Architectural and artistic design of the Parthenon of ancient Greece. Architectural style of the Parthenon temple in Greece

03.04.2019

In Athens on the most high point On the Acropolis stands the majestic Parthenon Temple, built in honor of the goddess Athena the Virgin - the beloved daughter of Zeus the Thunderer. It began to be built during the reign of Pericles, construction continued for ten years.

Creator of the Parthenon

The main architect of the temple was Iktin, assisted by Callicrates. Sketches and diagrams of the sculptural design of the Parthenon were developed by the famous sculpture master Phidias, who made the colossal statue of the Parthenos. Also, under his leadership, the amazing decoration of the temple was created: marble frieze, pediments and metopes.
According to Pericles, the Parthenon was supposed to personify the greatness of ancient Athens and the victory in the Greco-Persian War. All this found its expression in the Doric style of temple columns, in the harmonious composition of the elements and their correct proportions.

Architectural style of the Parthenon

Along the entire perimeter there are massive columns, slightly inclined into the structure and with different diameters. The builders created them exactly like this with the intention of giving the building plasticity and harmony.

Parthenon Front
The upper part of the temple wall, behind a row of external columns, is decorated with a 160-meter-long frieze dedicated to the Greek festival of the Great Panathenaia. The marble zophora depicts scenes of a festival in which many people and animals participate, and you can also see the Olympian gods.

Columns of the Parthenon
Above the colonnade of the Temple of Athena there were 92 metopes, the paintings of which illustrate scenes from ancient Greek mythology and minor exploits of the goddess. The main episodes from the life of Athena are depicted on the pediments of the Parthenon (eastern and western). On the eastern pediment you can see the image of the myth of and the figures of female goddesses of fate, on the western pediment - the conflict between Poseidon and Athena over the patronage of Greece.

FROM CULTURAL HISTORY

PANATHANAEAN ASH ON THE PARTHENON FREEZE

T.B. Gvozdeva

Department general history Peoples' Friendship University of Russia st. Miklouho-Maklaya, 10a, Moscow, Russia, 117198

The Panathenaic frieze of the Parthenon is the main source in the study of the solemn Panathenaic procession. It was held on the birthday of Athena and was the culmination of the Great Panathenaia festival. The frieze depicts both the procession participants and the Olympian gods. The central scene of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon is dedicated to the main act of the sacred rite - the transfer of the sacred peplos from the Athenians to the goddess. Peplos prepared arrephores and ergastines for the statue of Athena Polias in Erechtheion.

Keywords: Great Panathenaea, Parthenon, Panathenaic frieze, Panathenaic peplos, Phidias, Athena Polias, Athena Parthenos, arrephora, ergastines, di-phrophora.

On the 28th hecatombeon in Athens (Athena’s birthday) the Great Panathenaea festival took place (1). On this day, the entire population of the Athenian polis took part in a large solemn procession. Residents of the city presented their gift to the goddess - a richly decorated new peplos, and made sacrifices on the Acropolis, which ended with a feast for all citizens.

The solemn Panathenaic procession became the theme for the Ionic frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze was placed inside the colonnade on the wall of the cella (the central part of the temple) and was 160 m long and 1 m high.

A careful analysis of the frieze showed that a number of artists took part in its production. It is possible that, as in the manufacture of the Parthenon metopes, the frieze was made according to sketches and with the participation of Phidias (2). Whether Phidias was the author of the Parthenon frieze is not known for sure. Some researchers deny

They cite the role of Phidias in the creation of the frieze, others attribute to him the subject composition and sculptures of the frieze.

Many people took his unconditional participation for granted (3). B. Schweitz proved the unity of all the sculptural works of the Parthenon, and it is known that Phidias was the organizer of these works (4). K. Blumel noted that the author of the Ionic frieze could not be a master who did not master the Ionic technique, and the frieze was created by masters of the “new generation” (5). K.M. Kolobova believed that Phidias could stylize his art in his work on the statue of Athena, but in depicting his fellow citizens in a religious procession he was not bound by boundaries religious traditions(6). V.D. Blavatsky noted that the architecture of the “age of Pericles” was characterized by the desire to “create a Panhellenic style by reworking the Doric order and introducing into it some features of the Ionic” (7).

It is possible that the same mixture prevailed in sculpture and relief, i.e. the intended transition to panhellenicism found its expression in the depiction of the holiday, to which Pericles tried to give a panhellenic character (8). G. Schrader attributes the authorship of the sculptures of the western pediment of the Parthenon to Paeonius, and the eastern pediment and Ionic frieze to Alkamen, a student of Phidias (9).

If the authorship of the Ionian frieze caused controversy, its subject matter became the topic of an endless discussion that continues to this day. For the first time, the Panathenaic frieze was described in detail by F. Vernon in 1676, concluding that it depicted a certain procession and sacrifice. In 1789, J. Stewart and N. Revett, in their monograph, identified the procession depicted on the frieze with the festive Panathenaic procession (10).

In modern historiography, three points of view can be distinguished on the issue of the theme of the Parthenon frieze. Representatives of the first believe that the plot of the frieze is rooted in the mythological past of Athens and reflects the legend of the founding of Panathenaia (11). This assumption is due to the fact that previously, as a rule, all friezes contained sacred subjects (12). For example, J. Conelli believes that the scene depicted on the frieze is a sacrifice to King Erechtheus and his daughters (13). Representatives of the second group believe that the frieze depicted a certain festive procession not associated with the Panathenaea (14). However, most scientists adhere to the point of view that the Panathenaic procession (Great or Small Panathenaia) was reflected on the frieze of the Parthenon (15). J. Wardman, adhering to this concept, believed that the figures on the chariots and cavalry personified the warriors who died at Marathon and were included in the cult of heroes (16), while S. Rotroff believed that the frieze was not dedicated to the entire Pa-Nathenaic procession, but only to one episode of the festive sacrifice at Panathenaea (17).

But even among supporters of this theory there are endless clarifications about which part of the Panathenaic procession is depicted on the frieze and in

what moment of its action. This could be either the very moment of the procession entering the Acropolis (18), or various parts of the procession not connected with the single procession (19), or in general - this is some kind of ideal image of the Panathenaia (20). However, descriptions of the procession in written sources allow us to assume that the procession on the frieze was an illustration of the Panathenaic solemn procession.

The composition of the Parthenon frieze was conceived in such a way that the procession depicted on it began at the southwestern corner of the temple and two wings - shorter on the southern side of the temple and longer on the western and northern sides - approached the eastern facade of the temple, where it was depicted The main event of the Panathenaic holiday is the transfer of peplos to the priest of Athena. The author's intention was for the image of the procession to cover all sides of the temple and at the same time be clearly divided into four parts. The construction of the entire composition was determined by the sequence of stages of the unfolding procession of the Athenians. Before appearing in front of the eastern side of the Parthenon (the main side of the temple), the procession was divided into two parts and went around the temple on both sides, which was reflected on the southern and northern sides of the frieze. The head part of the procession approached the Parthenon from the western side, and on the western part of the frieze its participants could observe the beginning of their journey back on Ceramics.

On the eastern side of the frieze, in its center, the transfer of the sacred peplos to Athena was depicted. This side of the frieze was different from the others. If on the other sides of the frieze everything was “in motion,” then on the eastern side there was peace (21). It is the central scene on the eastern side of the frieze that is one of the most difficult scenes in terms of interpretation, because researchers identify its figures in different ways and define the actions they perform. Moreover, scholars disagree as to what the next action would be, which is implied to have followed that depicted in the central scene on the east side of the frieze.

In the center of the eastern side of the Panathenaic frieze there are five figures. Figures n. 31 and n. 32 - these are two young girls holding certain objects on their heads, one of them is frozen (the figure is static) (n. 31), the second (n. 32) is facing figure n. 33 and hands her the object she is holding on her head. These two girls could be either arrefors (22) or di-phrofors (23).

