Unlocking Mysteries of the Parthenon

Smithsonian Magazine ^ | Feb. 2009 | Evan Hadingham

[wildbill]

During the past 2,500 years, the Parthenon—the apotheosis of ancient Greek architecture—has been rocked by earthquakes, set on fire, shattered by exploding gunpowder, looted for its stunning sculptures and defaced by misguided preservation efforts. Amazingly, the ancient Athenians built the Parthenon in just eight or nine years. Repairing it is taking a bit longer.

[wildbill]

Ever wondered how the ancient Greeks built a beautifully proportioned and decorated temple that became an icon of Western civilization? This article reveals a lot of their secrets which were discovered during the ongoing restoration project. Simply amazing stuff.

[martin_fierro]

"My Life Is In Ruins" PING

[llevrok]

To me, one of the most fascinating design elements the Greeks used was entasis. (had been used by other great builders e.g Chinese)

The columns are slightly convex at the center top third. That makes the columns look visually straight when viewed from a distance (as opposed to looking like they were tipping over backwards at the top).

[Rinnwald]

To me, one of the most fascinating design elements the Greeks used was entasis.

And we didn't know how stonemasons applied the convex curves, with radii hundreds of feet long, to columns 34 feet high until recently. Scaled curve guides were found engraved in stone with horizontal distances ticked off for each column section against greatly foreshortened vertical distances.

[longtermmemmory]

the secret? there are no straight lines by design. They are made to look straight.

[brivette]

clever remark...!

[yarddog]

One thing which I think is interesting is they did not use the elaborate Corinthian Capitals on the columns nor even the simpler but graceful Ionian.

They used the basic simple Doric capitals and they look much better than it would have with the more ornate ones.

[05 Mustang GT Rocks]

I caught the line about the conductor the second time around I watched the movie. The guy that stands in front of the people and waves his stick. Except it wasn’t a stick that he was waving.

[05 Mustang GT Rocks]

Thanks for the very interesting article, wildbill! I love the Acropolis and the Parthenon. It is such e beauty. One thing that somehow did not get mentioned in the article, is that the Turks did a lot of damage to the building themselves, using it for target practice. PC, I guess.

[05 Mustang GT Rocks]

A beauty

[Standing Wolf]

Thanks for the very interesting article, wildbill!

I second that!

[Jacquerie]

During a Venetian attack on Athens in 1687, a cannonball set off the Turkish munitions, . . .

Stinkin' muzzies. Has that evil excuse of a dirtbag civilization actually CREATED anything these past five hundred years?

[wildbill]

That isn’t the secret. Everyone has known that for years.

The secret that’s given in the article is the details on how they were able to do it with relatively primitive tools to sculpt the lines and set the stones with such precision.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks wildbill. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Amazingly, the ancient Athenians built the Parthenon in just eight or nine years. Repairing it is taking a bit longer.

---

Union labor?

[SunkenCiv]

There’s a segment about the Parthenon in this series.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/engineering-an-empire/

[Jimmy Valentine]

The bulk of the temple was designed by Phidias, who also did the statue of Zeus. John Romer in his 7 wonders of the world does a wonderful job of laying out the temple design and what a marvelous architecht Phidias was.

[null and void]

Has that evil excuse of a dirtbag civilization actually CREATED anything these past five hundred years?

The suicide vest.