Article evaluation

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The article that I evaluated is about the Aphrodite of Knidos, I have notice that there is not a lot of information on specific dates on the statue. The writer keep describing other statues that are similar to two other statue that were made which is fine but they keep describing the statue of every one which is almost all the information that the article is about and not about Aphrodite. The origin of the statue does not have a lot of information and mostly paying attending on the appearance of the statue less about the history that many other scholars would have a lot of information about. at the end of the article on Wikipedia the writer had different variations of the statues that inspired many more copies but they don't have the date and what the statues are made out of. Another part of the article that was a little off was how the writer worded some of the writing that could have been a little better specially when she was talking about the position of Aphrodite hand covering her privet parts. Therefore, this article need a lot more information about her and the history she is known for. the citations seem really good the writer just needs more information to be a good complete article that people could use.

Week 6

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The areas that I think needs to be updated and more information are the pediments on the Old temple of Athena and adding more information that i have found about the pediments because there's not that much about the pediments. The architecture of what the Old temple of Athena might have looked like before the building was destroyed there could be more information and I hope to put more information in the xoanon that was talked about a little about the statue which could have a lot more information for people that don't know what that is. I do need to do more research about this topic also.

The sources

[1][2][3]

Week 8 outline

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Outline

Destruction

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Description

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Temple Plan

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Sculpture

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Pediment

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Frieze

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Xoanon

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Excavation and Reconstruction

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Wilhelm Dörpfeld

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Other Scholars

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  1. History about the battle that destroyed the old temple of Athena.
  2. What the temple plan looked like by having more detailed information.
    1. If the temple had iconic or Corinthian columns.
    2. Pediments what are they and what do they mean for the Athenians.
    3. Frieze depicting and story behind them.
  3. Might need to take out “The xoanon” and just place it in a paragraph but not sure what to do with this part but could also be in the history info.
    1.  Could talk about statues in this section since one of the statues is mentioned. 
  4. Talk about Wilhelm Dörpfeld.
    1. What he found in Athens.
    2. His speculations of where it was originally located and then might be able to talk about other scholars ideas about the Old Temple of Athena.
    3. Have other scholars information about Wilhelm findings is accurate or not.

The temple of Athena Parthenos is one of the most remembered temples in Athens but there is also the old temple of Athena that is still talked about but there are no ruins left of the temple because of the Persian attacked Athens and invaded them in 480 BCE, (Ferrari 11). In the article called The Ancient temple on the Acropolis at Athens by Gloria Ferrari mentions, Wilhelm Dorpfeld went to Athens in 1885 to looked at the ruins of the temple of Athena where he notices some ruins were still standing and looked as though the architecture was the temple of Athena Polias, (Ferrari 11). There are many speculations that the old temple of Athena was rebuilt by the Athenians once they took over Athens again, but according to Ferrari, two scholars named Frazer and Michaelis believes that the temple was not the old temple of Athena but a new temple in the same location where Erechtheion stood (Ferrari 11). There were other scholars that did not agree with what Wilhelm suggested about the old Athena temple was rebuilt and that the building was destroyed. Although, according to Bates, he believes that Wilhelm is correct with his discovery of the architecture and that it was indeed rebuilt (Ferrari 11).

            In Ferrari's article, she mentions that Bates took Wilhelm side on his excavation hunt for finding a lost treasure in Athens of the old temple of Athena but the temple was not built right away as Wilhelm thought it was (Ferrari 12). A man name Pericles (495-429 B.C.) who was a general and a politician to Athens citizens was the one who convinced the Athenian people to rebuild the temples of Athena and not have a location be a pile of rubble where the temple was and could offend the gods keeping the sacred area as ruins (Ferrari 13). Bates suggests that the Erechtheion could be a different approach of the old temple of Athena instead of rebuilding the original temple. Henrik Gerding another scholar and Gloria Ferrari both mention a temple called Opisthodomos which was a treasury building to place offerings and statues for the gods that is still standing today. Both Gerding and Ferrari wondered why the Opisthodomos had part of the walls of the building completely damaged from the Persian War, yet it was rebuilt in the same location of its original space with the old name and the old temple of Athena were not ( Ferrari 15). There are some scholars who think that the Erechtheum temple is the old temple of Athena, while others suggest the old temple of Athena is under the Erechtheum.

