5. classical, acropolis, propylaia, erechtheion, and temple of athena nike

Greek Art 5

The Classical Period,The Acropolis Continued: Propylaia, Erechtheion, and

Temple of Athena Nike

Credit to Gardner’s Art Through The Ages 12th Ed.

Propylaia

• New Gateway to the Acropolis from the West• Started in 437 BCE, left unfinished in 431 BCE

at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta

• Architect: Mnesikles• Steep slope, difficult to build on• Doric on the outside, Ionic on the inside

Propylaia

• Only the northwest side wing was completed before the Peloponnesian War– But it was incredibly important in art history, because

it housed a Pinakotheke (picture gallery)• Pictures painted on wooden panels by the major artists of

the time– Polygnotos of Thasos (known for placing his figures on different

levels instead of all on one ground at the bottom)» Also incorporated landscape elements instead of just abstract

designs

– This was the first recorded structure built for the specific purpose of displaying paintingsthe forerunner to modern museums!

Two later Temples of the Acropolis:Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike

• Built after Pericles’s death, but part of the original Acropolis design

• Erechtheion: multiple shrine– Honored Athena– Housed an ancient wooden image of Athena– Shrines to several other gods and demigods:

• Poseidon• Hephaestus • Erechtheus: an early king of Athens, during whose reign the wooden statue

of Athena was said to have fallen from the heavens• Kekrops: another Athenian king who served as the judge of the contest

between Athena and Poseidon (where this temple stands is at the site of where Athena was chosen as the patron of Athens!) – King Kekrops was half man, half snake

Erechtheion• Asymmetrical design

– Unique for a Greek temple, very different from the harmoniously balanced plan of the Doric Parthenon

– Designed this way to house all of the shrines, as well as to showcase the trident mark (Poseidon) and olive tree (Athena) all in a single complex (this is the place referred to on the Parthenon’s West Pediment sculptures)

• Ionic• Unknown architect• Each side rests on a different ground level and has a very different

character (the terrain was uneven, as with the Propylaia)• To compensate for its weirdness, for the friezes, the architect

chose to use dark blue limestone of Eleusis to contrast the white Pentelic marble of the walls and columns – Marble reliefs were attached to this dark background

Caryatids at the Erechtheion

• The most notable feature of this building are the Caryatids:– Replaced Ionic columns– Actually did bear weight (not like Egyptian caryatids)– South porch– The ones seen on this structure are exact copies: the originals

are in the Acropolis Museum in Athens and the British Museum in London

– First seen on the Ionic Siphnian Treasury at Delphi• Here they looked more like Archaic Koroi

– On this building, they fit in with the style of the Phidian school of sculpture (great understanding of how muscles and skeleton moved the body)• Phidias: sculpted the giant Zeus and giant Athena (chryselephantine) • These caryatids look life-like even though they are rigid and supporting

the top of the temple

Caryatids at the Erechtheion

Caryatids at the Erechtheion

Caryatids at the Erechtheion

Caryatids at the Ionic Siphnian Treasury at Delphi vs. the Classical Caryatids of the Erechtheion

Classical

Archaic

ErechtheionFriezes: White marbleon dark blue limestone for contrast

Caryatids

Uneven levels

Erechtheion

Caryatids!

Ms. LeSage!

Classical Period 480-323 BCE

• First Peloponnesian War 461-445 BCE– Sparta declared war against Athens, and even had

help from Persia to ultimately win the war– Sparta, instead of Athens, became the leading

power of Greece– Sparta was an oligarchy (a small population in

control of many)• Thirty-year peace treaty signed between

Athens and Sparta in winter 446/445

Athens vs. Sparta

Classical Period 480-323 BCE

• Peloponnesian War (431-404) resumes and ends with defeat of Plague-ridden Athens

• Sparta wins, but both Sparta and Thebes fail to take leadership of all of Greece

• Death of Pericles 429 BCE• Construction of Temple of Athena Nike (420-

410)– One of the earliest fully Ionic temples on the

Acropolis

Temple of Athena Nike (on the Acropolis)

