The original Athena Parthenos created by Pheidias in the fifth century BC was stripped of its gold fixtures by Lachares in around 296 BC. What remained of the statue was almost certainly destroyed by a fire in the east naos of the Parthenon that must have taken place sometime shortly before around 165 BC.
What happened to Athena Parthenos?
The statue was damaged but restored. It would have been transported to Constantinople with the Chryselephantine statue of Zeus of Olympia where it could still have been in the 10th century CE. Another hypothesis is based on the presence of traces of a second base. The statue of Athena Parthenos could then have been replaced, without more details.
What happened to Athena's statue in Constantinople?
Niketas Choniates documented a riot taking place in the Forum of Constantine in Constantinople in 1203 CE where a large, bronze, statue of Athena was destroyed by a "drunken crowd" which is now thought to have been the Athena Promachos. Similar Depictions. Reconstruction of Pheidias' Athena Lemnia.
What happened to the Parthenon after Lachares stripped it?
After Lachares stripped the Athena Parthenos of its gold fixtures, all that was left was the wood and ivory. Archaeological evidence indicates that, sometime probably shortly before 165 BC or thereabouts, a massive fire broke out in the east naos of the Parthenon where the Athena Parthenos was kept.
What did Phidias do to Athena's statue?
According to sources in 438 BCE. (from the consecration of the statue) or in 432 BCE. (just before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War), Phidias was accused of diverting part of the precious metals used to make the statue of Athena Parthenos, which was also sacrilege in itself since gold belonged to the goddess.
Who destroyed the statue of Athena?
The Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Marinos of Neapolis states in his biography of his teacher Proklos Lykaios (lived 412 – 485 AD) that, at some point during Proklos's lifetime, Christians “removed” the Athena Parthenos from the Parthenon. Marinos writes in his Life of Proklos 30, as translated by Kenneth S.
Is the Athena statue still there?
This masterpiece – the most impressive and talked about in the centuries after the Golden Age of Classical Athens – was the gigantic, chryselephantine cult statue of Athena Parthenos, a massive gold-and-ivory jewel of ancient Greek art, now lost in the mists of time.
Who destroyed the Athena Parthenos?
Heruli pirates sacked Athens in 276, and destroyed most of the public buildings there, including the Parthenon.
When was the Athena Parthenos destroyed?
This was not the case. On 26 September 1687 Morosini fired, one round scoring a direct hit on the powder magazine inside the Parthenon. The ensuing explosion caused the cella to collapse, blowing out the central part of the walls and bringing down much of Phidias' frieze.
Do people still worship Athena?
Some people in Greece still worship Athena and pay homage to her at the Acropolis.
Where is the original Athena statue?
AthensIncredibly, a stone from 440/439 BC relating the construction of the original statue still survives today. Held at the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, its ancient Greek inscription contains accounts of the supervisors for the construction of the priceless gold and ivory statue.
How was the Parthenon destroyed for kids?
The building was designed by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates. It has 46 Doric columns which support the roof, with 8 across the front and back, and 17 on each side. In 1687 a gunpowder explosion damaged the building.
Which god fell in love with a statue?
The Roman poet Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, Book X, relates that Pygmalion, a sculptor, makes an ivory statue representing his ideal of womanhood and then falls in love with his own creation, which he names Galatea; the goddess Venus brings the statue to life in answer to his prayer.
How did the Parthenon get so badly damaged?
The Turks turned the Parthenon into an ammunition dump. During a Venetian attack on Athens in 1687, a cannonball set off the Turkish munitions, blowing apartthe long walls of the Parthenon's inner chamber. More than 700 blocks from those walls—eroded over time—now lay strewn around the Acropolis.
Who holds Athena Parthenos?
NikeThe massive chryselephantine cult statue, Athena Parthenos, was made out of gold and ivory and measured 12 meters in height. The goddess was depicted as standing, wearing a tunic, aegis, and a helmet and holding a Nike in her right hand and a spear in her left.
What was stolen from the Parthenon?
The Parthenon Marbles were stolen from the ancient Acropolis in 1801 by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte in Istanbul. Fifteen years later, they were sold to the British government and found their new home in the British Museum in the Elgin Room.
Who bombed Parthenon?
Indeed, few cultural monuments demonstrate this more perfectly than the Athenian Parthenon, which was unceremoniously bombed in 1687 by a Venetian-led army of mercenaries hired by Poland, Venice, and the Vatican—the very Europeans whose culture it is meant to embody—to push the Ottoman Turks out of Europe.
