The Acropolis
Columns and Buildings
The Acropolis and Agora General Overview
Get to know the Acropolis with Rick Steves!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-FsX0QW88
As you watch, come up with one question you have about the Acropolis,
Background
• Athena vs. Poseidon• Test
– Poseidon: Struck earth with trident • Created well, salt water sprang forth = naval
power
– Athena – Olive tree = peace and prosperity
• Athena won (obviously)
Order of Greek ColumnsDoric, Ionic, Corinthian
Making Thinking Visible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrRJkzXl4a4
As you watch this video, assign each type of column an animal and explain why you chose that animal.
Doric Style – Archaic Age
• Sturdy• Top (capital) is plain• Columns – thick and chunky!• Larger-than-life, masculine,
heroic view of Greece• Mainland Greece, colonies
in southern Italy and Sicily
The Parthenon – Doric Columns
Cornice
Pediment
Frieze of alternating triglyphs and metopes – low relief structure
Architrave
Capital
Pediment – High Relief
East Pediment Parthenon Sculptures
British Museum, London
Trigloph and Mytope Friezes
Ionic Style – Classical Age• Thinner, more elegant• Top (capital) decorated
with a simple scroll• More flutes• Eastern Greece and the
islands
Temple of Athena Nike – Ionic Columns
Cornice
Frieze
Architrave
Capital
Corinthian Style – Hellenistic Age• Seldom used in Greek
world• Roman temples• Top (capital) very
elaborate– Decorated with
acanthus leaves
Temple of Zeus, Athens – Corinthian Columns
Acropolis (“acro” = “high” & “polis” = “city”)
City on the hill, 230’ over Athens, over 2000 years old
• Human genius
• Reflect a form of life
• Attitude that put man at the center of the world
• Beauty and proportion divine
Propylaea
• Gateway to the Sacred Way – the procession to the gods– No stairs, just
cuts to make the climb easier; Romans added stairs
Propylaea
Temple of Nike
Ionic Columns – Scroll Capital
Statue of Athena Nike
• Cult statue of Athena Nike– Wood – Helmet in left
hand – Pomegranate
(fertility) in right
• Originally winged victory goddess– Nike Apteros
(wingless victory); never fly away
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
• Nike of Samothrace– Marble– Greek goddess Nike
(victory)– Discovered 1863– Represents Greek
fascination with the cult of Nike
Parthenon
The Mighty Parthenon!
All temples were designed to be seen only from the outside. Visitors never went inside and could glimpse interior statues only from the
outside.
The idealism of the Greek way of living, the attention to detail, as well as the understanding of a mathematically explained harmony in the natural world
were concepts that in every Athenian’s eyes set them apart from the barbarians.
These ideals are represented in the perfect proportions of the building, in its intricate architectural elements, and in the anthropomorphic statues that
adorned it.
The Elgin MarblesThe British Museum, London
How the Brits got pieces of the Acropolis for CHEAP!
• The buildings of the Acropolis suffered significant damage during the 1687 siege by the Venetians in the Morean War
• The Parthenon, which was being used as a gunpowder magazine, was hit by artillery fire and severely damaged.
• Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799-1803, obtained a controversial permit from the Ottoman authorities to remove pieces from the Acropolis.
• From 1801-1812, Elgin’s agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the Proplylaea and Erechtheum.
• The marbles were transported by sea to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the marbles was supported by some, while others compared Elgin’s actions to vandalism or looting.
• Following a public debate in parliament and subsequent exoneration of Elgin’s actions, the marbles were purchased by the British government in 1816 and put on display in the British Museum.
Current Parthenon Restoration• Started in 1975 and
thought to be completed in 10 years
• Previous restoration efforts in 1898 included replacement of iron clamps; Greek Architect Nicholas Balanos did not add the lead coating that the ancient Greeks had used to prevent corrosion
• Iron swelled and cracked marble
• Restoration continues today
Erechtheum – dedicated to Athena and
Poseidon
Athena – left sidePoseidon – right side
• Sacred Snake– Spirit of
Cecrops– Well-being
essential to safety of the city
– Fed honey-cakes by priestesses
This olive tree is said to be a descendant from the one Athena planted.
• Porch of Caryatids– Sculpted figures
serving as an architectural support in the place of columns
Caryatid Porch of Erechtheum
A Closer Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X872rmThCF8#t=238
How do the Caryatids represent a change from the old way of thinking to the new way of thinking that is being brought in during the Hellenistic Period?
Odeon of Herodes Atticus; 161 AD; Roman
Aeropagus – Mars Hill
Paul at Areopagus
• “New teaching” (Acts 17:19)
• Not official judicial procedure– Echoes the trial
of Socrates– Proclaiming new
deities and leading the populace to question its beliefs in the traditional gods
Leonoard Porter, "Saint Paul Preaching on the Areopagus"2010, oil on linen, 12" x 19"
Exit Ticket
• On the front of the notecard, write the question you asked while watching the video at the beginning of the presentation.
• On the back of the notecard, write the answer. If your question was not answered, leave it blank.