Temple of Athena Nike

• Ionic• Architect: Kallikrates• Amphiprostyle: four columns on both the East

and West facades• Near the Propylaia• Greets all visitors entering Athena’s great

sanctuary

Temple of Athena Nike

• References to the victory over the Persians:– Part of the frieze was dedicated to the battle at

Marathon that turned the tide against the Persians– Parapet (low protective wall along the edge of a

roof) built in 410 BCE• Covered in reliefs that depict Nike (Victory) in many

forms:– Holding up trophies and Persian spoils– Bringing sacrificial bulls to Athena– Adjusting her sandal (my favorite)

Nike Adjusting her Sandal, South side of the Parapet, Temple of Athena Nike, 410 BCE, h. 3’6”

Wing!

One of the first timeswe see such delicatesculpting of fabric thatclings so closely to thefigure

The Acropolis

• Today, corrosive emissions of factories and cars are decomposing the ancient marbles used to construct the Acropolis buildings

• A campaign has begun to protect the columns and walls from further deterioration

• What little original sculptures remained “in situ” (still at the site) when modern restoration began was moved to the Acropolis Museum’s climate-controlled rooms

White-Ground Technique• Ceramic painting• Achilles painter (ca. 440 BCE)

– Lekythoi: flasks containing perfumed oil– Singular: Lekythos– H. 1’5”

– Was used on vessels for short-term use, not everyday use because the range of colors were not permanent

*Almost exclusively on Lekythoi, often placed in graves as offerings to the deceased

– Covered vessel with very fine white clay-slip. Then applied black glaze to outlinefigures, and diluted brown, purple, red, and white to color them. Other colors, likeyellow had to be applied after firing because the Greeks didn’t know how to make themwithstand the heat of the kiln

Classical Period 480-323 BCE

• Athenians resume hostilities 418 BCE• Sparta defeats Athens at Mantinea• Aristophanes produces "Lysistrata" 411 BCE– A comedy about a woman during the

Peloponnesian War, who encouraged all women to withhold themselves from men until the men ended the war and brought about peace

– A little vulgar for its time!

Aristophanes

Classical Period 480-323 BCE

• Athens surrenders to Sparta 404 BCE• Thirty tyrants rule Athens• Democracy restored in Athens 403 BCE

Classical Period 480-323 BCE• Trial and execution of Socrates 399 BCE

– Socrates: one of the founders of Western philosophy, specifically ethics– Plato’s teacher– Socratic method of discussion: ask and answer a multitude of questions as

a group to test and eliminate hypotheses– Did not acknowledge his own wisdom; felt that men who thought they

were wise were the most ignorant of all, because they didn’t realize all of the things they still didn’t know!

– Criticized Athens’ government and ability to rule (because they kept getting beat down by Sparta) and was trying to mobilize Athens to get its poop in a group…consequently, he was tried and executed for speaking out against Athens even though it appears he was trying to help Athens

– When asked to develop his own punishment, he said he wanted the government to give him money and free dinners for the rest of his life Instead, the government made him drink a potion of poisonous Hemlock

• Plato establishes the Athens Academy 380 BCE

Socrates

Plato

Classical Period 480-323 BCE

• Sparta defeated in Leuctra 371 BCE• Thebes defeats Sparta at Mantinea 362 BCE• Philip II, becomes King of Macedonia 359 BCE• Macedonian army defeats Athens and its allies

at Chaeronea 338 BCE• Phillip II Assassinated. 336 BCE • Alexander the Great becomes king of

Macedonia

Alexander the Great

Classical Period 480-323 BCE

• Aristotle founds the Lyceum in Athens 335 BCE– Lyceum= where Aristotle taught/developed a

following of students– Attended Plato’s School in Athens– Studied and wrote on virtually all possible subjects

(biology, ethics, poetry, art, zoology, physics and metaphysics, etc.)

– Became the tutor of Alexander the Great at the request of Philip of Macedon

Aristotle