Editing Parthenon (section)

==Architecture==
[[File:Parthenon plan.png|thumb|right|Floor plan of the Parthenon]]

The Parthenon is a [[peripteral]] [[octastyle]] [[Doric order|Doric]] temple with [[Ionic order|Ionic]] architectural features. It stands on a platform or [[stylobate]] of three steps. In common with other Greek temples, it is of [[post and lintel]] construction and is surrounded by columns ('peripteral') carrying an [[entablature]]. There are eight columns at either end ('octastyle') and seventeen on the sides. There is a double row of columns at either end. The colonnade surrounds an inner masonry structure, the ''[[cella]],'' which is divided into two compartments. The ''[[opisthodomos]]'' (the back room of the cella) contained the monetary contributions of the Delian League. At either end of the building, the [[gable]] is finished with a triangular [[pediment]] originally occupied by sculpted figures.

The Parthenon has been described as "the culmination of the development of the Doric order".<ref>"Parthenon". ''Britannica Library'', Encyclopædia Britannica, 10 September 2021. Accessed 16 July 2022.</ref> The Doric columns, for example, have simple capitals, fluted shafts, and no bases. Above the architrave of the entablature is a [[frieze]] of carved pictorial panels ([[Metope (architecture)|metopes]]), separated by formal architectural [[triglyph]]s, also typical of the Doric order. The continuous [[frieze]] in low relief around the cella and across the lintels of the inner columns, in contrast, reflects the Ionic order. Architectural historian John R. Senseney suggests that this unexpected switch between orders was due to an aesthetic choice on the part of builders during construction, and was likely not part of the original plan of the Parthenon.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Senseney |first=John R. |date=2021 |title=The Architectural Origins of the Parthenon Frieze |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article/80/1/12/116120/The-Architectural-Origins-of-the-Parthenon-Frieze |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |publisher=University of California Press |volume=80 |issue=1 |pages=12–29 |doi=10.1525/jsah.2021.80.1.12 |s2cid=233818539 |doi-access=free |access-date=17 July 2022 |archive-date=17 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717183120/https://online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article/80/1/12/116120/The-Architectural-Origins-of-the-Parthenon-Frieze |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Measured at the stylobate, the dimensions of the base of the Parthenon are {{convert|69.5|by|30.9|m|ft}}. The cella was 29.8&nbsp;metres long by 19.2&nbsp;metres wide (97.8&nbsp;×&nbsp;63.0&nbsp;ft). On the exterior, the Doric columns measure {{convert|1.9|m|ft}} in diameter and are {{convert|10.4|m|ft}} high. The corner columns are slightly larger in diameter. The Parthenon had 46 outer columns and 23 inner columns in total, each column having 20 flutes. (A flute is the [[wikt:concave|concave]] shaft carved into the column form.) The roof was covered with large overlapping marble tiles known as [[imbrex and tegula|imbrices and tegulae]].<ref>{{cite book |title=American Architect and Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIdMAAAAYAAJ |year=1892 |publisher=American Architect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Roman Architecture – Roof Tiles (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Tegula.html |access-date=8 February 2018 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref>

The Parthenon is regarded as the finest example of Greek architecture. [[John Julius Cooper]] wrote that "even in antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the curvature of the stylobate, the taper of the [[naos (architecture)|naos]] walls, and the [[entasis]] of the columns".<ref>John Julius Norwich, ''Great Architecture of the World'', 2001, p. 63.</ref> Entasis refers to the slight swelling, of {{convert|4|cm}}, in the center of the columns to counteract the appearance of columns having a waist, as the swelling makes them look straight from a distance. The stylobate is the platform on which the columns stand. As in many other classical Greek temples,<ref>And in the surviving foundations of the preceding Older Parthenon (Penrose, ''Principles of Athenian Architecture'' 2nd ed. ch. II.3, plate 9).</ref> it has a slight parabolic upward curvature intended to shed rainwater and reinforce the building against earthquakes. The columns might therefore be supposed to lean outward, but they actually lean slightly inward so that if they carried on, they would meet almost exactly {{convert|2400|m|mi}} above the centre of the Parthenon.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.architecturerevived.com/how-greek-temples-correct-visual-distortion/ |title=How Greek Temples Correct Visual Distortion – Architecture Revived |date=15 October 2015 |access-date=26 September 2019 |archive-date=26 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926042450/https://www.architecturerevived.com/how-greek-temples-correct-visual-distortion/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Since they are all the same height, the curvature of the outer stylobate edge is transmitted to the [[architrave]] and roof above: "All follow the rule of being built to delicate curves", Gorham Stevens observed when pointing out that, in addition, the west front was built at a slightly higher level than that of the east front.<ref>Penrose ''op. cit.'' pp. 32–34, found the difference motivated by economies of labour; Gorham P. Stevens, "Concerning the Impressiveness of the Parthenon" ''American Journal of Archaeology'' '''66'''.3 (July 1962: 337–338).</ref>

[[File:The East Facade of the Parthenon on March 22, 2021.jpg|thumb|left|The east facade in March 2021|upright=1.2]]
It is not universally agreed what the intended effect of these "optical refinements" was. They may serve as a sort of "reverse optical illusion".<ref>Archaeologists discuss similarly curved architecture and offer the theory. ''Nova'', "Secrets of the Parthenon", PBS. http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1849622/6070405{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=Balon Greyjoy |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> As the Greeks may have been aware, two [[parallel (geometry)|parallel]] lines appear to bow, or curve outward, when intersected by converging lines. In this case, the ceiling and floor of the temple may seem to bow in the presence of the surrounding angles of the building. Striving for perfection, the designers might have added these curves, compensating for the illusion by creating their own curves, thus negating this effect and allowing the temple to be seen as they intended. It is also suggested that it was to enliven what might have appeared an inert mass in the case of a building without curves. But the comparison ought to be, according to Smithsonian historian Evan Hadingham, with the Parthenon's more obviously curved predecessors than with a notional rectilinear temple.<ref name="SmithMag">{{Citation |last=Hadingham |first=Evan |title=Unlocking Mysteries of the Parthenon |date=February 2008 |page=42 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine}}.</ref>

Some studies of the Acropolis, including of the Parthenon and its facade, have conjectured that many of its proportions approximate the [[golden ratio]].<ref>Van Mersbergen, Audrey M., "Rhetorical Prototypes in Architecture: Measuring the Acropolis", ''Philosophical Polemic Communication Quarterly'', Vol. 46, 1998.</ref> More recent studies have shown that the proportions of the Parthenon do not match the golden proportion.<ref>{{cite journal |author=George Markowsky |url=http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/teaching/maa/markowsky.pdf |title=Misconceptions about the Golden Ratio |journal=The College Mathematics Journal |volume=23 |issue=1 |date=January 1992 |access-date=4 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408200850/http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/teaching/maa/markowsky.pdf |archive-date=8 April 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Livio |first=Mario |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUARfgWRH14C |title=The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number |publisher=[[Random House|Broadway Books]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-7679-0816-3 |edition=First trade paperback |location=New York City |pages=74–75 |author-link=Mario Livio |orig-date=2002 |access-date=4 December 2018 |archive-date=13 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313121951/https://books.google.com/books?id=bUARfgWRH14C |url-status=live }}</ref>