Editing Parthenon (section)

==Function==
[[File:DoricParthenon.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Doric order]] of the Parthenon]]

Although the Parthenon is architecturally a temple and is usually called so, some scholars have argued that it is not really a temple in the conventional sense of the word.<ref name="Deacy-11">[[Susan Deacy]], ''Athena'', Routledge, 2008, p. 111.</ref> A small [[shrine]] has been excavated within the building, on the site of an older [[sanctuary]] probably dedicated to Athena as a way to get closer to the goddess,<ref name="Deacy-11" /> but the Parthenon apparently never hosted the official cult of Athena Polias, patron of Athens. The [[cult image]] of Athena Polias, which was bathed in the sea and to which was presented the ''[[peplos]]'', was an olive-wood ''[[xoanon]]'', located in another temple on the northern side of the Acropolis, more closely associated with the Great Altar of Athena.<ref name="Burkert-143">Burkert, ''Greek Religion'', Blackwell, 1985, p. 143.</ref> The [[High Priestess of Athena Polias]] supervised the city cult of Athena based in the [[Acropolis]], and was the chief of the lesser officials, such as the [[plyntrides]], [[arrephoroi]] and [[kanephoroi]].<ref>Joan Breton Connelly, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sAspxHK-T1UC&dq=priestess+of+athena&pg=PA143 Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806122840/https://books.google.com/books?id=sAspxHK-T1UC&dq=priestess+of+athena&pg=PA143 |date=6 August 2023 }}''</ref>

The colossal statue of Athena by [[Phidias]] was not specifically related to any cult attested by ancient authors<ref>MC. Hellmann, ''L'Architecture grecque. Architecture religieuse et funéraire'', Picard, 2006, p. 118.</ref> and is not known to have inspired any religious fervour.<ref name="Burkert-143" /> Preserved ancient sources do not associate it with any priestess, altar or cult name.<ref name="Nagy-55">B. Nagy, "Athenian Officials on the Parthenon Frieze", ''AJA'', Vol. 96, No. 1 (January 1992), p. 55.</ref>

According to [[Thucydides]], during the [[Peloponnesian War]] when Sparta's forces were first preparing to invade Attica, [[Pericles]], in an address to the Athenian people, said that the statue could be used as a gold reserve if that was necessary to preserve Athens, stressing that it "contained forty talents of pure gold and it was all removable", but adding that the gold would afterward have to be restored.<ref>Thucydides 2.13.5. Retrieved 3 August 2020.</ref> The Athenian statesman thus implies that the metal, obtained from contemporary coinage,<ref>S. Eddy, "The Gold in the Athena Parthenos", ''AJA'', Vol. 81, No. 1 (Winter, 1977), pp. 107–111.</ref> could be used again if absolutely necessary without any impiety.<ref name="Nagy-55" /> According to Aristotle, the building also contained golden figures that he described as "Victories".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, chapter 47 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0046:chapter=47&highlight=parthenon |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu |archive-date=21 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721202334/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0046:chapter=47&highlight=parthenon |url-status=live }}</ref> The classicist Harris Rackham noted that eight of those figures were melted down for coinage during the Peloponnesian War.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, chapter 47 (Note 1) |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0046:chapter=47&highlight=parthenon |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Other Greek writers have claimed that treasures such as Persian swords were also stored inside the temple.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} Some scholars, therefore, argue that the Parthenon should be viewed as a grand setting for a monumental votive statue rather than as a cult site.<ref>B. Holtzmann and A. Pasquier, ''Histoire de l'art antique : l'art grec'', École du Louvre, Réunion des musées nationaux, and Documentation française, 1998, p. 177.</ref>

