Ancient wonders of the world. Athenian Acropolis - a monument of ancient architecture

The Athenian Acropolis, which is a 156-meter high rocky hill with a gentle summit (approx. 300 m long and 170 m wide), is the site of the oldest settlement in Attica. In the Mycenaean period (15-13 centuries BC) it was a fortified royal residence. In the 7-6 centuries. BC e. a lot of construction was underway on the Acropolis. Under the tyrant Pisistratus (560-527), a temple of the goddess Athena Hecatompedon was built on the site of the royal palace (that is, the temple is one hundred steps long; fragments of pediment sculptures have been preserved, the foundation has been revealed). In 480, during the Greco-Persian wars, the temples of the Acropolis were destroyed by the Persians. The inhabitants of Athens took an oath to restore the shrines only after the expulsion of the enemies from Hellas. In 447, on the initiative of Pericles, new construction began on the Acropolis; the management of all work was entrusted famous sculptor Phidias, who, apparently, was the author of the artistic program that formed the basis of the entire complex, its architectural and sculptural appearance.

The sacred road, along which the procession of the Athenians moved from the agora to the temple of the patron goddess during the main holiday of the Great Panathenaeus, leads to the Propylaea, which has 5 passages and in ancient times was flanked by two equestrian statues of the Dioscuri. In the left, protruding wing, the Pinakothek was located (a collection of pinak paintings, brought as a gift to the goddess Athena), in the right there was a repository of manuscripts and a room for the gatekeeper and watchmen. To the right of the Propylaea, on the pyrgos (ledge of a fortified rock), there is a small, light and graceful temple of the Ionic order, dedicated to Athena Nike, known as the temple of Nika Apteros (Wingless Victory; 443-420, architect Kallikrates).

After the participants in the procession passed the Propylaea and entered the sacred territory, a panorama of the central part of the complex opened in front of them. In the foreground, just to the left of the road, was a colossal bronze statue of Athena Promachos (Warrior), cast by Phidias. Behind it, in the distance, was the Erechtheion (architect unknown), the temple of Athena and Poseidon at the site of the dispute between these gods for the possession of Attica. The temple has an asymmetrical plan, unique in Greek architecture; its three porticos are located at different levels: on the west side - a portico leading to the temple of Athena Poliada (City), on the north - the entrance to the sanctuary of Poseidon-Erechtheus, at the southern wall of the temple - the famous portico of the Caryatids; the entire building was surrounded by a frieze with overlaid white figures (not preserved). In the Erechtheion, the oldest sanctuary of Athens, was the sacred xoan of Athens (a wooden statue), according to legend, fell from the sky, the altars of Hephaestus and the hero Booth, the tomb of the legendary Athenian king Cecrop, from the west adjoined the sanctuary of the Attic goddess of dew Pandrosa. In the courtyard of the Erechtheion, there was a sacred olive tree donated to the city by Athena, and a salt spring beat out, which Poseidon carved with his trident.

The lightness of the forms, the particular sophistication of the decorative finish and the complexity of the composition, the small-sized Erechtheion contrasts with the austere and majestic, emphatically monumental Parthenon (the Temple of Athena the Virgin; 69.5 m long and 30.9 m wide, the height of the columns is 10.5 m ; built in 447 - consecrated in 438; architect Iktin with the participation of Callicrates), which is a Doric peripter. The building is perceived from the Propylaea in three quarters - the audience saw not one of its facades, but the entire volume of the structure, got an idea of ​​its appearance as a whole, and before seeing the main, eastern facade, they had to go around the temple from the outside.

In the temple itself, in the naos, there was a chryso-elephantine statue of Athena Parthenos (Virgin) by Phidias, the opistodome kept the sacred money of the goddess and the treasury of the Athenian maritime union. The pediments housed sculptural groups depicting the most significant events in the cult of Athena - her birth and the dispute with the sea god Poseidon for the possession of Attica. The metope reliefs along the perimeter of the building depicted scenes of mythological battles. Architectural details, sculpture and reliefs were brightly colored. The plan and ordering of the Parthenon also differ from the traditional ones in a number of features: in front of the naos there was a hall - the maiden's palace (the Parthenon, which gave the name to the entire temple), along the wall of the naos there was an Ionic frieze depicting the Panathenian procession.

In front of the Parthenon, on the right side of the Propylaea, there were also the sanctuaries of Artemis Bravronia and Athena Ergana (Craftsman), the repository of weapons and sacred armor - Chalcotek (450). The open area of ​​the Acropolis was occupied by numerous altars and gifts to the gods - statues, steles. Adjacent to the northwestern slope of the Acropolis were the temple and theater of Dionysus (6th century BC - rebuilt in 326), the Odeon of Pericles (a covered circular building for musical competitions) (2nd half of the 5th century BC) .), Theater of Herodes Atticus (2nd century AD), Sanctuary of Asclepius, Standing (Portico) of Eumenes.

Parthenon

The Parthenon rising above the hill in ancient times could be seen from any end of Attica and even from the islands of Salamis and Aegina; The sailors sailing to the shore could already see the glint of the spear and helmet of Athena the Warrior from afar. In ancient times, the sanctuary was known not only as a cult center, but also as a monument of art, confirming the glory of Athens as the "school of Hellas" and the most beautiful city. A well-thought-out composition of the entire ensemble, perfectly found general proportions, a flexible combination of various orders, the finest sculpting of architectural details and their unusually precise drawing, close interconnection of architecture and sculptural decoration - make the buildings of the Acropolis the highest achievement of ancient Greek architecture and one of the most outstanding monuments of world art.

