PARTHENON

Athens, Greece

The Parthenon, a temple located on the Acropolis, is on a hill overlooking the city of Athens, Greece. It is considered to be the finest example of Doric architecture, which is a simple, unadorned style, characterized by plain columns. The Parthenon was designed by Phidias, also a famous sculptor. Many treasures would have been displayed in the building, but the glory of the Parthenon was the gigantic statue of the Greek goddess Athena, also designed by Phidias and made out of elephant ivory and gold. Work on the building began in 447 BC and continued until 438 BC. When completed, the temple was dedicated to Athena. The Parthenon has survived the ravages of time pretty well, serving as a church and then a mosque, until finally it was used as a munitions depot during the Turkish Occupation of Greece. In 1687, during a battle with the Venetians, an explosion tore through the building and caused much of the damage seen today. Many other places in Greece have an acropolis (a town on a hill), but "The Acropolis" usually refers to the site of the Parthenon in Athens.

This sketch was done during the Athens stop of our 2008 Mediterranean family cruise. We took a tour of the city, but I detoured, and stopped to sketch this famous relic of antiquity. The Acropolis was literally covered with tourists. While I was sketching, a tour leader parked her group behind me and explained the Golden Rectangle, devised by the Greeks, of which the Parthenon is a perfect example. Plan proportions are set by the number of columns on the front, which determines the number on the side, by multiplying the number on the front by two and adding one. So the Parthenon has eight columns on the front and back, the sides have two times eight plus one, or 17 columns. There are many other subtle architectural refinements for which the Parthenon is known. I feel the Parthenon is an example of a architecture approaching sublime.