Do any ancient Greek statues still exist?
And now we come to one of the two most famous Ancient Greek sculptures of the whole world, one of the few surviving, original Hellenistic statues, not a Roman copy, (The other one being the Venus di Milo), the Winged Victory of Samothrace, or Nike of Samothrace, Nike; Greek goddess of victory.
Was the statue of Athena Real?
It was completed in 456 BCE and stood on the Athenian Acropolis for all to see as the largest statue yet erected. Phidias completed the Lemnian Athena between 451-448 BCE. The massive chryselephantine cult statue, Athena Parthenos, was made out of gold and ivory and measured 12 meters in height.
What happened to Athena?
She returns at the end of the game, being killed by Kratos on accident. Athena reveals to Kratos that Zeus is Olympus, and that he is the Ghost of Sparta's father before dying.
Where is Athena's statue?
Yet Athena’s primary cult statue, an age-old figure carved from olive wood, was kept in the adjacent temple, the Erechtheion, which replaced a succession of earlier temples of Athena in this central area of the Acropolis.
How tall was Athena Parthenos?
Unlike Olympia’s seated Zeus, Athena Parthenos was standing, nearly 12 m tall, her exposed flesh rendered from pale ivory, her armor and “peplos” robe from gleaming gold, weighing a total of at least 40 talents, about one metric ton. The sculpture was hollow, formed of a wooden armature covered with removable plates – which proved fortuitous, ...
When was Athena Parthenos created?
The statue. The statue of Athena Parthenos was created in 447-438 BC by the master sculptor Pheidias – very likely in an on-site workshop now also gone, but similar to the one we still see at ancient Olympia, where he also created that sanctuary’s cult statue of Zeus (435 BC).
What is the most splendid building in the world?
Among the magnificent white-marble buildings that once adorned the Sacred Rock, thanks to the Athenian statesman Pericles, the Parthenon (447-432 BC) was indeed the most splendid; and within that famous temple was the most extraordinary work of its sculptural collection.
What is the gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos?
This masterpiece – the most impressive and talked about in the centuries after the Golden Age of Classical Athens – was the gigantic, chryselephantine cult statue of Athena Parthenos, a massive gold-and-ivory jewel of ancient Greek art , now lost in the mists of time. An artist's impression of the gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos.
Why was the Acropolis a gift to the gods?
It was foremost a gift to the gods, particularly Athena, in gratitude for her patronage and granting of Athenian triumphs on the battlefield – especially over the Persians, who had recently invaded Greece, Athens and even the Acropolis in 480/79 BC.
What were the topics of Pericles' talks?
Particular topics during the talks include the statue’s materials and construction techniques, its patriotic symbolism for ancient Athenians and the public scandals that swirled around it, instigated by Pericles’ relentless political rivals.
How long did it take to build the Athena statue?
It took somewhere near nine years to construct. According to the Greek Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates, the Athena Promachos stood at around 30 feet (9.1 m) tall. It is known that the statue was to be a 'thanks' after war but there are many disagreements about which war.
What is the Athena Promachos?
The term 'Promachos' meaning 'fighting before' or 'in front of' was not originally used when referring to the statue ; this nickname came later, most notably being used by Zosimus.
Where was Athena Promachos statue transported to?
Athena Promachos stood overlooking her city for approximately 1000 years, until shortly after 465 CE, when the sculpture was transported to Constantinople (capital of the Eastern Roman Empire) as a trophy in the " Oval Forum ", which became the last bastion and safe haven for many surviving Greek bronze sculptures under the protection of the Eastern Empire's Imperial court. Niketas Choniates documented a riot taking place in the Forum of Constantine in Constantinople in 1203 CE where a large, bronze, statue of Athena was destroyed by a "drunken crowd" which is now thought to have been the Athena Promachos.
When was the Athena Promachos erected?
Erected around 456 BCE, the Athena Promachos was either to memorialize the Battle of Marathon or the Persian Wars which is possibly what the dedicatory inscription refers to; This inscription also mentions that the trophies won in the Persian War were once placed around the pedestal of the statue (Raubitschek, A. E., and Gorham P. Stevens).
Where is the statue of Athena facing?
Between the Propylaia and the Erechtheion, there is large female statue of Athena facing towards the west. As these images place the statue of the Athena Promachos in this specific location, there is no doubt that it existed.
