Parthenon

The Parthenon (Greek: ??????????) is the most famous surviving building of Ancient Greece and one of the most famous buildings in the world. The building has stood atop the Acropolis of Athens for nearly 2,500 years and was built to give thanks to Athena, the city's patron goddess, for the salvation of Athens and Greece in the Persian Wars. The building was officially called the Temple of Athena the Virgin, and its popular name derives from the ancient Greek word παρθένος (parthenos), a young woman.

Treasury or temple?

Architecturally the Parthenon is clearly a temple, formerly containing the famous cult image of Athena by Phidias and the treasury of votive offerings. Since actual Greek sacrifices always took place at an altar invariably under an open sky, the Parthenon does not suit some definitions of "temple". Thus some scholars have argued that the Parthenon was only used as a treasury. While this opinion was first formed late in the 19th century, it has gained strength in recent years. The majority of scholarly opinion still sees the building in the terms Walter Burkert described for the Greek sanctuary, consisting of temenos, altar and temple with cult image (Burkert 1985 pp 84–92). See Holtzmann 2003 for a complete review of the debate.

Related Topics:
Cult image - Phidias - Altar - Walter Burkert - Sanctuary - Temenos

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