Arrefors were called four young girls, chosen from the families of the Athenian aristocracy, who, from 7 to 11 years of age, were annually elected archon-basileus to serve the goddess Athena (Harp. s.v. arrephorein; Suid. s.v. arrephorein). During their service, the arrefors had to wear special white clothes and gold jewelry, which were considered sacred (24).

At the same time, arrephoria was a liturgy performed by the parents of girls (Lys. XXI. 11) (25). The Arrephors took part in the nightly fertility ritual (Paus. I. 27. 3). After their election, the Arrefors lived to the north-

part of the Acropolis, near the Erechtheion, in a house specially built for them. 5th century masonry BC, which rests on an older foundation, allows the restoration of a large room opening onto the courtyard with a two-column portico with antes. In the courtyard adjacent to the building, to the west of the building, there is a well with steps leading down. Along the underground passage, which previously served as a connection with the ancient Mycenaean well, the girls walked into the grotto, through which they entered the sacred area. Their destination was the sanctuary of Eros and Aphrodite, located at a distance of 7 m from the well.

The role of diphrophoros in the Panathenaic procession was usually performed by female metics. They carried ritual benches for Athenian girls from noble families (canephors) (Lp81»rk. Lu. 1508; 1550; 1559, all; LpvShpb. Ess1. 734).

E. Pfuhl believed that these were only benches for canephoras (26). The scholiast of Aristophanes explains that at the Panathenaea the daughters of the metics carried umbrellas and benches behind the Athenian canephors (all. AnbShpb. Lu. 1549-1551). They are needed so that the canephors can rest while sitting under a ritual umbrella during the hecatomb on the Acropolis (27). L. Deubner believed that ditrophores had a subordinate position to canephores (28).

In the Panathenaic procession, the umbrella and bench were supposed to emphasize the priority position of the Athenians over the metics carrying these objects behind the canephors. L.I. Akimova is mistaken when she writes that diphros were worn in procession by native Athenian women for Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus (29).

Those objects that the girls (n. 31 and n. 32) carry on their heads may well be diphros (ritual chairs) intended for the gods (30), which could belong to the ritual meal of Athena associated with the rite of theoxenia (31). E. Simon believes that the girls could not be diphrophores, since diphrophores were the daughters of metics, and, in addition, their position was official under the canephors, i.e. so insignificant that they could hardly be depicted on the main, eastern side of the frieze (32), while S. Rotroff claims that these can only be di-phrophores (33).

B. Wesemberg, having made a series of comparisons, proves that the heads of the girls are not diphros, which were depicted on the reliefs in a completely different way, and from here he concludes that these young girls can only be arre-fores (34). K.M. Kolobova insists that the object in the hands of the first girl is not a diphros at all, but an incense burner (35). L.D. Bondar believes that arrephors carry seats, and mistakenly believes that ditrophores are the second name for arrephors (36).

Figure 32 passes a certain object to figure 33, who removes it from the girl’s head. This is an adult woman in long clothes. She is most often identified with the priestess of Athena Polias, belonging to the family of Eteobu-

tadov (37). K.M. Kolobova suggests that this could be the wife of the archon-basileus (38).

Next to the priestess/wife of the archon there are two more figures - item 34 and item 35. The figure of item 34 is identified with both the archon-basileus (39), and with the priest of Athena (40), or with the priest of Poseidon-Erechtheus ( 41).

The last assumption seems more controversial, since the eastern cella of the Parthenon could hardly depict the priest Poseidon-Erechtheus, who owned the neighboring temple, the Erechtheion. On the other hand, S. Heringon notes that the peplos was made for the xoanon of Athena, which was kept in the Erechtheion, and not for the statue of Athena Parthenos, so it could well have been transferred to the priest of Poseidon-Erechtheus (42).

The figure of item 35 causes the most heated debate (43). Most researchers believe that this is a boy, an assistant to the priest (44), or some kind of temple servant (45). It is also possible that this is the ritual son of an archon, as, for example, Arrephora was his ritual daughter (46), or this is the son of a priest, a future priest from the Butad clan (47). Some scientists generally believe that this is not a boy, but a girl, one of the Arrefors (48). Some action takes place between these two figures, which is the main thing in the central scene. The man (n. 34) extends his hand to his assistant; in his left hand he holds a rectangular piece of folded cloth, part of which, according to B. Neige, is located under his left elbow (49). It is possible that he accepts the folded new peplos from the hands of his assistant (item 35) (50).

E. Simon suggested that the scene represents a picture of the deployment of a new peplos (51). Some, on the contrary, suggest that the priest/archon folds the peplos received from the boy (52). M. Robertson argued that the scene on the eastern side of the frieze is not a depiction of the rite of accepting peplos, but only a preparation for it (53). Those. the priest (n. 34) hands over the old peplos to his assistant (n. 35) for safekeeping and thus prepares the audience for the next scene, which should follow a little later - the scene of the transfer of the new peplos.

B. Neige, following M. Robertson, believed that the eastern side of the temple personified the fact of changing the old peplos to a new one, which was just carried by the participants in the procession (54). This made it possible for all the Athenians still walking in the procession to look at the scene awaiting them in a few minutes. And finally, A. Mommsen argued that the presentation of the peplos, which was the most important sacred act of the Panathenaic, took place several hours before the procession itself or even several days. And only at the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th centuries. BC e. managed to combine these two events, as evidenced by the theme of the Panathenaic frieze (55).

So, we see that, despite a large number of different assumptions, we can say with confidence that main stage The Parthenon was dedicated to the transfer of the Panathenaic peplos to the goddess.

The work on the peplos, as well as the patterns that were embroidered on it, was monitored by the Council. Aristotle points out that after this matter was

Some bias was shown on the part of the Council; its functions were transferred to the helium commission elected by lot. Only after this did the peplos come into the possession of the commission of athletes in the dicastery (Arist. Ath. Pol. 49.3).

In the dictionaries of Harpakration and Suida there are indications that the arrephors had to work on the production of peplos, which was presented to Athena on the 28th hecatombeon during the holiday (Harp. s.v. arrephorein; Suid. s.v. arrephorein).

Harpokration adds that out of four arrefora, two girls were chosen to work on the peplos. Work on the peplos under the leadership of the priestess Athena Polias and Pandrosa began 9 months before the start of Panathenaia, on the last day of the month Pianopsion, during the holiday of Chalkeia (Paus. I. 27. 3). During this time, the arrefors pulled the threads onto the loom and began to weave. The peplos was decorated with scenes from the Titanium or Gigantomachy (Plat. Eutiph. 6c; Eur. Hec. 466-474; Eur. Iph. T. 221-226, schol., Verg. Scop. 31; schol. Aristoph. Av. 566 ; schol. Hec. 466;

It seems unlikely that the festive peplos could have been woven by two little arrefor girls. It is possible that the work on the peplos was a kind of inauguration for the arrephoros, while in reality the festive clothes of Athena were worked on by weavers under the direction of ergastynai (Hesych. s.v. ergastynai), who, as a reward for their work, received an honorable place in the festive Panathenaic procession (56). S. A. Zhebelev cites the text of the Athenian decree (SEG. 28.90) in honor of Ergastin: “since the fathers of the girls who processed the wool for Athena’s peplos, having made a report to the council, testify that the girls took into account everything in this regard that the people decreed, They did everything as required, took part in the solemn procession, according to orders, in the most beautiful and decorous manner, prepared at their own expense a silver vial of 100 drachmas, which they wish to dedicate to Athena in memory of their piety towards the goddess...” ( 57).

S.A. Zhebelev suggests that the total number of ergastines was 120 (10 ergastines per phylum on average) (58). It is possible that in period V-IV centuries BC e. the amount of ergastine was large. So, a large number of weavers were involved in the work on the pe-plos, many of whom belonged to noble Athenian families (59). Their work, like the actions of the Arrefor, was very honorable and extremely difficult.