Who is Athena in the Acropolis?
Athena was the tutelary deity of Athens and the goddess of wisdom and warriors. Pheidias also sculpted two other figures of Athena on the Acropolis, the huge gold and ivory (" chryselephantine ") cult image of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon and the Lemnian Athena . The designation Athena Promachos is not attested before a dedicatory inscription ...
Was the Athena Promachos a cult statue?
It has also been suggested that the Athena Promachos may have been a cult statue. For a long time there was speculation if the Athena Promachos even existed, however most scholars now agree that it did as there is proof from Roman coins that depict it.
What is the name of the Greek goddess that was sculpted by Phidias?
Sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena. Tetradrachm of Athens, 126-125 BCE, showing the head of the Athena Parthenos by Phidias. The Varvakeion Athena reflects the type of the restored Athena Parthenos: Roman period, 2nd century CE ( National Archaeological Museum of Athens ). Athena Parthenos ( Ancient Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος) is a lost massive ...
How tall is Athena Parthenos?
The statue was 26 cubits (around 11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)) tall and stood on a pedestal measuring 4 by 8 meters. The sculpture was assembled on a wooden core, covered with shaped bronze plates covered in turn with removable gold plates, save for the ivory surfaces of the goddess's face and arms; the gold weighed 44 talents, the equivalent of about 1,100 kilograms (2,400 lb); the Athena Parthenos embodied a sizeable part of the treasury of Athens.
What is on the pedestal of Pandora?
On the pedestal is the birth of Pandora in relief. Account of the construction of Athena Parthenos by Phidias. Its general appearance can be seen from images on coins, from miniature reproductions used as votive objects, and from representations on engraved gems. The statue depicts Athena after winning in combat.
What is the name of the goddess of wisdom?
Parthenos ("maiden, virgin") was an epithet of Athena. There have been many replicas and works inspired by the statue, in both ancient and modern times. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicrafts. It was the most renowned cult image of Athens, considered one of the greatest achievements of the most acclaimed sculptor ...
What is the statue of Athena made of?
The ancient historian Pausanias described the statue: ...The statue is created with ivory and gold. On the middle of her helmet is likeness of the Sphinx ... and on either side of the helmet are griffins in relief. ... The statue of Athena is upright, with a tunic reaching to the feet, and on her breast the head of Medusa is worked in ivory.
How tall is Athena?
Nashville's Athena stands 41 ft 10 in (12.75 m) tall, making her the largest piece of indoor sculpture in the Western World. It stood in Nashville's Parthenon as a plain white statue for twelve years. In 2002, Parthenon volunteers gilded Athena under the supervision of master gilder Lou Reed.
What was Athena's hand?
According to Ian Jenkins in his book The Parthenon and Its Sculptures, "Athena was portrayed as a warrior resting after successful combat . A figure of winged victory alighted on the palm of her outstretched right hand, while her left hand supported a round shield. A spear rested against her left shoulder.
What was the purpose of the statue of Athena?
Chryselephantine. statue of Athena. The Parthenon’s main function was to provide shelter for the monumental chryselephantine (made of gold and ivory) statue of Athena that was created by Pheidias and dedicated in 438 BCE.
What is the statue of Medusa?
The statue was a hollow construction with a wooden armature that supported the outer surfaces of the golden drapery, and the ivory flesh of Athena. The statue was situated close to the south end of the cella and was surrounded by a procession ...
What is the most famous statue in Athens?
The statue of Athena Parthenos (Athena, the Virgin) was the most renowned cult image of Athens, considered one of the greatest achievements of the most acclaimed sculptor of ancient Greece. Phidias began his work around 447 BC.
How tall is the statue of liberty?
The statue was 26 cubits (around 11.5 m) tall and stood on a pedestal measuring 4 by 8 meters.
When will the statue of Athena be restored?
The gold and ivory statue of goddess Athena once installed in the Parthenon of the Acropolis of Athens will be brought back to life in the Acropolis Museum on October 28, 2019 , the Museum announced in a statement.
Is there any reason to squeeze together 24 centuries of history in one event?