In the 5th century, the Parthenon became the Church of Our Lady, the statue of Athena Parthenos was transported to Constantinople. After the conquest of Greece by the Turks (in the 15th century), the temple was turned into a mosque, to which minarets were added, and then into an arsenal; The Erechtheion became the harem of the Turkish pasha, the temple of Nika Ateros was dismantled, and the wall of the bastion was built from its blocks. In 1687, after a shell hit from a Venetian ship, an explosion destroyed almost the entire central part of the temple of Athena the Virgin; with an unsuccessful attempt by the Venetians to remove the sculptures of the Parthenon, several statues were smashed. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Englishman Lord Elgin broke a number of metopes, tens of meters of the frieze and almost all the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon pediments, the caryatid from the portico of the Erechtheion.

After the proclamation of the independence of Greece, during the restoration work (mainly at the end of the 19th century), the ancient appearance of the Acropolis was restored whenever possible: all the late buildings on its territory were liquidated, the temple of Nika Apteros was re-laid. Reliefs and sculptures of Acropolis temples are in the British Museum (London), the Louvre (Paris) and the Acropolis Museum. Remaining under open air the sculptures have now been replaced by copies.

Acropolis of the 2nd millennium BC e. The buildings, the ruins of which can now be seen on the Acropolis, were erected in the middle of the 5th century. BC e. However, even before the V century. The Athenian Acropolis was not a desert rock. Life has been going on here since the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Even then, the Acropolis was a refuge for the inhabitants of the surrounding plains when attacked by enemies. Powerful fortress walls up to 10 meters high and 6 meters wide protected the Acropolis, making it an impregnable stronghold. It was possible to penetrate the hill from the west and north. The entrance from the western, less reliable side was especially carefully fortified. On the north side, it, apparently, was hidden by thickets of bushes and the steps of a narrow staircase carved into the rock led to it. Subsequently, when only the sanctuaries of the gods remained on the Acropolis, the stairs on the northern slope became unnecessary and the northern entrance was laid. Only one main entrance to the Acropolis has been preserved - from the western side.

In the XVI-XII centuries. BC e. Athens did not stand out from the rest of the cities of Greece. They were inferior to Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and other powerful Hellenic centers. The advancement of Athens began after the Cretan empire fell. The poetic legend of the ancient hero Theseus, who brought victory to Athens, still lives on. The legend tells of a terrible tribute that the Athenians had to send annually to Crete. Seven young men and seven girls fell prey to a terrible monster, a half-man, half-bull - a minotaur who lived in a labyrinth in Crete. Once, according to the myth, the son of the Athenian king Aegeus, the brave and beautiful Theseus, was among the young men. With the help of the daughter of the Cretan king Ariadne, who fell in love with him, he defeated the monster and returned to Athens, bringing them freedom and glory.

The oldest Acropolis of Athens may have been similar to the Acropolis of Mycenae and Tiryns. The buildings of this time were poorly preserved, since later many structures were erected on the Athenian Acropolis in different eras.

Excavations have shown that in the II millennium BC. e. meetings of rulers, trials, religious festivals took place here. In the northern part of the Acropolis, archaeologists have found a site, apparently, for the sacred ceremonies of the Athenians. West of the royal palace, at the northern gate, a well was discovered, which provided good drinking water to people who found protection from enemies outside the walls. The data of archaeological excavations indicate that during these years the social, religious, cultural life of the Athenians was concentrated on the Acropolis.

Greek Temple Orders... By the VI century. BC e. in Greek architecture, the main types of temples were already fully formed, the most common of which was the peripter. It was most often a rectangular building, enclosed on all sides by a colonnade and covered with a gable roof. In a Greek temple, the architectural elements of the building were brought into a certain system. There was an order of their location depending on the nature of the structure. This order was called order(ill. 8, 9, 10).

Some temples were built in the Doric order, others in the Ionic order, and still others later, starting from the 4th century. BC e., - in Corinthian. Each order was expressive in its own way. The Doric order is the strictest in form; the buildings built in it can give a stern, even sometimes austere impression. The Ionian order is distinguished by the elegance of forms and proportions, the lightness of the elements. It is noteworthy that the Roman architect Vitruvius saw in the Doric order an expression of courageous strength, the forms of the Ionic reminded him of a refined, adorned female beauty. The Corinthian order differed from these two orders in its special elegance and luxury.

On the diagrams, you can see the image of three orders and the names of their parts. All parts of the order can be divided into groups: bearing elements - stylobate, columns and carried - entablature, roof... The ratio of the main parts - the strength or weakness of the carriers, the heaviness or lightness of those carried - gives the building a harsh and tense character, or naturally harmonious, or light.

Buildings on the Acropolis in the 6th century BC e. In the VI century. BC e. on the Acropolis there was a temple of Athena called Hecatompedon 1. It was located directly opposite the Propylaea and amazed with its beauty the man who entered the Acropolis. This effect was facilitated by the measured gradualness of the ascent along the slope of the hill and the passage through the small gates decorated with columns - the Propylaea.

In placing Propylaea and Hecatompedon on ancient Acropolis symmetry prevailed, which was often adhered to by archaic masters. The principle of symmetry was also considered important by sculptors, especially the creators of sculptures on the pediments of temples. Symmetry was also at the heart of the statues that adorned the Acropolis at that time. The image from the front strictly in front, which seemed especially expressive and beautiful, also appeared in the planning of buildings of that time. That is why the architects erected the temple of Hecatompedon right in front of the Propylaea so that a person entering the Acropolis would see this main temple of the sacred hill not from the side, but from the front, from the richly decorated facade 2.