The sources do not give any idea where the peplos was made and where it was stored until it was placed on the cart ship. Initially, the work most likely took place on the Acropolis (60). It is possible that the specific location for the ergastines was the western part of the Parthenon (61).

28 hecatombeon peplos were transported on a cart ship from outer Ceramics through the city, along the main streets to the foot of the Acropolis. There the peplos was removed from the cart and handed over to the festive procession, which delivered

I gave it to the goddess. The size of the peplos is difficult to determine. G. Park believed that the peplos was large enough, since it was made for the statue of Athena Parthenos (62). However, L. Tsien, L. Deubner and others, on the contrary, noted that peplos was given as a gift to Athena Polias, and its size could not be large (63).

The task of the cart-ship in the procession was to show the peplos to the whole city and transport it away from Eleusis (64).

According to Philostratus, the route of the cart-ship runs from Ceramikos to Eleusis (Vit. Soph. II. 1.7), where the peplos was dismasted and the cart went past Pelasgic to Pytium in southwest Athens. Initially, the cart that transported peplos did not have the shape of a ship. E. Pfuel and E. Dümler believed that at first peplos was imported on an ordinary cart, which later took on the appearance of a ship (65).

Information about the cart-ship appears only in the 4th century. BC e. Data also dates back to this time that peplos in the form of a sail on the mast of a cart ship was visible to the entire city. The comic poet Stratis (66), quoted by Harp. s.v. topeion, compares the peplos to a sail. But neither the tragedians nor Aristophanes have any indication of a ship-cart or a sail-peplos (67). N. Robertson, on the contrary, sees in the Panathenaic cart an analogy with the ship of Dionysus, the existence of which he dates back to the 6th century. BC e. (68).

A. Mommsen believed that until the 4th century. BC e. the offering of a new pe-plos to Athena was an independent rite, which was carried out in the interval between the Panathenaea (69). He argued that in the 5th century. BC e. peplos was not carried in the procession, since it was made on the Acropolis. Therefore, there was no need to carry it to the Acropolis, since it was already there. The moment of handing over the peplos to the priestess of Athena was an internal act of service of the goddess. In addition, A. Mommsen believed that the model of the cart-ship appeared later, in the Hellenistic period, and was borrowed from Alexandria - from the cult of Isis (70).

Another interesting question is why the cart-ship was not depicted on the Panathenaic frieze during the procession. The absence of a cart ship or a T-shaped pattern with a peplos sail on the frieze is often explained by the fact that the ship was left at the foot of the Acropolis, or because the image of the ship did not fit on the frieze due to its height (71).

E. Pfuhl believed that the height of the frieze was not sufficient to accommodate a cart with a mast (72). However, L. Tsien noted that if the frieze could accommodate the image of horsemen, then it could well accommodate a cart-ship with a mast (73). It is possible that the peplos was carried unfolded on the shoulders and heads of the ergastina (74).

The apotheosis of this action was the transfer of peplos to the priest of Athena, depicted on the eastern side of the frieze. However, it is worth noting that the peplos on the frieze is shown folded, which makes it somewhat difficult to imagine its size (75).

Peplos was received by the priest and secretly taken to the Erechtheion, since it was intended for the ancient statue of Athena Polias, located in the old temple of the goddess, which became part of the Erechtheion. Final scene took place in the temple itself and was hidden from prying eyes. The audience had a good idea of it and could speculate. This also determined the unusual compositional structure of the central scene: intended only for the gods, it is depicted separately from the procession and is located in the center of the symmetrically seated Olympian deities. Athena hosted a reception for everyone on her birthday olympian gods in his house on the Acropolis. Artists on either side of the central stage depicted gods seated in groups of six. Their figures are made somewhat larger than the human figures - even the sitting gods are of the same height as the standing human figures.

By the fact that the participants in the procession have their backs turned to the gods, one can judge that the gods are invisibly present at the festival. In two places of honor - to the right and to the left of the central group - Zeus (from the audience to the left) and Athena (to the right) are depicted.

Athena is depicted without a helmet, as she is receiving guests at home. Behind Zeus (from right to left) are Hera, Iris, Ares, Demeter, Dionysus and Hermes. From Athena to the right Hephaestus, then Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis and Aphrodite with Eros. In front of the group of gods on both sides are groups of men standing and talking to each other; on the southern half there are three groups of two people, on the northern half there is one group of four people. Most likely, these men dressed in himation are 10 archons (76), or athlotetes (77), or hieropeans (78). They stand waiting for the procession approaching from both sides. Behind them, on the north side, is the first steward, who meets the procession, and the second, who has already accepted from the two canephoras walking in front of the procession, a basket with sacred objects (n. 49-51) (Arist. Ath. Pol. 18.2; Thuc . VI. 56. 1). Behind them is a long row of girls carrying libation bowls and a large incense burner (n. 2-17; 56-61). These were canephors, and they led the procession. According to literary sources, kanephoroi carried kana (baskets with bloodless sacrifices) on their heads (Harp. s.v. kanephoroi). However, there are no kana on the Panathenaic frieze, but there are other sacred utensils, for example oinochoi (79).

On the south side, a group of officials is followed by the head of a procession of girls with phials and jugs, preceded by four empty-handed girls. L. Tsien believed that if girls do not carry baskets, then these are new arrefors (80). The last figure behind the group of girls on the southern half is the steward, who gives the sign to the procession depicted on the southern side of the frieze, and thereby connects the composition of the eastern and southern sides of the frieze. There is no such connecting figure at the northern end of the eastern side.

J. Boardman asked interesting question: did contemporaries perceive the Panathenaic frieze as a depiction of the real Panathenaic

processions (81)? Did the procession correspond to her modern perception in the 5th century BC e.?

L. Tsien noted that the participants and the course of the procession were confirmed by literary sources, and this speaks in favor of its reliability (82). R. Osborne believed that there were spectators to answer this question, and their attention to the frieze ensured that the procession was perceived as contemporary with its time (83). When analyzing the figures of the frieze, it should be remembered that “the image on the frieze is very conditional, it conveys only some details of the procession, those that its creators considered the most important, and some episodes were reproduced very conditionally” (84).

The spectators, knowing very well the composition of the procession, could themselves understand and explain the central scene on the frieze. The participants in the procession had a good idea of how the procession was going and how it should end. Since the frieze did not depict the end of the procession, i.e. there was no climax, the viewer came up with it himself. Visually, the Panathenaic frieze was not the end of the procession, but, on the other hand, anyone could enter the temple and see the statue of Athena. This was, as it were, the completion of a sacred procession, i.e. the end of the Athenians' campaign to the goddess. The festive Panathenaic peplos seemed to cement the union of Athena and the city. The scenes from the Gigantomachy embroidered on it were evidence of the military power of both Athena and the Athenian polis as the head of the Athenian Maritime League.

NOTES

(1) Gvozdeva T.B. Procession of the Great Panathenaea on the frieze of the Parthenon and in the comedies of Aristophanes // Aristeas. Bulletin of classical philology and ancient history. - M., 2011. - Volume IV. - P. 174.

(2) Whipper B.R. Art of Ancient Greece. - M., 1972. - P. 207.

(3) Romanov N.I. On the attitude of Phidias to the Parthenon sculptures // Journal of the Ministry of Public Education. - St. Petersburg-Pg., 1900. - June. - P. 136; Kolpinsky Yu.D. The great heritage of ancient Hellas. - M., 1988. - P. 109.

(4) Schweitzer B. Pheidias der Parthenon-Meister, III // Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts. - 1940. - Bd. 55; Schweitzer B. Neue Wege zu Pheidias // Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts. - 1957. - Bd. 72.

(5) Blümel K. Phidiasische Reliefe und Parthenonfries. - 1957.

