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Ideas of the Parthenon The Greek people of the 5th century BC created a
culture that was deeply rooted in philosophy and the arts. Their endless search
for their place in the grand scheme of the universe and in nature around them
influenced everything in their lives especially their love of the arts. Their
drama, sculpture, and even architecture are all shining examples of the ideas
that were so dominant in the minds of the Greek people.
What could be considered
the crown jewel of Greek architecture, the Parthenon, is one such of these
examples. It brings into form the three principal ideas of humanism,
rationalism, and idealism of the 5th century Greek people through not only its
structure, but its ornamentation and sculpture as well.
The basis of humanism
can be summed up in the words of Protagoras, “Man is the measure of all things.”
Humanism is the idea that human beings are the yardstick by with to measure all
things in the universe, including Greek gods and goddesses. The Parthenon stands
for this very idea through the fact that it is a human organization of space.
It
brings an understandable order into a chaotic space that would otherwise be
incomprehensible to a human being. It allows a human to see the space and
recognize it as something that is real.
It also consists of repeated patterns
and distance intervals throughout its structure that add to this order. The
metopes, for example, are set in an alternating pattern with the triglyphs
around the entire building at distinct intervals bringing a clear order to the
entablature of the Parthenon.
The columns that support the Parthenon are also
placed in certain distance intervals from each other and coincide with the
pattern formed by the metopes and triglyphs. These columns, however, are not in
a perfect pattern of equal distances around the entire Parthenon. The columns on
either side of the doorway to the Parthenon are placed a little farther apart
than the rest to show a clear entrance to the building.
Also the corner columns
of the building are positioned slightly closer to their neighboring columns in
order to compensate for the human eye. Without this compensation the columns
would give the illusion of leaning outward and being farther apart than the rest
of the columns because of the distortion of such a large structure to the human
eye. The stylobate that the columns rest on is also built to allow for this
optical illusion of the human eye.
It has a gentle arch to it that prevent the
human eye from believing the building to be concave or sagging toward the
middle. This effect, known as entasis, can be seen throughout the Parthenon from
the curve of the stylobate and entablature to the slight bulging of the columns
that gives the impression of bearing the load of the structure.
Another example
of humanism in the Parthenon can be seen in it ornamentation and sculpture. The
Parthenon is a temple to the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and has many references
to her though its decorative art work.
For example, the East pediment of the
Parthenon depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. All of the figures
in the pediment are in a human form, including the gods and goddesses and Athena
herself.
This is a way of bringing the gods down to a level that can be
recognized and understood by humans who worship them. This is true of all the
Greek statues of gods and goddesses such as the gold and ivory statue of the
goddess Athena that stood in the Parthenon itself. Another idea of the 5th
century Greek people that can be recognized in the Parthenon is that of
rationalism.
Rationalism is the idea of eternal principles or basic truths that
are inherent in the universe and in the human mind. An example is that of
Pythagoras’ right triangle theory that a˛+b˛=c˛, which cannot be total proven
but yet has never been disproved either. This same theory can be seen in the
Parthenon through its rectangular shape which, if cut in half diagonally, would
be two right triangles.
As it is plain to see, rationalism had a great hand in
the very shape of the Parthenon as well as many other aspects. One of these
other aspects has to do with the size of one part of the Parthenon in proportion
to the size of another part. The proportion or ratio of 9:4 has been recognized
and reoccurs throughout the building in many different instances. For example,
when the length of the Parthenon at the stylobate of 228 feet is compared to the
width at the stylobate of 104 feet the resulting ratio is 9:4.
This ratio can
also be seen when you compare the distance from the center of one column to the
center of the neighboring column to the diameter of the column at its base and
in the distance of that diameter to the width of the triglyph on the
entablature.
Moving on from the Parthenon’s structure to the statues, pediments
and friezes that decorate this temple to Athena, one can notice even more
effects of the idea of rationalism. In the 5th century BC, a sculptor by the
name of Polyclitus very successfully attempted to apply a canon, or body of
rules, to the proportions of the human body through sculpture.
Although
Polyclitus didn’t set his body of rules in stone, so to speak, he started an
idea of rationalism that applied to the ratios of the human body. The statue of
the goddess Athena that resides in the Parthenon is one such sculpture that was
created with a similar body of rules in mind.
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