Parthenon Temple (Ancient Greece)

The Parthenon Temple

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The Parthenon Temple : Rituals , Festivals and Music

Introduction

The religious festivals celebrated at the Parthenon during the fifth century B .C .E . represented the zenith of Greek paganism . The Temple dedicated to the goddess Athena , was constructed between 447-432 B .C .E and stood as a symbol of the victorious and prosperous Greek city state Athens . Annual and quadrennial festivals , the Panathenaia and the Great Panathenaia , were the most important pagan rituals performed at the Parthenon

These rituals - celebrated

from the fifth century B .C .E , created a heritage for Roman paganism and early Christianity . The liturgical traditions that developed at Athens influenced religious customs throughout Eastern Mediterranean civilizations . Decline of the pagan temple was inevitable following the assertion of Christianity over the Roman Empire by Constantine I in the fourth century C .E . By the fifth century C .E . the Christian government of Constantinople closed the temple , and later converted it into a Christian church

Athens

During the classical period , Athens , at its peak of political and economic power , experienced a renaissance - a period of enlightenment Hitchens stresses the importance of this era in Athenian history

It was in the fifth-century Greece , and above all in Athens , that men first reflected in a rigorous and yet imaginative way on the nature of knowledge , on the principles which guide human conduct , on the significance of their own part , on the way the universe was composed and how it worked . The very words logic , philosophy , ethics , history physics are Greek (Hitchens 16

It was during this period the Parthenon was envisioned and built Following a peace treaty between the Greek city states and Persia , the Athenian assembly voted to use surplus funds of the Delian treasury to initiate a building program around Athens , especially on the Acropolis Other Greek city state contributors opposed the plan , but Pericles , a successful general and the leader of the Athenian democracy , spoke in support of the building program . Pericles insisted that Athens deserved to use the treasury to glorify Athens since Athenians had served as the principal army in defeating the Persians . His argument overruled the opposition and the building program was approved (Neils 45

Fifth-Century Temple : Periclean Parthenon Architecture

A new temple of Athena , the Parthenon , was the main structure built on the Acropolis (Figure 1 ) and called the Periclean Parthenon in honor of Pericles ' eloquent defense of its construction . The temple was constructed near the site of the old temple of Athena only the foundation of the old temple remained when the new temple was planned

Figure . 1 . Position of the Parthenon (1 ) on the Acropolis (Orange Monuments of the 5th century BCE Rose : Monuments of the 4th century BCE Blue : Hellenistic and Roman monuments . Drawing by J . Travlos 1978 (http /www .goddess-athena .org /Museum /Temples /Parthenon /Acropolis_plan .h tml

Work began on the Parthenon (Figure 2 , one of four buildings on the Acropolis , in 447 B .C .E . The new temple of Athena was a...