The Parthenon in Athens, Greece

In 448 BC The Parthenon was being built in Athens, Greece. The Parthenon was designed by Iktinos and the master builder for this project was Callicrates. This structure was built on top of an old temple that was destroyed by the Persians and was built in a scheme of structures that were built in Athens and surrounding areas. Even though the Parthenon was very large in size; there were temples in Sicily and Asia Minor that were much larger. The Greeks made up for the smaller temple by using great detail on the temple and using Pentelic Marble. They wanted to temple to be “perfect” because they felt they were getting closer to the perfection of the gods they served. The Parthenon was completed in 432 BC and was used for two separate roles.

The temple consisted of two chambers; which were both used for different reasons. The west chamber of the Parthenon known as the Parthenon proper was used as part of the state treasury. The west chamber was also used for the storage of tax money collected by the Delian League. This chamber was smaller than the east chamber; I believe this is because the other chamber was used to honor a Goddess.

The west chamber (Hekatampedon) was used to honor the Greek Goddess Athena. The Athenians wanted to show their gratitude because Athena helped them defeat the Persians. In the chamber was a large statue of Athena built out of wood and ivory. Athena, the Goddess of War and Wisdom was known for her role as a judge, and diplomat. She was often viewed as a warrior, but only fought in wars if her mediating role did not work. For the most part Athena was a calm woman, but was known to get “hot headed” if challenged by anyone of the same gender.

My blog contains information I found from http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_athena.htm and http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/Mediterranean/Parthenon.html