Did you know that 'Athena Parthenos' means Athena the virgin?
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia! My name is Kelly and in the lead up to the amazing
guided tour the 'Treasures of Ancient Greece' that World History Encyclopedia and Andante Travels
have curated just for our readers and viewers, this video is all about the early history of some
of the sites you will get to visit on the tour: the Athenian Parthenon, Acropolis and the Agora,
when these amazing sites were all complete and intact. Our expert tour guide, Dr Rita Roussos,
will take you on a journey through Classical Athens to Delphi, across the Gulf of Corinth
and into the Peloponnesian Hills where the hero Hercules began his 12 Labours and King Agamemnon
set out to rescue Helen and capture Troy. Make sure to visit worldhistory.travel or hit the link
in the description below to learn all about this trip and we hope to see you there! Don't forget,
the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel
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Beginning on the ground and working our way up, let's take a look at the Athenian Agora.
The term 'agora' in Greek means an 'open place of assembly' which was exactly its purpose in the
ancient world. It was an open space where freeborn citizens could gather and hear announcements,
discuss politics or assemble men for military campaigns. Although the Athenian Agora is the
best-known agora from the ancient world, the term was used in other Greek states for their
public spaces where merchants had shops, events were discussed and craftspeople sold their goods.
The Athenian Agora was located below the Acropolis, near the Temple of Hephaestus and
due to the political discussions that took place there, the Agora of Athens is often referenced
as the birthplace of democracy. It was a space used to discuss philosophy, politics, events,
religion and legal matters and along with the marketplace, there were public and municipal
buildings as well as fountains, trees, parks and statues. The Athenian Agora was first established
during the Neolithic Period with archaeological excavations uncovering stone tools from the site,
and then later it was used during the Mycenaean Period between circa 1700 and 1100 BCE. By 1400
BCE, the Mycenaeans had established themselves in Athens, and they constructed a huge fortress
on the Acropolis that probably served as the palace for the ruler and overlooked what would
become the agora. The space below the Acropolis was used during this time as a burial ground
with over 50 of their monumental tholos tombs having been excavated at the agora.
Although the Mycenaean fell during the Bronze Age collapse, which was perhaps due to natural causes
or from invasions of the Sea Peoples, by the 6th century BCE, the agora was being used as a
residential district with their homes being built around what would become the central marketplace.
With ample trade from both the surrounding farmlands and the seaport of Piraeus,
the area developed with public buildings and manufacturing sites. In 480 BCE, the Persians
led by their King Xerxes I defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae and then proceeded to
march on Athens and destroy it; they burned the agora and any statues they didn't destroy they
took back to Persia. The next year in 479 BCE, the Persians were defeated and the Athenians began
work on restoring Athens back to its former glory under the direction of the general and statesman
Pericles. The Panathenaic Way, which was a street that led from the Dipylon Gate through the Agora
and up to the Acropolis was restored and was used annually for the procession
during the Lesser Panathenaic Festival and every four years for the Greater Panathenaic Festival
that honoured Athena, as well as all of the buildings around its entrance to the Agora
in the north-east corner and its south-east exit were restored. There were three stowers which were
roofed colonnades and the Temple of Hephaestus which survives to the present day, built or
rebuilt during this restoration period. The Mycenaean tholos tombs were repaired and restored
along with many other monuments and buildings of the Agora. After the restoration, the Agora became
the centre of the Athenian life once again, and during the construction at the Agora, Pericles
also ordered the construction of the temples on the Acropolis which included the Parthenon.
Generally speaking, any citadel or complex built on a high hill is an acropolis, but
the most famous one is the Acropolis of Athens. The name 'acropolis' derives from the Greek words
'acro' meaning "high," "extreme" or "edge" and 'polis' meaning "city" which translates literally
to high city. The Athenian Acropolis rises 150 metres or 490 feet above the surrounding area
which makes it a natural place for a fortification. As mentioned earlier, the
Acropolis in the Mycenaean Period served as the house for the Mycenaean ruler but it also served
as a storehouse and a treasury which are the same purposes the Acropolis held in the Archaic Period,
between the 8th century BCE and the destruction of Athens by Persia. The Mycenaeans also seem to
have constructed a temple to a female deity, which may have been Athena, which was a sacrificial pit
where offerings were made. By the 6th century, the goddess Athena was already the patron deity
of the city-state of Athens and her defeat over Poseidon was a well-known myth with her olive tree
being chosen as a better gift than Poseidon's saltwater spring. At the earlier site of the
Mycenaean temple, the Athenians of the Archaic Period built a new temple at the same place on
the south-west bastion of the Acropolis. During this time, the Panathenaic Way was built for the
Panathenaic Festivals dedicated to Athena and it's believed the whole Acropolis was dedicated
to the goddess, although it's unknown how many temples there were or what they looked like.
