The Parthenon: Old Made New
By: Roger Smith
When you imagine the Parthenon, Greece’s breathtaking temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, you probably think of an elegant, glowing white building on a hill. History and beauty and achievement in one perfect place: a shrine of man’s ability to create. Unfortunately, the visitor to Athens expecting to see the elegance and beauty of the Parthenon will be sorely disappointed. The once-iconic site is not covered in thick nets of wooden scaffolding and steel rods. The ground around it is littered with power equipment. And a giant crane has taken the sacred place of Athena-- her gold and ivory statue is nowhere to be seen.
Restoring the Parthenon It’s amazing to think that the ancient people of Athens were able to build the Parthenon in about eight years-- especially when you consider that the modern restoration project has gone on for thirty-three. But how, with modern tools and technologies, is it taking far longer to restore the old temple than it took to build it in the first place?
The main problem with restoring the Parthenon is getting it perfect. This isn’t’ a modern building, and the restoration craftsmen aren’t creating something new-- they’re recreating something very old that was done incredibly well. Modern archaeologists, civil engineers, architects, and craftsmen don’t want only to imitate the methods of the ancient Athenians-- they want to recreate it.
The Mystery of Eight Short Years Even when you compare the exacting standards of modern restorationists with the creative freedom of the ancient builders of the Parthenon, it’s still hard to fathom its construction. The Parthenon is considered the ultimate in architectural achievement and beauty. With its elegant curving lines and incredible attention to detail, the Parthenon is the result of true creative genius-- and took a "terrifying" amount of work to pull off. So how were the ancient Greeks able to build it in just eight or nine years?
One element of Athenian culture that probably played a key part in the quick construction of the Parthenon was naval technology. With the most navel power in the Aegean, the Athenians were likely to have a perfect mastery of the rope-and-pulley systems they’d need to move the giant marble blocks with which the Parthenon was constructed. Another even more startling reason why the Athenians were able to construct so quickly was the quality of their tools. In studying chisel marks on the Parthenon, architects are convinced that their ancient tools were actually better than our modern ones.
The Parthenon is a symbol of beauty and creative genius. To learn more about the Parthenon’s history and the restoration of this amazing landmark, visit The Smithsonian Magazine website at the following link:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com Smithsonian magazine is a monthly magazine created for modern, well-rounded individuals with diverse interests. It chronicles the arts, history, sciences and popular culture of the times. Each month, expect articles from the Smithsonian Institution's award-winning, monthly general interest magazine, plus exclusive Web articles, videos, blogs, photographs and more.
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