THE TEMPLES OF ATHENS
I. GREEK TEMPLES
A Greek temple was not a place where people met to worship, and it
was never intended to hold a very large number of people. The
religious ceremonies were carried on in the great spaces outside the
temples, and sacrifices were offered on the altars which were always
in the open air. The temple was the dwelling-place of the god and
the treasury where the gifts brought by the worshippers were kept.
Greek temples varied in size, but they were all built on the same
general plan. The whole building was looked upon as the home of the
god, and so the chamber in which the statue was placed was the
central point, and all the other parts of the building were so
constructed that they harmonized with the main purpose of the temple.
Just as a Greek play had only one story in it and no other episodes
were allowed to distract the attention of the audience from the
working out of the plot, so a Greek temple expressed one thought and
nothing in the architecture was allowed to disturb it.
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The earliest form of temple was the shrine, an oblong building with a
portico, which had at first only two pillars in front, but which were
later extended into a row of pillars across the whole front of the
building. Then a portico was built at both ends of the temple, and
lastly, in some temples a row of columns was built all round the
building, with a double row in the portico at each end. Above the
portico was a triangular gable called the pediment, which was usually
filled with sculpture.
The Greeks used three kinds of columns in their buildings. The Doric
column was the simplest; it had no base and tapered very slightly up
to the capital which consisted of a thick slab of stone. The Doric
was the type most often used by the Greeks, and in its simplicity and
perfection of form it symbolized the finest Greek spirit. The Ionic
column stood on a base; it was more slender than the Doric, and the
capital consisted of two very graceful spirals. The Ionic was a
lighter type of column than the Doric and was used a great deal by
the Greeks in Asia Minor. A third type was introduced later, called
the Corinthian. The capitals of this column were richly carved in
the form of leaves, but the Greeks never liked it as much as the
simpler and more graceful types, and it was not very much used until
Roman times. All the columns were fluted.
The Greeks never used ornament for the sake of ornament. The column
was used as a support and ornament was felt to be entirely out of
place on it, but the decoration on the capital served a purpose. As
the eye followed the fluting upwards to where {278} the vertical line
met the horizontal, the simple decoration of the capital served to
make the transition from one line to the other less abrupt. In Greek
architecture no part of a building that bore any strain was
ornamented, and wherever ornament was used it was always in harmony
with the general purposes of the building.
These were the main characteristics of Greek temples. Hie greatest
Athenian temples were on the Acropolis, the ancient citadel of
Athens, which had been transformed by Pericles into a dwelling-place
for Athena.
II. THE ACROPOLIS IN THE TIME OF PERICLES
The fittest place for a temple or altar was some site visible
from afar, and untrodden by foot of man, since it was a glad
thing for the worshipper to lift up his eyes afar off and offer
up his prayer.
Socrates.[1]
The Acropolis was approached by a flight of steps leading to the
Propylaea or Entrance Porch. Six great Doric columns stood at the
entrance, and opening out to right and left of the main hall were
other porticoes, the walls of which were decorated with paintings
showing the deeds of ancient heroes. The roof was of white marble,
and standing at this entrance one could catch a glimpse of the sea in
the distance. Tradition held that it was on this spot that Aegeus
stood to watch for the ship that should being back Theseus, and that
it was from {279} this high rock that he cast himself down in despair
when he saw the ship returning with black sails, a sign, as he
thought, that his son was dead.
To the right of the Propylaea, in the south-west corner of the
Acropolis, was the little temple of Athena Nike, Athena of Victory.
In this temple the goddess herself represented Victory, so she had no
wings, which were always given by the Greeks to statues of Victory,
and the temple came to be known as that of the Wingless Victory. A
wonderful view is to be had from this temple, and the site for it was
chosen, because from where it stands Salamis is in sight, and it was
to be forever a thank-offering to Athena for the victory gained there
over the barbarian foe.
Passing through the Propylaea, one came out upon the Acropolis, where
rising up in majesty was the great bronze statue of Athena Promachos,
Athena the Warrior Queen, Foremost in Fight, who went out to war with
the armies of Athens and brought them home victorious. Pheidias, the
great Athenian sculptor who had made the image of Zeus in the temple
at Olympia, had made this statue, using for it the bronze which had
been found amongst the Persian spoils after the battle of Marathon.
