Parthenon Analysis

The Parthenon is the most important and perfectly formed temple on the acropolis. It is dedicated to Athena, and held an enormous cult image of her and was built as a temple of worship. It was regarded as an enduring symbol which holds high points of Greek art. The cost of the Parthenon cannot be translated into a modern equivalent amount of money but in the 5th century it cost them 469 silver talents. The Parthenon was made of local stone. Stone was denser, white, a finer stone but also much heavier. Blocks of stone were cut at the quarry using wooden wedges, hammers and chisel pulleys. The parthenon's main function was the house the statue of Athena that was create in 438 BC. The cella held the statue of Athena which meant it was an unusually
Each metope of the exterior doric frieze of the temple was carefully carved and decorated. From west to north each side of the Parthenon had its own story to tell, each metope depicted a battle. On the west of the temple it is difficult to determine the gender of the figures due to the damage. However we do know that this metope tells the story of the battle between the greek and the orientals. The north tells the story of the battle between the Greeks versus the Trojans. Half of the section of the north is ruined but we are able to make out Nyx descending on her horse and men debarking from a ship, the scene placed on the north takes place at the end of the battle. On the east we can see the battle between the gods and the giants. Enough remains to be able to determine the general theme where each metope includes at least one god. There is no certainty around the significance here, however it is apparent that Athena is infact not the focus. On the South side of the Parthenon we are shown the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths. It clearly shows fighting men and in some cases men carrying off women. There is a much greater mix among the metopes than in the frieze or pediments. This is because some of the metopes were sculpted much earlier on for the version of the Parthenon that was never built, known today as the pre-parthenon. The diversity is greater on the south and west and share some extremely effective sculptures including some from the Temple of Zeus. The north and east metopes are more closely related to each other. They share a more planned out design when compared to the west or