Archaeologist [[Joan Breton Connelly]] has argued for the coherency of the Parthenon's sculptural programme in presenting a succession of genealogical narratives that track Athenian identity through the ages: from the birth of Athena, through [[wikt:Special:Search/cosmic|cosmic]] and epic battles, to the final great event of the [[Athenian Bronze Age]], the war of [[Erechtheus]] and [[Eumolpos]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Parthenon Enigma: a New Understanding of the West's Most Iconic Building and the People Who Made It |publisher=Vintage |date=2014 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-47659-3 |first=Joan Breton |last=Connelly}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to Joan Breton Connelly |url=http://www.joanbretonconnelly.com/ |website=Welcome to Joan Breton Connelly |access-date=18 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921094655/http://www.joanbretonconnelly.com/ |archive-date=21 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> She argues a pedagogical function for the Parthenon's sculptured decoration, one that establishes and perpetuates Athenian foundation myth, memory, values and identity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Joan Breton |title=The Parthenon Enigma |date=28 January 2014 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0-307-59338-2 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=35 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Mendelsohn |first=Daniel |date=7 April 2014 |title=Deep Frieze |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/14/deep-frieze |access-date=10 July 2023 |issn=0028-792X |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710195758/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/14/deep-frieze |url-status=live }}</ref> While some classicists, including [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]], [[Peter Green (historian)|Peter Green]], and [[Garry Wills]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beard |first=Mary |title=The Latest Scheme for the Parthenon {{!}} Mary Beard |language=en |work=The New York Review of Books |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/03/06/latest-scheme-parthenon/ |access-date=10 July 2023 |issn=0028-7504 |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710194255/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/03/06/latest-scheme-parthenon/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Beard |first1=Mary |last2=Hammond |first2=Norman |last3=Wuletich-Brinberg |first3=Sybil |last4=Wills |first4=Garry |last5=Green |first5=Peter |title='The Parthenon Enigma'—An Exchange {{!}} Peter Green |language=en |work=The New York Review of Books |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/05/22/parthenon-enigma-exchange/ |access-date=10 July 2023 |issn=0028-7504 |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710194256/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/05/22/parthenon-enigma-exchange/ |url-status=live }}</ref> have doubted or rejected Connelly's thesis, an increasing number of historians, archaeologists, and classical scholars support her work. They include: J.J. Pollitt,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Decoding the Parthenon by J.J. Pollitt |url=http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Decoding-the-Parthenon-7857 |magazine=The New Criterion |access-date=18 August 2015 |archive-date=3 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803034940/http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Decoding-the-Parthenon-7857 |url-status=live }}</ref> Brunilde Ridgway,<ref>{{cite periodical |title=Rethinking the West's Most Iconic Building |url=http://bulletin.brynmawr.edu/features/rethinking-the-wests-most-iconic-building/ |periodical=Bryn Mawr Alumnae Bulletin |access-date=18 August 2015 |archive-date=8 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908034047/http://bulletin.brynmawr.edu/features/rethinking-the-wests-most-iconic-building/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Nigel Spivey,<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://media.wix.com/ugd/2b5cdc_ea1cd7caf3404a2f8e9e7ebfec55b4bb.pdf |title=Art and Archaeology |last=Spivey |first=Nigel |date=October 2014 |journal=Greece & Rome |doi=10.1017/S0017383514000138 |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=287–290 |s2cid=232181203 |access-date=20 August 2015 |archive-date=19 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919050305/http://media.wix.com/ugd/2b5cdc_ea1cd7caf3404a2f8e9e7ebfec55b4bb.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Caroline Alexander,<ref>{{Cite news |title=If It Pleases the Gods |type=Review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/books/review/the-parthenon-enigma-by-joan-breton-connelly.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 January 2014 |access-date=18 August 2015 |issn=0362-4331 |first=Caroline |last=Alexander |archive-date=11 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711073514/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/books/review/the-parthenon-enigma-by-joan-breton-connelly.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[A. E. Stallings]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Deep Frieze Meaning |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/deep-frieze-meaning_803982.html |magazine=The Weekly Standard |access-date=18 August 2015 |archive-date=24 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624171950/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/deep-frieze-meaning_803982.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Older Parthenon===
{{Main|Older Parthenon}}
[[File:Parthenon ancient & Pericles, Maxime Collignon.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Older Parthenon]] (in black) was destroyed by the Achaemenids during the [[Destruction of Athens]] in 480–479 BC, and then rebuilt by [[Pericles]] (in grey).]]
The first endeavour to build a sanctuary for [[Athena#Athena Parthenos: Virgin Athena|Athena Parthenos]] on the site of the present Parthenon was begun shortly after the [[Battle of Marathon]] ({{circa|490}}–488&nbsp;BC) upon a solid [[limestone]] foundation that extended and levelled the southern part of the [[Acropolis]] summit. This building replaced a [[Hekatompedon temple]] ("hundred-footer") and would have stood beside the [[Old Temple of Athena|archaic temple dedicated to ''Athena Polias'']] ("of the city"). The [[Older Parthenon|Older or Pre-Parthenon]], as it is frequently referred to, was still under construction when the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] sacked the city in 480&nbsp;BC razing the Acropolis.<ref name="venieri-acropolis">{{cite web |url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2384 |title=Acropolis of Athens |author=Ioanna Venieri |publisher=Hellenic Ministry of Culture |access-date=4 May 2007 |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024154934/http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2384 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Hurwit 2005, p. 135.</ref>