From the structures of the VI century. BC e. on the Acropolis, only the foundations have reached, and even then not all of them. This is due to the fact that most of the buildings were destroyed during the Greco-Persian wars, and the fact that on the Acropolis in the 5th century. BC e. new buildings were erected. Archaic temples are better preserved where in subsequent eras there was no such rapid construction and where every piece of land was not dear, as on the Acropolis. That is why the temples of the VI century. can be seen not on the Acropolis, but in other regions of Greece: the temple of Apollo in Corinth, Hera in Olympia, Demetrg in Paestum (ill. 11). The temples of the Acropolis in the 6th century were undoubtedly similar to them. BC e.


The architectural forms of archaic temples are heavy and harsh. The columns seem to swell under the weight of the roof pressing on them. The severity was mitigated only by sculptural decorations. Some pediment compositions of the archaic temples of the Acropolis have survived, although, unfortunately, it is not always precisely defined to which temple this or that sculptural group belonged, and their reconstruction is not always indisputable.

Pediment - the struggle of Hercules with the hydra. On the Acropolis, slabs with reliefs were found, which depict the feat of Hercules - the fight against the hydra 3. The small size of the flat relief makes one think that it belonged to a small temple or treasury. Relief material - soft limestone (the so-called piglet). The sculptures made from it were brightly colored. The paint covered the rough surface of the stone.

Unfortunately, only the torso and legs have survived from the figure of Hercules. The hydra has been depicted with many heads on writhing serpentine bodies 4. There is still no clarity in the composition, which will appear later: the main thing is not highlighted, particulars are not relegated to the background. Struggle saturates both this and other monuments. The mobility of the figures is typical for such compositions of archaic art. Everything in them is subordinated to the disclosure of the theme of the victory of a human hero over an evil force.

Pediments of Hecatompedon. Other sculptures that adorned temples have been found on the Athenian Acropolis. In one of the groups Hercules is shown fighting Triton, in the other - a fantastic monster with three bodies and three heads - Tritopator. There is reason to believe that they decorated the most ancient temple - Hecatomnedon 5. The statues are made of limestone and are brightly colored. The master filled in the low side parts of the pediments with flexible serpentine tails intertwining with each other, increasingly thinner towards the corners.


The ancient sculptor depicted Hercules defeating the sea monster - Triton (ill. 12). Newt is shown as a man with a fish tail 6. The hero pushes the enemy to the ground 7. Attention is drawn to the tense, more voluminous than in the previous pediment, forms, the beauty of their outlines.

Three human bodies of Tritopator - a good ancient Attic deity (ill. 13) - pass at the belt in long tails filling the lateral low part of the pediment. Tritopator's faces are peaceful and good-natured (ill. 14). In the hands of one there is a wavy ribbon depicting water, the other has a tongue of flame, a sign of fire, the third has a bird, a symbol of air, and behind it is something like a wing. Tritopator personified the elements of water, fire and air. This sculptural group already has more volume and richness. The sculptures are not as flat as in the relief of Hercules with the hydra. The composition is more complicated. The three faces are presented from different angles: the first head is in front, the other two are rotated. The tritopator is shown crawling out from the corner of the pediment. And although he moves to the side, his faces and torso turn towards the viewer.


These statues have been painted and the paint has survived quite well. The hair on the head and beard were blue, the eyes were green, the ears, lips and cheeks were red. The bodies are covered with pale pink paint. The snake tails are painted with red and blue stripes.

One of the heads of Tritopator, kept in the Museum of the Acropolis of Athens, entered the history of art under the code name "Bluebeard" (ill. 15).

The vibrant color attracted ancient artists. The paint enlivened the images. She deprived the mythological scene of horror, introduced into it an element of play. In Greek art, evil creatures - sphinxes, gorgons, newts - do not look terrible and omnipotent, the superiority of the human mind over them is always felt. This was the manifestation of the humanism of the Greeks - the great achievement of human culture.

Pediment - Athena with a giant... Around 530 BC e. Hecatompedon was rebuilt. On one of the pediments of the new temple (it is called Hecatompedon II, unlike the old one), the battle of the Olympian gods with giants was depicted (ill. 16). A statue of Athena fighting a giant has survived (ill. 17). In all likelihood, it was located in the center of the pediment, and other figures were located on the sides. The victorious Athena is shown in impetuous movement, the giant is defeated at her feet. The master emphasizes the victory of the goddess by elevating her figure above the losing giant. The triumph of the patroness of the city is perceived from a distant approach to the temple. The theme of the struggle sounds here without a tinge of cruelty, not like in the scene of the fight between Hercules and Triton, where the hero, in the heat of battle, strained all his forces and pressed the monster to the ground. The sculptor does not show Athena tense, but rather demonstrates the superiority of a noble goddess. This scene, presented in monumental forms, is worthy of the great temple of the Acropolis, worthy of Athens.


It is noteworthy that at the end of the VI century, BC. e. for sculptures, it is no longer limestone that is often used, but marble. The Greeks faithfully began to use this beautiful stone to depict a human figure. Slightly translucent from the surface, it conveyed well the tenderness of the skin and, better than other breeds, responded to the desire of the Hellenic sculptors to show a person beautiful and perfect.