The goddess stood upright, clad in armour and holding a spear in her
hand. The tip of this spear was gilded, and it was said that sailors
as they drew near the land could see it gleaming in the sunshine, and
when they saw it they knew that home was near.
A little further, on the north side of the Acropolis, was the
Erechtheum, called after the mythical {280} King of Athens,
Erechtheus. It was a very beautiful temple, and one of the porches
has always been known as the Porch of the Maidens, because instead of
being supported by columns, it is supported by the figures of six
maidens. When the figure of a woman is used for this purpose, it is
called in architecture a Caryatid.
A temple to Athena had always stood on this spot since memory began,
and it was hallowed by all kinds of associations. Near the temple
was the sacred olive tree of Athena, and within its walls was the old
and most holy wooden statue of Athena, said to have dropped from
heaven. It was in this temple that the goddess was worshipped in a
more intimate way, for this was Athena Polias, the Guardian of the
City and the Home. It was for this ancient wooden statue that
specially chosen Athenian maidens wove the beautiful robe called the
peplos, which was carried at the time of the festival held every four
years to the temple and presented to the goddess.
[Illustration: THE PARTHENON, 5th Century B.C.]
But greater than all else on the Acropolis was the Parthenon, created
by Ictinus the architect, and Pheidias the sculptor. This most
beautiful Greek temple in the world stood on the south side of the
Acropolis. It was a Doric building surrounded by forty-six great
pillars, and to the Athenian this building was the very soul of
Athens. Elsewhere on the Acropolis it was Athena the goddess who was
worshipped: Athena the Warrior, Athena the Guardian of the City, and
in one place, though without a temple, Athena the Inspirer of all
{281} Arts and Crafts. But here in the Parthenon Athena was more
than the goddess, she symbolized Athens itself, all the achievements
of Athens in war and peace, and the spirit that guided the Athenians.
The sculpture on the east pediment represented the birth of Athena.
It was the old Homeric poem interpreted in stone.
Her did Zeus the counsellor himself beget from his holy head, all
armed for war in shining golden mail, while in awe did the other
gods behold it. Quickly did the goddess leap from the immortal
head, and stood before Zeus, shaking her sharp spear, and high
Olympus trembled in dread beneath the strength of the grey-eyed
Maiden, while Earth rang terribly around, and the sea was boiling
with dark waves, and suddenly brake forth the foam. Yes, and the
glorious son of Hyperion checked for long his swift steeds, till
the maiden took from her immortal shoulders her divine armour,
even Pallas Athena; and Zeus the counsellor rejoiced.[2]
Zeus rejoiced not only because Athena was born, but because she
symbolized the birth of Athens; as she sprang from the head of Zeus
arrayed in all the symbols of power, so surely was it the will of the
gods that Athens should be great and powerful.
The sculpture on the west pediment represented the contest of Athena
with Poseidon for the possession of Athens. Poseidon represented
material prosperity. His gift to Athens was the sea, over which
sailed her ships, colonizing and trading and bringing wealth to the
state. But Athens was not {282} to be ruled by Poseidon; she was to
account the things of the mind and spirit of greater value than those
of material prosperity, and the victory was given to Athena.
The pediments symbolized the will of the gods for Athens. All round
the building under the cornice were smaller groups of sculptures
called metopes, and these represented in stone the way in which
Athens had fulfilled the will of the gods for her. First, there were
battles between gods and giants, the conflict between order and
disorder, and in every case order had triumphed; then there followed
battles between the ancient heroes of legend and tradition and all
kinds of evil forces in nature, and in these battles Theseus, the
hero-king, fought for Athens and prevailed.
The Parthenon was built after the Persians had been driven out of
Greece. The Greeks called all who were not of Greek blood
Barbarians, and they believed that it was the will of the gods that
in every conflict between Greek and Barbarian, the Greek should in
the end prevail. The Greek of the fifth century B.C. thought of all
history as the working out of the great drama of the victory of the
Greek spirit over that of the Barbarian, and the records of this
drama are seen in political history in the development of the
Athenian Empire, in literature, in the history of Herodotus, and in
art in the building of the Parthenon.
