The Parthenon

Constructed between 447 and 432 BCE under the direction of sculptor Pheidias and architects Ictinus and Callicrates, the Parthenon atop Athens' Acropolis is one of history's greatest architectural achievements. Dedicated to the goddess Athena, it was built from Pentelic marble with extraordinary precision — its columns swell very slightly in the middle (a feature called entasis), which many scholars think corrects an optical illusion so they look straight. Despite serving as a temple, treasury, church, and later a mosque and munitions store (which caused an explosion in 1687), the structure has stood for over 2,400 years.

The 'entasis' (a slight, deliberate swelling) of its columns is a celebrated ancient optical correction technique.

Context

The dates 447 to 432 BCE reflect two stages: the main building was largely complete by about 438 BCE, when the great gold-and-ivory statue of Athena was dedicated, and work on the sculptural decoration of the pediments continued until 432 BCE. Ancient building accounts inscribed on stone give historians unusually good evidence for the project.

The temple was part of a wider building programme on the Acropolis led by the statesman Pericles after the Persian Wars. It was funded largely from the treasury of the Delian League, which later became a source of political controversy in Athens.

The building is famous for refinements: the floor and the steps curve very slightly upward in the middle, and the columns swell gently along their height, a feature called entasis. Many scholars think these subtle departures from straight lines were meant to make the temple look balanced to the eye. Later uses included a Christian church and an Ottoman mosque, and a Venetian shell ignited gunpowder stored inside in 1687, causing the major damage seen today.