The Parthenon Case

The Parthenon

The Parthenon is a very famous structure that was built and dedicated to Athena Parthenon. This building has survived the test of all times. It was constructed between 447 and 438 BC (Bromiley, 2010). According to many scholars, it is one building that was been built with a lot of precision. The Parthenon is a Doric temple which has ionic structures. Some of these include 17 columns to the North and South as well as eight columns on the East and West facades (Wittkower, 1998). In its outer part, the temple is decorated with metopes giving it a Greek mythology. They include Cella which has two chambers. The first one is the naos which house the Athena statue and opisthodomos which once served as a treasury for delian league (Bromiley, 2010).

Parthenon design displays several artistic principles making it one of the timeless designs of our age. One of the most pronounced artistic principle is distortion scale. This building has optical distortion where the platform, entablature and stylobate are all slightly curved (Bromiley, 2010). This makes the building to look different from it actual structure. According to the structure, the idea was not to create a straight line. However, it was to come up with a thing that looks like it from an idea of a curve. These half straight and half curved lines offer an impression that the building is hugging the ground.

The other principle that has been conspicuous is proportion. According to McClain 1984, Parthenon design measurements relates to musical scale of Pythagoras. One of the most visible proportions is 9:4. This is derived from the key proportioning ratio of 3:2. The ratios of widths, length and heights of the outer temple length are all in ratios of 3:2.

In addition, the temple shows to very close proximity of Golden section. By applying the idea of human proportion for the human body to Parthenon design, the temple obeys Golden section to a great extent. The reason being, its proportions correspond closely to Golden section where horizontal and vertical work together to create great harmony (Bromiley, 2010).

Finally, The Parthenon used scale and meaning as an artistic design to convey bravely idea to the Persian who had at one time conquered them in war. After they, Athenians, conquered Persians at around 440 BC, they collected money from other cities to come up with a strong army to help protect people from Persians (Wittkower,