The value of pediment compositions. The plots of the pediment compositions of archaic temples have never been accidental. The sculptors didn't make them just for decoration. They have always contained a deep meaning, a kind of metaphorical depiction of the life perceived by the artist. In the view of the Hellenes of the harsh archaic era, the world was in an incessant fierce struggle. In Greek legends and myths, she assumed the character of a victory of light, exalted forces over dark, base beings. The giants fought against the titans, the inhabitants of Olympus - the gods - against the giants, courageous people-heroes entered into an unequal battle with terrible monsters - tritons, hydras, gorgons.

In the images of architecture, in sculptures, in drawings on vases, the physical strength of a person was glorified, his victories were shown. In art, the universal idea of ​​the triumph of the perfect, both physically and spiritually, a hero-man found expression.

Potters VI century. BC e. they loved to emphasize the massiveness of the forms and the wide bodies of the vases, the architects created the powerful columns of the temples that swell in the middle and narrow at the top, the sculptors showed broad shoulders and narrow waists in statues of young men who won competitions. In archaic monuments, the enormous spiritual tension of man was expressed. A similar interpretation of artistic forms and plot images of the struggle and victory of light forces over dark ones appear during the period of a decisive breakdown of the old worldview. In these centuries, a new, Hellenic culture was born, opposing the dogmas of Eastern civilization with new principles. The significance of the turning point was enormous for the further fate of the European peoples.

Statues of Cor. In 1886, fourteen marble statues of Athenian girls were discovered on the Athenian Acropolis between Erechfeion and the northern wall of the hill. Subsequently, they found several more of the same statues. At the time when the sons of the tyrant Pisistratus ruled Athens, there were many sculptures on the Acropolis, including statues of girls, or, in Greek, cor (ill. 7). These statues had high pedestals of various types - round, square, some in the form of columns with Doric or Ionic capitals.8 They were made mostly of marble brought from the islands of the Aegean Sea. Only a few are made of local Attic Pentellic marble.

Greek sculptors showed the kora in long, festive robes. The girls are not alike, although they stand in the same position - strictly frontally, keeping straight, maintaining solemnity. It is still not known exactly who these sculptures represent. Some want to see them as goddesses, others - priestesses, others - noble girls with gifts to the goddess. The statues of kor convince of the love of the late archaic society of the late 6th century BC e. to decorations, patterns. Especially beautiful and varied are the complex hair styling, carefully curled curls of the cor's hairstyle. The sculptors depict them with great skill.

The proximity of the countries of the East makes itself felt in the details of these monuments of archaic art. Smart clothes box. Most of them wear chitons. Some barks hold them with their left hand at the thigh, and the tissue folds nicely. A cloak, a himation, is thrown over the top, often luxurious, falling in picturesque folds (ill. 18).

Faces do little to reveal the mood of the cor. Only the corners of the mouth are slightly raised and the lips are folded into a restrained smile, which is still far from a living feeling of joy (ill. 19). Their clothes speaks more about the character of the girls. For some, the folds of tunics form complex patterns, cheerfully interrupt each other, for others, they calmly flow down, for others, they are shown as restrained, rare. The clothes seem to correspond to the different characters and moods of the girls - sometimes cheerful and lively, sometimes calm, sometimes strict and focused. This demonstrates the ability of antique sculpture of the archaic era to convey feelings not by facial expressions, but by plastic forms and expressive lines.

Before the discovery of the Acropolis crusts antique sculpture represented by white marble, colorless. The barks surprised the world by the fact that they retained paint, while most of the others greek statues she got off. The paint lies in a dense layer on the marble, even covering it in some places. But the statues do not lose from this in their artistic expressiveness. The ultimate generalization is combined in them with concreteness, emphasized by the coloring of the pupils, scarlet lips, and dark hair. The paint, bringing the image closer to reality, even more strongly affirms the character and idea of ​​the work - the glorification of beauty.

Much later, the images of Roman sculptors of the 3rd - 4th centuries. n. e. - individual, specific - would no longer withstand such a coloring. It would make them too close to reality, naturalistic, and the work would lose the ability to express a general idea. The later monumental sculpture therefore also refuses to be painted. The Greeks, on the other hand, were not afraid of this in the statues of kor and their other works, so strong was the character of generalization in their plastic forms.

The statues of the girls are beautiful. Contemplating them, a person gets great pleasure. The feelings of ancient sculptors who managed to convey the serene beauty of youth seem to come to life in front of him. During the Greco-Persian wars, these beautiful statues were broken and lay in a heap of the so-called Persian rubbish until they were used as simple stones during the construction of new temples. Perhaps archaic statues of the 6th century. BC e. lost for the Greeks of the 5th century. BC e. the charm that their fathers and grandfathers felt. It is also possible that the badly damaged statues have already lost their religious significance. After all, it is known that the Greeks often treated the statues as living creatures: sometimes they dressed them, smeared them with fragrant oils, brought food, once even tied some of the statues' legs and arms, as they were afraid that they might leave.

The archaic buildings and sculptures of the Acropolis are full of great peculiar beauty. They will not be replaced by any stories about the feelings and moods of people of this time. The works of the Greek archaic do not lose their value, even when placed next to the creations of the masters classical era... So, often a person experiences deeply the feelings of the heroes of books written many decades or centuries ago. The music of past centuries is also as exciting as the works of contemporary composers. Likewise, archaic monuments of the Athenian Acropolis, pediment compositions and sculptures, imbued with a special charm that have never been repeated afterwards, stop a person's eyes, although they are inferior in perfection of execution to works created on the Acropolis in the middle of the 5th century. BC e.

Victory for democracy in Greek cities... At the end of the VI century. BC e. in Athens, the aristocracy lost many of the advantages that they had previously enjoyed. The social structure was now based on democratic principles. The life forms of a number of Greek cities became more progressive; the democratic system contributed to the development of sciences and arts.