After Xerxes I invaded Athens with his army and burnt it, he not only destroyed the Agora but all
of the temples on the Acropolis, as well. Heaps of work went into clearing the wreckage of the city
and then even more time, effort and funds went into the restoration and rebuilding
of the great city-state. In the rebuilding of Athens, the shrine known as the Erechtheion,
which was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon and honoured the legendary king of Athens: Erechtheus,
was constructed and it is probably one of the most recognisable temples on the Acropolis.
This is due to the 'Porch of the Maidens' which is the name of the six Caryatids or female figures
that serve as supporting columns. You would enter the Acropolis complex through a monumental
dark gate known as the Propylaea and on the right, was a small temple to Athena Nike;
this was the smallest of the Acropolis temples but was one of the most impressive with its
ornately carved reliefs of Athena and Nike, the goddess of victory. After entering the Propylaea,
you would have been met by the huge statue of Athena Promachos, which is the epithet
meaning "Athena who fights from the front" and rose over 9 metres or 30 feet high.
There were numerous sanctuaries dedicated to different gods and legendary figures like the
Sanctuary of Pandion, the Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia and the Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus (Zeus
as the protector of the palace or city). There was also the Chalcothece, which was a storehouse for
bronze artefacts, and dedications that were made to the goddess Athena. Built into the side of the
Acropolis there was a sanctuary of Dionysos (later the Theatre of Dionysos Eleuthereus (Dionysos the
Liberator). This theatre was originally built in the 6th century but substantial changes were made
during the 5th-century constructions under Pericles. Also on the side of the Acropoli,
it was built the Odeon of Herodes, so called to distinguish it from the later Odeon constructed
in the Roman Period namely the Odeon of Agrippa and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.
The Parthenon is the most famous temple in Greece and was built in dedication to Athena Parthenos
(meaning Athena the Virgin). It sat at the very highest part of the Acropolis and it
was constructed of Pentelic marble which was known for its pure white appearance.
Never before had so much marble, 22,000 tons of it, been used in a Greek temple,
nor was any other Greek temple so richly decorated. The temple was built
using both Doric and Ionic architectural styles which was a complete innovation,
not to mention that the columns were erected leaning slightly inwards in a way that made
them look straight but gave extra support to the roof. The floor of the Parthenon rises slightly in
the middle and isn't exactly flat and the columns have entasis, which means they're a bit fatter in
their middle. The four corner columns are also slightly fatter than all of the other columns.
Atop the temple were 92 metopes with a frieze that ran along all four sides of the monumental temple,
and on each of the four corners were line-headed drain spouts. The frieze had the same subject on
all four sides and that is the Panathenaic Procession; the grand one that was held
every four years in Athens in which the cult statue of Athena housed in the Erechtheion
would receive a new robe or peplos that had been specially woven by a handful of Athenian women.
This was a unique choice, adding to the individuality of the temple, since usually scenes
from Greek mythology decorated their buildings. This frieze, which was a total of 160 metres
and consisted of 380 figures and 220 animals, mostly horses, would have been even more
magnificent in antiquity since the sculptures were painted brightly in blues, reds and gold.
The main doors of the temple were made out of gold, bronze and ivory and when you entered,
you were met with a 12 metre high or almost 40 feet tall colossal statue of Athena made of gold
and ivory around a wooden centre. This statue of Athena by Pheidias was over 12 metres high
but even with its size, it has been lost to time, perhaps when it was potentially removed in the 5th
century CE to be taken to Constantinople. Since Roman copies were made though,
we know what she may have looked like fully-armed, wearing an aegis adorned with the head of Medusa,
holding the goddess Nike in her right hand and her shield in her left hand which showed scenes
from the amazonomachy and the gigantomachy; the battles of the Amazons and the giants.
There was a snake coiled behind the shield and on her helmet stood two griffins and a sphinx.
Both the artistic richness of the statue of Athena and the literal riches she was made of would have
been a very clear message of both the wealth and power of the city that could create such a
monumental tribute to their patron deity. Have you ever visited the Parthenon? What are your thoughts
on it? Let us know in the comments below! If you enjoyed this video, make sure to give it a thumbs
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