The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . ory^; and nearthe center of the open space rose the larger structures of theErechtheum ^ and the Parthenon. 219. The Parthenon ( maidens chamber) was the templeof the virgin goddess Athene. It remains absolutely peerlessin its loveliness among the buildings of the world. It was inthe Doric style,^ and of no great size, — only some 100 feet by 1 See the illustration on page 159. 2 A temple to Erechtheus, an ancestral god of Attica. See page 212. 8 See § 154 for explanation of this and other terms used in this also pages 156,
The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . ory^; and nearthe center of the open space rose the larger structures of theErechtheum ^ and the Parthenon. 219. The Parthenon ( maidens chamber) was the templeof the virgin goddess Athene. It remains absolutely peerlessin its loveliness among the buildings of the world. It was inthe Doric style,^ and of no great size, — only some 100 feet by 1 See the illustration on page 159. 2 A temple to Erechtheus, an ancestral god of Attica. See page 212. 8 See § 154 for explanation of this and other terms used in this also pages 156,158, 212, 221, for illustrations of the Parthenon. §219] THE PARTHENON 211 250, while the marble pillars supporting its low pediment roseonly 34 feet from their base of three receding steps. The ef-fect was due, not to the sublimity and grandeur of vast masses,but to the perfection of proportion, to exquisite beauty of line,and to the delicacy and profusion of ornament. On this struc-ture, indeed, was lavished without stint the highest art of the. Propylaea of the Acropolis To-day. art capital of all time. The fifty life-size and colossal statuesin the pediments, and the four thousand square feet of smallerreliefs in the frieze were all finished with perfect skill, evenin the unseen parts. The frieze represents an Athenian pro-cession, carrying offerings to the patron goddess Athene atthe greatest religious festival of Athens. Nearly 500 differentfigures were carved upon this frieze.^ As with all Greek tem- 1 These reliefs are now for the most part in the British Museum and areoften referred to as the Elgin Marbles, from the fact that Lord Elgin securedthem, shortly after 1800, for the English government. The student can judgeof the original position of part of the sculpture on the building from the illus-tration of the Parthenon on page 221. The frieze within the colonnade 212 INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC ATHENS [§ 220 pies, the bands of stone above the columns were painted
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecthistoryancient, booky