  1. ^ Ferrari, Gloria (2002). "The Ancient Temple on the Acropolis at Athens". American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 106: 11–35 – via JSTOR. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ Moore, Mary (1995). "The Central Group in the Gigantomachy of the Old Athena Temple on the Acropolis". American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 99: 633 – via JSTOR. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Gerding, Henrik; Gerding, Henrick (2007). "The Erechtheion and the Panathenaic Procession". American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 110: 389–401 – via JSTOR. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)

Old temple of Athena Polias (Archaios Neos)
Central figure of the pediment of the temple
Christinamata/sandbox is located in Greece
Christinamata/sandbox
Location within Greece
General information
TypeTemple
Architectural styleAncient Greek Archaic
LocationAthens, Greece
Coordinates37°58′17″N 23°43′36″E / 37.9715°N 23.7267°E / 37.9715; 23.7267
Current tenantsMuseum of the Acropolis
Construction startedca. 525 BC
Completedca. 500 BC (for the worship of Athena)
Destroyed480 BC (Persian Wars)
OwnerGreek government
Technical details
Size300px
Design and construction
Architect(s)unknown
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Destruction

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The Old Temple of Athena was an Archaic temple located on the Acropolis of Athens between the old Parthenon and Erechteion, built around 525-500 BC. Until its destruction by the Persians in 480 BC, it was the shrine of Athena Polias, the patron deity of the city of Athens. It was located at the center of the Acropolis plateau, probably on the remains of a Mycenaean palace. The complex is sometimes described by the name "Dörpfeld foundations", after the archaeologist who found the location of the temple. It was referred to as "Archaios Neos" (Old temple) by the Greeks. The old Temple of Athena was not built in the same location as the other two temples but was relocated north of the Dörpfel foundation and the Old Temple of Athena is known as Erechtheion today.[1]  

Description

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Temple Plan

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The foundations suggest the following basic description: The temple measured 21.3 by 43.15 m. It was surrounded by a peristasis of 6 by 12 columns. The difference between column axes was 4.04 m, narrowed by 0.31 m at the corners. The stylobate was slightly curved, whether this also applied to the superstructure remains unclear. In both the pronaos and opisthodomos, two columns stood between short antae. The main building had two different location one is the east cella and the west cella[2] was very short, in fact nearly square, and subdivided into three aisles by two rows of three columns each. It was followed by a pair of side-by-side rooms. The foundations were composed of various materials and constructed in varying techniques. While the load-bearing parts and internal supports were made of blue Acropolis limestone,[2] the foundations of the surrounding peristasis were of poros limestone. The superstructure and decorative pieces also appear to have been made from a variety of materials, including 'poros' and Parian marble.

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Sculpture

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Pediments

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The old temple of Athena had two poros pediments, around 15 m. in length.[3] One of the pediment on the west side is persevered has images in the center called the two lions pulling apart a bull, on the left end of the pediment shows Herakles and the Triton, and on the right end are the images of three-bodied creature.[3] They compose a gigantomachy, the struggle between gods and giants eventually won by the Gods. The central figure depicts the Goddess of Athena wearing an aegis covered with scales and edged by snakes obtained from a monster she previously defeated. She is thought to hit a falling Giant, whose foot is the only remain.[3] Another figure features a lying giant, whereas two side figures, once posed at the corners of the pediment, depict two more falling giants.

 
On the west pediment called the three-bodied demons of the Old Temple of Athena

One of the two pediments of the temple with the gigantomachy

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Frieze

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There are some fragments of the pediment that are still in tack but are missing pieces one of the pediments is the west pediment showing images of the two lions that are pulling apart a bull in the center of the pediment, while at the ends show images of mythical creature. One if the images on the right side are the three-bodied monsters and the left image Herakles and the Triton.[2] The image of Herakles and Triton are depicted in red paint fight each other. Triton the messenger of the sea fighting Herakles. Another pediment on the Old Temple of Athena is the gigantomachy where some scholars believe the gigantomachy pediment on the old temple of Athena contains a frontal chariot in the center with four horses with Zeus inside one of the chariots.[4] This images also shows Athena holding a snake and reaching out to a giant.[2] The frontal chariot that is in the center some scholars say, Zeus is pointing an arrow in the direction of Athena.[4] Other rests ascribed to the temple include: Entablature and sima of Parian, poros marble, capitals with a steeper echinus, a marble depicting a procession, and marble frieze in each of the four corners, shaped as lions' and rams' heads.[2]

