Athens, the Acropolis, and the Parthenon
Attica's Chief Fortified Citadel from Construction to Destruction
The “Acropolis” or fortified “high place” was a predominant feature of Greek city-states, yet it is the Athens citadel, home of the famed Parthenon, that is the most famous. Dedicated to the goddess Athena, the Parthenon has been referred to as “…the most celebrated edifice, architecturally, in all history…” (J.E. Harry). The Acropolis in Athens, the capital city of Greece, has become one of the most iconic images of the ancient Mediterranean world.
The Acropolis and the Parthenon
Early settlement in Attica focused on the hill that would become the acropolis of the emerging city-state. While the marketplace (agora) was below the hills, a place of meeting for the Assembly of free men or citizens, the acropolis was the home of the patron god or goddess. In Athens this was Athena, whose hegemony over the city state followed a battle with her competitor, Poseidon. Both are honored with temples atop the high place.
The acropolis served as the last stage of defense. During the Dark Age, as Dorian invaders sought to conquer Attica, the Athenians defended their city-state from the top of the acropolis and successfully thwarted Dorian attempts at subjugation. It was said that on a clear day, an Athenian looking west could see the high place or acropolis at Corinth.
The acropolis also had a distinctly spiritual focus. Unlike the temples of Egypt and the ziggurats of Mesopotamia, Grecian temples were the homes of the gods. In Athens, the great Parthenon, built in both Doric and Ionic style, was the home of Athena. Her birth was depicted in exquisite statuary on the eastern section of the temple – the famous “Elgin Marbles” now displayed in London’s British Museum. An inner chamber in the Parthenon housed the treasury of Athens, guarded by Athena.
The Erechtheum, another temple, honors Poseidon. In addition, important governmental structures and lesser temples comprised the top of the acropolis which saw its last great rebuilding and renovation under Cimon and Pericles after the Persian Wars.
Destruction and Controversy
This ancient temple, perhaps one of the most famous in the ancient world, would ultimately serve as a Christian church dedicated to Mary and later, under Ottoman rule, as a Muslim mosque. A Venetian bombardment of Athens in 1687 ignited armaments that had been stored in the temple complex, destroying much of antiquity’s most recognizable symbol. Destruction, however, can be interpreted in many ways. The loss of marble statuary, notably during the Ottoman occupation by the British, remains a bitter source of conflict and debate.
The chief focus centers on the so-called Elgin Marbles, removed from the Parthenon by the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce. Taken to London, the artifacts eventually ended in the British Museum; the Greek government has attempted to recover them many times. The British, however, have asserted that the severe pollution problem in Athens today would harm the artifacts.
As the renovation of the acropolis continued in recent years, a climate-controlled museum was constructed by the Greek government specifically to display the Eglin Marbles, yet the British government continues to delay any negotiations for the return of an important part of Greek history.
Philo has written that Athens was to Greece what the pupil is to the eye. This “university city” during Roman times is still equated with the very best of what Ancient Greece represented. The acropolis and the Parthenon are vivid reminders of an enduring civilization that influenced Western Civilization and development in many ways.
Sources:
Joseph Edward Harry (Professor of Greek, University of Cincinnati, early 20th century), “Athens,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volume I, James Orr, General Editor, (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1939) p 319ff.
Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, and others, Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Author's notes from a visit to Athens, July 2008.
Acropolis in Athens Today
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