The Age of Pericles | Parthenon and Acropolis (Lecture 6)

Lecture 6: This lecture concentrates on the glorious building program associated with Pericles. By the end of the 5th century, the Acropolis of Athens, previously home to a motley assortment of shrines, temples, treasure houses, statues, and altars, had been transformed into an artistically integrated sanctuary dominated by three buildings: the Propylaea, the Parthenon, and the Erechtheum. The first of these was a monumental gateway, flanked by such landmarks as the small temple to Athena Nike. In the Propylaea was housed a picture gallery, containing masterpieces of 5th-century painting, now all lost. Through its gateway, visitors, often as part of the stately Panathenaic procession, made their way onto the great rock that overlooked the city of Athens. To the left as one enters the Acropolis lies the Erechtheum, an extraordinary and unique building that housed half a dozen separate cults inside its walls, on its porches, and even in its foundations. South of this lies the Parthenon, the most glorious temple ever built by the Greeks. By pictures, plans, and reconstructions, we will examine the architecture of these buildings, as well as their decoration, showing how they combined to serve as the religious capitol of the new Athenian Empire under Pericles.

Suggested Reading:
Hurwit, J. M. The Athenian Acropolis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Topper, R. J. The Acropolis. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971.

Lecture 7: https://rumble.com/v5eemt9-the-age-of-pericles-panathenaea-the-festivals-of-athena-lecture-7.html