Ancient civilization was marked with different architectural accomplishments that set them apart from them the rest of the world. Each civilization was unique in itself and expressed the uniqueness in different forms of art and architecture. Most inherently, the depictions of various architectural designs acted as identifiers for various cultures, religions, socioeconomic and political bearings of the different societies. Therefore, civilizations such as the French, Romans, Greek, Italians, Persians, and even the Middle East embraced the need to express their respective cultures through their architectural designs which represented their greatness in the history of human civilization (Psarra 2004, p. 77). Since the dawn of antiquity, the concept of designing and constructing buildings have continued to be associated with art more than anything else. It is imperative to realize that most the building was designed with aesthetics in mind and which tended to maximize the functionality of those particular designs.
The current paper will, therefore, focus on comparing and contrasting two buildings of the same typology and from the same era and culture that occurred in history.
The Parthenon
Located in the middle of the Athenian Acropolis, the Parthenon represents one of the most ancient forms of Greek civilization and is a former temple that was exclusively dedicated to the goddess Athena who was unanimously accepted by the Athenians as the people’s patron. The construction of the Parthenon in 477 BC when the Athenian Empire was undergoing a period of political dominance. The Parthenon was completed in 438 BC and decorations beginning in 432 BC (Archibald et al. 2014, p. 11). The Parthenon, therefore, remains the most significant surviving building from the era of classical Greece and is highly rated at the top of the Doric order. Additionally, the Parthenon has exquisite decorative sculptures that are considered powerful manifestations of Medieval Greek art and a symbol of ancient Greece (Psarra 2004, p. 79).
The Parthenon also represents ancient democracy and civilization as one of the all-time cultural identifiers to the Athenians. Correspondingly, the Athenians who constructed the building dedicated the temple as a symbol of celebrations over the Persians who had waged war with the Greeks. Currently, plans are underway to fast-track a programme that will be dedicated to the reconstruction and reinforcing portions of the ruined structure. The Parthenon is however believed to have been constructed on the site of another temple known as the Temple of Athena which had been destroyed during the Persian invasion in 480 BC (Archibald et al. 2014, p. 18). The Parthenon was, therefore, a replacement that was in itself another symbol of archaeoastronomy aligned to the Hyades cluster of stars. Additionally, it served a more practical functionality when it acted as the city of Athens treasury headquarters and subsequently the center for administrative activities for the Athenian empire. Ultimately after undergoing a series of historically significant transitions, it was converted to a Christian church in dedication to the Virgin Mary in the later decade of the 6th century AD. Subsequently, later wars of conquest between the Athenian and the Ottoman Empire led to its conversion as a mosque which would eventually suffer extensive damage when it was bombed by the Venetian bombardment unit leading to the destruction of sculptures and parts of the Parthenon (Archibald et al. 2014, p. 27).
Architectural Design of the Parthenon
The design of the Parthenon is embedded the concept of the numerous series of peripteral octastyle temples which featured architectural structures standing on platforms or stylobates. In commonality with various other Greek temples constructed in the same period, the Parthenon had gigantic columnar pillars which contained entablatures. In the case of the Parthenon, it had eight cylindrical pillars at its either end with colonnades surrounding the inner masonry structures while the cellar of the building was portioned in two distinctive compartments with either end of the triangular design completing the gable which had originally contained sculpted figures (Psarra 2004, p. 81). The columns consisted of the Doric order that was easily recognizable for their simple spherical capitals found at the top of the columns that contained fluted shafts without structural bases. The Doric orders emerged as the simplest architectural representation with intricate details. Imperatively, the entablatures had pictorial details which were separated by the architectural triglyphs belonging to the Doric order (Pulatsu et al. 2017, p. 418). Figure 1 below shows the depiction of the Doric order.
Figure 1: A pictorial illustration of the Doric order Measurements of the Parthenon
The dimensions of the Parthenon are 69.5 by 30.9m. The cellar was 29.8m long by 19.2m. On the exterior side, the building had columnar pillars at the corners measuring 1.9m in diameter and 10.4m in height. The corner columns were perceived as slightly larger than other columns in diameter. In a similar regard, the Parthenon had 46 external columns and 23 internal columns with each containing 20 concave-shaped shafts that were carved into the column form. Invariably, the Parthenon had its roof covered with big overlapping marble tiles.
The reputation of the Parthenon
The largely imposing temple was regarded as the greatest piece of Greek architecture as it lent considerable credibility to the assertions that Athens was the center of human civilization. The popularity of the perfect Dori temple in Athens made the royal dynasties want to associate with it due to its antiquity, uniqueness and the refinements that were contained in it. The outstanding stature of the Parthenon can also be seen in the curvature of the stylobates which have slight swellings at the center of the columns (Peters.and Olabode 2018, p.21). For stability, the building had standing columns to support the upper structures and the roofing and adopted a classical style with slightly in-leaning columnar pillars which had similar heights. The use of curves which tend to move outwards is intersected by converging lines to create the illusion that the ceiling and the floor of the temple appeared to be giving prominence to the surrounding angles. The role of the curves was therefore meant to enliven an illusion of inert mass in the scenario where the building had no curves. Figure 2 below shows the detailed structure of the two orders used.
Figure 2: Detailed structure of the three architectural orders used in the construction of the Parthenon (Psarra 2004, p. 83).
