What do caryatids represent?

What do caryatids represent?

According to a story related by the 1st-century-bc Roman architectural writer Vitruvius, caryatids represented the women of Caryae, who were doomed to hard labour because the town sided with the Persians in 480 bc during their second invasion of Greece.

Are caryatids always female?

In architecture, a caryatid (or caryatid) is a statue, often female, serving as a support for a load. It makes it possible to replace with nobility, style, and creativity columns, pilasters (pillars engaged in a wall) or any other architectural element.

What was the Parthenon used for?

Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon served a practical purpose as the city treasury. For a time, it served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later on became the Athenian Empire. In the final decade of the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

What was important about the Erechtheion location?

For many years, the accepted scholarly opinion has been that the Erechtheion fulfilled a triplicate purpose in its interior design: to “replace the Old Temple [of Athena], to house the old image, and to unite in an organized building several shrines and places of religious significance.”

What is the general message of all the Parthenon’s sculpted metopes?

While the narrative differs from side to side, the metopes are bound thematically by a common theme: the triumph of civilization over barbarism, a theme dear to the hearts of the Athenians who were not shy to believe themselves and their achievements as superior to other cultures of their time.

What is a metope in Greek?

In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order.

What is the Caryatids of the Porch of the Maidens?

On the south side of the Erechtheion is The Porch of the Caryatids, or, The Porch of the Maidens, where the most sacred relic of Athens was housed, the Palladium, a olive wood effigy of the Goddess Pallas Athena, said not to have been made by human hand, but to have miraculously fallen from heaven.

Why is the Parthenon frieze important?

The Parthenon friezes meant to convey a Panathenaic procession, the victory of the Athenians at Marathon, the power of Athens as a city-state, and the piety of its citizens. The Parthenon is one of the most iconic buildings in the Ancient World.

Is the Parthenon one of the 7 Wonders?

I don’t know much about Byzantine Athens, but the Parthenon was certainly an impressive architectural feat in antiquity—in fact, it was built by the same architect who sculpted the Olympian Zeus, which is one of the Seven Wonders (Phidias – Wikipedia ).

What is unusual about the Erechtheion?

The Erechtheion is often described as ‘unusual’ or ‘complex’ and this is because of its multifaceted purpose. The site is sacred ground and said to be the burial place of two important characters.

What was the purpose of the Propylaea?

The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis commissioned by the Athenian leader Pericles in order to rebuild the Acropolis at the conclusion of the Persian Wars.

What mythological battle is depicted in the metopes of the Parthenon What fight with the people of Athens do they probably refer to?

The North metopes depict the Athenians at war with the Trojans, another powerful Greek city. They are a scene from the Trojan War, most likely the famous sacking of Troy. All together, the metopes from the four sides of the Parthenon create a story of the triumph of reason and order.

What is the significance of the Erechtheum?

Erechtheum, ionic temple of Athena, built during 421–405 bc on the Acropolis at Athens, famous largely for its complexity and for the exquisite perfection of its details.

Why is the temple of the Erechtheion so low?

The very ground on which the temple was built is a particular feature of the Erechtheion. Thanks to the inclination of the rock in which it was built, the northern part of the temple is three meters lower than the southern part. The inner area of ​​the temple does have a fairly defined structure.

What was the purpose of the Erechtheion of Athens?

In antiquity it fulfilled religious functions and, although the Partenón was the most important building of the city, the Erechtheion was the structure with greater religious value. It was built on the Athenian Acropolis around 410 BC. C., in the golden age of the Greek city.

Why did it take so long to build the Erechtheus temple?

The main reason why this temple took so long to build was the war between Athens and Sparta. According to historical records, it is estimated that the construction could have been completed in the year 406 a. C. This temple was named in honor of the mythical god Erechtheus, who according to Greek mythology was king of Athens.