Xoanon

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In the main building of the temple had two parts, in one of the spaces on the east cella contained the ancient xoanon or wooden statue of Athena, believed to have fallen from the sky,[2] or have fallen from Zeus.[3] The wooden statue of Athena remained in the Old temple of Athena until the Erechteion was finish being built around 406 B.C.[3] There is no trace of the wooden statue goddess of Athena, but was probably destroyed during the sack by the Persians in 480 BC. The xoanon statue was made out of olive-wood material.[2]

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Excavation and Reconstruction

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Wilhelm Dörpfeld

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 In the article called The Ancient temple on the Acropolis at Athens by Gloria Ferrari mentions, Wilhelm Dorpfeld went to Athens in 1885 to looked at the ruins of the temple of Athena where he notices some ruins were still standing and looked as though the architecture was the temple of Athena Polias.[1] In Ferrari article, he explains that Wilhelm saw a piece of a building that looked like part of the Erechtheum temple which he was in the same location with another archaeologist called Ross in 1834. In Ferrari article, he explains that Wilhelm saw a piece of a building that looked like part of the Erechtheum temple which he was in the same location with another archaeologist called Ross in 1834. Once Wilhelm saw the same ruins that he was clearing in 1834 Wilhelm went towards the ruins to examine and then he immediately confirmed it was the old temple of Athena.[1] Wilhelm Dörpfeld assumed that the original structure was a double temple in antis, dating to about 570 BC, lengthened and broadened by the addition of the peristasis under Peisistratus, between 529 and 520 BC.[5] This idea led to a subdivision of the foundations into an inner smaller structure known as H-Architektur and assumed to be the oldest part of the building, followed by a structure still described as the "Old Temple of Athena", including the inner H-Architektur as well as the external peristasis.

Other Scholars

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The reconstruction of the temple's architectural history has remained controversial until recently. More recently, scholars have attributed the older remains, initially attributed to the inner H-Architektur, to the close Hekatompedon temple, dating the temple of Athena Polias to the last third of the 6th century BC and identifying its dimensions with the entirety of the foundations excavated by Dörpfeld. [6] The Old Temple of Athena Polias is often dated to [7] 510/500 BC.[8] There are many speculations that the old temple of Athena was rebuilt by the Athenians once they took over Athens again, but according to Ferrari, two scholars named Frazer and Michaelis believes that the temple was not the old temple of Athena but a new temple in the same location where Erechtheion stood.[1] There were other scholars that did not agree with what Wilhelm suggested about the old Athena temple was rebuilt and that the building was destroyed. Although, according to Bates, he believes that Wilhelm is correct with his discovery of the architecture and that it was indeed rebuilt.[1] In Ferrari's article, she mentions that Bates took Wilhelm side on his excavation hunt for finding a lost treasure in Athens of the old temple of Athena but the temple was not built right away as Wilhelm thought it was.[1] A man name Pericles (495-429 B.C.) who was a general and a politician to Athens citizens was the one who convinced the Athenian people to rebuild the temples of Athena and not have a location be a pile of rubble where the temple was and could offend the gods keeping the sacred area as ruins.[1] It remains controversial whether a partial restoration of the temple followed the Persian sack of 480 BC. Herodotus [9] mentions a west-facing megaron on the Acropolis. This reference, as well as a structure listed in an inscription[10] have been interpreted as evidence that the opisthodomus of the Old Temple remained in place through the fifth century. Xenophon[11] states that the Old Temple of Athena burned down in 406/405 BC, but this might also refer to the Erechtheion, which had taken over the functions of the Old Temple and housed the xoanon. [12] From the 4th century BC onwards, there are no possible references to the Old Temple; Pausanias was not aware of its existence.

