1. Know Your
Know Your
ACROPOLIS!
ACROPOLIS!

2. ACROPOLIS FACTS:
Established for the patron Goddess Athena as early as the Archaic period ( BC)
THREE MAJOR SITES:
PARTHENON
ERECHTHEION
TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE

3. If the Acropolis looks impressive NOW, imagine what it was like in 430 BC!

4. The PROPYLAIA The Propylaia is the entranceway into the Acropolis
Designed by Mnesikles and began construction in 437 BCE

5. The PROPYLAIA PARTHENON TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE PROPYLAIA
The Propylaia is the entranceway into the Acropolis
Designed by Mnesikles and began construction in 437 BCE

6. Constructed by the order of Pericles to house & honor Athena
The PARTHENON
Constructed by the order of Pericles to house & honor Athena

7. The PARTHENON
The centerpiece of the sculptural program of the Parthenon was the monumental statue of Athena in the main cella of the temple. The statue was made of gold and ivory, and was approximately 38 feet tall. Although no longer around, Ancient copies and literary descriptions have allowed scholars to produce fairly accurate reconstructions. The one here is from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

8. Basic layout of all of the FRIEZES on the Parthenon… FRIEZES are decorative stone engravings that usually illustrate an event of story… also known as RELIEFS.

9. Here’s a model of what the ACROPOLIS looked like in it’s heydey.

10. The marble decoration of the Parthenon is now in the British Museum in London ("Elgin Marbles"). This is a fragment, showing reclining gods who are waiting for the beginning of a great procession.

11. The TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE
Nike means "Victory" in Greek, and Athena was worshiped in this form, as goddess of victory, on the Acropolis. Her temple was the earliest Ionic temple on the Acropolis. Here the citizens worshipped the goddess in hope of a prosperous outcome in the long war fought on land and sea against the Spartans and their allies. The Temple of Athena Nike was an expression of Athens' ambition to be the leading Greek city state in the Peloponnese.

12. Artist’s Rendering of what the Temple of Athena Nike probably looked like in it’s prime.

13. The ERECHTHEION
Built between BC, the Erechtheion is situated on the most sacred site of the Acropolis. It is said to be where Poseidon left his trident marks in a rock, and Athena's olive tree sprouted, in their battle for possession of the city. Named after Erechtheus, one of the mythical kings of Athens, the temple was a sanctuary to both Athena and Poseidon.
The south is the Porch of the Caryatids, the maiden statues which the originals are now in the Acropolis Museum. (One of the 6 is still part of the Lord Elgin marbles collection in the British Museum.)

14. CARYATIDS (Greek columns shaped like women… In Egypt, they had similar columns of MEN called ATLANTIDS. These ladies are seen on the Porch of the Maidens at the Erechtheion.)

18. The Three Basic Greek Orders (Keep in mind that CORINTHIAN wasn’t around at the beginning of the Classical Period.)