ACROPOLIS!

1
Know Your
Know Your
ACROPOLIS!
ACROPOLIS!
2
ACROPOLIS FACTS Established for the patron
Goddess Athena as early as the Archaic
period(650-480 BC) THREE MAJOR
SITES PARTHENON ERECHTHEION TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE
3
If the Acropolis looks impressive NOW, imagine
what it was like in 430 BC!
4
The PROPYLAIA The Propylaia is the entranceway
into the Acropolis Designed by Mnesikles and
began construction in 437 BCE
5
PARTHENON
TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE
PROPYLAIA
The PROPYLAIA The Propylaia is the entranceway
into the Acropolis Designed by Mnesikles and
began construction in 437 BCE
6
The PARTHENON Constructed by the order of
Pericles to house honor Athena
7
The PARTHENON The centerpiece of the sculptural
program of the Parthenon was the monumental
statue of Athena in the main cella of the temple.
The statue was made of gold and ivory, and was
approximately 38 feet tall. Although no longer
around, Ancient copies and literary descriptions
have allowed scholars to produce fairly accurate
reconstructions. The one here is from the Royal
Ontario Museum in Toronto.
8
Basic layout of all of the FRIEZES on the
ParthenonFRIEZES are decorative stone
engravings that usually illustrate an event of
story also known as RELIEFS.
9
Heres a model of what the ACROPOLIS looked like
in its heydey.
10
The marble decoration of the Parthenon is now in
the British Museum in London ("Elgin Marbles").
This is a fragment, showing reclining gods who
are waiting for the beginning of a great
procession.
11
The TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE Nike means "Victory"
in Greek, and Athena was worshiped in this form,
as goddess of victory, on the Acropolis. Her
temple was the earliest Ionic temple on the
Acropolis. Here the citizens worshipped the
goddess in hope of a prosperous outcome in the
long war fought on land and sea against the
Spartans and their allies. The Temple of Athena
Nike was an expression of Athens' ambition to be
the leading Greek city state in the Peloponnese.
12
ArtistsRendering of what the Temple of Athena
Nike probably looked like in its prime.
13
The ERECHTHEION Built between 421-406 BC, the
Erechtheion is situated on the most sacred site
of the Acropolis. It is said to be where Poseidon
left his trident marks in a rock, and Athena's
olive tree sprouted, in their battle for
possession of the city. Named after Erechtheus,
one of the mythical kings of Athens, the temple
was a sanctuary to both Athena and Poseidon. The
south is the Porch of the Caryatids, the maiden
statues which the originals are now in the
Acropolis Museum. (One of the 6 is still part of
the Lord Elgin marbles collection in the British
Museum.)
14
CARYATIDS (Greek columns shaped like women In
Egypt, they had similar columns of MEN called
ATLANTIDS.These ladies are seen on the Porch of
the Maidens at the Erechtheion.)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
The Three Basic Greek Orders(Keep in mind that
CORINTHIAN wasnt around at the beginning of the
Classical Period.)