Athena's Influence On The Parthenon

On the top of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, the Parthenon temple was built. This very temple was built for the Greek goddess Athena as a thank you gift for the end of the Persian Wars. The construction of the temple began in about 447 BCE by the architects known as Ictinus and Callicrates, who were under the supervision of Pheidias, and the monument was finished in 438 BCE. The Parthenon itself is made out of marble and measures about 230 feet by 100 feet. On the interior, many statues referring to the cult of Athena are present, including one made by the supervisor Pheidias, a gold and ivory statue of Athena. Judging by the work that was put into making the temple immensely elegant, it is no doubt that the Parthenon was not of great significance to the Athenian people many years ago, as well as today. For them it represented a time of …show more content…
Steven Zucker in his video on the Parthenon, the Greek city-state of Athens is known as the birthplace of democracy, and the Parthenon becomes the symbol of the democratic system as well. The influence that the Parthenon possessed was also due to its original architectural sophistication. Throughout the years following the birth of democracy and the building of the Parthenon, many western cultures compared their accomplishments to that of the Parthenon's, which is deemed perfect. In fact, you are able to see this trend occur in western societies such as France with the La Madeleine. This monument and the Parthenon are similarly built, as are the Jefferson Memorial and U.S. Supreme Court buildings, in Washington D.C. The Parthenon was not just a holy temple in Athens, but rather it is thought to have had other functions; it was not only a temple but also a treasury for the Delian League. Since it was on top of the city-state's highest point, the Parthenon could be seen from all four corners of Athens, therefore it also had the purpose to represent the city's vast wealth and

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