But the Parthenon symbolized more than the history of Athens, it was
also the symbol of her religious life. On the outer wall, under the
colonnade, {283} was the great frieze symbolizing the Panathenaic
procession, that great procession which every four years wound its
way up to the Acropolis. This was the festival of Athena, and at the
east end of the building was a group of gods and goddesses waiting
for her coming. They were waiting for her in her own city, where she
would take the foremost place. In the solemn procession all classes
of Athenians were represented: noble maidens, bearing baskets with
offerings for the sacrifice; youths with offerings, and youths on
horseback; chariots; grave elders and priests; and cattle for the
sacrifice. Aliens, too, were there, for it was not only Athens that
was symbolized, but the Athenian Empire; symbol of what Athens hoped
would be a united Greece. It is very difficult to distinguish
between Athenian patriotism and religion. To the Athenian, the city
was Athena, and Athena the city, and the Parthenon was the crown of
both.
The Parthenon was entered by the eastern porch. The light inside was
dim, but as the eye grew accustomed to the dimness, the statue of
Athena slowly became clearly visible. There she stood, a great
figure nearly forty feet high. She was clad in a sleeveless garment
that reached to her feet, bracelets in the form of serpents were on
her arms, the aegis with the head of Medusa covered her breast. In
her right hand the goddess bore an image of Victory, and her left
hand rested on a shield, inside of which was coiled a snake. The
statue was made of gold and ivory, and it was to the Athenians the
symbol of all that was best in the Athenian ideals. {284} Their
passionate desire for freedom, their unfaltering search for truth,
their great love of beauty were all personified for them in the calm
and queenly figure of her whose battles were won, of Athena
Parthenos. Having offered their sacrifices outside, they entered her
temple with awe, believing that "he who enters the incense-filled
temple must be holy; and holiness is to have a pure mind."[3]
III. LATER HISTORY OF THE ACROPOLIS
Such was the Acropolis of the fifth century B.C. But now the statues
and the altars have disappeared, the columns are broken, and the
temples stand in ruins. Is it just the lapse of time that has
wrought such destruction on those matchless buildings? When Plutarch
saw them, they had been standing for about five hundred years, and he
said that there was still a bloom of newness upon them that seemed to
preserve them from the touch of time, as if the hand that had wrought
such buildings gave them the spirit of eternal youth.
At the beginning of the fifth century A.D. Alaric the Goth invaded
Greece, but he left Athens undisturbed. The great statue of Athena
Promachos was still standing, and the story was told later that as
the barbarian chieftain approached the Acropolis, the goddess Athena
appeared before him, clad in mail, with her spear outstretched in
defence of her city. He was so much awed by the {285} vision that he
withdrew and troubled Athens no more, and he sent messengers to the
Roman rulers of the city and made peace with them.
Not long after, an edict was passed ordering all pagan temples in the
Roman Empire, for Greece then formed part of it, to be closed or else
converted into Christian churches, and from that time onwards nothing
has been heard of the statue of Athena Parthenos, though a small copy
of it was found later. The Parthenon itself was changed into a
Christian church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and it remained so
until Athens was captured by the Turks in 1458. They changed the
Christian church into a Turkish mosque and built a minaret at one
corner. No further changes took place until the end of the
seventeenth century, when during a war of the Turks with Venice, the
Venetians were bombarding the Acropolis. The Venetians were told
that powder was being stored in the Acropolis, and for several days
they directed their fire against it. At first there was no result,
even the guns, it was said, refusing to do such deadly work on so
glorious a building. But at length a shell was thrown into it, the
powder exploded, the roof crashed in and a part of the walls
collapsed.
The Parthenon was nothing but a ruin, and for more than a hundred
years the sculptures of Pheidias lay neglected on the ground, broken
and defaced. But at the beginning of the nineteenth century the
attention of Lord Elgin, who was British Ambassador at
Constantinople, was called to the danger that threatened them from
the ignorance and {286} indifference of the Turks and the
unscrupulousness of travellers and visitors, who often defaced and
carried off pieces of sculpture, and he made arrangements by which
the British Government was allowed to buy the Parthenon sculptures
and remove them to the British Museum.
Yet in spite of the ruin, the destruction and the loss, what is still
left of the ancient temples and statues is of such beauty, that those
who look upon it believe with the Greek poet that it will "live as a
song for all who love music, living and yet to be, as long as earth
or sun remain."
[1] Xenophon: _Memorabilia_.
[2] Homeric Hymn to Athena.
[3] Author Unknown: From _Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology_,
translated by J. W. Mackail.
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