The answer is: there is not any obvious reason to squeeze together 24 centuries of history in one event…
Overview
The Athena Promachos (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόμαχος, "Athena who fights in the front line") was a colossal bronze statue of Athena sculpted by Pheidias, which stood between the Propylaea and the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Athena was the tutelary deity of Athens and the goddess of wisdom and warriors. Pheidias also sculpted two other figures of Athena on the Acropolis, the huge gold and i…
History
The Athena Promachos was one of the earliest recorded works by Pheidias and was originally a well-known and famous Athenian landmark. According to the Greek traveler and geographer, Pausanias, the top of Athena's helmet as well as the tip of her spear could be seen by sailors and anyone approaching Athens from Attica, at Sounion. It originally stood between the Erechtheion and the Pro…
Iconography
The engravings on the shield which Athena is holding were originally drafted by the great Greek painter, Parrhasius (painter) of Ephesus. Although he drafted them, the engravings were physically done by an engraver named Mys. The engravings were not done during the time the statue was being made but actually added after. A 'molding pit' from the fifth century BCE was found near the south side of the Acropolis and it is thought that the statue was made in a nearby workshop.
Similar depictions
• Athena Parthenos, another lost colossal statue that was originally located inside the Parthenon. Made by Phidias.
• Lemnian Athena, classical Greek statue also made by Phidias.
• Varvakeion Athena, a 3rd-century Roman copy of the Athena Parthenos.
Coinage depictions
The very first specific archaistic Athena Promachos coin image was depicted on coins that were issued by Alexander the Great in 326. One side of this coin depicts Heracles while the other side shows the god, Zeus, with Athena by his knee ready to fight with her spear in her right hand and a shield held in her left. Around ten years later, the Athena Promachos appears on coins issued by Ptolemy in Alexandria before taking the title of king around 315 BCE.
External links
• Media related to Athena Promachos at Wikimedia Commons
Overview
The statue of Athena Parthenos (Ancient Greek: Παρθένος Ἀθηνᾶ, lit. 'Athena the Virgin') was a monumental chryselephantine sculpture of the goddess Athena. Attributed to Phidias and dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, it was an offering from the city of Athens to Athena, its tutelary deity. The naos of the Parthenon on the acropolis of Athens was designed exclusively to accommodate it.
Parthenon and statue of Athena
In 480 BCE the Persians ransacked the Acropolis of Athens, including the pre-Parthenon, which was under construction at the time. After their victories in Salamis and Plataea, the Athenians had sworn not to complete the destroyed temples but to leave them as they were, in memory of the Persian "barbarism". In the succeeding years, however, Athens grew to control much of the region through its domination of the Delian League, a confederation of Greek states originally designed …
Construction
According to Pausanias and Plutarch , the statue is not by Phidias alone but of a team of craftsmen representing several trades, Phidias supervising all the decoration work of the Parthenon. The location of the workshop where the statue was made is unknown. It could have been on the acropolis, at the eastern end, under what was later to become the old Acropolis museum. However, giv…
Description
The statue was installed in the main room of the Parthenon to the east. Behind her and on her sides, Doric columns supported the roof and offered her the setting of a canopy. In front of her, a large basin filled with water played several roles: it was used to maintain a sufficient degree of humidity in the room (to conserve ivory) and it also had to reflect the external light and illuminate the w…
History
Ivory, a fragile material and subject to desiccation, was maintained with oiled water that was left available in a basin at the foot of the statue. The oil layer left a protective film preventing evaporation and giving shine to the ivory.
The luxury of the statue contrasted with its interior filled, like all chryselephantine statues, with "levers, corners, nails that cross the machine fr…
Antique copies and replicas
At least sixty-nine small-scale copies of the statue are known. Very early on, her influence was felt, sometimes very far away. Thus, gold medallions from a tomb in Kul-Oba (Crimea) and preserved in the Hermitage Museum, reproduce the head of the statue. During Roman times, small copies were mass-produced, sometimes simplifying the decor. The Athena of Varvákeion is one of the most …
Notes
1. ^ The earliest known references to Pheidias's statue date from the 5th century BCE, and refer to it generically as the statue, the image or the goddess, IG I 453-460. The earliest use of the epithet "Parthenos" was in the late 4th or the early 3rd c by Philippides, in a passage preserved by Plutarch, (Dem. 26). See C. Cullen Davison, Pheidias: The Sculptures and Ancient Sources, Vol. 1, Oxford, 2009, pp.69-70.
Bibliography
• Boardman, John (1985), Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period a handbook, Thames and Hudson
• Cosmopoulos, Michael B., ed. (2004). The Parthenon and Its Sculptures. New York: Cambridge.
• Harris, Diane (1995). The Treasures of the Parthenon and Erechtheion. Oxford.