Download Pericles, the Parthenon, and Athenian Imperialism

Pericles, the Parthenon, and
Athenian Imperialism
Cultural Politics and the Ethics of
Empire
Some Basic Information on
the Parthenon
 Temple to Athena Parthenos
 Constructed between 447 and 432 BCE;
Iktinos and Kallikrates architects; Phidias
sculptor of cult statue.
 Dimensions: 228 ft. x 101 ft. on top step.
 Architectural Features: Doric order with
Ionic elements; 8 columns at end (usually 6)
and 17 columns on sides.
Parthenon and Propylaea from the Pnyx (1910)
R. Ceccoli, View of Acropolis from the South-West, 1853
Destruction of Parthenon in 1687
L. von Klenze, 1862
Pre Parthenon, Reconstruction of Plan (Scale 1:400)
ParthenonReconstruction
of Plan (Scale 1:400)
Spatial Diagram of Sculptures
West Facade
South Pteroma
North Side
From the North-West
Artistic Features
 Pediment Statuary: Athena born from the head of
Zeus (east); Contest between Poseidon and Athena
for Athens (west).
 Metopes (mythical combats): Lapiths vs. Centaurs
(south); Gods vs. Giants (east); Greeks vs. Amazons
(west?); Trojan scenes (north?).
 Frieze (low relief): Panathenaic Procession
(challenged by Connelly).
Relief- South-West Corner
West Façade Reliefs
South Metopes I: Lapiths vs. Centaurs
South Metopes II: Lapiths vs. Centaurs
Plutarch, Pericles 12
Fifth-Century Sources:
Stesimbrotos of Thasos
And
Ion of Chios
“But there was one measure above all which at once gave
the greatest pleasure to the Athenians, adorned their city
and created amazement among the rest of mankind, and
which is today the sole testimony that the tales of the
ancient power and glory of Greece are no mere fables. By
this I mean his [Pericles’] construction of temples and
buildings; and yet it was this, more than any other action
of his, which his enemies slandered and misrepresented.
They cried out in the Assembly that Athens had lost its
good name and disgraced itself by transferring from Delos
into its own keeping the funds that had been contributed
by the rest of Greece… “The Greeks must be outraged,”
they cried. “They must consider this an act of bare-faced
tyranny, when they see that with their own contributions,
extorted from them by force for the war against the
Persians, we are gilding and beautifying our city, as if it
were some vain woman decking herself out with costly
stones and statues and temples worth millions”.”
Pericles (Thucydides 2.40-41)
“When we do kindnesses to others, we do not do them out of any
calculations of profit or loss: we do them without forethought, relying
on our free liberality. Taking everything together, then, I declare that
our city is an education to Greece, and I declare that in my opinion
each single one of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects of life, is able
to show himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person, and do
this, moreover, with exceptional grace and exceptional versatility. And
to show that this is no empty boasting for the present occasion, but real
tangible fact, you have only to consider the power which our city
possesses and which has been won by those very qualities which I have
mentioned. Athens, alone of the states we know, comes to her testing
time in a greatness that surpasses what was imagined of her. In her
case, and in her case alone, no invading enemy is ashamed at being
defeated, and no subject can complain of being governed by people
unfit for their responsibilities. Mighty indeed are the marks and
monuments of our empire which we have left.”
An Athenian View
(Thucydides 1.76)
“We have done nothing extraordinary,
nothing contrary to human practice, in
accepting an empire when it was offered to
us and then in refusing to give it up. Three
very powerful motives prevent us from
doing so-honor, fear, and self-interest. And
we were not the first to act in this way. It
has always been a rule that the weak
should be subject to the strong; besides we
consider that we are worthy of our
power.”