FREE ESSAY ON IDEAS OF THE PARTHENON

IDEAS OF THE PARTHENON

Ideas of the Parthenon
The Greek people of the 5th century BC created a culture that was deeply rooted in
philosophy and the arts. Their endless search for their place in the grand scheme of the
universe and in nature around them influenced everything in their lives especially their
love of the arts. Their drama, sculpture, and even architecture are all shining examples
of the ideas that were so dominant in the minds of the Greek people. What could be
considered the crown jewel of Greek architecture, the Parthenon, is one such of these
examples. It brings into form the three principal ideas of humanism, rationalism, and
idealism of the 5th century Greek people through not only its structure, but its
ornamentation and sculpture as well.
The basis of humanism can be summed up in the words of Protagoras, "Man is the measure of
all things." Humanism is the idea that human beings are the yardstick by with to measure
all things in the universe, including Greek gods and goddesses. The Parthenon stands for
this very idea through the fact that it is a human organization of space. It brings an
understandable order into a chaotic space that would otherwise be incomprehensible to a
human being. It allows a human to see the space and recognize it as something that is
real. It also consists of repeated patterns and distance intervals throughout its
structure that add to this order. The metopes, for example, are set in an alternating
pattern with the triglyphs around the entire building at distinct intervals bringing a
clear order to the entablature of the Parthenon. The columns that support the Parthenon
are also placed in certain distance intervals from each other and coincide with the
pattern formed by the metopes and triglyphs. These columns, however, are not in a perfect
pattern of equal distances around the entire Parthenon. The columns on either side of the
doorway to the Parthenon are placed a little farther apart than the rest to show a clear
entrance to the building. Also the corner columns of the building are positioned slightly
closer to their neighboring columns in order to compensate for the human eye. Without
this compensation the columns would give the illusion of leaning outward and being
farther apart than the rest of the columns because of the distortion of such a large
structure to the human eye. The stylobate that the columns rest on is also built to allow
for this optical illusion of the human eye. It has a gentle arch to it that prevent the
human eye from believing the building to be concave or sagging toward the middle. This
effect, known as entasis, can be seen throughout the Parthenon from the curve of the
stylobate and entablature to the slight bulging of the columns that gives the impression
of bearing the load of the structure. Another example of humanism in the Parthenon can be
seen in it ornamentation and sculpture.
The Parthenon is a temple to the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and has many references to
her though its decorative art work. For example, the East pediment of the Parthenon
depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. All of the figures in the pediment are
in a human form, including the gods and goddesses and Athena herself. This is a way of
bringing the gods down to a level that can be recognized and understood by humans who
worship them. This is true of all the Greek statues of gods and goddesses such as the
gold and ivory statue of the goddess Athena that stood in the Parthenon itself. 
Another idea of the 5th century Greek people that can be recognized in the Parthenon is
that of rationalism. Rationalism is the idea of eternal principles or basic truths that
are inherent in the universe and in the human mind. An example is that of Pythagoras'
right triangle theory that a?+b?=c?, which cannot be total proven but yet has never been
disproved either. This same theory can be seen in the Parthenon through its rectangular
shape which, if cut in half diagonally, would be two right triangles. As it is plain to
see, rationalism had a great hand in the very shape of the Parthenon as well as many
other aspects. One of these other aspects has to do with the size of one part of the
Parthenon in proportion to the size of another part. The proportion or ratio of 9:4 has
been recognized and reoccurs throughout the building in many different instances. For
example, when the length of the Parthenon at the stylobate of 228 feet is compared to the
width at the stylobate of 104 feet the resulting ratio is 9:4. This ratio can also be
seen when you compare the distance from the center of one column to the center of the
neighboring column to the diameter of the column at its base and in the distance of that
diameter to the width of the triglyph on the entablature. Moving on from the Parthenon's
structure to the statues, pediments and friezes that decorate this temple to Athena, one
can notice even more effects of the idea of rationalism. In the 5th century BC, a
sculptor by the name of Polyclitus very successfully attempted to apply a canon, or body
of rules, to the proportions of the human body through sculpture. Although Polyclitus
didn't set his body of rules in stone, so to speak, he started an idea of rationalism
that applied to the ratios of the human body. The statue of the goddess Athena that
resides in the Parthenon is one such sculpture that was created with a similar body of
rules in mind. The same can be said for the elaborate pediment on the East end of the
Parthenon, as well as the much smaller friezes and metopes that decorate the great
building inside and out. 
The humanistic concepts of the Parthenon are plain to see, a building built by humans,
for humans, and built with human ideas, but what about the other side of the coin. This
other side of humanistic thinking is known as idealism. Idealism is the perfect and
unblemished aspirations of human beings manifested in their minds and their art, such as
the Parthenon. The Greeks belief in their gods and goddesses is the perfect example of
this idea of idealism. To the Greeks, their gods and goddesses represented the perfection
that they all were trying to achieve physically and mentally, which is a direct contrast
of the humanistic idea of man being the measure of all things. Thus, when one looks at
the statue of Athena or the East pediment depicting her birth they can interpret them as
an example of humanism, gods being more human, or as idealistic, humans being more
god-like. The same can be said for the use of entasis and the other deviations from
"perfect" geometry in the Parthenon. By adjusting the building from exact right angles
and precise flat surfaces, the architect made the Parthenon appear, to the human eye, as
an idealized dwelling for a perfect being, the goddess Athena. There are other examples
of idealism in the Parthenon that are not related to humanism at all. The sheer size of
the building hints to the fact that the Parthenon is a place that is not meant for a
human or even built with a human being in mind. For example, the steps of the Parthenon
are to such a large scale that is clumsy and awkward for a man's normal stride, but in
the Greek mind, the perfect distance and size for that of a goddess. The entrance to the
Parthenon, through it's colossal size, denotes that a human is not the main concern when
it comes to entering and exiting of this building in the mind of the architect.
The 5th century Greek people played a pivotal role in the shaping of not only the world
of philosophy but also the world of art and architecture. Their ideas of humanism,
rationalism, and idealism were the things that brought to life the artwork of their time
and still effects ours to this day. The Parthenon, with its bulging columns, its repeated
ratios, and its colossal size expresses how these ideas formed the structure of the
building and then shows how the same ideas brought to form the beautiful pediments and
sculptures that give us a deeper insight into the minds and hearts of the Greek people.
The Parthenon is truly an elaborate time capsule overflowing with Greek ideas.