(6) Kolobova K.M. The ancient city of Athens and its monuments. - L., 1961. - P. 156.

(7) Blavatsky V.D. Architecture ancient world. - M., 1939. - P. 54.

(8) On the art of the era of Pericles, see: Cloché P. Le siècle de Périclès. - Paris, 1960; Kagan D. Pericles of Athens and the birth of democracy. - New York, 1991.

(9) Schrader H. Phidias. - 1924.

(10) Stuart J., Revet N. Aniquities of Athens. - L., 1789. - Vol. 2.

(11) Kardaras Chr. O panathènaikos peplos // Archaiologike Ephemeris. - 1960. - P. 185-201; Jeppesen K. Where was the so-called Erechtheion? // American Journal of Archeology. -1979. - Vol. 83. - P. 381-394.

(12) Parke H.W. Festivals of the Athenians. - London, 1986. - P. 16.

(13) Connelly J. Parthenon and Parthenoi: A Mythological Interpretation of the Parthenon Frieze // American Journal of Archeology. - 1996. - Vol. 100. - P. 53-80.

(14) Petersen Ch. Die Feste der Pallas Athene in Athen und der Friezs des Parthenon. -Hamburg, 1855; Holloway R.R. The Archaic Acropolis and the Parthenon Frieze // Art Bulletin. - 1966. - Vol. 48. - No. 2. - P. 223-226.

(15) Beschi L. Il fregio del Partenone: Una proposta di lettura // Atti della Accademia nazio-nale dei Lincei. - Roma, 1985. - Vol. 40; Boardman J. The Parthenon Frieze - Another View // U. Höckmann and A. Kryg (éds). Festschrift für Frank Brommer. - Mainz, 1977. - S. 39-49; Brulé P. La fille d"Athènes: La religion des filles à Athènes à l"époque classique. - Paris, 1987; Bruno V.D. (ed). The Parthenon. - N.Y., 1974; Deubner L. Attische Feste. - Berlin, 1956. - S. 25-31; Collignon M. Le Parthenon. - Paris, 1914; Jenkins I.D. The composition of the co-called Eponymous Heroes on the east frieze of the Parthenon // American Journal of Archeology. - 1985. - Vol. 89. - No. 1; Kroll J.H. The Parthenon frieze as a votive relief // American Journal of Archeology. - 1979. -Vol. 83. - No. 3. - P. 349-352; Mansfield J.M. The robe of Athena and the Panathenaic peplos: Diss. univ. of California Berkeley, 1985. - P. 2-50; Michaelis A.A. Der Parthenon. - London, 1870; Mommsen A. Feste der Stadt Athen, geordnet hach attischen Kalender. - Leipzig, 1898; Nagy B. The ritual in slab V, east on the Parthenon frieze // Classical Philology. - 1978. - Vol. 73. - No. 2. - P. 137-138; Osborne R. The viewing and obscuring of the Parthenon frieze // Journal of Hellenic Studies. - 1987. - Vol. 107. -P. 98-105; Parke H.W. - Op. cit. - P. 16; Robertson M., Frantz A. The Parthenon Frieze. - London, 1975; Simon E. Festivals of Attica. An archaeological commentary. -Madison, 1983. - P. 62-65; Steinhart M. Die Darstellung der Praxiergidai im Ostfries des Parthenon // Archäologischer Anzeiger. - 1997. - H. 4. - S. 475-478; Wesenberg B. Panathenäische Peplosdedikation und Arrhephorie. Zur Thematik des Parthenonfrieses. Mit 14 Abbildungen // Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts. - 1995. -Bd. 110. - No. 3. - S. 149-178; Wohl V. Hegemony and democracy at the Panathenaia // Classica et midiaevalia. - 1996. - Vol. 47. - P. 52-53; Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. -WITH. 150; Kolpinsky Yu.D. - Decree. op. - P. 35; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 109; Blavatsky V.D. - Decree. op. - P. 206; Farmakovsky B.V. The artistic ideal of democratic Athens. - Pg., 1918. - P. 133; Gvozdeva T.B. - Decree. op. - P. 76-81.

(16) Boardman J. - Op. cit. - S. 39-49.

(17) Rotroff S.I. The Parthenon frieze and the sacrifice to Athena // American Journal of Archeology. - 1977. - Vol. 81. - No. 3. - P. 379-382.

(18) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 150.

(19) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 133.

(20) Osborne R. - Op. cit. - P. 101-103; Gvozdeva T.B. - Decree. op. - P. 76-81.

(21) Marinovich L.P., Koshelenko G.A. The fate of the Parthenon. - M., 2000. - P. 147.

(22) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155; Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65; Steinhart M. - Op. cit. -P. 476; Wesenberg B. - Op. cit. - P. 157.

(23) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 207; Michaelis A. - Op. cit. - S. 255.

(24) Brulé P. - Op. cit. - P. 83.

(25) Bondar L.D. Athenian liturgies of the V-IV centuries. BC. - St. Petersburg, 2009. - pp. 100-102.

(26) PfuhlE. De Atheniensium pompis sacris. - Berlin, 1900. - S. 33.

(27) Gvozdeva T.B. Panathenaic procession in the comedies of Aristophanes and on the Panathenaic frieze // Almanac of the Slavic-Greek-Latin cabinet of the Volga Federal District. - N. Novgorod, 2009. - Issue. 2. - P. 78.

(28) Deubner L. - Op. cit. - S. 49.

(29) Akimova L.I. The sacred space of the ancient Greek holiday: the Great Panathenaea // Hierotopia. Comparative studies of sacred holidays. - M., 2009. - P. 40.

(30) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 207; Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65.

(31) Simon E. - Ibid.

(33) Rotroff S.I. - Op. cit. - P. 381.

(34) Wesenberg B. - Op. cit. - P. 157.

(35) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155.

(36) Bondar L.D. - Decree. op. - P. 101.

(37) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 207; Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65; Boardman J. - Op. cit. - P. 41; Boardman J. The Parthenon and Its Sculptures. - Austin: Univ. of Texas Press. 1985. - P. 240; Connelly J. - Op. cit. -P. 59; SteinhartM. - Op. cit. - S. 476; Mansfield J.M. - Op. cit. - P. 293-294.

(38) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155. Compare: Brommer F. Der Parthenonfries. - Mainz, 1977. - S. 268.

(39) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155; Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Brommer F. - Op. cit. - S. 41; Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65-66; Connelly J. - Op. cit. -P. 58; Mansfield J.M. - Op. cit. - P. 291, 346.

(40) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 207; Nagy B. -Op. cit. - P. 138; SteinhartM. - Op. cit. - S. 476.

(41) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135.

(42) Herington C. J. Athena Parthenos and Athena Polias: A study in the Religion of Peri-clean Athens. - Manchester, 1955. - P. 32-34.

(43) Clairmont Ch. W.Girl or boy? Parthenon East Frieze 35 // Archäologischer Anzeiger. -1989. - No. 4. - P. 495-496.

(44) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155; Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 207; Nagy B. - Op. cit. - P. 138; Simon E. - Op. cit. -P. 65; WesenbergB. - Op. cit. - P. 152.

(45) E. Simon compares him with Euripides’ Ion, see: Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65.

(47) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135.

(48) Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65; Brommer F. - Op. cit. - S. 203.

(49) Nagy B. - Op. cit. - P. 138.

(50) Kolobova K.M. - Decree op. - P. 155; Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Waldstein C. Essays on the Art of Pheidias. - Cambr., 1889. - P. 246; Michaelis A. -Op. cit. - S. 255; Kroll J.H. - Op. cit. - P. 180; Mommsen A. - Op. cit. - S. 114; Deubner L. - Op. cit. - S. 30-31; Ziehen L. s.v. Panathenaia 1 // Real-Encyclopödie der Klassischen Altertuaswissenschaft. Ed. Paulu et Wissowa, 18. 2. 2. - 1949. - S. 461.

