinos and Kallikrates - sculptor in charge---Phidias--seen as the greatest sculptor of the day - dedicated in 438 BCE--functional now--but the last pediments were still being put up - Doric with Ionic features--follows the ideal ratio - porch - big back room

- windows on the back wall of the porch so more light would come in - inside there was a 2 story Doric columnaid, new thing in temples is the columns surround the cult statue, like a frame - Columns in the back, could be Ionic, could be Corinthians--because Corinthian columns look great from all sides--theory, no clear evidence for this, if they are Corinthian this is the first instance of Corinthian columns being used - back place is a treasury, where the Delian league money was kept - pretty common for temples to function as financial institutions--like banks where money was kept and people could borrow money from the temple - there’re listings of temple inventories - Optical refinements! Makes full use of them, curved floor, corner contraption, thicker columns in bottom, inward tilt of columns, tapering of the columns, inward tilt of cult room, outward tilt of other stuff - Famous for its sculpture: Parthenon Sculpture: - close to 90 different sculptors were involved - included sculpture in both pediments - sculpted metopes on all sides of the exterior - continuous Ionic Frieze inside the Columnaid---new and unusual - main cult statue--similar to the statue of Zeus at Olympia - had more sculpture than most Greek buildings - had sculpture in new places - higher quality sculpture Metopes: - 92 sculpted, probably made by many different artists-- we know when they were made because of an inscription showing how the money was spent 447-442 BCE - many are very damaged - those on the south side are the best preserved - East side, gigantomachy - West side, Amazonomachy - North side is Greek vs. Trojans - South is the Centaurs and the Lapiths - fight of Greeks verses barbarians, civilization over barbarism--on all sides - Metopes of the South side had excitement, human form against animal form, bodies set up in ways that make a cool contrast, attention to detail, emotion in the fight, also idealized-stretched aced out so you can look at it, used to make the most of the confining frame of the Metope Pediments: - sculpture from both pediments is damaged - written sources describing them from 2nd cent, drawing from 17th cent - Front side is the birth of the Goddess Athena--event is happening in the center and the news rippling out as gods and goddesses learn the news, share the news, wait for the news--reclining

god, interest in showing the body at rest--next to them are Demeter and Kore hearing the news from a messenger, one has her arm raised in excitement, effects of drapery over their bodies, elaborate folds but with clear image of the body underneath--other end of the pediment, 3 goddesses sitting and reclining--how the awkward space of the pediment to be filled up, againall the folds shown with bodies, trying to create an effect--final part of the awkward ends of the pediments are the heads of horses-horses of the sun and moon-symbolic of daybreak and end of day - West side is the competition between Athena and Poseidon, other figures, king of Athens at the side--space filled with standing, seating, and reclining figures--one corner is the embodiment of a local river - completed in 432 BCE, building completed in 438 BCE--pediments later--carved completely in the round, no one is gonna see the back side, but they carved it anyway Continuous Ionic Frieze: - located inside the columnaid - evidence suggests the frieze was not originally planned, made while construction was in progress, shown because it’s hard to see, yet it’s tilted slightly to help and brightly painted - around 438 BCE, when the temple was completed - 160m length, 1m high - depicts a procession--that’s the only thing agreed upon - Traditional interpretation--usually identified as the Panathenaic procession, runs all the way around the building, procession splits and meet in the center of the front of the structure-horsemen lining up and preparing to process--takes up a large part of the frieze--trying to make them unique, different positions, drapery, etc--difficult for an artist to do in stone, often they’d overlap--scale wise, the horses are very small, looks like they’re riding ponies, artist is trying to use all the space, making the horses to scale would mean there’s a lot of emphasis on the horse, not the person----other side, overlap more, like they’re picking up speed, then horses pulling chariots and riders--artist still makes overlapping figures---then there’s elders, musicians, animals, etc----the procession is going past the North side, so there’s more decoration---waterjug carriers, variety--female figures on the East side (also seen on procession)---met by men who are interpreted as marshals, they’re turning to meet the women, women are modestly covered---beyond them are the 12 Olympian Gods--split into 2 groups of 6, actually have their backs to the central scene, facing the incoming procession, closest to the center are Zeus and Athena---some of the gods are on stools to try to create depth, they’ve got smooth, perfect faces - Panathenaic Procession--Athena Polios (of the City), in her guise as the protector as the city of Athens--games held every 4 years, non-Athenians could participate---Games--the Money Games-Cash prizes (different from wreathe)--among them is Olive Oil, given in Panathenaic amphori-special jars--made in Black figure-despite it seeming old fashioned to red figure---also a procession for the Ancient Wooden Statue of Athena--lives in a different temple---long procession of all kinds of people, starts at the city gate, passes thru the Agora, works its way to the Acropolis, after that only Athenian citizens could continue---a sacrifice at the gateway-code for feast---then the procession would go on to the temple -

Peloponnesian War 431-404 BCE Sparta vs. Athens worked together to defend against the Persians but when the threat is gone, relationship is strained Athens got to arrogant Sparta attacked, eventually won...