Lecture 23: The architectural development of the Athenian Akropolis in the fifth century BC

 

Plan of the Athenian Akropolis.

The Persian invasion of Athens in 480 BC left the buildings of the Akropolis in ruins. Subsequently, the Oath of Plataia (479 BC) determined that the destroyed temples should be left in their ruinous state as a monument to the Persian sacrilege: only the opisthodomos of the Old Temple of Athena Polias was repaired in order to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena. Consequently, however, following the conclusion of the Peace of Kallias with Persia in 449 BC a new Akropolis building programme was launched by Perikles: the second half of the fifth century thus witnessed the building of a new Parthenon (H), the erection of the monumental Propylaia (P), and construction of the Erechtheion (E) and of the Temple of Athena Nike (N).

 

The Parthenon, or Temple of Athena Parthenos.

The Parthenon, or Temple of Athena Parthenos, was built between 447-438 BC, when it was dedicated at the Panathenaic festival. The pedimental sculptures were added subsequently, and were in place by 432 BC. The architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates, while Pheidias was given the commission for the architectural sculpture and the chryselephantine cult statue of Athena. The temple was built both as a celebration of the Athenian defeat of the Persians and also to underscore Athens' supremacy as an imperial power. Built throughout of Pentelic marble, it was constructed on the site of the Pre-Parthenon and reused the foundation platform prepared for the older building: since, however, the new Parthenon was wider than the earlier temple, the platform had to be extended.

 

Ground plan of the Parthenon.

The Parthenon was a large Doric peripteral temple, possessing 8 by 17 columns, instead of the more canonical 6 by 13 columns, and measured 30.8 by 69.5 metres. The main cult chamber was accessed from the east via a porch (pronaos) of six Doric columns. Within the cult chamber the ceiling was supported by a two-storey Doric colonnade which, in continuing across the back of the chamber behind the cult statue, constituted an innovative architectural feature. Bronze barriers linked the columns of this inner colonnade. On the west side of the temple, a second chamber was accessed via a second porch (opisthodomos) of six Doric columns: originally only this second chamber was referred to as the 'Parthenon', though this term soon came to be applied to the whole building. Four supporting columns, probably Ionic, stood in this rear chamber. The other, certain, Ionic feature incorporated into the building was the continuous sculpted frieze which ran around the exterior of the cella

 

Doric temple showing exaggerated refinements.

Due to its great size and the use of the heavy Doric order, the Parthenon incorporated all possible architectural refinements in order to counteract adverse optical illusions in the finished structure:

  1. the foundations, stylobate and entablature all exhibit convex curvature: on the short west and east sides there is a rise of some 6.5 centimetres in 30.8 metres, and on the long north and south flanks a rise of some 12 centimetres in 69.5 metres..
  2. the columns have entasis (convex curvature).
  3. the corner columns are thicker by 6 centimetres and are placed 25 centimetres closer together than the other columns on the building.
  4. all columns lean inwards by about 7 centimetres off the vertical axis towards the centre of the building.

[For the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, see Lecture 15]

 

View of the Propylaia and the Temple of Athena Nike from the west.

Once construction work on the Parthenon ceased, attention turned to the replacement of the Old Propylon with a larger and grander Propylaia. Built between 437-432 BC, again in marble, its architect was Mnesikles.

 

Ground plan of the Propylaia (with the outline of the Old Propylon shown in dotted lines).

The orientation of the gateway to the Akropolis was now changed, in order to align the Propylaia with the long east-west axis of the Parthenon. The Propylaia is a complex structure, which successfully overcame a number of problems to create a monumental entrance to the Akropolis. On the exterior it displays the canonical Doric order, while on the interior supporting Ionic columns were employed: a combination not uncommon in the second half of the fifth century BC. The central portion of the Propylaia is composed of an east and a west porch, each possessing six Doric columns. A change in the natural ground level on which the building was erected necessitated the construction of the east porch (situated on the higher ground) on a simple stylobate while the west porch (situated on lower ground) was given a four-stepped base. The columns of the east porch also stand some 30 centimetres shorter than those of the west porch. Within the building, the change in ground level was accommodated by the cutting of steps leading to the five gateways, each supplied with a lockable wooden door: the largest central gateway was by contrast ramped in order to facilitate the passage of animals and wheeled vehicles on to the Akropolis. A further consequence of the change in natural ground level was the construction of the Propylaia's roof on two levels.

 

Restored view of the Propylaia and other buildings on the Athenian Akropolis in the second half of the fifth century BC.

The Propylaia also possessed two flanking wings on its outer (west) side: each of these wings was fronted by a porch possessing three smaller Doric columns. Behind the porch of the north wing lay a chamber with an off-centre doorway, apparently a ritual dining area, and called in antiquity the Pinakotheke, or Picture Gallery, thanks to its decoration with panel paintings. The south wing served, however, no such purpose since, due to the presence of a Mycenaean wall bounding the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia on the east side of the Propylaia, there was insufficient room to add a chamber behind the porch. Indeed, this "sham" south wing seems to have been added only to give the illusion of symmetricality to the Propylaia on its west side. In addition to these two flanking wings on the outer (west) side of the Propylaia, Mnesikles also planned to add a north and south wing on the inner (east) side of the building (see ground plan above). These, however, were never built, since work on the unfinished Propylaia was halted by the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War.