At the end of the VI century. BC e. the free Greek cities were opposed by the huge Persian state of the Achaemenids, which was experiencing a constant sharp struggle of various dynasties. The unlimited power of the tsar, the complex bureaucratic apparatus characteristic of the ancient Eastern states with a mass of powerless subjects seemed to the Hellenes a manifestation of barbarism.

Revolt of Miletus. Greek cities located in Asia Minor on the coast of the Aegean Sea, for a long time were under the rule of the Persians. Excessively high taxes, the arbitrariness of the Persian rulers - satraps, their constant interference in the economic affairs of the Greeks fell a heavy burden on the shoulders of the inhabitants of Asia Minor cities. Big City Miletus revolted and overthrew the Persian henchman. Miletyans were supported by other cities of Asia Minor, and the uprising broke out. The Persians suppressed it, but realized that the cities of the Balkan Peninsula were giving an example of freedom to the Greeks of Asia Minor, and decided to destroy the foundations of the democratic system in the cities of mainland Greece.

The beginning of the Greco-Persian wars. In 492 BC. e. the son-in-law of the Persian king Darius I Mardonius went on a campaign against Greece. However, after the death of three hundred ships during a storm, he ingloriously returned back. The second campaign of the Persians in 490 BC e. was also unfortunate. In the historic battle of Marathon, the Greeks utterly defeated the Persian army. A more difficult test fell to the lot of the Greeks in 480 BC. e., when the army of the Persians was led by a new king - Xerxes. Hordes of barbarians moved from the north and stopped at the Thermopylae Gorge. The Greek warriors showed an example of courage and fortitude. Only with the help of the traitor did the Persian troops manage to win. 300 gallant Spartans, covering the withdrawal of the main troops, fell together with their leader, King Leonidas. At the place of their death, a monument was erected - a marble statue of a lion with the inscription: "Traveler! Go to erect to our citizens in Lacedaemon that, observing their precepts, here we died with bones!" The Persian army, breaking through the gorge of Thermopylae, moved to Athens and captured them.

Destruction of the monuments of the Acropolis. Athens was defeated. The Acropolis was especially badly damaged. Temples were destroyed and lay in ruins, their treasures were plundered, sanctuaries desecrated. Numerous statues, including the kor statues, were thrown from their pedestals and smashed. Here is what the famous Greek historian Herodotus writes about the Persian seizure of the Acropolis:

"The Persians settled down on that hill opposite the Acropolis, which the Athenians call Areopagus, and began to besiege the Acropolis in the following way: they wrapped arrows in tow, lit and then fired from bows into the fortification. The besieged Athenians, although they were brought to the last extreme and the fortification collapsed, continued However, the proposal of the Pisistratids 9 regarding surrender was rejected by the Athenians, for the purpose of protection they used various means, among other things, they threw huge stones at the barbarians every time they approached the gate. time did not know what to do.

Finally, after such difficulties, access to the Acropolis was opened to the barbarians: the fact is that, according to the oracle, all of Attica was destined to fall under the rule of the Persians. So, in front of the Acropolis, but behind the gate and the ascent, where there were no guards and where, as it seemed to everyone, none of the people could ascend, in the same place with a steep descent near the sanctuary of the Kecron daughter of Aglavra, several people ascended. saw these barbarians entering the Acropolis, some of them rushed from the wall and died, while others fled inside the sanctuary; the barbarians who entered the wall rushed first of all to the gates, opened them and killed those who prayed for protection; after killing all of them, the barbarians robbed the temple and set the whole Acropolis on fire. "

Greek victory. The Greeks, despite the capture of Athens by the Persians, emerged from the ordeal with honor. In the battle of Salamis, the resistance of the Persian fleet was broken, in the battle of Plataea, the enemy's land army was defeated. Having defeated their enemies, the Greeks showed the superiority of the democratic system over the moribund social system of the Persians. The Greek cities won a victory, the significance of which was extremely great. Not only the well-being of the Greek state itself depended on the outcome of the Greco-Persian wars. It is difficult to imagine what the Hellenic culture would have been like in the event of the victory of the Persians. It is unlikely that the Acropolis would then have been crowned with the stately Parthenon. Probably, there would be no genius of Phidias, Scopas, Lysippos. And without classical Greek culture, the character of Roman civilization, and at the same time of further European civilization, would be completely different.

The victory of the Greeks over the Persians meant the triumph of new, progressive principles of democracy and freedom in the political and social order. The victory led to the emergence of new fruitful impulses in Greek art. The system of archaic artistic thinking, which had some common features with the ancient oriental, was already untenable. It is therefore no coincidence that the transition from archaic art to classical art coincides in time with the outcome of this war, which was favorable for the Greeks.

Acropolis (from the Greek word "acropolis" - which means " upper town") - is a fortified part of the city, located on a hill and intended for the defense of the city in wartime. The Acropolis was the site of the original settlement of people, and much later a lower city was built around it, which did not have significant protective structures.

Walled cities were usually built around a hill or high cliff. Internal fortifications were erected on the rock. Such a citadel in Ancient Greece was called the Acropolis. However, the building played not only the role of an internal fortress - the Greeks kept in the depths of their consciousness ideas about prehistoric times, and the square raised on the rock symbolized for them the heavenly sphere, sacred soul-cleansing forces and immortality.


