Decoding The Parthenon

The Parthenon is one of the most celebrated and recognisable
buildings in the world, but what did it mean to the Ancient Greeks?
What role did it play in Greek society? And what did it look like
in its heyday? Together, Mary and Charlotte decode the
Parthenon.  By happy coincidence, Mary is not just co-host of
Instant Classics, but author of Charlotte’s favourite book on the
subject: The Parthenon (Profile/Harvard University Press, 2002). In
this episode, Mary and Charlotte pick their way through the stones
of Parthenon, beginning with its construction in the middle of the
5th century BCE. The building work only took fifteen years
(significantly faster than medieval cathedrals), but demanded a
huge amount of labour, both enslaved and free.  Today, the
Parthenon looks austere, pale and hardly decorated. A simple
monument from a simpler age, perhaps. But what we see bears little
relation to what the Greeks saw - and the building, its function
and decoration retain many mysteries. For instance…  It was
built as a temple to the city’s patron goddess Athena, but who was
Athena and what exactly went on in a ‘temple’?  We know that
it was painted and covered in sculptures - some of which survive -
but whether the painting was subtle or gaudy is hard to say, while
the significance of some of the sculptures continues to elude us –
some of it was hardly even visible from the ground.  Inside,
there were two rooms: one housed a giant, golden statue of Athena;
the other was a treasury filled with riches. But where did all this
loot come from and how was it guarded?   Finally, if you
are lucky enough to visit, what is the best time of day to go and –
is it really worth it – or are you better off going to the
beach?  Find out the answer - or possible answers - to these
questions in Decoding the Parthenon.  @instaclassicpod for
Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email:
instantclassicspod@gmail.com To join the Instant Classics Book Club
and share our trip into Homer’s Odyssey, go to 
https://instantclassics.supportingcast.fm/ Mary and Charlotte’s
recommended reads: Sorry to repeat the recommendation for Mary’s
book, The Parthenon. But there’s more. You can find Pausanias’
second-century CE description of the temple in his Description of
Greece I, 24, 5 ff (online here:
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=1:chapter=24)
And various criticisms of the project are noted (again in the
second century CE) by Plutarch in his Life of Pericles chap. 31
(online here:
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0055%3Achapter%3D31)
Even introductions to Greek religion for general readers can get
pretty technical. There is a reasonably accessible discussion of
the idea of the temple, in Simon Price, Religions of the Ancient
Greeks (Cambridge, 1999). Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci
Producer: Jonty Claypole  Executive Producer: Natalia
Rodriguez Ford Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson
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