The Acropolis
PericlesAbout 20 years after the Persian war ended a man named Pericles was selected as commander and chief of Athens. He was a great military leader, public speaker and a great statesman. He was ruler of Athens between 460-429 B.C.. Every year for 30 years he was elected commander of Athens. During the three decades that he was ruler, he wanted Athens to be the best city in Greece. At this time many artists, writers and scientists came to Athens. Under his control he made plans to build marble temples, government buildings and to have colonnades made around the Agora (marketplace).
The Acropolis
The Acropolis was the biggest hill in all Athens. It rose 206 feet above the city of Athens. It had been the place where the people of Athens went to pray since Dorian times. Pericles wanted the Acropolis to stand out to all city-states to show how powerful Athens was.
The Parthenon was the best temple built on the Acropolis. The Parthenon's name comes from Athena Parthenos, which means Athena the maiden. The architects Ictinus and Callicrates designed the Parthenon and it took 14 years to build. The Parthenon is 228 feet long and 101 feet wide and 65 feet high. The building used to have a wooden roof that was covered with clay tiles, but the roof was destroyed in the 17th century. 17 Doric columns are on the longer sides and 8 were on the shorter sides. Today the ruins of the Parthenon are still on the Acropolis for all Athens to see.
Optical Illusions
The fluting of the columns makes them look like they are soft and gentle. The architects made the columns bigger in the center and narrower at the top and leaning slightly inward. If you saw the columns from a distance they would look very straight.
The marble of the columns have streaks of iron in them, which makes the temple have a golden glow at dawn and dusk. Another unusual thing at the Acropolis is that the big marble steps that lead to the Parthenon are taller in the center than they are on the sides, so to a person looking at it from a distance it would look perfectly centered.
Decorations
The Parthenon was decorated with reliefs and standing statues that were made by Phidias. A band of carved marble runs around the outer walls of the temple and it is called a frieze. It is 520 feet long, and a little taller than three feet. The carvings on the frieze are of young Athenian men riding horses and others herding animals to be sacrificed to Athena at the Panhellenic Games. There were also maidens and government officials seated, and in one part there is a group of seated Olympian gods.
The figures over the main entrance are showing the birth of Athena, and the back pediment shows the contest between Athena and Poseidon.
A frieze
Inside the Parthenon
There used to be a forty foot high statue of Athena in the Parthenon, and Phidias made it. It was gold and ivory around a wooden core. The crown that was put on her head almost touched the ceiling. Phidias carefully designed the statue so the gold plating could be removed so it could be weighed to show that he used every ounce of gold that was delivered to him. This statue disappeared centuries ago. It got carried away by Constantinople and then got destroyed in fire.
A copy of the statue of Athena
Other Temples on the Acropolis
There are several smaller temples on the Acropolis.
The Erectheum was made on the north side of the Acropolis. It has Ionic columns and was named after Erectheus, an ancestor of Mycenaean kings.
On the south side of this temple is a small porch that is held up by carved stone women shaped columns, which are called Caryatids.
There's also a small temple dedicated to Athena Nike.
The entrance of the Acropolis was called Propylaea. It had Doric and Ionic columns.
I think the Acropolis was my favorite site because I liked the Caryatids.