Introduction

The Athenian government realized the need for great symbols to represent their powerful, wealthy society. Unlike many other societies, they put priority into the development of public goods, instead of private goods. They felt this would maximize the wealth for all, and lead to a more stable society. The most sophisticated building in the Acropolis complex, was the Parthenon. Made completely out of shiny, white, pure marble, it was nothing short of impressive. The areas on the outside, between its tall marble columns were to be used by its population, as a religious area for all to share. The design, construction technologies, and its religious and political significance are what make the Parthenon’s construction so significant in history.

The Parthenon is the most significant and largest structure, and is part of the Acropolis ‘city’ of public buildings. The Acropolis was a reflection of the great wealth of Athens, and the city-state’s interest in the public good. The Parthenon was the great temple, the most visible symbol of the Acropolis complex. It used many different technological innovations and construction techniques to build this great building.

Replacing a Lost Temple

In 490 BC the Temple of Nike in the Acropolis was started for a place to give thanks and offerings to the gods. This was an ideal spot to build such a temple, with its clear view above the rest of Athens and Illisus River, along with being in front of the Lycabettus Hill. In choosing this spot, it is clear the Athenians carefully picked it out, and spent quite a bit of time planning out how it would look from different positions. The original Temple of Nike’s construction continued for 10 years until 479 BC when Pericles suggests in his book Architecture and the Meaning on the Athenian Acropolis:

"…the whole fifth-century building program can be read on one level as a historical monument, most specially as monument built to the memory of and results of the Persian threat." (qtd. in Neils)

The Significance of the Design of the Parthenon

The Parthenon design started in 447 BC, under the direction of Pericles. Pericles wanted nothing short of impressive, and knew this great public works project would work towards his goal of full employment for all (Neils). Pericles picked two of great architects of the time, Iktinos and Kallicarates. W. LaBier Jones suggests that these architects may have been rivals, competing to make the structure as great as possible (Jones 31). As rivals there would be a temptation to out do each other’s assigned section, making it even more impressive. Planning and design of outside sculptures was done by Philidus (Connolly 67).

The design aspect that interests many architectural historians the most about the Acropolis is that many pieces are not perfectly straight, but appear to correct for optical illusions. These deviations were noticed when scientists were measuring the building in the early 18^th century. Such things as columns being thinner towards the top, larger corner columns and columns slanting in, have produced much debate over the past 3 centuries. The stylobate (horizontal supporting beam) in the building is thicker in the middle then in the rest of the building (Jones 74). Such deviations may be caused by error, the belief in more natural curves, or the more common explanation of the building using curves to correct for visual discrepancies.

James Stuart wrote in 1755, after the discovery of these defects, that he felt the faults in the building were caused by either mistakes in the design or Pericles was cheated by the citizens he employed (Van Mersberg 5). Almost immediately, the theory was criticized. Such an assessment of the design of the building went against the traditional notions of the Greeks being strict in design standards. British Architect John Pennethorne proved this theory wrong in 1874, when he proved such in curves in the stylobate would be nearly impossible to be caused by accident, due to the distribution of weight (Van Mersberg 6).

Most people suggest that the Parthenon’s original design had curves to correct for visual discrepancies. The measurements of the curves seem to reflect a desire to reduce the appearance of bending, on the massive beams and pillars that made up the building. If this is what they intended, they would have had to spend a large amount of time carving the styobate, as to create these perfect optical illusion (Green 80). The angled in columns on the four ends of the building also reflect this theme. They appear to met together in a single point, approximently 1 1/2 miles in the sky. This was most likely done to make the building look more impressive at a distance.

Yet, there are many dissenting voices when it comes to the design of Parthenon being curved to achieve a better visual appearance. Architectural historian D’Ooge suggests that Phelidas and Ictinus felt a straight line deviated from the curves of nature, and should be avoided, an d that it was not necessarily to correct for visual problems (qtd. Van Mergen 10). Rhys Carpenter furthers this point by saying "the slight deviations from perfect regularity and symmetry, are not optical corrections, but are added to give life to a purely mathematical form" (qtd. in Van Mergen 11). This theory argues that the curves are too subtle to be more then just visual corrections, in a time when exaggeration and colorful effects were the norm (5).

