Full Answer
What is the significance of the Parthenon in ancient Greece?
Athena Parthenos ( Ancient Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος; literally, "Athena the Virgin ") is a lost massive chryselephantine (gold and ivory) sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena, made by Phidias and his assistants and housed in the Parthenon in Athens. Despite the dynamic architectural characteristics of the Parthenon,...
What is the meaning of Athena Parthenos?
Athena Parthenos (Ancient Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος) is a lost massive chryselephantine (gold and ivory) sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena, made by Phidias and his assistants and housed in the Parthenon in Athens; this statue was designed as its focal point. Parthenos ("maiden, virgin") was an epithet of Athena.
Why is the Parthenos so famous?
Previous sources rather evoked "the statue", "the statue of Athena", "the golden statue of Athena" or "the ivory statue of Athena" or simply "the Athena", a sign that it was famous enough to hardly be specified. However, "Parthenos" was one of the epiclesis of the goddess since the end of the fifth-century BCE. at least.
What is Athena Parthenos made of?
Athena Parthenos ( Ancient Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος) is a lost massive chryselephantine (gold and ivory) sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena, made by Phidias and his assistants and housed in the Parthenon in Athens; this statue was designed as its focal point.
What was the Athena Parthenos used for?
The Parthenon was to be the chief shrine to Athena and also the treasury of the Delian League, a confederacy of ancient Greek states under the leadership of Athens, founded in 478 bce.
What was the function of the Parthenon?
Ancient Greek templeParthenon / FunctionGreek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. Wikipedia
Why was the Athena Parthenos statue built?
The temple was constructed to house the new gold and ivory cult statue of the goddess by the master sculptor Phidias (also Pheidias) and to proclaim to the world the success of Athens as leader of the coalition of Greek forces in the Persian Wars.
Why was the Parthenos built?
The Parthenon was built in thanksgiving for the Hellenic victory over Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon also served as the city treasury. Construction started in 447 BC when the Delian League was at the peak of its power.
What was the function of the Parthenon quizlet?
The main purpose of the Parthenon was as a temple for Athena. The temple kept gold statue of Athena to honor her and worship. This was done to also show how great of a leader Athena was to the Greeks. The Parthenon frieze showed the athens in company of the gods.
Where is the Athena Parthenos?
The Parthenon stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.
What does the statue of Athena represent?
Athena, besides being goddess of wisdom, is often depicted as being cunning and a trickster, thus embodying the sphinx. In regards to the Greeks, it not only serves as a representation of their innovation and wisdom, but as an example of their achievements.
What is the meaning of parthenos?
Virgin(ˈpɑːθɪˌnɒs ) noun. an epithet meaning " Virgin", applied by the Greeks to several goddesses, esp Athena.
What is the Athena Parthenos holding?
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. 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.
Why was the Parthenon destroyed?
1687 The Venetians siege the Acropolis which is under Turkish occupation. An artillery shell hits the Parthenon, which is being used by the Turks as a powder magazine and ignites a colossal explosion. The monument shakes and is widely damaged.
What is Athena the god of?
Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors.
Who bombed the 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.
What does the Parthenon stand for?
Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA) The magnificent temple on the Acropolis of Athens, known as the Parthenon, was built between 447 and 432 BCE in the Age of Pericles, and it was dedicated to the city's patron deity Athena Parthenos.
Why was the Parthenon built on the Acropolis?
After the Victory of Marathon in 490 BC, Pericles wanted to celebrate the victory over the Persians and the political, economic and cultural primacy of Athens. For this reason the reconstruction of the Acropolis began and the city began to build on the Acropolis a temple for Athena: the Parthenon itself.
Why was the Parthenon destroyed?
1687 The Venetians siege the Acropolis which is under Turkish occupation. An artillery shell hits the Parthenon, which is being used by the Turks as a powder magazine and ignites a colossal explosion. The monument shakes and is widely damaged.
What was the main purpose of the Acropolis?
The Acropolis in Athens was a fortress and military base during the Neolithic period, due to its position which offers a great view of the land and the sea. During the Mycenaean times, it became a religious center, dedicated to the worship of the goddess Athena.