Parthenon: Eastern Pediment (Athens, Greece)

Parthenon: Eastern Pediment (Athens, Greece)

Parthenon (Athens, Greece)

Athena (Greek deity)

Acropolis (Athens, Greece)

Temples, Greek--Greece

Ancient Greek religion

Athens (Greece)

Attikē (Greece)

Greece--History--Athenian supremacy, 479-431 B.C.

Age of Pericles

Pericles, 495-429 B.C.

Phidias, approximately 500 B.C.-approximately 430 B.C.

Greek sculpture

The Parthenon is perhaps the most famous Greek temple from Classical Period. Dedicated to Athena's perpetual virginity (Parthenos), the Parthenon was built during the revitalization campaign of Pericles, which rebuilt the infrastructure of Athens after the Persian forces destroyed most of the city in 480 BCE. These new buildings, the Parthenon chief among them, were also meant to demonstrate Athens' dominance over the Mediterranean world. The Parthenon took nearly 15 years to complete, beginning in 447 BCE and finishing in 432 BCE. The main chamber of the building (naos) contained a statue of the goddess sculpted by the artist, Phidias, and standing nearly 40 feet tall. The secondary, smaller chamber behind the main naos was used as a treasury after the Athenians moved the war funds of the Delian League from the island of Delos to Athens.

This photograph captures the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, which would have stood directly above the doors of the main cult chamber. The scene would have depicted the birth of Athena springing fully armored from the head of her father, Zeus. Now, only a portion of the sculpture remains; the rest of it is housed in the British Museum.

Proctor, Christopher

29-May-2007

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Attikē (Greece)

Greece--History--Athenian supremacy, 479-431 B.C.