Comparative_Paper__Parthenon,_Athens_Vs._Cathedral_Of_Flore

Comparative Paper: Parthenon, Athens Vs. Cathedral Of Florence After the Persians destroyed the Acropolis, in 448 BC the Athenian leader Pericles initiated construction of the presently standing temple of Athena. Built by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates under the supervision of the sculptor Phidias, the temple is generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order, the simplest of the three classical Greek architectural styles. The rectangular building was constructed of brilliant white marble, surrounded by 46 great columns, roofed with tiles, and housed a nearly 40 foot tall statue of the goddess Athena. The statue, known as Athena Promachos, Athena the Champion, was made of wood, gold and ivory. The name Parthenon refers to the worship of Athena Parthenos, the 'Virgin Athena' who issued fully grown from the head of her father Zeus. The maiden goddess and patroness of Athens, she represents the highest order of spiritual development and the gifts of intellect and understanding. Pure in body, mind and heart, Athena is the symbol of the universal human aspiration for wisdom. It was not only the character and statue of the goddess that symbolized these qualities however, but also the precise topographical location and astronomical orientation of her shrine, and the sacred geometry athena, temple, parthenon, athens, statue, order, greek, goddess, character, cathedral, built, building, both, within, white, structure, sacred, place, one, name, marble, itself, highest, great, god, florence, features, doric, development, deity, century, around, architecture, zeus, worship, works