The Significance of Building the Parthenon

The Parthenon’s construction started in 447 BC and was completed in 432 BC (Jones, 30). It would consist of two rooms, the naos and the opisthodomos. The naos is the larger room; it would be used to house the statue of the cult. The smaller room is the opisthomos, which was to be used to store gold (Jones 30). On the outside of the building shows the use of both Doric and Ionic styling that was actively designed by the architects (31). They chose to use the Temple of Nike terraces to make the base of the Parthenon on the South side, other sides were expanded to make room for the larger, much more impressive Parthenon (Connolly 66).

One of the biggest challenges to building the Parthenon was moving the necessary materials to the construction site. This would require hiring of thousands of laborers to move, cut, and place marble (Jones 31). Probably this factor kept the construction of the Parthenon continuing, and not stopped by conservative critics, was it employed many members of the Assembly (Green 70). When the building was completed, 22,000 tons of Pentelic marble were used in the building. This marble had to be transported a distance of 8 miles and down the dangerous slope of Mount Pentelicus, using the technology of 5^th century BC. When they would cut the marble in Pentelicon mines, they would leave pieces of rough marble sticking out, called anacodes, for use in transport. Blocks would already have a rough design cut into them, to reduce weight of pieces that would later be discarded (Connolly 66). Some of these anacodes exist to today, as shown by the south side of the building, that was never completely finished in the rush for completion before the Peloposian War (67). Putting a circular frame around the blocks, allowed them to be rolled to the site. For later blocks, they developed a frame that would allow towing by animals or teams of men (66). While the technology required for transport of 22 thousand tons of marbles was significant, getting the marble in place would require even more advanced technology.

Marble arrived at the site, already cut for placement as either columns or bricks. As the Parthenon was built from the outside to the inside, columns were laid first. Its outside columns were done in the conservative Doric style. Forty-six of these columns would need be needed to be built to complete the building. Most likely cranes with pulley systems were used to get the column stones in place. According to Aristole’s writings, he believed that complex pulleys were used. However, this is contradicted by Archimidies who says such complex pulley system was not invented until 200 years later, in the third century, B.C.E. (67). This means that most likely, a pulley system was used, but it was a relatively simple pulley system compared to what Aristotle describes.

A Building of Color and Exaggeration

Another interesting aspect of the construction of the Parthenon, was its use of color. Today most of that color is gone, but based on records and the remains of paint, we know that the structure was very colorful. The frieze of the Parthenon was painted with zigzag stripes, as were the piers, whose stripes were "daubed with villainous ochre". The background of these stripes was a dark blue. Inside the building, stark primary colors were used to paint the walls of the temple (Van Mersbergen 5 and Lyes). The building’s many sculptures also were very colorful. Fragments of painted sculpture have been found, which show this color, with a bright blue background, similar to that on the piers. While conservatives may have gotten the simple Doric column design, it is clear that the more progressive Pericles, got to make the building colorful and large (Green 70).

In 437 B.C.E., the temple was completed, although many of the statues that were to be placed in the building were not. The statues would take another 5 years to complete, after the construction of the building was done (Connolly 72). The significance of this building would be noted throughout history, into modern times. The Parthenon was significant due to the architectural and socioeconomic advances of Athenian society.

Works Cited

Connolly, Peter, and Hazel Dodge. The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens & Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Green, Peter. The Parthenon Rome: Newsweek, 1973.

Jones, W. LaBier. "The Parthenon of Periclies: Phildas’ Structural Order of the Universe." Sculpture Review Jan. 2002: 30-33.

Neils, Jenifer. "Architecture and the Meaning on the Athenian Acropolis." Journal of Society and Architectural Historians 56 (1997): 216-217.

Lyes, Chris. The Parthenon as the Symbol of New City: An Analysis of Different Messages Expressed by the Monument. Prof. Of Archeology, Royal Holloway, U of London. 24 Mar 2002.

The Parthenon, Home of Athena. Greece 4 All S.D. 24 Mar 2002.

Van Mersbergen, Audrey M. "Rhetorical Prototypes in Architecture: Measuring the Acropolis with a Philosophical Polemic." Communication Quarterly 46 (1998): 194-205.