Editing Athena Parthenos (section)

==Description==
{{Annotated image 4
| image           = Athena Parthenos LeQuire.jpg
| align           = right
| width           = 300
| height          = 370
| image-width     = 300
| frameless       = false
| caption         = Rendition of the [[chryselephantine]] statue of ''Athena Parthenos'' by [[Alan LeQuire]] (1990), located in the [[Parthenon (Nashville)|Parthenon's replica]], [[Centennial Park (Nashville)]]
| annot-font-size = 18
| nolink          = yes
| annotations     =
{{Annotation|120|25|'''[[Pegasus|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|138|30|'''[[Sphinx|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|240|30|'''[[Parthenon Frieze|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|123|38|'''[[Attic helmet|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|118|45|'''[[Gryphon|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|148|45|'''[[Athena#Glaukopis|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|115|85|'''[[Aegis|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|140|90|'''[[Gorgons#The_gorgoneion|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|68|100|'''[[Nike (mythology)|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|250|170|'''[[Doric order|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|190|190|'''[[Gigantomachy|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|125|210|'''[[Peplos|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|155|210|'''[[Contrapposto#Classical|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|225|210|'''[[Medusa|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|225|225|'''[[Amazonomachy|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|80|250|'''[[Human|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|200|260|'''[[Athena#Classical art|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|172|284|'''[[Centauromachy|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|40|310|'''[[Helios|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|120|310|'''[[Olympian gods|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|250|310|'''[[Selene|■]]'''}}
{{Annotation|135|325|'''[[Pandora|■]]'''}}
}}
The statue was installed in the main room of the Parthenon to the east. Behind her and on her sides, [[Doric order|Doric]] columns supported the roof and offered her the setting of a canopy. In front of her, a large basin filled with water played several roles: it was used to maintain a sufficient degree of humidity in the room (to conserve ivory) and it also had to reflect the external light and illuminate the work. It was suggested that there could have been windows (probably 3 m high and 2.5 m wide) on each side of the door (9.75 m high and 4.19 m wide) that would have allowed daylight in.{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110}}<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 262 and 279.</ref><ref>Holtzmann 2003, p. 118.</ref>

The statue measured, according to Pliny the Elder, 26 [[cubits]] (about 11.50 m high), probably counting its base. It thus reached less than one and a half meters from the ceiling.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=112}}{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110-111}}{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=263-264}} She therefore filled the room with her presence. Phidias' idea was apparently to represent the goddess under her "true" aspect, in all her majesty, beauty, magnificence, or even in her real size, since the gods were considered proportionally much greater than humans.{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=268}}

Only the pedestal of the statue has been preserved. It is a [[parallelepiped]] in [[tuff|poros]] measuring {{convert|8.065|by|4.10| m|ftin|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1.30| to |1.50| m |ftin|abbr=on}} high.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=111}} On the front of this base, a carved plaque evoked the birth of [[Pandora]] in the presence of twenty gods.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=111-112}}{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110}}{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=263-264}} It is the only decorative element that has not subsequently been copied and reproduced, so it is unknown in its details. It is not even possible to know if it was made of marble or gilded bronze. The presence of this theme (birth of the first woman, plus fatal woman) is quite difficult to reconcile with the representation of the virgin goddess of wisdom.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=111-112}} It was perhaps a symbol of both aspects of femininity,{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=111-112}} or even the growing role of women in Athens in the fifth century BCE.{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=268}} Other interpretations are proposed. [[Helios]] and [[Selene]] framed the scene; it is, therefore, possible to see it as a form of calendar. Pandora can also be read as a warning that with the gods, nothing was ever taken for granted.{{refn|group=N|Also recalling the wisdom attributed to Solon to never say of a man that he is happy before he is dead.}} Thus, the triumphant Athens of [[Pericles]] mastered modern techniques, just as the first men had mastered fire. They had thus unbalanced the old order and had been punished (with a woman made by [[Hephaistus]], god of fire and techniques). Athens, therefore, had to avoid falling into [[hubris]]. More optimistically, Pandora's myth could be a reminder that even deep in the difficulties, hope can always be reborn.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 269.</ref> Finally, far from Pandora described by [[Hesiod]] and quoted by Pausanias to evoke the decoration of the base, there is an Athenian Pandora. She is one of the daughters of [[Erechtheus]], one of the [[Hyacinthus the Lacedaemonian|Hyacinthides]] who sacrificed herself to save the city. She would have had a miraculous birth, of the [[Autochthon (ancient Greece)|autochthonic]] type, and was linked to the goddess Athena, mainly by weaving. Pandora was presented in this Athenian myth as a [[Kourotrophos|kourotrophic]] (child carrier therefore a nurse) and a bearer of benefits. From then on, [[Joan Connelly]]{{refn|group=N|Joan B. Connelly, "Parthenon and Parthenoi: A Mythological Interpretation of the Parthenon Frieze", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 100, no. 1, January 1996, p. 53-80}} proposes to read the scene as the apotheosis of Athenian Pandora, and not as the birth of the "Hesiodic" Pandora.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 269 and 289 (note).</ref>

The Athena wore a half-open peplos on the right side, as was the rule for female representations in the first half of the fifth century BCE. However, her posture was new (in the canon that [[Polykleitos]] would then develop for his athlete statues): the left leg was a little bent, the knee forward, the heel not posing on the ground. This posture seems to have been chosen more for technical reasons of balance and volume of the lower manikin than for aesthetic reasons. The bust, on the other hand, does not seem to have been affected by the imbalance of the lower body, it would have been very straight and frontal.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=112}}{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110-111}}{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=263-264}}