(51) Simon E. - Op. cit. - P. 65.

(52) Farmakovsky B.V. - Decree. op. - P. 135; Whipper B.R. - Decree. op. - P. 207.

(53) Robertson M., Frantz A. - Op. cit. - P. 11. - N. 5.

(54) Nagy B. - Op. cit. - P. 138.

(55) Mommsen A. - Op. cit. - S. 114.

(56) Brule P. - Op. cit. - P. 99; Cole S. Women and politics in democratic Athens // History Today. - 1994. - Vol. 44. - No. 3. - March. - P. 36.

(57) Zhebelev S.A. Parthenon in “Parthenon” // Bulletin Ancient History. - 1939. - No. 2. - P. 54.

(58) Ibid.

(59) Wohl V. - Op. cit. - P. 66-67; LefkowitzM.R. Women in the Panathenaic and Other Festivals // Worshiping Athena: Panathenaia and Parthenon Ed. J. Neils. - Madison, 1996. -P. 80.

(60) Premerstein A. von. Der Parthenonfris und die Werkstatt des panathenäischen Peplos // Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts. - 1912. - Bd. 15; Brule P. - Op. cit. -P. 102; Kardaras Chr. - Op. cit. - P. 185.

(61) Robertson N. The Riddle of the Arrephoria at Athens // Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. - 1983. - Vol. 87. - P. 273.

(62) Parke H.W. - Op. cit. - P. 39.

(63) Deubner L. - Op. cit. - S. 32; Ziehen L. - Op. cit. - S. 461.

(64) Robertson N. The origin of the Panathenaea // Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. -1985. - Bd. 128. - H. 3-4. - P. 290. See also: Norman N.J. The Panathenaic ship // Archaeological News. - 1983. - Vol. 12. - P. 41-46.

(65) Pfuhl E. - Op. cit. - S. 10; Dümmler F. - Op. cit. - S. 51.

(66) 400s BC e.

(67) Ziehen L. - Op. cit. - S. 461-463. On the wagon ship, see: Neils J. Pride, Pomp and Circumstance: The Iconography of Procession // Worshiping Athena: Panathenaia and Parthenon Ed. J. Neils. - Madison, 1996. - P. 186.

(68) Robertson N. The origin of the Panathenaea... - P. 291.

(69) Mommsen A. - Op. cit. - S. 112-116.

(71) Ziehen L. - Op. cit. - S. 461; Phyle E. - Op. cit. - S. 11. - N. 68.

(72) Pfuhl E. - Ibid.

(73) Ziehen L. - Op. cit. - S. 463.

(74) Cole S. - Op. cit. - P. 32-37.

(75) Petersen Ch. - Op.cit. - Pl. 34-35.

(76) Michaelis A. - Op. cit. - S. 254; Mommsen A. - Op. cit. - S. 143; Jenkins I.D. - Op. cit.

(77) Kolpinsky Yu.D. - Decree. op. - P. 130.

(78) Pfule E. - Op. cit. - S. 19, 124.

(79) Rotroff S.I. - Op. cit. - P. 380.

(80) Ziehen L. - Op. cit. - S. 465.

(81) Boardman J. The Parthenon and Its Sculptures... - P. 210-215.

(82) Ziehen L. - Op. cit. - S. 463.

(83) Osborne R. - Op. cit. - P. 100.

(84) Marinovich L.P., Koshelenko G.A. - Decree. op. - P. 151.

PANATHENAIC PEPLOS IN TNE FRIEZE PARTHENON

World History Chair Peoples Friendship University of Russia Miklukho-Maklaya Str., 10a, Moscow, Russia, 117198

Panathenaic procession east frieze of the Parthenon is problems of interpretation. This procession moves on the east frieze into the presence of an assembly of seated gods, the twelve Olympians. In the midst of the gods is a group of five human-sized figures engaged in the prosaic task of folding a piece of cloth. Because this scene holds the most prominent place on the frieze, the cloth is surely the peplos presented to Athena, albeit to her cult statue housed in another temple, the Erechtheion. While the priest, the archon Basileus, folds the robe with the help of a young assistant, possibly one of the arrephoroi, the priestess of Athena Polias is receiving two diphrophoroi, or stool-bearers.

Kew words: Greater Panathenaia, Parthenon, Panathenaic frieze, Panathenaic peplos, Phidias, Athena Poliac, Athena Parthenos, arrephoroi, ergastinai, diphrophoroi.

The Ionian frieze depicting the Panathenaic procession occupies the huge hall of the British Museum. Only a few of his slabs are now in other collections. Procession of Athenian girls from the eastern wall - in the Louvre: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F ile:Egastinai_frieze_Louvre_MR825.jpg
Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis - in the Acropolis Museum: http://ancientrome.ru/art/artwork/img.h tm?id=1643
There are also several more slabs there. But only in the British Museum can one get a complete picture of this part of the Parthenon’s sculptural decoration.
In front of us is the corner of the western and southern walls. The male figure looks very strange: the body is depicted from the front, the legs are turned in one direction, the head in the other. The movement is thus stopped:

The length of the frieze that ran along the walls of the temple cella, behind the columns, is 160 meters, its height is 1 meter.
Preparations for the procession were depicted on the western wall. Some characters are already driving, some are standing. The flow of the main movement is directed to the left, but some figures are directed to the right. In this part of the frieze we see only men:

Now on the Parthenon itself there are copies of the reliefs. This is what the western façade looks like:

The Panathenaic procession on the frieze is an image, not a detailed document. Sculptors depict the most important things without going into details. The procession of the Athenians bifurcates: along the southern and northern walls, mortal people move towards the gods.

The sculptors depict horsemen with particular pleasure. The procession is multifaceted. On the frieze everything is flattened, sometimes, like knots, you have to untangle the legs of horses and riders. In the next room there is a special multimedia program that transforms the planar image on the frieze into a spatial one. Very exciting! By the way, when everything was painted, the plans were separated more clearly.

To the extent that the movement of the horses and the poses of the riders are individualized, all the young men are so similar. Just brothers! The ideal type dominates, nothing personal.
This is not the army of Qin Shi Huangdi.

What was the Panathenaic procession depicted on the frieze?
“The holiday was many days, solemn and magnificent; he demanded the presence of all Athenians (and from the time of Peisistratus, formally, all Hellenes). His main rite was to bring a new fire to the Acropolis from the lower city. They took it from the Akademus grove, planted under Cleisthenes at the end of the 6th century. BC e. Torches were lit on the altar of Eros or Prometheus, and young men assigned to each of the ten Athenian phyla (territorial units) carried it in a relay race to the Acropolis. The winner received a strange prize: hydria with water. However, in the ritual of cosmogony it is quite natural: after all, this “water” is the parent of “fire”. The act of bringing fire was at night - in accordance with the night ritual of the passions of the sun god in the underwater world.
Early in the morning, at sunrise, a procession was drawn up near the Athenian cemetery of Ceramics. It included all full-fledged citizens, except slaves - indigenous people and Meteca migrants, old men, boys and girls. At the head was a girl-priestess with a ritual basket-kanun, in which a knife was hidden among the barley intended to feed the victim animal. Next, at the beginning of the procession, came the tallophores - noble elders in white robes, with flowering branches in their hands. The indigenous Athenians carried two diphros - solemn thrones without backs - for the gods. They were followed by sacrificial animals, cows and sheep, accompanied by young men and musicians, followed by metics in purple robes - men carried heavy boat-shaped scaphoses with honeycombs and other gifts to the gods and hydrias with water on their shoulders, women carried umbrellas. The third part, the tail of the procession, was made up of ephebe youths on horseback in black cloaks.” /Akimova L.I. The Art of Ancient Greece: Classics. – St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2007, p.184/