Olympian Zeus, Athens
Located at the center of the center of the Greek capital, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was once a majestically imposing structure that was initially constructed and completed after a prolonged period of time of 638 years, a period marked by political and cultural uncertainties in Athens. As popularly believed to be a dedication to the Olympian gods, the temple was not in fact built in their honor but to fulfill political motives of the ruling dynasties of their time (Cohen 2018, p. 85). The construction of the temple had begun in 6th century BC during the Athenian rule and was left incomplete until the reign of the Roman Empire the 2nd century AD. In close similarity with other temples that bore more than a political and religious significance, the Olympian Zeus had a total of 104 gigantic columnar pillars and remains the largest temple in the ancient Greece which also housed the largest cultic statues during the ancient period (Peters.and Olabode 2018, p.16).
Though towering and spectacularly designed, the temple is believed to have undergone a limited period of success after suffering a prolonged state of dereliction after invasions during the 3rd century AD after its completion. The political instability marked by endless conquests left the building in a great state of disrepair and subsequent ruins soon after. Most importantly, the temple's ruin was affected by the extensive quarrying of building materials for other similar projects within Athens. Regardless of calamitous past, the building still remains to date though survived by 16 imposing original gigantic columns (Cohen 2018, p. 87). It also currently serves as an archeological site. Figure 3 below shows the structure of the Olympic Zeus which was later changed to the Corinthian order.
Figure 3: Structure of the Olympic Zeus showing the Corinthian order Layout & Dimensions
One of the most outstanding features of the Zeus similar to its predecessors is the colossal amount of space designated for its construction, sitting on an area of 250x130m and surrounded by low poros walls reinforced with huge columns of Corinthian order occurring at similar intervals along the interior section. The structure had a propylon gate made of Hymettan marble strategically placed in the northwest corner of the building’s walls (Luigitucci 2015, p.241). The center of the structure was decorated with expansive marble covering an estimated area of 110.35x43.68m.
The columns of the Corinthian order were characteristically tall at 17.25m with a diameter of 1.7m (Cohen 2018, p. 87). Additionally, the columns were reinforced with 20 flutes with the longer cross-section containing 20 columns each while the shorter side had 8 columns also referred to as the dipteral octastyle. Invariably, there was a provision of double rows occurring along the length and three rows occurring at each shorter side. The original 104 columns were capped with decorative ornaments of Corinthian capitals carved from marble. Also, the cella was decorated with gigantic statues of the Zeus and Hadrian, both of whom shared similar mythological status among the Athenians (Peters.and Olabode 2018, p.21).
Summary of Similarities
The Parthenon and the Olympic Zeus share a lot of commonalities both in structure and design besides sharing similar cultural and political circumstances typical of the ancient Athenian kingdom. Both the temples were initially designed on the Doric order for the gigantic columns which explains the massive pillars and elegant statues. Interestingly, both massive temples were designed and constructed by the same architect called the sculptor of Pheidias who presided over the ground laying of the Parthenon and later built the statue of the Zeus decorating the inner side of the monument (Cohen 2018, p. 93). Most importantly, the similarities of the Parthenon and Olympian Zeus is the elegance depicted in gigantic columns, bright paintings, and decorative statues despite being dedicated to different entities. Both also had marble decorations on the floor and other interior parts of the monuments. Imperatively, both temples share religious significance as the served different functionalities over time while eventually undergoing politically instigated (Sabatini 2006 p.31).
Summary of Differences
Structurally, the Olympic Zeus was entirely made of limestone coated in white stucco accentuated with marble tiles and was built before the Parthenon and was predominantly modeled on the concept of the Doric order which was later changed to the thinner Corinthian order. Meanwhile, the Parthenon replaced an older model that had been destroyed by the Persians and is designed as an octostyle peripteral temple of the Doric order which was reinforced with elements Ionic architectural designs (Luigitucci 2015, p.241). Contrastingly, the primary idea behind the temple of Zeus was not entirely focused on honoring a god but also represent justice as depicted by the statues that depicted warring scenes for the restoration of order and justice. Meanwhile, the temple of Parthenon was a religious center dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It can, therefore, be deduced that both buildings served different purposes
Conclusion
Both the temple of Parthenon and the Olympian Zeus highlight the zenith of architectural accomplishments never witnessed before in the ancient world or art. Their creative designs embodied cultural, social and political persuasions of the communities during the medieval period characterized by the emergence of classism. It is the same period that the society witnessed rampant artistic influences to mark significant architectural statements to the world. Other than housing ornaments of sacrilege, the ancient temples also served certain specific purposes in the interest of the royal authorities or the public and involve the input of several artistic personalities for their decorative craftsmanship. In furtherance, most of the buildings had their interiors and exteriors advertently depicted artistic finesse in form of painting and use of sculptures that were predominantly used in cathedrals which also entailed the incorporation of mosaics. Lastly, the buildings typically were inseparable from there development of visual arts thus stimulating various art movements such as classicism which saw different societies competing for dominance and superiority in design, construction, and maintenance of architectural masterpiece which in themselves represented different societal advancements towards civilization.
References
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Pulatsu, B., Sarhosis, V., Bretas, E.M., Nikitas, N. and Lourenço, P.B., 2017. Non-linear static behaviour of ancient free-standing stone columns. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Structures and Buildings, 170(6), pp.406-418.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: A pictorial illustration of the Doric order Measurements of the Parthenon
Appendix 2: Detailed structure of the three architectural orders used in the construction of the Parthenon.
Appendix 3: Structure of the Olympic Zeus showing the Corinthian order Layout & Dimensions