The existence of both the proto-Parthenon and its destruction were known from [[Herodotus]],<ref>Herodotus Histories, 8.53.</ref> and the drums of its columns were visibly built into the curtain wall north of the [[Erechtheion]]. Further physical evidence of this structure was revealed with the excavations of [[Panagiotis Kavvadias]] of 1885–1890. The findings of this dig allowed [[Wilhelm Dörpfeld]], then director of the [[German Archaeological Institute]], to assert that there existed a distinct substructure to the original Parthenon, called Parthenon I by Dörpfeld, not immediately below the present edifice as previously assumed.<ref>W. Dörpfeld, "Der aeltere Parthenon", ''Ath. Mitteilungen'', XVII, 1892, pp. 158–189 and W. Dörpfeld, "Die Zeit des alteren Parthenon", ''AM'' '''27''', 1902, pp. 379–416.</ref> Dörpfeld's observation was that the three steps of the first Parthenon consisted of two steps of Poros limestone, the same as the foundations, and a top step of Karrha limestone that was covered by the lowest step of the Periclean Parthenon. This platform was smaller and slightly to the north of the final Parthenon, indicating that it was built for a different building, now completely covered over. This picture was somewhat complicated by the publication of the final report on the 1885–1890 excavations, indicating that the substructure was contemporary with the Kimonian walls, and implying a later date for the first temple.<ref>P. Kavvadis, G. Kawerau, ''Die Ausgabung der Acropolis vom Jahre 1885 bis zum Jahre 1890'', 1906.</ref>

[[File:Perserschutt.gif|thumb|upright|Part of the archaeological remains called ''[[Perserschutt]]'', or "Persian rubble": remnants of the destruction of Athens by the armies of [[Xerxes I]]. Photographed in 1866, just after excavation.]]
If the original Parthenon was indeed destroyed in 480, it invites the question of why the site was left as a ruin for thirty-three years. One argument involves the oath sworn by the Greek allies before the [[Battle of Plataea]] in 479&nbsp;BC<ref>NM Tod, ''A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions II'', 1948, no. 204, lines 46–51, The authenticity of this is disputed, however; see also P. Siewert, Der Eid von Plataia (Munich 1972), pp. 98–102.</ref> declaring that the sanctuaries destroyed by the Persians would not be rebuilt, an oath from which the Athenians were only absolved with the [[Peace of Callias]] in 450.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kerr |first=Minott |url=http://people.reed.edu/~mkerr/papers/Parth95.html |title='The Sole Witness': The Periclean Parthenon |publisher=Reed College Portland, Oregon, US |date=23 October 1995 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608024611/http://people.reed.edu/~mkerr/papers/Parth95.html |archive-date=8 June 2007}}</ref> The cost of reconstructing Athens after the Persian sack is at least as likely a cause. The excavations of [[Bert Hodge Hill]] led him to propose the existence of a second Parthenon, begun in the period of [[Cimon|Kimon]] after 468.<ref>B. H. Hill, "The Older Parthenon", ''AJA'', XVI, 1912, pp. 535–558.</ref> Hill claimed that the Karrha limestone step Dörpfeld thought was the highest of Parthenon I was the lowest of the three steps of Parthenon II, whose stylobate dimensions Hill calculated at {{convert|23.51|x|66.888|m|2|lk=on}}.