“The procession, approaching the Acropolis, took a model of the ship in the Prytaneum, the building where the city magistrates met, where the state seal and other symbols of the Athenian polis were kept. On the mast of the ship, a newly woven saffron peplos was fixed, fluttering and shining like the sun. At the entrance to the Acropolis, the ship was left below and the peplos was carried on the stulis mast removed from it; the ephebes on horseback dismounted. The rest of the procession climbed up the steep slope. Having reached the Parthenon, the procession split into two branches - one went around the temple from the north, the other from the south, and they met at the far end of the temple, where the Great Altar was located and where sacrifices were made. After making sacrifices, central event holiday, the goddess was given a new peplos. With sunrise, the doors of the temple dissolved, and in the naos an extraordinary sight was revealed to the participants: they were greeted in all its splendor, illuminated by the first rays of the sun, by the colossal (about 12 m high) statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias, made of gold and ivory. Previously, in the temple of Polyada, peplos was placed on the knees of the seated goddess. In the Parthenon, where the statue was standing, after the ceremony it entered the temple treasury. Then the multi-day agony began.” /Akimova L.I. The Art of Ancient Greece: Classics. – St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2007, p.185/

So far we have looked at the reliefs of the northern side. On the southern wall we see the same set of characters, they are just grouped differently.

Horsemen alternate with chariots:

Men lead sacrificial animals:

The East Frieze looks completely different. Here people come closer to the gods. The movement becomes slower and gradually people stop.

In the central part of the relief, the priest and priestess receive sacred gifts - peplos and diphlos:

People and gods are nearby, and at the same time, as if in different worlds. They don't interact. The gods communicate only with each other. People stand and gods sit. At the same time, the principle of isokephaly (equality of heads) is preserved, since the gods are greater than people:

Hermes, Dionysus and Demeter:

Demeter and Ares:

Iris, Hera and Zeus:

The reliefs not only lost their coloring. In many parts they are badly damaged.

But we are already educated in the sculpture of modern times, we know about the unfinished nature of Michelangelo’s works! That is why these “melting” images are full of such charm for us. We seem to see how these beautiful images were born:

Pediments of the Parthenon: http://cicerone2007.livejournal.com/290 08.html

Answered: 8

25/08/2010 21:20

Parthenon

(Greek Παρθενών; English Parthenon)

Opening hours: from 8.30 to 19.00 daily, except Monday.

The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patroness of Athens, and is rightfully considered one of the greatest examples of ancient architecture, a masterpiece of world art and plastic arts. The temple was founded on the initiative of Pericles, the famous Athenian commander and reformer. Its construction proceeded quite quickly - the temple was built from 447 to 438 BC (under the leadership of the architects Ictinus and Kallicrates), and its sculptural design and decoration (under the leadership of Phidias) was completed in 432 BC.

The first known temple to Athena in modern times, the existence of which is recognized by most scientists in the world, was built on the Acropolis, probably under Pisistratus. It was called the same as later the naos of the modern Parthenon - Hekatompedon, but during the campaign of Xerxes it, like other buildings on the Acropolis, was destroyed. There is a version about the connection between the ancient meaning of the word “hekatompedon” and the custom of child sacrifices (Greek “hekaton” - “hundred”, tome - “dissection”, “paidos” - “child”). Later, with the abolition of this cruel custom (babies were laid in the foundation of the building for the sake of its strength), the concept of “one hundred child sacrifices” was transferred to the original measure of the length of the naos (sanctuary) of the temple.

During the reign of Pericles, Athens achieved its greatest glory. After graduation Greco-Persian wars, already on the prepared site, it was decided to build a new, more majestic and luxurious temple. The victorious attitude was also reflected in wasteful urban planning plans, which were financed mainly by the tribute levied by Athens on its allies. The best artists of that time were involved in the construction and huge amounts of money were spent. The builders of the Parthenon were the ancient Greek architects Ictinus and Callicrates. Then there was a period of the highest rise of ancient culture, and the temple of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis hill, to this day, proudly reminds the whole world of this.

The Parthenon is located at the highest point of the Acropolis of Athens. Therefore, the beautiful temple of the goddess Athena is visible not only from all corners of the city, but also from the sea, from the islands of Salamis and Aegina. The main facade of the temple is located at an angle to the Propylaea (entrance gate), which is located in the western part of the temple mount. Entirely permeated with light, the temple seems airy and light. There are no bright designs on the white columns, as is found in Egyptian temples.

The Parthenon is a Doric peripterus, with elements of the Ionic order. It is located on a stylobate (69.5 m long and 30.9 m wide) - three marble steps, the total height of which is about 1.5 meters, the roof was covered with a tiled roof. On the side of the main (western) façade, more frequent steps were cut, intended for people.

The building itself (cella) has a length of 29.9 m (width 19.2 m), which was 100 Greek feet, and is bordered along the entire perimeter by an external colonnade (peristele). There are only 46 of these columns, 8 from the end facades and 17 from the side facades. All columns are channeled, that is, decorated with longitudinal grooves. The height of the corner columns together with the capitals is 10.43 m (the same as in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia).

The lower diameter of the corner columns - embat, when proportioning the temple, was taken as the first module (1.975 m). For the vertical dimensions, the builders used the second module - the height of the abacus of the capital (0.3468 m). The amazing harmony of the building, which has been preserved to this day, despite the fact that only ruins remain of the great structure, is based, first of all, on the polyphony of relationships of quantities; the sizes of similar parts change depending on their place in the overall composition.

The columns of the Parthenon do not look like a continuous undivided mass, but are perceived as a row in which individual trunks are not lost. Hence the correlation of the colonnade with the rhythm of the triglyphs and metopes of the frieze, as well as with the rhythm of the figures of the Ionic frieze, which was located in the upper part of the walls of the naos, and on the internal colonnade of the porticoes.

The Parthenon was not only a temple, but also something like art gallery or museum, it provided an excellent background for many works of plastic art. The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon was carried out under the leadership of the great master Phidias, and with his direct participation. This work is divided into four parts: the metopes of the outer (Doric) frieze, the continuous Ionic (inner) frieze, the sculptures in the tympanums of the pediments and the famous statue of Athena Parthenos.

The pediment and cornices of the building were decorated with sculptures. The pediments were decorated with the gods of Greece: the thunderer Zeus, the mighty ruler of the seas Poseidon, the wise warrior Athena, winged Nike. For example, on the western pediment the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica is represented. The judges decided to give victory to the god whose gift would be more valuable to the city. Poseidon struck with his trident and a salty spring gushed out of the rock of the Acropolis. Athena struck with her spear and an olive tree grew on the Acropolis. This gift seemed more useful to the Athenians. Thus, Athena emerged victorious in the dispute, and the olive tree became the symbol of the city.

Along the perimeter of the outer walls of the cella, at a height of 12 meters, the famous Parthenon frieze stretched like a ribbon, the details of which, however, were almost indistinguishable from below. This frieze is considered one of the pinnacles of classical art. Of more than 500 figures of boys, girls, elders, on foot and on horseback, not one repeated the other; the movements of people and animals were conveyed with amazing dynamism. The figures are not flat, they have the volume and shape of the human body.

The metopes were part of the traditional, for the Doric order, triglyph-metope frieze, which encircled the outer colonnade of the temple. In total, there were 92 metopes on the Parthenon, containing various high reliefs. They were connected thematically, along the sides of the building. In the east the battle of the centaurs with the Lapiths was depicted, in the south - the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons (Amazonomachy), in the west - probably scenes from Trojan War, in the north - battles of gods and giants (gigantomachy). To this day, only 64 metopes have survived: 42 in Athens and 15 in the British Museum.

