Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Parthenon
The Parthenon is the monument that more than any other epitomises the glory of Ancient
Greece. It is dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the goddess embodying the power and
prestige of the city. The largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece, and the only one
built completely of Pentelic marble (apart from the wood in its roof), it was designed by
Iktinos and Kallicrates to be the pre-eminent monument of the Acropolis and was com-
pleted in time for the Great Panathenaic Festival of 438 BC.
Parthenon Columns
The Parthenon's fluted Doric columns achieve perfect form. The eight columns at either
end and 17 on each side were ingeniously curved to create an optical illusion: the founda-
tions (like all the 'horizontal' surfaces of the temple) are slightly concave and the columns
are slightly convex making both appear straight. Supervised by Pheidias, the sculptors
Agoracritos and Alcamenes worked on the architectural sculptures of the Parthenon, in-
cluding the pediments, frieze and metopes, which were brightly coloured and gilded.
Parthenon Pediments
The temple's pediments (the triangular elements topping the east and west facades) were
filled with elaborately carved three-dimensional sculptures. The west side depicted
Athena and Poseidon in their contest for the city's patronage, the east Athena's birth from
Zeus' head. See their remnants and the rest of the Acropolis' sculptures and artefacts in
the Acropolis Museum.
The Metopes & Frieze
The Parthenon's metopes, designed by Pheidias, are square carved panels set between
channelled triglyphs. The metopes on the eastern side depicted the Olympian gods fight-
ing the giants, and on the western side they showed Theseus leading the Athenian youths
into battle against the Amazons. The southern metopes illustrated the contest of the
Lapiths and Centaurs at a marriage feast, while the northern ones depicted the sacking of
Troy. The internal cella was topped by the Ionic frieze, a continuous sculptured band de-
picting the Panathenaic Procession.
