The Parthenon.

The curvature on the exterior of the Parthenon is an architectural element whose purpose has been much debated. The three main theories, as documented by Pollitt, are the compensation theory, the exaggeration theory, and the tension theory. The first suggests that the variations are “‘betterments’ to counteract optical illusion” that would “make the appearance of the temple fit their [the Athenians] mental conception of it”. That is to say, it would compensate for what the eye sees and the mind’s distortion of it. An example of this compensation can be found in the corner columns, which, according to Vitruvius, should be thicker “ ‘because they are completely set off against the open air and [without compensatory thickening] appear more slender than they are’”. (Pollitt 75). The second theory, contrary to the first, proposes that the curvature “was intended to amplify normal optical distortion so that the temple appeared to be more immense that it actually was”. And still the third conjectures that the deviations serve “the purpose of creating a tension in the mind of the viewer between what he expects to see and what he actually does see…a fascination which makes the structure seem vibrant, alive, and continually interesting”. (Pollitt 76).



The west pediment, which would have faced the entrance to the Acropolis, shows the contest for Athens, the battle between Athena and Poseidon for deity-ship of the city and rule over the Athenians. Poseidon offers the power of the sea while Athena, who ultimately wins the battle, offers the olive tree. This sculptural narrative provides a good example of the Greeks’ affinity for expressing their history through the idiom of myth. Athena’s offering symbolizes the importance of the olive tree to Greek culture (for agriculture, export, and affluence) and the accreditation of this wealth to the goddess.



There are 92 metope reliefs featured in the exterior frieze of the Parthenon (Stokstad 133). Each metope depicts a legendary battle between two opposing forces that is symbolic, as is the Parthenon in its entirety, of the Greeks’ defeat of Persia and, in such, the triumph of reason over barbarism. In the metopes on the south side of the Parthenon, the Persians are represented as centaurs, half men and half brutes, while the Greeks are symbolized in the form of mythical Greek Lapiths. This sculptural interaction is another example of the Greeks’ tendency of historical expression through myth. It also thoroughly illustrates both their humanizing and generalizing impulses (as well as their demonization of enemies) that are direct correlations of Periclean Athens’ social consciousness.



The statue of Athena located in the interior cella of the Parthenon is not the same warrior Athena that is depicted on the east pediment, but the Athena Parthenos, Virgin and patron goddess of Athens. The figure, designed by Pheidias in ivory and gold, is outfitted in armor and holds both a shield (bearing an Amazonomachy on its exterior and Gigantomachy on its interior) and a Victory (Stokstad 130). These symbols, along with the reliefs on her sandals representing a Centauromachy make “the goddess who was the embodiment of Athenian intellectual and cultural attainments” a symbol “of the triumph and order and civilization over chaos and barbarism on all levels” (Pollitt 98). She is a cult image, framed by Doric columns and colossal in size to emphasize her importance as the presiding deity of Athens and benefactor of its cultural and civil wealth and prosperity.