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Acropolis Review

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Acropolis

Address: Dionyssiou Areopagitou, Acropolis, Athens
Phone: 210/321-4172; 210/321-0219
www.culture.gr

Category: Archaeological Sites
Location: Acropolis

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Fodor's Review:

A survivor of war, the vagaries of religious change, and other hazards, the massive Acropolis remains an emblem of the glories of classical Greek civilization. Even in its bleached and silent state, the Parthenon—the great Panathenaic temple that crowns the rise—has the power to stir the heart as few other ancient relics can. Seeing it bathed in the sunlight of the south, or sublimely swathed in moonlight, has caused more than a few people to marvel at the continuing vitality of this monument.

The term Akropolis (to use the Greek spelling) refers to the ancient Athenian "upper city" that occupies the tablelike hill. Foundations for a grand new temple honoring the city's patron, the goddess Athena, were laid after the victory at Marathon in 490 BC but were destroyed by Persians in 480-79 BC. After a 30-year building moratorium, ended by the peace treaty at Susa in 448 BC, Pericles undertook the ambitious project of reconstructing the temple on a titanic scale. Some scholars consider this extraordinary, enigmatic Athenian general to be the brilliant architect of the destiny of Greece at its height, while others conclude he was a megalomaniac who bankrupted the coffers of an empire and an elitist who catered to the privileged few at the expense of the masses.

The appearance of the buildings that composed the major portion of the Acropolis remained largely unaltered until AD 52, when the Roman emperor Claudius embellished its entrance with a flamboyant staircase. In the 2nd century Hadrian had his turn at decorating many of the shrines, and in 529 Justinian closed the philosophical schools, emphasizing the defensive character of the citadel and changing the temples into Christian churches.

You enter through the Beulé Gate, a late-Roman structure named for the French archaeologist Ernest Beulé, who discovered it in 1852. Made of marble fragments from the destroyed monument of Nikias on the south slope of the Acropolis, it has an inscription above the lintel dated 320 BC, dedicated by "Nikias son of Nikodemos of Xypete," who had apparently won a musical competition. Before Roman times, the entrance to the Acropolis was a steep processional ramp below the Temple of Athena Nike. This Sacred Way was used every fourth year for the Panathenaic procession, a spectacle that ended the festival celebrating Athena's remarkable birth (she sprang from the head of her father, Zeus); events included chariot races, athletic and musical competitions, and poetry recitals. Toward the end of July, all strata of Athenian society gathered at the Dipylon Gate of Kerameikos and followed a sacred ship as it was wheeled to the Acropolis. The ship was then anchored at the rocky outcrop below Areopagus, northwest of the Acropolis.

The Propylaea is a typical ancient gate, an imposing structure designed to instill proper reverence in worshippers as they crossed from the temporal world into the spiritual world of the sanctuary, for this was the main function of the Acropolis. Conceived by Pericles, the Propylaea was the masterwork of the architect Mnesicles. It was to have been the grandest secular building in Greece, the same size as the Parthenon. Construction was suspended during the Peloponnesian War, and it was never finished. The Propylaea was used as a garrison during the Turkish period; in 1656, a powder magazine there was struck by lightning, causing much damage; and the Propylaea was again damaged during the Venetian siege under Morosini in 1687.

The Propylaea shows the first use of both Doric and Ionic columns together, a style that can be called Attic. Six of the sturdier fluted Doric columns, made from Pendelic marble, correspond with the gateways of the portal. Processions with priests, chariots, and sacrificial animals entered via a marble ramp in the center (now protected by a wooden stairway), while ordinary visitors on foot entered via the side doors.

The slender Ionic columns (two-thirds the diameter of the Doric) had elegant capitals, some of which have been restored along with a section of the famed paneled ceiling, originally decorated with gold eight-pointed stars on a blue background. The well-preserved north wing housed the Pinakotheke, or art gallery, specializing in paintings of scenes from Homer's epics and mythological tableaux on wooden plaques. Connected to it was a lounge with 17 couches arranged around the walls so that weary visitors could enjoy a siesta. The south wing was a decorative portico (row of columns). The view from the inner porch of the Propylaea is stunning: the Parthenon is suddenly revealed in its full glory, framed by the columns.

The 2nd-century traveler Pausanias referred to the Temple of Athena Nike as the Temple of Nike Apteros, or Wingless Victory, for "in Athens they believe Victory will stay forever because she has no wings." Designed by Kallikrates, the minitemple was built in 427-424 BC to celebrate peace with Persia, with four Ionic columns at each portico end. The bas-reliefs on the surrounding parapet depicting the Victories leading heifers to be sacrificed must have been of exceptional quality, judging from the portion called "Nike Unfastening Her Sandal" in the Acropolis Museum. The best sections of the temple's frieze, which includes the Battle of Plataia with Greeks fighting the Persians, were whisked away to the British Museum two centuries ago and replaced with cement copies. In 1998 Greek archaeologists began the arduous task of dismantling the entire temple for conservation. The marble is being laser-cleaned to remove generations of soot; when the cleaning is finished, which the Ministry of Culture has announced will be by the end of 2006, the temple will be rebuilt on its original site. The temple's sculpted reliefs, on display in the Acropolis Museum, are scheduled to be moved to the New Acropolis Museum when it opens.

