The Parthenon and The Erechtheum

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The Parthenon and Erechtheum

During the rule of Pericles, the Parthenon was constructed in the golden age beginning in 447 BC, and it was not completed until 438 BC. The architects who designed the building were Iktinus and Kallikrates. There is not much known about the lives of either of these Greek contemporaries.

The Parthenon is one of the architectural wonders of the world because “ it enjoys the reputation of being the most perfect Doric temple ever built. Even in antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the curvature of the stylobate, the batter, or taper of the naos walls and the entasis of the columns” (John Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World. 63).

While the Parthenon’s exterior encompasses the original Doric column, the Erechtheum was built and stylized with a number of different ionic columns that make the Erechtheum so distinct.

The Parthenon is constructed completely out of pentelic marble. There is not a single straight line within the structure. Iktinus purposely used optical refinement. It includes a total of 50 columns. There are 8 columns on each of the short sides and 17 along each of the long sides. The Doric columns were not made perfectly verticle, for they are constructed outward. It is not noticeable to the human eye. This actually makes the building appear more perfect. This is called entasis. This novelty makes the chunky columns appear more slender. The columns are closer and thicker in the corners and lean inward toward the center. Therefore the building will not appear to seem as if it is falling outward. The columns would actually cross at about a mile and a half if they were extended upwards. Scientists believe that the metopes were sculpted earlier, even before the stylobate, and each of the metopes had a specific location. This is what determined the offset location of the columns. (Tanka 45)

The Parthenon is the largest building on the Acropolis dedicated to Athena Parthenos, goddess of wisdom and the goddess of Athens. The Parthenon was built at one level compared to the Erechtheum which was built at a number of different levels. The Parthenon, “has a unique sculptural combination of the Doric metopes and the triglypha on the entrablature, and the Ionic frieze within the cella” (Crystalinks). The cella is the main part of the temple that holds the famous statue of Athena which stands towards the back, sculpted by Phiedias. It consists of two rooms and is asymmetrically set in the center with prostyle porches from end to end. (Bettella 29) The Erechtheum also has a cella, but unlike Athena’s personal cella in the Parthenon, the Erechtheum’s cella housed a number of different icons from Athen’s past. The ceiling in the Parthenon’s cella would have been made of wood with beautiful paintings. True light was only admitted through the doors of the Parthenon, but candles were probably used to l ight the dark building (Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture 112).

The Erechtheum, also known as Temple of Athena Polias, was supposedly constructed by Mnesicles. This temple had a very complex structure and it took a genius to configure this intricate building. The Erechtheum was not completed until 406 (Coconino). Mnesicle had to consider rough terrain that was unevenly leveled, previous buildings, and how to accommodate several shrines which Iktinus and Kallikrates did not have configure when developing the Parthenon. This temple was an extraordinary, ionic, white marble building that was built to house the shrines of two gods, numerous religious icons, and uphold the mythology of the origins or Athens (Tanka 14). This was unlike the Parthenon that was developed to encompass only one goddess, but like the Erechtheum it did hold a mythological significance.

The Erechtheum was built in the vicinity where Athena and Poseidon fought for the domination of the city of Athens. It is positioned just North of the Parthenon. Here, Athena is also worshipped along with Poseidon Erechtheus (Bettella 55). Mythology tells the story of the challenge between Athena and Poseidon. They “battle” to be the protector of the city of Athens. Poseidon struck a rock with his trident creating a flowing spring and claimed to make Athens “Master of the Sea.” In reaction, Athena presented an olive tree to the Athenians. The tree produced fruit and oil. Kekrops, the first legendary king of Athens, chose Athena to rule the city. Kekrop’s tomb is also a part of the Erechtheum (Crystalinks). Like the Parthenon, there is an exterior frieze on the building that represents Erechtheus’s birth.

Unlike the simple single leveled Parthenon, the Erechtheum had different levels that were joined by flights of stairs. On the Eastern side of the temple there is a hexa style, ionic portico with a doorway bordered by a window on each side that leads to Athena’s shrine (Bettella 64). These windows were the same shape and design of a contemporary door. The opening is wider at the bottom than at the top and is composed of blocks of stone. The window is surrounded by a band of beautiful flat molded stone which corresponded with the Ionic order of the temple (Palagia 34-36). Windows were not included in the construction of the Parthenon.

The western part of the naos was divided into three chambers. These together comprised the shrine of Eerchtheus. The tetra style, ionic, northern porch was built at a lower level giving access to the western cella to Poseidon’s sanctuary. The last porch but certainly not the least significant is the southern porch. This is the famous porch of the caryatids. Caryatids are columns in the shape of incredibly detailed female figures (Crystalinks).