Fearless warriors and wise military engineers fortified the entrance to the Acropolis only when the enemy approached. The threshold of the sacred site seemed to the Greeks as a kind of border of immortality and earthly prosaic affairs. Temples dedicated to the ancient Greek gods were located on the acropolis. One of the outstanding monuments of world architecture is the Acropolis in Athens.

The Acropolis of Athens occupies a rocky hill over 150 meters high. Its summit is gently sloping, and the temples are built on it in ascending order. The hill is 170 meters wide and about 300 meters long.


Structure of the Acropolis in Athens.

The ensemble of the Athenian Acropolis includes several temples and other important objects, among which are the following:

  • - This is the central and most important temple of the Acropolis, dedicated to the patroness of the city, the goddess Athena. The temple was built in the middle of the 5th century BC by the architect Kallikrates.


  • Hecatompedon is one of oldest temples as part of the Acropolis, which was built in honor of the goddess Athena, which was built much earlier than the Parthenon.
  • - a temple within the Acropolis, located north of the Parthenon, which also had an important religious and cult significance. The Erechtheion was dedicated to the goddess of wisdom Athena, the god of the seas Poseidon, as well as the legendary Athenian king Erechtheus.


  • The statue of Athena Promachos is a huge bronze statue of the goddess Athena - the patroness of the city - polis. Its author was the sculptor Phidias, who erected the statue in 465 - 455 BC on an elevated pedestal between the Parthenon and Erechtheion temples.

Athena holds a shield and a spear in her hands, and a golden helmet flaunts on the head of the statue. The spear was also made of solid gold. In the rays of the sun, they sparkled, and their light was visible for many kilometers. That is why the statue of Athena Promachos served as a kind of beacon for sailors - they navigated by it and successfully reached the shores of Hellas.


  • Propylaea - is a passage bounded by a colonnade, which is intended for solemn processions. It is not by chance that the Propylaea have become the hallmark of the Acropolis - their slender colonnade forms the entrance to the ensemble.

  • Temple of Nika Apteros - dedicated to the goddess Nike - the winner. The temple is located southwest of the Propylaea. It was built on a ledge of a rock, and therefore additionally reinforced with a supporting wall 8 meters high. The Temple of Nike was built by Callicrates in 427 - 424 BC.


  • Eleusinion
  • Bravronion is the sanctuary of the goddess Artemis of Bravron, which was located in the corner of the Acropolis next to Chalcotek. The goddess Artemis patronized pregnant women and women in labor. the temple is distinguished by its simplicity and grace.


  • Chalcotek is a special building in which weapons, ritual objects and utensils for performing sacrifices were collected for storage. It was here that spears, shields, shells, catapults belonging to the city were kept, as well as trophy weapons obtained in fair battle from the enemy.


  • Pandroseion is a temple building - a sanctuary built in honor of the daughter of the first king of Attica Cecrops, whose name was Pandrosa. The sanctuary courtyard is trapezoidal. On its territory is the altar of the god Zeus Gerkei - the patron saint of the family hearth.


  • The Arrephorion is a small building that houses four arrefor - young girls of noble birth who weaved the peplos, intended as a gift to the goddess Athena during the annual Panathenaic Games.
  • The Athenian altar is a special place in the courtyard of the Acropolis, where it was customary to perform ritual sacrifices in honor of the ancient Greek gods. Usually, sacrifices had to be made during ceremonies and holidays.


  • Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus
  • Sanctuary of Pandion - today it is the ruins of a destroyed building, which in ancient times was located in the southeastern part of the Athenian Acropolis. This small building was the temple of the legendary ancient Greek hero Pandeonis, one of the Athenian kings.
  • The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a building in the form of an ancient Greek theater, designed to be visited by 5 thousand spectators. The building was built in 165 AD by order of the Greek orator and philosopher Herodes Atticus in memory of his deceased wife Regina. Today, the building has been almost completely preserved, and it hosts performances and concerts.


  • Standing Eumenes is a two-story building with Doric columns. Inside the building there are Ionic columns, and the upper tier is decorated with capitals made in the Pergamon style. Ahead of Stoya are the remains of the foundation of the monument to Nikias. Standing Eumenes was built on the side of a hill, and got its name from the architect Eumenes II of Pergamon.
  • Asklepion is an ancient Greek temple built in honor of the god of healing Asclepius. The sanctuary had not only religious and cult significance, but also served as a medical institution. The Asklepions contributed to the development of medical science in Ancient Hellas.

The priests of the god of healing, the Asclepiades, were engaged in the treatment of the sick. At first, only certain ritual actions were performed, but later the priests began to use various healing herbs and potions. This helped to heal patients, and also contributed to the accumulation of special medical knowledge.


  • Theater of Dionysus
  • Odeon of Pericles
  • Temenos of Dionysus
  • Sanctuary of Aglavra

Propylaea.

This border was a colonnade called the Propylaea. The Greeks perfected the order borrowed from traditional Egyptian architecture. The columns of the Propylaea are made in the Doric order, which the Greeks considered the embodiment of strength and courage.

The exterior of the Propylaea is not characterized by symmetrical lines. The right wing of the building seemed to shrink to make room for the marble temple. The four columns of the temple, thinner and more graceful, stand on chiseled supports and end with two elastic curls. These are the columns of the Ionic order - the embodiment of graceful femininity.


Temple of Niki Apteros.

The goddess of victory Nika is depicted unarmed, for real victory is higher than weapons. Victory is fickle, which is why Nika has eagle's wings. After the Greco-Persian wars, the Greeks claimed that having settled in their city, Nike would never leave it, and therefore they portrayed victory without wings, and the structure was called the Temple of the Wingless Victory - Niki Apteros. Thus, Victory became a home goddess for Athens.