Over her peplos, she bore at the breast the [[aegis]] lined with snakes and within its centre, at the level of the [[solar plexus]], an ivory [[gorgoneion]]. The goddess' face was also ivory, probably with a neutral expression, as was then the aesthetic rule. However, she may have had her lips ajar, symbolizing the breath of life. Gemstones allowed her eyes to have the Persian colour corresponding to one of Athena's epithets.{{refn|group=N|As in the Homeric epithet γλαυκῶπις Ἀθηνᾶ. Iliad 1.206 et passim. Variously translated as Owl-faced, flashing-eyed, and pertinently here grey-eyed. See Susan Deacy, Athena, Routledge, 2008, p.26.}} Long strands of hair escaped from her helmet and descended to the aegis. It was a reinterpretation of the korai hairstyle, the archaic statues of young women abundantly dedicated to the goddess on the acropolis of Athens. The helmet was of the [[Attic helmet|Attic type]], with paragnathides (pieces protecting the cheeks) raised and decorated with [[gryphons]]. The top of the helmet had three crests: a [[sphinx]] in the centre, surrounded on each side by a winged horse. The visor was decorated with [[protomes]]. The edge of her sandals ("[[Etruscan civilisation|Etruscan]]" type), about 20&nbsp;cm high, was decorated with a painted or carved [[centauromachy]], the sources do not allow a conclusive answer. Her belt was two snakes tied. Athena also wore jewellery: a pendant on each ear, snake-shaped bracelets on each wrist and biceps, and a necklace.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=112}}{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110-111}}{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=265-266}}

The left hand held her shield and spear. At her feet on the left side, her sacred snake nestled. In her right hand, perhaps leaning on a column to support her, she held a statue of [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], 2 m high. This symbolization of victory itself held a crown of gold laurels, which she was to be about to place on the goddess's head. The column is present in copies where it is necessary for reasons of the balance of terracotta or marble, but its existence for the original statue remains much discussed.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=112}}{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110}}{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=265-266}} The presence of a column could then explain the fact that Athena's sacred snake was placed to her left (where it partially hid the shield decoration), rather than to her right, its usual place.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 266.</ref> If this column were present, it could also have been the first example of a [[Corinthian capital]], then developed by the two architects on their [[Bassae|temple of Apollo in Bassae]].{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=112}}

The shield with a diameter of {{convert|4.8 |to| 5 |m|ftin|abbr=on}} was decorated on the outside with an amazonomachy. This was the most visible, therefore the most described and copied decorative element. In the centre was again a gorgoneion that must have looked like the [[Medusa Rondanini|Rondanini Medusa]] since it is strongly inspired by it. He was surrounded by about thirty fighters. [[Theseus]] commanded the Greek troops, so the Athenians. In front of them, [[Amazons]] were attacking the Acropolis as indicated by the steep scenery. According to [[Plutarch]],{{refn|group=N|Life of Pericles, 31, 3-4.}} Phidias represented himself among the Athenians, in the centre at the top, as a bald old man preparing to throw the stone held with two hands above his head. He would also have included Pericles, right next to him, on the right, armed with a spear. This gesture, which was criticized for him, is however proof that this relief-carved decoration was indeed by the hand of Phidias himself.<ref>Holtzmann 2003, p. 113.</ref><ref>Boardman 1985, p. 110-112 and 145.</ref><ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 266.</ref> The inside of the shield, less visible, was painted with a [[gigantomachy]].{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=114}}<ref>Boardman 1985, p. 112.</ref> The three fights represented on the statue (centauromachy, gigantomachy, and amazonomachy) were also found on the carved decoration of the Parthenon. The southern metopes are decorated with a centauromachy, those in the east with a gigantomachy, and those in the west with an amazonomachy.<ref>Schwab 2005, p. 167.</ref><ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 266-267.</ref>

The snake (δράκων), perhaps represented the Chthonian powers that would have been present on the acropolis from the beginning, or even [[Erichthonios]] himself whom the goddess had raised on her sacred rock.<ref>Jean Charbonneaux, Roland Martin et François Villard, Grèce classique, Gallimard, 1969, p. 417</ref><ref>Holtzmann 2003, p. 114.</ref> In fact, the monsters (sphinx, gryphons, winged horses, snakes, and gorgonians) that adorn the statue of the deity symbolize these primitive forces she domesticated.{{sfn|Lapatin|2005|p=268}}

The themes chosen to decorate this statue, as well as those that adorned the entire building, were part of an iconographic and political program of the celebration of the city through its guardian goddess. Athens, at the height of its power in the time of Pericles, evoked here the victory of (its) civilization over chaos, disorder, hybris, and barbarism in general, even beyond the commemoration of its victory in the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Median wars]]. The virtues and piety of the city were read in its offering to its goddess. Its commercial and naval power materialized in the materials used: gold and ivory, very expensive, from far away.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 267.</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="150px" heights="150px">
File:Rondanini Medusa Glyptothek Munich 252 n2.jpg|alt=visage de marbre|[[Medusa Rondanini]], Munich [[Glyptothek]], No. 252.
File:Strangfrod shield pushkin.jpg|alt=fragment d'un objet rond décoré d'une scène de combat avec une tête grotesque au centre|Plaster molding of the "Strangford shield" (Roman copy of the outside of the shield of the ''Athena Parthenos''), [[Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts]].
Athena Parthenos (Nashville) shield.JPG|alt=Bouclier doré et décoré d'une scène de bataille, un visage au centre|Life-size replica (cement and gilded steel) of the shield for the life-size replica of the statue in the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville.
</gallery>