Athena Parthenos term paper

This paper was meant to discuss the effect Pericles had on the planning and development of Athens and the Parthenon and the characteristics of leadership and civic responsibility Pericles brought to his vision of Athens. This paper comprises the architectural features of the Parthenon, a description of the work of Phideas and his designs for the frieze and the statue of Athena. The paper also touched upon the issue of the financing that went into the creation of Parthenon, the Delian league and its leader Aristides.

Pericles is called the finest ruler of Athens during the ancient times. He is the person who assisted the city of Athens in the time of need after the Peloponnesian Wars. Pericles developed some of the landmarks people hear of today. One of the most celebrated one is the Parthenon. Yes, the Parthenon is an amazing temple devoted to the wise goddess, Athena. And this construction was to comprise the ivory and golden statue of Athena and many temples to other goddesses, like Victory.

Under the ruler Pericles, a golden time period in Athens started in the 5^th century B.C.E. Athens was clanged into the most spectacular city in the globe. Taxes from all city states of Ancient Greece evolved a monumental home of the gods, counting beautiful marble temples that were embellished with the help of the usage of precious jewels, rich paintings, statues, and elaborate friezes. The main part was the wonderful Parthenon, the sanctuary of a virgin Athena who, according to the legend, won the metropolis in a fight against Poseidon, gave name to Athens, and was later revered by the populace of ancient Greece.

The majority of the main temples were reconstructed under the control of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens. Phidias, a well-known Greek sculptor and architect, and also Callicrates and Ictinus, 2 prominent architects, were accountable for the reconstruction. During the 5^th century B.C.E., the Acropolis achieved its ultimate shape. Phidias’s finest construction – the Parthenon – had 8 fluted columns at either corner and 17 on every side. Temple’s ceiling was tinted blue and ornamented with stars and a stunning monument of the goddess, dressed in gold and adorned with jewels, was created on a pedestal in the internal shelter. Unfortunately, the statue vanished after being transported to Constantinople in the year 426 C.E.

And the most distinguishing characteristic in the decoration and architecture of the temple is the Ionic frieze going around the external walls of a cella. Made in bas-relief, the frieze was carved in the situ and it’s dated in 442-438 B.C.E. The temple, its frieze and the rest of the building program of Pericles, paid honor to gods with whom the metropolis was identified and declared that the Athenian point of view was that the gods looked kindly on this empire. The success, the local populace would have said, demonstrated the gods were on their side.