And, as proof that she feels confident and comfortable, on one of the bas-reliefs of the temple, she slowly straightens the strap of her sandal. Nika's temple is located directly in front of the entrance to the Acropolis. The left wing of the Propylaea is a spacious marble pavilion where the world's first painting museum, the Pinakothek, was set up.


Statue of Athena Promachos.

Just as other cities were separate polis from each other, the Acropolis was a special world, opposed to the city - a world in which reality merged with fiction. Those who came to the Acropolis were greeted by a huge figure in a scaly shell, cast from bronze.

In the struggle for independence, there was a conscious unity between people and the land. The Greek served his fatherland selflessly. The conquered world could turn out to be fragile, and Athens could turn to war in dreams at any moment. The armed world existed in the guise of the patroness of the polis in armor and a helmet. For the Athenians, the bronze figure leaning on a spear was the goddess Athena herself.

Greek sculptors did not adhere to established standards once and for all, they were constantly in a creative search. The artist strove to give the figure a more expressive pose or a new gesture. The canons of Greek art were not invariable and the priests did not follow their strict observance. Each master made his own changes. Also, Greek art was unknown once and for all the established plots.

The world appeared to the Greeks in a constant cyclical movement. The plastic embodiment of gods and heroes was a statement of perfection. Sculpture was considered the main art, and the work on the creation of sculptural compositions was headed by the ingenious ancient greek sculptor Phidias is the creator of the bronze statue of Athena.


According to the myth, two deities claimed the role of the patron saint of the city - the polis - Athena and the god of the seas Poseidon. During the dispute, Athena lightly touched the rock with her spear, and an olive tree grew in this place. In turn, Poseidon struck a stone with a trident, and water gushed out of it.

However, the gods unanimously recognized Athena's miracle as more useful, and gave the city under her protection. The city also got its name from the name of the goddess.

The god of the seas Poseidon was also the god of the rich, while the goddess of wisdom Athena patronized the workers. The myth of Athena's victory over Poseidon is captured in the sculptural composition on the western pediment of the Parthenon, the main temple of the Acropolis.

Most of the figures are nude. The ideal of the Greeks was the harmony of external and internal beauty, the unity of body and spirit. The Greek gods, restless, passionate and active in character, were similar to the Greeks themselves.


Huge bronze statue of Athena Promachos stood on the Athenian Acropolis between the Propylaea and the Parthenon. Athena Promachos (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόμαχος), whose name translates as “Athena fighting in the front row,” was the goddess of wisdom and war. Her statue was the first that a person saw entering the Acropolis through the Propylaea.


That the statue was dedicated exactly Athene Promachos, was determined from the commentary to the speech of Demosthenes against Androthion of the beginning of the 4th century (this is the only ancient source that mentions this Athena as "Promachos"). In antiquity, it was called the "bronze Athena" to distinguish it from the "golden Athena" - a statue made of gold and ivory by Phidias in the Parthenon. Pausanias (2nd century) described her as "the great bronze Athena" on the Acropolis.

The sculptor who created the statue of Athena Promachos was Phidias... It was cast around 456 BC. and thus was one of the earliest works of Phidias. On the Acropolis, he is credited with the authorship of two more statues - the statue of Athena Parthenos, which stood in the Parthenon, and Athena Lemnia (Lemnos), which probably stood near the Propylaea.

Drawing by Gorham Philipps Stevens, 1936 Probable view of the statue of Athena Promachos with war spoils at the foot of the Mycenaean defensive wall

The statue was created at the expense of trophies captured from the Persians during Marathon battle which the Athenians won in 490 BC. For the spoils of war from this victory, a large number of monuments were created, subsequently installed both in Athens and in the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. The statue of Athena Promachos was created, possibly in honor of the triple victory commander Cimon over the Persians at the battle of (and on) the Eurymedon River in 467 BC. or in honor of the Peace of Kalliev in 449 BC, which ended the period of the Greco-Persian wars. Some researchers suggest that the sculpture was created simultaneously with the construction of the Parthenon, that is, around 430 BC.


A version of the appearance of Athena Promachos by the archaeologist Linfert, 1982

Has reached our times financial records, embossed on a stele, parts of which were found on and in the Acropolis. These records cover nine years, but their dates are indeterminate as the names of the officials responsible for the expenses have not been preserved. In addition, scientists only take on faith that these costs relate to the Bronze Athena, although they could be made both for the construction of a building, and for the creation of several statues of a standard size.

From the statue, which, according to Stevens, numbered 9 meters high(if you subtract a pedestal of 1.52 meters, then Athena itself was 7.48 meters high), nothing has survived. The appearance of Athena Promachos can only be judged by its images on Attic coins printed in the Roman period in the 1st - 2nd centuries. Also, from these coins, several surviving copies of that sculpture were identified. She is looked like a woman standing straight in a relaxed position in a spacious peplos with a belt. With her left hand, she held the shield at her leg, and in her right hand she squeezed a spear (on the same hand, you can see a winged object - an owl or Nika). However, it is possible that in fact she was holding the spear in her left hand, and with her right she raised the shield, while a huge owl sat at her feet, as shown on some coins, it is also possible that she held the spear and the shield in her left hand, then how an owl sat on her right, and a snake at her feet on the right (researchers have different opinions on this). As Pausanias wrote, on her shield were depicted scenes from centauromachy(battles between lapiths and centaurs). Centauromachy was a mythical allusion to the Greco-Persian War and was also depicted on the Parthenon metopes, on the sandals of Athena Parthenos and on the western pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. This shield was engraved by the famous Athenian sculptor Mies after a drawing by the artist Parrasios (Παρράσιος). Some archaeologists attribute the helmet of Athena to the Attic type, and others to the Corinthian. Pausanias wrote that the statue was so high that the gilded tip of its spear and the crest of its helmet were visible to sailors sailing past Cape Sounion, located 65 kilometers away from Athens.