One difficulty in dating the proto-Parthenon is that at the time of the 1885 excavation, the archaeological method of [[seriation (archaeology)|seriation]] was not fully developed; the careless digging and refilling of the site led to a loss of much valuable information. An attempt to make sense of the potsherds found on the Acropolis came with the two-volume study by Graef and Langlotz published in 1925–1933.<ref>B. Graef, E. Langlotz, ''Die Antiken Vasen von der Akropolis zu Athen'', Berlin 1925–1933.</ref> This inspired American archaeologist [[William Bell Dinsmoor]] to give limiting dates for the temple platform and the five walls hidden under the re-terracing of the Acropolis. Dinsmoor concluded that the latest possible date for Parthenon I was no earlier than 495&nbsp;BC, contradicting the early date given by Dörpfeld.<ref>W. Dinsmoor, "The Date of the Older Parthenon", ''AJA'', XXXVIII, 1934, pp. 408–448.</ref> He denied that there were two proto-Parthenons, and held that the only pre-Periclean temple was what Dörpfeld referred to as Parthenon II. Dinsmoor and Dörpfeld exchanged views in the ''American Journal of Archaeology'' in 1935.<ref>W. Dörpfeld, "Parthenon I, II, III", ''AJA'', XXXIX, 1935, 497–507, and W. Dinsmoor, ''AJA'', XXXIX, 1935, 508–509</ref>

===Present building===
[[File:Parthenon restoration.gif|thumb|left|Animation showing the Parthenon in 2011 and how it looked originally]]
In the mid-5th century BC, when the Athenian Acropolis became the seat of the [[Delian League]], [[Pericles]] initiated the building project that lasted the entire second half of the century. The most important buildings visible on the Acropolis today – the Parthenon, the [[Propylaia (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaia]], the [[Erechtheion]] and the temple of [[Athena Nike]] – were erected during this period. The Parthenon was built under the general supervision of [[Phidias]], who also had charge of the sculptural decoration. The architects [[Ictinos]] and [[Callicrates]] began their work in 447, and the building was substantially completed by 432. Work on the decorations continued until at least 431.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parthenon-marbles-dispute-9781509967179/ |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=12–13}}</ref>

The Parthenon was built primarily by men who knew how to work marble. These quarrymen had exceptional skills and were able to cut the blocks of marble to very specific measurements. The quarrymen also knew how to avoid the faults, which were numerous in the [[Pentelic marble]]. If the marble blocks were not up to standard, the architects would reject them. The marble was worked with iron tools – picks, points, punches, chisels, and drills. The quarrymen would hold their tools against the marble block and firmly tap the surface of the rock.<ref name="auto">Woodford, S. (2008). The Parthenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

A big project like the Parthenon attracted stonemasons from far and wide who travelled to Athens to assist in the project. Slaves and foreigners worked together with the Athenian citizens in the building of the Parthenon, doing the same jobs for the same pay. Temple building was a specialized craft, and there were not many men in Greece qualified to build temples like the Parthenon, so these men would travel and work where they were needed.<ref name="auto"/>

Other craftsmen were necessary for the building of the Parthenon, specifically carpenters and metalworkers. Unskilled labourers also had key roles in the building of the Parthenon. They loaded and unloaded the marble blocks and moved the blocks from place to place. In order to complete a project like the Parthenon, many different labourers were needed.<ref name="auto"/>