The Erechtheion was named after the demi-god Erechtheus (Cartwright). The primary function for the Erechtheion was to to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena, but also served other purposes as discussed below (Cartwright).
Why is the Erechtheion special?
The Erechtheion is often described as ‘unusual’ or ‘complex’ and this is because of its multifaceted purpose. The site is sacred ground and said to be the burial place of two important characters.
What was the purpose of the Caryatids on the Erechtheion?
The caryatids, Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens. Caryatids are draped, sculpted female figures, supportive Goddesses so to speak, used as decorative support in place of columns or pillars, called in Greek Karyatides. The most famous caryatids of Greece stand guard over the Erechtheion of the Acropolis, Athens.
What was the purpose of the Propylaea?
The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis commissioned by the Athenian leader Pericles in order to rebuild the Acropolis at the conclusion of the Persian Wars.What is unique about the Erechtheion temple on the Athenian Acropolis?
The Erechtheion is unique in the corpus of Greek temples in that its asymmetrical composition doesn’t conform to the canon of Greek classical architecture.
Who was Worshipped in the Erechtheion?
The Erechtheion (or Erechtheum) is an ancient Greek temple constructed on the acropolis of Athens between 421 and 406 BCE in the Golden Age of the city in order to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena and generally glorify the great city at the height of its power and influence.
What is so unusual about the Erechtheion compared to most Greek temples?
The temple, built in the last twenty years of the Vth century BC over the remains of two older temples has an unusual design compared to the usual design of Greek temples, since it is designed to house several cults, and it is also unusual for its position in a very craggy part of the Acropolis.
Why was the Propylaea called the Pinakotheke?
The Propylaia is a building of the Doric order with few Ionic columns supporting the roof of the central wing. … The east section of the Propylaia had an inner wing; the one so called Pinakotheke for apparently it housed paintings of mythological content as Pausanias informs us.What was the function of the Propylaea at the Acropolis?
The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis of Athens, and was one of several public works commissioned by the Athenian leader Pericles in order to rebuild the Acropolis a generation after the conclusion of the Persian Wars.
What was a tholos used for?In the Mycenaean period, tholoi were large ceremonial tombs, sometimes built into the sides of hills; they were beehive-shaped and covered by a corbeled arch. In classical Greece, the tholos at Delphi had a peristyle; the tholos in Athens, serving as a dining hall for the Athenian Senate, had no outside columns.
Article first time published onWhere are the original Caryatids from the south porch of the Erechtheion?
The Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion in Athens, Greece. These are now replicas. The originals are in the Acropolis Museum (with one in the British Museum).
Is the Erechtheion part of the Parthenon?
This consisted of three major structures: the Parthenon on the southern edge of the hill, the Erechtheion on the northern side, and the Propylaea, a monumental entrance building, at the western side of the sanctuary. The Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena.
What is the general message of all the Parthenon's sculpted Metopes?
While the narrative differs from side to side, the metopes are bound thematically by a common theme: the triumph of civilization over barbarism, a theme dear to the hearts of the Athenians who were not shy to believe themselves and their achievements as superior to other cultures of their time.
What extraordinary artifacts are contained in the Erechtheion?
The Erechtheion is a temple that housed the most sacred artifacts and ancient sites of the Acropolis, including the Palladium, Athena’s olive tree, Poseidon’s salt water well, and trident marks, and shrines to the mythical founders and kings of the city.
Why is there a olive tree at the Erechtheion?
Poseidon went first and raised his trident, smashing it on a rock of the Acropolis, thus, producing salt water. Athena went second and offered an olive tree, a gift the citizens of Athens deemed useful and beautiful; therefore, she became the patron of the city, which was named after her.
Who created the Erechtheion?
The Erechtheion, designed by the architect Mnesikles, was a complex building constructed in the last twenty years of the 5th century BC. It replaced the “Archaios Neos” (Ancient Temple) of Athena Polias, part of which had been destroyed by the Persians sixty years earlier.
Is the Erechtheion Doric or Ionic?
The Erechtheion is a highly decorated and elegant Ionic temple. The scroll forms at the top of the column (the capital) and its tall slender profile indicate that this is the Ionic order.
Is the Erechtheion Doric?
The elegance and delicate forms of the Erechtheion contrast sharply with the neighboring Parthenon that counter-balances the architectural complex with its majestic, Doric presence. The temple faces east and its entrance is lined with six long Ionic columns.
What does the word caryatid mean?
Definition of caryatid : a draped female figure supporting an entablature.
When was the Acropolis built?
Athens has the best-known acropolis, built during the second half of the 5th century bc. The Athenian acropolis, located on a craggy, walled hill, was built as a home of Athena, the patron goddess of the city.
When were Ionic columns invented?
The Ionic order originated in the mid-6th century BC in Ionia (broadly equivalent to modern day İzmir Province), as well as the southwestern coastland and islands of Asia Minor settled by Ionians, where Ionic Greek was spoken. The Ionic order column was being practiced in mainland Greece in the 5th century BC.
What was a Pinacoteca in ancient Greece and ancient Rome?
In ancient Rome a pinacotheca was the gallery in a private home or villa in which were kept art objects, tablets, and statues. The Roman pinacotheca adjoined the atrium. In modern times the word may refer to an art gallery. The public galleries at Bologna and Siena, in Italy, are examples.
What was the Pinakotheke of the propylaia the gateway for the Acropolis )?
The Propylaia is an impressive building in itself, and was designed to draw admiration from those who walked through it. The gateway was built on two different levels because of the uneven ground. The north wing contained painted panels, which is why it was called the Pinakotheke, meaning ‘art gallery.
Who designed the Propylaea?
Mnesicles, also spelled Mnesikles, (flourished 5th century bc), Greek architect known (from Plutarch) to have been the designer of the Propylaea, or the entrance gateway to the Acropolis at Athens.
What is a metope in Greek?
In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order.
What is a Triglyph in architecture?
Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them.
Who built the tholos?
The Tholos is a circular building within the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, built by the architect Theodore the Phocaean in 380-370 B.C. It had 20 Doric columns on the circular colonnade and 10 or 13 Corinthian semi-columns in the interior of the cella. Its metopes were richly decorated with sculpture in relief.
Who was buried in tholos?
The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large tholos or beehive tomb on Panagitsa Hill at Mycenae, Greece, constructed during the Bronze Age around 1250 BC. The stone lintel above the doorway weighs 120 tons, with approximate dimensions 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2m, the largest in the world.
What period is Nike adjusting her sandal from?
Nike Adjusting Her Sandal, marble relief sculpture from the balustrade of the Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens, c. 420–410 bce; in the Acropolis Museum, Athens.
What shape was the Theater of Dionysus?
It was originally built in the late 5th century B.C. The theater was an outdoor auditorium in the shape of a great semicircle on the slope of the Acropolis, with rows of seats on which about eighteen thousand spectators could comfortably seat.
What are caryatids made of?
The caryatids stand 2,27 meters (7.5 feet) and are made of the best Greek marble, Pentelic. Like early Korai figures of archaic Greece, these women stand tall and straight.
