Acropolis
By: Kevin • Essay • 606 Words • November 22, 2009 • 1,075 Views
Essay title: Acropolis
Acropolis
Gina Albitres
Art 3
Prof. O’ Clarke
April 29, 2007
This paper will be discuss Acropolis and how it has been
considered a educational and spiritual monument. It will describe
how the Pantheon and other buildings were built with such
religious and culture beliefs. The term Acropolis is defined as a
upper city and many of the city states of ancient Greece that are
built around an acropolis where the inhabitants can go as a place
of refuge in times of invasion. The Pantheon and additional major
buildings on the Acropolis were constructed by Pericles in the
fifth century BC.
In the Mycenaean Age, the Acropolis was called “The Old
Temple,” and was dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the spring,
and Athena, goddess of the olive-tree. The Acropolis was one of
many Mycenaean citadels that were built for the first time in
Neolithic age. The Acropolis rock is part of a Late Cretaceous
limestone edge that cuts all the way through the Attica plateau in
the northeast to the southwest alliance and includes the Pnyx,
the hill of the Nymphs, Likavitos hill, and the Philopappos hill.
The temple was designed by Greek architects Ictinus and
Callicrates. The Pantheon was built in the most powerful and
simple of form with Doric order, with eight columns along each
end and seventeen columns alongside each other. Through
careful modifications to the design and location of the
Pantheon’s columns and floor platform, the architects
counteracted optical delusions that could have distorted the
building’s exterior from a distance. Without such adjustments,
the platform might seem to sag in the middle, for example, and
the columns might appear to have a slight arch in profile. A
central structure with two chambers once housed a statue of
Athena made of ivory and gold that was perhaps 33 feet tall.
One of the finest sculptors named Phidias, supervised the
design and the execution of the sculpture on the Parthenon,
which was completed in 432 B.C. Designs were carved inside of
the pediments. They depicted legendary battles fought by the
Greeks, and Athena’s birth.
The