In general, the architectural appearance of the Parthenon takes its origins from wooden architecture: built of stone, the temple retained, in its outline, the lightness and grace of a wooden structure. However, the external simplicity of these outlines is deceptive: the architect Iktin was a great master of perspective. He very accurately calculated how to create the proportions of the structure in order to make them pleasing to the eye of a person looking at the temple from bottom to top.

The Greeks built temples from limestone, the surface of which was covered with plaster and then painted with paints. But the Parthenon is built of marble. During construction on the Acropolis, near Athens, on Mount Pentelikon, deposits of snow-white Pentelic marble sparkling in the sun were discovered. During production, it is white in color, but when exposed to the sun's rays it turns yellow. The northern side of the building is exposed to less radiation - and therefore, the stone there has a grayish-ashy tint, while the southern blocks have a golden-yellowish color. Using ropes and wooden sleds, marble blocks were transported to the construction site.

The masonry was carried out without any mortar or cement, that is, it was dry. The blocks were regular squares, they were carefully ground along the edges, adjusted to size to each other, and fastened with iron staples - pyrons. The column trunks were made from separate drums and connected with wooden pins. Only the outer edges of the stones were carefully trimmed, the inner surfaces were left untreated, “to be stolen.” The final finishing, including the flutes on the columns, was done after the stones were in place.

The roof was made of stone, rafter construction, reproducing earlier wooden floors, and covered with double-shaped marble tiles. The chiaroscuro on the deeply embedded flutes of the columns and in the intercolumns (between the columns) emphasized the spatiality of the building’s composition and its connection with the surrounding landscape.

The central hall of the temple was illuminated only by the light falling through the doorway and numerous lamps. In this twilight, in the center of the temple stood the statue of Athena Parthenos, which was made by Phidias himself. It was upright and about 11 m high, made in the chrysoelephantine technique (made of gold and ivory, on a wooden base), and the eyes were inlaid with precious stones. According to ancient custom, the statue of a deity placed inside the temple should face east, towards to the rising sun, therefore the entrance to the Parthenon was on the east side.

The ancient Greeks considered the Parthenon to be the home of the deity and believed that the goddess Athena descended from Olympus at times to be embodied in her statue. Every year, on the festival of Athena, a peplos (veil) woven by the Athenians was placed on the statue of the goddess. On it were woven pictures of the exploits of the goddess, especially her victories over the giants.

Phidias depicted Athena in long, heavy robes, with her left hand resting on a shield, under which the serpent Erichthonius was coiled. The shield that Athena held depicted scenes of the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons, and the battle of the gods with the giants. Among the characters in the first scene, Phidias depicted himself as a bald old man swinging a stone. Such courage was considered sacrilege. Added to this were accusations of abuses that Phidias allegedly committed with the gold and other jewelry he received to create a statue of Athena. As a result, in 431 BC, great sculptor was imprisoned. According to some sources, Phidias died in captivity, according to others, he was sent into exile.

Plates of pure gold (1.5 mm thick), depicting the robe of the statue of the goddess Athena, were periodically removed and weighed - they formed part of the state treasury. According to Pericles, gold could be borrowed from the goddess if necessary, for example, to wage war, and then returned. Any citizen could donate his goods or weapons to the temple of Athena. Alexander the Great, after defeating the Persians on the Granicus River in 334 BC, sent 300 shields captured from the enemy to Athens. The temple was also used to store gifts to the goddess. Gold and silver caskets, figurines, weapons, and vessels were located in all rooms of the Parthenon - there were inventories for each room.

The statue of Athena, a great work of ancient sculpture, having existed for more than 900 years, perished in the storms of time, and can only be judged by several unsuccessful copies. Today, the site where the statue of Athena stood is marked by several rectangular stones.

The Parthenon was thought out in the smallest details, completely invisible to an outside observer, and aimed at visually lightening the load on the load-bearing elements, as well as correcting some errors human vision. Architectural historians separately highlight the concept of curvature of the Parthenon - a special curvature that introduced optical corrections. Although the temple seems ideally rectilinear, in fact, there is almost not a single strictly straight line in its contours: the columns are not placed vertically, but slightly inclined into the building; the width of the metopes increases towards the center and decreases towards the corners of the building; the corner columns are somewhat thicker in diameter than the others, since otherwise they would appear thinner, and in cross section they are not round; the entablature slopes outward and the pediments inward. To compensate for the future reductions, the Greeks increased the size of the upper parts of the building and reduced those that are closer. It is also known that a horizontal line of considerable length in the middle appears concave. In the Parthenon, the lines of the stylobate and steps are made not straight, but slightly convex, which compensates for visual distortion.

The emphasized contours and ornament were also intended to enhance the readability of relief images at high altitudes. Lightness and flexibility distinguish the architecture of the Parthenon from its predecessors: the temples at Paestum, Selinunte, or the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Dimensions individual parts, were determined “by eye,” varying them in such a way that, when viewed from below, they created a feeling of regularity and identical relationships. This principle is called the “law of angles” (meaning the angle of view of the observer). Our eye mentally continues the axes of the columns upward and connects them at one point, located somewhere high in the sky, above the temple. A person, under the shadow of the colonnade, in the openings of neighboring columns, as in a picture frame, sees landscapes arranged by architecture. From the outside, from all points of view, the Parthenon looks like a statue on a pedestal. When assessing the Parthenon, from an average distance (about 35 m), the temple looks harmonious and solid; up close it impresses with its monumentality and seems even larger than it actually is. The position of the temple building relative to the Acropolis hill is also important: it is moved to the southeastern edge of the rock, and therefore visitors see it as distant; in fact, the large Parthenon does not overwhelm with its size and “grows” as a person approaches it.

The popular belief that Greek temples were always white is actually wrong. In ancient times, the Parthenon was very colorful, and according to modern tastes, it was even almost clumsily painted. The tenia and undersurface of the echinus were red. The lower surface of the cornice is red and blue. The red background emphasized the whiteness, the narrow vertical projections that separated one frieze slab from the other stood out clearly in blue, and the gilding shone brightly. Painting was done with wax paints, which, under the influence of hot sunlight, impregnated the marble. This technique ensured an organic combination of the natural texture of marble and color; the stone was painted, but remained slightly translucent and “breathed.”

The greatest temple of Ancient Greece, the Parthenon, went through all the stages of its history with it. For some time, the Parthenon stood untouched, in all its splendor. With the decline of Greece began the decline of the temple.

In 267 BC, Athens was invaded by the barbarian tribe of the Heruli, who sacked Athens and started a fire in the Parthenon. As a result of the fire, the roof of the temple was destroyed, as well as almost all the internal fittings and ceilings. During the Hellenistic era (about 298 BC), the Athenian tyrant Lacharus removed the gold plates from the statue of Athena. After 429, the statue of Athena Parthenos disappeared from the temple. According to one version, the statue was taken to Constantinople and installed in front of the Senate building, and later it was destroyed by fire.

Due to the strengthening of the cult of the Mother of God, under Emperor Justinian I (527-565), the Parthenon was turned into the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary (“Parthenis Maria”). In general, ancient temples easily turned into Christian ones. The transition from a pagan temple to a church affected the architecture of the Parthenon. In ancient times, the entrance to the Parthenon was located in the eastern part under the pediment, the sculptures of which depicted the birth of Athena. However, it is in the eastern part of the Christian temple that the altar should be located. As a result, the temple was redeveloped and the internal columns and some walls of the cella were removed, which is why the central slab of the frieze was dismantled. The sacred eastern part of the Christian temple could not be decorated with the scene of the birth of the goddess Athena. These bas-reliefs were removed from the pediment. The colonnades were filled with stones. Most of the sculptures of the ancient Parthenon were lost: those that could be adapted for Christian worship were left, but most of them were destroyed.