At the loftiest point of the Acropolis is the Parthenon, the architectural masterpiece conceived by Pericles and executed between 447 and 438 BC by the brilliant sculptor Pheidias, who supervised the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates in its construction. Although dedicated to the goddess Athena (the name Parthenon comes from the Athena Parthenos, or the virgin Athena) and inaugurated at the Panathenaic Festival of 438 BC, the Parthenon was primarily the treasury of the Delian League, an ancient alliance of cities. For the populace, the Erechtheion—not the Parthenon—remained Athena's holiest temple. Metal scaffolding around the Parthenon is part of an ongoing preservation project; several sections have been removed and all the scaffolding is expected to come down by the end of 2006 when this phase of renovation works is completed.

One of the Parthenon's features, or "refinements," is the way it uses meiosis (tapering of columns) and entasis (a slight swelling so that the column can hold the weight of the entablature), thus deviating from strict mathematics and breathing movement into the rigid marble. Architects knew that a straight line looks curved and vice versa, so they built the temple with all the horizontal lines somewhat curved. The columns, it has been calculated, lean toward the center of the temple; if they were to continue into space, they would eventually converge to create a huge pyramid.

Though the structure of the Parthenon is of marble, the inner ceilings and doors were made of wood. The original building was ornate, covered with a tile roof, decorated with statuary and marble friezes, and so brightly painted that the people protested, "We are gilding and adorning our city like a wanton woman" (Plutarch). Pheidias himself may have sculpted some of the exquisite, brightly painted metopes (the recessed spaces between the raised blocks on the frieze), but most were done by other artists under his guidance. The only ones remaining on site show scenes of battle: Athenians versus Amazons, and gods and goddesses against giants.

One of the most evocative friezes, depicting the procession of the Panathenaia, was 524 feet long, an extraordinary parade of 400 people, including maidens, magistrates, horsemen, and musicians, and 200 animals. To show ordinary mortals, at a time when almost all sculpture was of mythological or battle scenes, was lively and daring. About 50 of the best-preserved pieces of this panel, called the Parthenon Marbles by Greeks but known as the Elgin Marbles by almost everyone else, are in the British Museum in London; a few others can be seen in the Acropolis Museum. In the first decade of the 19th century, during the time of the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin, British ambassador in Constantinople, was given permission by the Sultan Selim III to remove stones with inscriptions from the Acropolis; he took this as permission to dismantle shiploads of sculptures. The removal remains controversial to this day: on one side, many argue that the marbles would have been destroyed if left on site; on the other side, a spirited long-term campaign aims to have them returned to Greece, to be appreciated in their original context. The New Acropolis Museum is being built with a special room for the marbles, in which they would be laid out in their original order; it will also have glass walls through which the temple the marbles once adorned will be clearly visible.

If the Parthenon is the masterpiece of Doric architecture, the Erechtheion is undoubtedly that of the more graceful Ionic order. A considerably smaller structure than the Parthenon, it outmatches all other buildings of the Greco-Roman world for sheer elegance and refinement of design and execution. More than any other ancient monument, this temple has its roots in the legendary origins of Athens. Here it was that the contest between Poseidon and Athena took place for the possession of the city. On this spot, the sea god dramatically plunged his trident into the rock and produced a spring of water; Athena created an olive tree, the main staple of Greek society. The panel of judges declared her the winner, and the city was named Athena. A gnarled olive tree outside the Erechtheion's west wall was planted where Athena's once grew, and marks said to be from Poseidon's trident can be seen on a rock wedged in a hole near the north porch. Completed in 406 BC, the Erechtheion was divided into two Ionic sanctuaries. The eastern one contained an olive-wood statue of Athena Polias, protector of the city, as well as a gold lamp that burned always, so large it was filled with fuel just once a year. The western part of the Erechtheion was dedicated to Poseidon-Erechtheus.

The most delightful feature of the Erechtheion, which has undergone extensive repair, is the south portico, facing the Parthenon, known as the Caryatid Porch. It is supported on the heads of six strapping but shapely maidens (caryatids) wearing delicately draped Ionian garments, their folds perfectly aligned to resemble flutes on columns. What you see today are copies; except for the caryatid dismantled by Lord Elgin, now in the British Museum, the originals were removed in 1977 to the Acropolis Museum to protect them from erosion caused by air pollution. One theory about the origin of the term "caryatid" is that the Athenians, to punish the people of Caryae in Laconia for collaborating with the Persians, seized the women of Caryae—Caryatids—and enslaved them. Because they were stunningly beautiful, the name came to be used for any attractive woman, including the maidens on the temple.

Once inaccessible to people with disabilities, the summit of the Acropolis can now be reached by elevator. Don't forget to ask the ticket takers for a copy of the free English-language guide to the site. It's packed with information, but workers usually don't bother to give it out unless asked.

Cost: Joint ticket for all Unification of Archaeological Sites EUR 12
Open: Apr.-Oct., daily 8-sunset; Nov.-Mar., daily 8-2:30
Metro: Acropolis

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