The pedestal stones with the blocks of the architectural belt lying on them stand in the place of the statue

Pedestal The statue of Athena Promachos, measuring 5 x 5 x 1.5 meters (see below), was restored during the Roman period - probably during the reign of Emperor Augustus (31 BC - 14 AD). ). Some of the fragments of its relief belt have survived to this day. It is not known whether the statue occupied the entire pedestal or only part of it.


View of the site of the statue from the side of the Erechtheion

The statue of Athena Promachos stood looking out over the city for about 1000 years, but around 465 AD it was transported to Constantinople where many of the surviving Greek bronze sculptures were taken. The monument was destroyed in 1203 by a superstitious crowd, among which there was a rumor that Athena Promachos lured the crusaders who besieged the city from 11 to 18 July.


Position of the statue from the side of the Erechtheion in the approximation

The base of the statue's pedestal was discovered by the French archaeologist Charles Ernest Böhle in 1853... It was to the west of, near the Propylaea of ​​Mnesicles. It is a 5.465 x 5.58 meter platform, partly carved into the rock and partly made up of blocks of coarse limestone. A square hole measuring 0.48 x 0.48 meters, into which a wooden block was inserted, which was the support of the statue, was made approximately in the center of the platform. Several parts now lie on the surviving blocks. architectural belt with Ionic (egg-shaped ornament with points in between), made of white Pentelian marble. It is possible that it adorned the pedestal of the statue after restoration in the Roman period (however, it is equally likely that it belonged to some Roman monument that stood near the library of Hadrian).


Plaque with information about the statue, to the left of which the Ionic architectural belt is visible

Of the surviving statues of the same type as Athena Promachos, a small bronze sculpture stands out Count Elgin's Athens now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the Louvre torso known as " Athena de Medici(The head from this torso is apparently in the National Museum of Rome).


The Acropolis of Athens is the main attraction of Athens, a real symbol of Greece, and its main temple, the Parthenon - “ business card»Of this country.

The Athenian Acropolis emerged as a defensive structure about 6-10 thousand years ago. Even then, this rocky spur, located today on the outskirts of Athens, attracted by its inaccessibility - a rock 70-80 meters high with an almost flat upper platform and steep slopes on three sides already served as a refuge for the local population in the event of an attack. But the real fortifications began to be built here around 1250 BC, when the hill was surrounded by powerful walls 5 meters thick, the construction of which was later attributed to the Cyclops.

But the real heyday came here in the 5th century BC, when the Greeks drove out the troops of the Persian king Xerxes. The Persians left behind only destruction, and the ruler of the Athenian state Pericles decided not to restore the ruins, but to rebuild the Acropolis. It was during his reign and under the leadership an outstanding sculptor Phidia, this religious center of the city, turned into that pearl, which, albeit with numerous, often irreparable destructions, has reached our days, and which the whole world now knows.

From 450 BC the most famous structures of ancient Greek architecture were built here, the main of which were the Parthenon (the temple of the goddess Athena Parthenos), the Propylaea, the solemn entrance to the Acropolis, the temple of Nika Ateros (unlike the generally accepted image, the Athenians made their Nika wingless so that the goddess of victory would not fly away from them ), the Erechtheion temple, dedicated to the king from ancient Greek mythology Erechtheus, as well as Nike and Poseidon, and the statue of Athena Promachos, striking in its size (21 meters) and grandeur, with a helmet cast of gold and a spearhead, which served as a kind of landmark for ships that saw the light great goddess from afar.

The centuries that passed did not spare the Athenian Acropolis. In the 6th century, the statue of Athena was taken to Constantinople and died there during a fire in about the 12th century, all churches were badly damaged, including the Parthenon, which changed its name several times throughout its history, was both a Catholic temple and a mosque, and barely not destroyed by the terrible explosion of gunpowder that occurred on September 26, 1687 during the siege of the city by the troops of the Venetian republic. Only after Greece gained independence in 1830, was the plundering and taking away the ruins of the Acropolis to the largest museums in the world stopped, and since 1898 a large-scale reconstruction of the monument began. http://omyworld.ru/2091




The ultra-modern Acropolis Museum has opened in Athens.


The museum exhibits unique finds from ancient times, in particular marble sculptures, which are parts of the frieze of the main Athenian antique temple of the Parthenon. Some are presented as duplicates, as the largest collection of originals is still in the British Museum in London. At the beginning of the 19th century, they were transported to Britain by Lord Elgin, then British ambassador to Greece.

The Greek side has been trying to regain these exhibits for several decades in a row. Greek President Karolus Papoulias, in his speech at the opening, once again called on Londoners to return the sculptures. But the British Museum considers itself their rightful owner and emphasizes that it is here that the exhibits are available for free to visitors from all over the world.

Sculptures from the Athenian Acropolis in the museum.




It looks like the goddesses from the east frieze of the Parthenon.

You look at the buildings of the architects of antiquity and it becomes sad that in spite of the fact that at present they are trying to preserve all the buildings, the time has already been significantly lost. The former splendor can only be guessed at or read in ancient manuscripts. Look around these structures, a huge number of faceless primitive buildings of our time. That we will leave a descendant?