Lecture 21: Archaic architecture on the Athenian Akropolis

Plan of the Athenian Akropolis ca. 490-480 BC, showing the location of the Old Temple of Athena Polias (1), the Pre-Parthenon (2) and Old Propylon (3).

Sadly little remains today in architectural terms of the buildings which were constructed on the Athenian Akropolis in the sixth century BC. Largely destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC, these were later dismantled to make way for the Periklean reconstruction of the Akropolis monuments in the second half of the fifth century BC. Their decorative sculpture, however, fared better for, broken and damaged in the Persian sack, much of it was afterwards buried in votive pits on the Akropolis. (See Lecture 13).

View of the foundations of the Old Temple of Athena Polias. The later Erechtheion is visible partially overlying the foundations on the north side.

The construction of the Old Temple of Athena Polias, constructed in the second half of the sixth century, is variously attributed by scholars to Peisistratos and his sons or to the early days of the new Kleisthenic democracy. The temple was built of limestone, with imported island marble used for the architectural sculpture and roof tiles. As with almost all ancient Greek temples the building was oriented east-west, though the Old Temple of Athena was unusual in that it did not have a single main cult chamber entered from the east, but rather possessed two sets of cult rooms, one set entered from the east and one from the west.

Restored ground plan of the Old Temple of Athena Polias, with the later Erechtheion shown to north.

The set of cult rooms on the west side consisted of a cella leading to two adyta (cult chambers to which access is restricted). The eastern half, meanwhile, comprised a single cella apparently containing two rows of inner columns. This arrangement was probably necessary to accommodate cult sites for a number of gods and Athenian heroes such as Poseidon-Erechtheus and Hephaistos, in addition to Athena who was worshipped here in the form of an ancient wooden statue (xoanon).

The temple possessed a peripteral colonnade of 6 x 12 Doric columns. Although essentially Doric in style, the building provides early evidence of the Athenian penchant for combining the architectural orders: there is some evidence to suggest that Ionic columns supported the east and west porches and, furthermore, a continuous Ionic frieze decorated the entablature above the porches. (See final image of Lecture 13).

Due to its large scale (approximately 23 x 47 metres) and use of the heavy Doric order, the Old Temple of Athena incorporated a number of architectural refinements necessary to correct adverse optical illusions that would otherwise have occurred in the viewing of the building. Thus the foundations were fashioned in such a way as to create a slight convex curvature in the stylobate, a variation which was presumably also transmitted to the superstructure of the temple, and the columns at the four corners of the building were placed closer together. In these ways, the architects ensured that the temple platform would not appear to sag under the weight of the building, and that the corner columns would not appear attenuated by comparison to the other columns on the temple flanks.

For the well-preserved Athena figure from the Gigantomachy scene which most likely decorated the east pediment of the Old Temple of Athena Polias, see the penultimate image of Lecture 13.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, with the Akropolis in the background.

In addition to the Old Temple of Athena Polias, the evidence of numerous architectural sculptures demonstrates the existence of a number of smaller buildings on the sixth century Akropolis. (See images 1-4 of Lecture 13). But due to all the subsequent destruction and rebuilding of the Akropolis monuments, we are unable to determine where these smaller buildings stood. It is clear, however, that sixth century monumental religious architecture was not limited to the Akropolis. Peisistratos' sons began a colossal architectural project to the south east of the Akropolis in the form of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This fantastic structure, measuring approximately 43 x 110 metres, seems to have emulated the ground plan of the massive Ionic temples of the Greek east at places such as Ephesos and Samos. Though the project was abandoned in 510 BC when Peisistratos' son, Hippias, was forced into exile, the foundations were essentially complete and work on the superstructure was about to begin.

Ground plan of the Temple of Olympian Zeus as completed in the Hadrianic period (measurements in metres).

The temple was to have a double colonnade of 21 columns down each side and probably a triple row of eight columns across front and back. Whether the temple was to be Doric or Ionic is uncertain. When, however, work was resumed on the building in the second century BC by the Hellenistic Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, the Corinthian order was substituted. Construction was finally completed by Hadrian in the second century AD.

Restored view of the Akropolis on the eve of the Persian sack of Athens in 480 BC. The Pre-Parthenon is the unfinished building standing next to the Old Temple of Athena Polias.

Much debate exists among scholars about what was happening on the site of the later Parthenon during the sixth century BC. Our earliest solid evidence for a large-scale temple here dates to just after 490 BC, when construction began on what was probably intended to be a commemorative thank-offering for the Athenian victory in the Battle of Marathon: this building is known to modern scholars as the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon. To overcome the problems of the naturally sloping rock, a level platform was first built: atop this platform the temple was laid out as a peripteral Doric temple, measuring 26 x 73 metres, with 6 x 16 Doric columns. Facing east the pronaos (front porch) gave access to a long cella divided by two rows of internal columns, while on the west the opisthodomos (back porch) gave access to a smaller chamber. Around the same time that building began, the rich marble quarries were opened on Mount Penteli: the Pre-Parthenon therefore employed this new building medium rather than the more traditional limestone. Like the Old Temple of Athena Polias, the Pre-Parthenon incorporated the same architectural refinements of the thickening of the corner columns and convex curvature in the stylobate.

When the Persians attacked the city in 480 BC, the superstructure of the Pre-Parthenon was still under construction. Attacked and burnt by the invaders, both the Pre-Parthenon and the Old Temple of Athena were left in a ruinous state. On their return to Athens the Athenians patched up only the opisthodomos of the Old Temple of Athena to house the goddess's wooden cult statue. Otherwise, due to the Oath of Plataia the monumental Archaic temples were allowed to lie desolate as a memorial to Persian impiety.

Ground plan and restored view of the Old Propylon of the Athenian Akropolis.

The Old Propylon, or monumental gateway, to the Athenian Akropolis is roughly contemporary with the Pre-Parthenon. Built in marble, it possessed a central lockable gateway sandwiched between a Doric porch on east and west. Badly damaged by the Persians, it was subsequently repaired together with the Akropolis' encircling fortification walls in order to make the high city defensible once again.