In 662, the church was solemnly transferred miraculous icon Our Lady of Atheniotissa (Our Lady of the Most Holy Athens). In 1458, after a two-year siege, the last Duke of Athens surrendered the Acropolis to the Turkish conquerors. In 1460, by order of Sultan Mohammed II, the Parthenon was turned into a mosque, the altar and iconostasis were destroyed, the paintings were whitewashed, and a high minaret was erected above the southwestern corner of the temple, the remains of which were demolished only after the Greek Revolution. The new ruler of Athens placed his harem in the Erechtheion. At the beginning of Turkish rule, Athens and the Acropolis disappeared from the routes of Western European travelers: a serious obstacle was the periodically renewed hostilities between the Venetians and the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Turks had no desire to protect the Parthenon from destruction, but they also did not have the goal of completely distorting or destroying the temple. Since it is impossible to accurately determine the time of overwriting the Parthenon metopes, the Turks could continue this process. However, overall, they carried out less destruction of the building than the Christians did a thousand years before Ottoman rule, who transformed the magnificent ancient temple into a Christian cathedral.

Beginning in 1660, there was a period of peace between the Venetians and the Ottomans, and travelers began to visit Athens again. Not only travel notes, but also studies of the Greek ancient heritage became widespread. But this peace turned out to be short-lived. A new Turkish-Venetian war began. Finally, in 1687, during the siege of Athens by the Venetians led by Francesco Morosini, a gunpowder warehouse was built in the temple. The cannonball that flew in through the roof on September 26 caused a huge explosion, and the Parthenon became ruins forever. After the explosion of the Parthenon, its further destruction no longer seemed reprehensible. Removing surviving fragments of sculptures and reliefs was considered not robbery, but salvation, because previously the Turks simply smashed sculptures and burned them into lime for construction. When a few days later the Turks surrendered and the Venetians entered the territory of the Acropolis, they decided to take to Venice, as trophies, the figure of Poseidon and the horses of his quadriga - the remains of the composition “The dispute between Athena and Poseidon” on the western pediment. When they began to be removed, the sculptures, which were barely holding on after the explosion, fell and broke.

A few months after the victory, the Venetians gave up power over Athens: they did not have enough forces to further defend the city, and the plague made Athens a completely unattractive target for invaders. The Turks again established a garrison on the Acropolis, albeit on a smaller scale, among the ruins of the Parthenon, and erected a new small mosque. During the period of decline Ottoman Empire The Parthenon, having lost its protection, was increasingly destroyed.

The Parthenon's misfortunes ended only at the beginning of the 19th century, when the famous robber of ancient monuments, Lord Elgin, took to England 12 figures from the pediments, 56 slabs with reliefs from the Parthenon frieze, and a number of other fragments of the monument, and sold them to the British Museum, where they, are still the most valuable exhibits. Today, sculptures from the Parthenon are found in many museums around the world. In particular, the British Museum contains sculptures of Helios and Selene - corner fragments of the pediment “The Birth of Athena”. In recent decades, there has been a tendency towards the return of lost relics to the Parthenon. An important issue for the Greek government at the present stage is also the return of the Elgin marbles.

The idea of recreating the Parthenon was brought to life in the USA. In the city of Nashville (Tennessee), architects W. Dinzmoor and R. Garth, in 1897, built a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, restored according to the latest scientific data of that era. Restoration of the temple began in the 19th century. In 1926-1929 the northern colonnade was restored. Following this, an attempt was made to restore the pediment sculptures, the originals of which were partly lost and partly ended up in foreign museums.

But despite constant restoration work, even today, the Parthenon continues to slowly but surely collapse. Behind last years, the poisonous smog and suffocating stench of modern Athens, just like the marks left here by hordes of tourists, cause significant damage to the Parthenon marble.

In the eyes of contemporaries, the Parthenon was the embodiment of the glory and power of Athens. Today the Parthenon is rightfully considered one of the greatest examples of ancient architecture, a masterpiece of world art and sculpture. This is the most perfect creation of ancient architecture and even in ruins is an amazing, exciting monument...

Architectural and structural solution of the Parthenon

The Parthenon in ancient Greece is a temple of the Doric order, the architecture of the Parthenon is such that in plan it has the shape of a rectangle, its height is 24 m. Its base is the flat top of a huge rock of the acropolis, which seems to serve as a natural pedestal.

The optimal dimensions of the Parthenon, which was supposed to stand on a rock, were determined according to the principle of the “golden ratio”, namely: the ratio of the mass of the temple and the rock should correspond to the proportions of the temple - this ratio, by the way, was considered harmonious in the times of ancient Greece.

The Parthenon in Athens is surrounded on all sides by columns: the architecture of the Parthenon included 8 columns on the short sides and 14 on the long sides. Parthenon columns were placed more often than in the earliest Doric temples.

The entablature is not so massive, so it seems that the columns easily support the ceiling. The columns of the Parthenon are not strictly vertical, but slightly inclined into the building. And they are not all the same thickness. The corner ones are made thicker than the others, but against a light background they appear thinner.

By slightly tilting the columns, making them of different thicknesses, the creators of the temple thereby corrected optical distortions that violated the harmony and plasticity of the building, giving it harmony.

The Parthenon column is divided by vertical grooves - flutes, which make the horizontal seams between the parts of the column almost invisible and seem to eliminate its closedness.

Artistic and decorative design of the Parthenon

The structures that decorated the Parthenon are of significant value to us: a marble frieze, 92 metopes located on the four sides of the temple, two pediments.

Frieze of the Parthenon. On the upper part of the temple wall behind the outer colonnade you can see a frieze - zophorus. It is a continuous multi-figure 160-meter bas-relief marble ribbon, which depicts 350 people and 250 animals from various angles.

The Parthenon frieze was dedicated to the Great Panathenaia festival, which was held in Athens every 4 years in honor of the patroness of the city, the goddess Athena.

At the beginning of the frieze, a competition of horsemen is shown, then there are slaughtered animals, they are replaced by a procession of festively dressed people of Athens, carrying to the Parthenon the festive robe of Athena (peplos), woven by Athenian girls.

At the end of the procession, the end part of the frieze shows the feast of the 12 gods of Olympus. The frieze groups are small in size, but expressive, never repeating the many hundreds of figures of people and animals.

The architecture of the Parthenon involved the placement of metopes above the colonnade, on the outside of the temple, the plots of which were built on the mythological stories of Attica, depicting the minor exploits of Athena.

There were 92 metopes in total - 14 on the front sides and 32 on the side walls. They were carved in high relief - high relief. On the eastern pediment, a scene of a battle between gods and giants is depicted. On the western side there is a scene of the Greeks fighting the Amazons.

On the metopes on the northern side of the temple is the fall of Troy, on the southern side is the struggle between the Lapiths and the centaurs. But the pediment groups are dedicated to the main and most important events in the life of the goddess.

- eastern and western. The eastern pediment, which is better preserved, depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, according to ancient Greek myth.

In the right corner of the eastern pediment there are three female figures, perhaps these are three Moiras (goddesses of fate). The smooth softness and warmth of chiaroscuro in the folds of clothing of the female figures are interestingly conveyed.

The western pediment depicts a dispute between Athena and Poseidon over dominance over Attica.

Parthenon painting, cladding. The Parthenon was built entirely from squares of white Pentelic marble, laid dry. The properties of this marble are such that, due to the presence of iron in it, over time it acquired a golden patina, which gave the slabs a warm, yellowish tint.

However, some of the Parthenon slabs were painted when it was necessary to highlight some individual elements. Thus, the triglyphs, which were obscured by the cornice, were covered with blue paint. Blue paint was also used for the background of the metopes and pediments.

Gilding was used to paint the vertical slabs of the pediments. The upper parts of the temple were painted dark red, sometimes occasionally shaded with narrow strips of gilding.

The Parthenon in Athens in its original form existed for about two millennia. The following have survived to this day: on the territory of the acropolis - destroyed columns of the temple, a few fragments of metopes, friezes, pediments - are stored in various museums around the world.