The Temple Of Athena Nike

The Temple of Athena Nike was designed by Kallikrates as part of the Parthenon out of marble. During its inception, the greatest Athenian architects and sculptures of the Classical period a play in its design. Followers built the temple as a way to worship the Gods of war and it stood as a symbol of the military and political strength of the Athenians. Athena was celebrated with the hopes of bringing victory. Athena is the virgin Goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature. She is daughter to Zeus but has no mother. At one point Zeus had a splitting headache and his head was split open with an axe only to have Athena emerge fully grown and glad in armor. Although it is the smallest structure on the Athenians acropolis its
beauty is not overlooked in any way. The temple is home to dozens of images of Nike in different activities.
Its style is that of amphiporo which means it has a portico at each end and an absence of columns on the sides. Four columns are located at both the east and the west facades. Although still standing today the temple has been through a lot during its stance. In the middle ages the Parthenon became a Byzantine, a Roman Catholic Church, an Ottoman conquest of Greece, and a mosque. The Christians then removed the large statute of Athena but added curved apse at the east end to house an altar. When the Ottomans were in control they added a tower to call Muslims to prayer. During the siege by the Venetians in 1687, the Parthenon was blown apart in the middle due to a rocket taking out the Ottoman’s ammunition stock. Whilst the Temple of Athena Nike survived such a past and restoration in 2012 it faces a new enemy. The marble of the temple is starting to decompose due to the corrosive emission from the factories and automobiles. Sadly, since these factors are not ceasing anytime soon, it is likely all that will be left of the Temple of Athena Nike for future generations will be pictures and ruins to
explore.
The Temple of Hera is one of the oldest monumental temples. While created in the Doric style, it was made of wood and mud brick and by the second century CE the temple was considered ancient. Although one of the original oak columns still stands, the rest were replaced by stone. Hera is the Supreme Goddess, Wife and Sister of Zeus, patron of marriage and childbirth. While she was known for her jealous tendencies she was fiercely protective of married women. The actual temple itself originates east west in a peripteral hexastyle with sixteen columns and divided into three chambers. It obtains its protection from a terrace wall and to this day is used as the site for the Olympic Torch lighting.
The Temple of Zeus Olympia is the first great monument and testament of the Classical period art and architecture.
Built by Libon of Ellis from 470BCE until 450BCE it was the original site of the Olympic Games. Although in ruins today at its height is was lavish with statutes filling both pediments and narrative relief adorning the six metopes. As common during the time it was built in the Doric style. It is a peripeteral hexastyle with 13 columns at the sides with an east west orientation. The columns measure 10.43 meters high and 2.25 meters in diameters and was built by local shell limestone. Zeus was the God of the sky, ruler of the Gods, and husband to Hera, father to Athena and many more much to Hera’s displeasure. He held domain over the rain which could be why he was so worshipped as without the rain you would not have anything to drink nor any food so he was crucial to the survival of the people. Ironically his weapon was that of a thunderbolt which he preferred to use again liars and oath breakers, but not himself of course, even though he was consistently unfaithful to Hera. The temple itself was never fully completed and in AD426 Theodosius II ordered it burnt and what was left of the temple was destroyed during earthquakes in AD551 and AD552. Although in ruins, the meaning and magnitude of the Temple is not lost on a
person.