Pericles, the Parthenon, and Athenian Imperialism Cultural Politics and the Ethics of Empire

Some Basic Information on the Parthenon Temple to Athena Parthenos Constructed between 447 and 432 BCE; Iktinos and Kallikrates architects; Phidias sculptor of cult statue. Dimensions: 228 ft. x 101 ft. on top step. Architectural Features: Doric order with Ionic elements; 8 columns at end (usually 6) and 17 columns on sides.

Parthenon and Propylaea from the Pnyx (1910)

R. Ceccoli, View of Acropolis from the South-West, 1853

Destruction of Parthenon in 1687

L. von Klenze, 1862

Pre Parthenon, Reconstruction of Plan (Scale 1:400)

Parthenon- Reconstruction of Plan (Scale 1:400)

Spatial Diagram of Sculptures

West Facade

South Pteroma

North Side

From the North-West

Artistic Features Pediment Statuary: Athena born from the head of Zeus (east); Contest between Poseidon and Athena for Athens (west). Metopes (mythical combats): Lapiths vs. Centaurs (south); Gods vs. Giants (east); Greeks vs. Amazons (west?); Trojan scenes (north?). Frieze (low relief): Panathenaic Procession (challenged by Connelly).

Relief- South-West Corner

West Façade Reliefs

South Metopes I: Lapiths vs. Centaurs

South Metopes II: Lapiths vs. Centaurs

Fifth-Century Sources: Stesimbrotos of Thasos And Ion of Chios Plutarch, Pericles 12 Fifth-Century Sources: Stesimbrotos of Thasos And Ion of Chios

“But there was one measure above all which at once gave the greatest pleasure to the Athenians, adorned their city and created amazement among the rest of mankind, and which is today the sole testimony that the tales of the ancient power and glory of Greece are no mere fables. By this I mean his [Pericles’] construction of temples and buildings; and yet it was this, more than any other action of his, which his enemies slandered and misrepresented. They cried out in the Assembly that Athens had lost its good name and disgraced itself by transferring from Delos into its own keeping the funds that had been contributed by the rest of Greece… “The Greeks must be outraged,” they cried. “They must consider this an act of bare-faced tyranny, when they see that with their own contributions, extorted from them by force for the war against the Persians, we are gilding and beautifying our city, as if it were some vain woman decking herself out with costly stones and statues and temples worth millions”.”

Pericles (Thucydides 2.40-41) “When we do kindnesses to others, we do not do them out of any calculations of profit or loss: we do them without forethought, relying on our free liberality. Taking everything together, then, I declare that our city is an education to Greece, and I declare that in my opinion each single one of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects of life, is able to show himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person, and do this, moreover, with exceptional grace and exceptional versatility. And to show that this is no empty boasting for the present occasion, but real tangible fact, you have only to consider the power which our city possesses and which has been won by those very qualities which I have mentioned. Athens, alone of the states we know, comes to her testing time in a greatness that surpasses what was imagined of her. In her case, and in her case alone, no invading enemy is ashamed at being defeated, and no subject can complain of being governed by people unfit for their responsibilities. Mighty indeed are the marks and monuments of our empire which we have left.”

An Athenian View (Thucydides 1.76) “We have done nothing extraordinary, nothing contrary to human practice, in accepting an empire when it was offered to us and then in refusing to give it up. Three very powerful motives prevent us from doing so-honor, fear, and self-interest. And we were not the first to act in this way. It has always been a rule that the weak should be subject to the strong; besides we consider that we are worthy of our power.”