 
The foundations of the Old Temple, visible in front of the Erechtheion

Bibliography

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==

  • Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Der alte Athenatempel auf der Akropolis. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus, Abteilung Athen. Vol. 11, 1886, p. 337–51.
  • Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Der alte Athenatempel auf der Akropolis II. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus, Abteilung Athen. Vol. 12 (1887), 25–61. 190–211
  • Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Das Hekatompedon in Athen. In: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus. Vol. 34, 1919, p. 1–40.
  • William B. Dinsmoor: The Hekatompedon on the Athenian Acropolis. In: American Journal of Archeology. Vol. 51, 1947, p. 109–51
  • I. Beyer: Die Datierung der großen Reliefgiebel des Alten Athenatempels der Akropolis. In: Archäologischer Anzeiger. 1977, p. 44–74.
  • William A. P. Childs: The Date of the Old Temple of Athena on the Athenian Acropolis. In: William D. E. Coulson et al. (eds.): The Archaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy. Proceedings of an International Conference celebrating 2500 years since the birth of democracy in Greece, held at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, December 4–6, 1992. Oxford 1994, p. 1–6.
  • Manolis Korres: Die Athena-Tempel auf der Akropolis. In: Wolfram Hoepfner (ed.): Kult und Kultbauten auf der Akropolis. Internationales Symposion vom 7. bis 9. Juli 1995 in Berlin. Berlin 1997, p. 218–43.
  • Gloria Ferrari: The Ancient Temple on the Acropolis at Athens. In: American Journal of Archeology. Vol. 106, 2002, p. 11–35.
  • Stamatia Eleftheratou, Acropolis Museum, guide, Acropolis Museum Editions, Athens 2014 ==
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Brouskai, Maria (1997). The Monuments of the Acropolis. Athens: Archaeological Receipts Fund. pp. 302–211.
  3. ^ a b c d e Frantzi, Helen (1970). The Acropolis. Athens: Voutsas. pp. 5–92.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Der alte Athenatempel auf der Akropolis. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus, Abteilung Athen. Vol. 11, 1886, p. 337–51; Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Der alte Athenatempel auf der Akropolis II. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus, Abteilung Athen. Vol. 12 (1887), 25–61. 190–211; Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Das Hekatompedon in Athen. In: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus. Vol. 34, 1919, p. 1–40; William B. Dinsmoor: The Hekatompedon on the Athenian Acropolis. In: American Journal of Archeology. Vol. 51, 1947, p. 109–51.
  6. ^ Manolis Korres: Die Athena-Tempel auf der Akropolis. In: Wolfram Hoepfner (ed.): Kult und Kultbauten auf der Akropolis. Internationales Symposion vom 7. bis 9. Juli 1995 in Berlin. Berlin 1997, p. 218–43; Stamatia Eleftheratou: “Acropolis Museum, guide”, Acropolis Museum Editions, Athens 2014, p. 116-23
  7. ^ Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Der alte Athenatempel auf der Akropolis. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus, Abteilung Athen. Vol. 11, 1886, p. 337–51; Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Der alte Athenatempel auf der Akropolis II. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus, Abteilung Athen. Vol. 12 (1887), 25–61. 190–211; Wilhelm Dörpfeld: Das Hekatompedon in Athen. In: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Institus. Vol. 34, 1919, p. 1–40; William B. Dinsmoor: The Hekatompedon on the Athenian Acropolis. In: American Journal of Archeology. Vol. 51, 1947, p. 109–51.
  8. ^ William A. P. Childs: The Date of the Old Temple of Athena on the Athenian Acropolis. In: William D. E. Coulson u.a. (eds.): The Archaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy. Proceedings of an International Conference celebrating 2500 years since the birth of democracy in Greece, held at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, December 4–6, 1992. Oxford 1994, p. 1–6; suggesting a date before 520: Manolis Korres: Die Athena-Tempel auf der Akropolis. In: Wolfram Hoepfner (ed.): Kult und Kultbauten auf der Akropolis. Internationales Symposion vom 7. bis 9. Juli 1995 in Berlin. Berlin 1997, p. 218–43
  9. ^ Herodotus 5, 77.
  10. ^ Inscriptiones_Graecae I² 91/92.
  11. ^ Xenophon, Hellenika 1, 6, 1.
  12. ^ Herodotus 5, 77.