"The centerpiece of Pericles' great building program on the Acropolis was the Parthenon, or Temple of Athena Parthenos, erected in a remarkably short period of time between 447 and 438 B.C. ... Two later temples, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike, built after Pericles' death were probably also part of the original design.  ...   That these buildings exist at all today is something of a miracle.  The Parthenon, for example, was converted into a Byzantine church and later a Catholic church in the Middle Ages, and then, after the Ottoman conquest of Greece, into an Islamic mosque.  Each time the building was remodeled for a different religion it was modified structurally.  ...  In 1687 the Venetians besieged the Acropolis, which at that time was in Turkish hands.  One of their rockets scored a direct hit on the ammunition depot the Turks had installed in part of the Parthenon.  The resultant explosion blew out the building's center.  To make matters worse, the Venetians subsequently tried to remove some of the statues from the Parthenon's pediments.  In more than one case statues were dropped and smashed on the ground.  Today ... the corrosive emissions of factories and automobiles are decomposing the ancient marbles.  ... Despite the ravages of time and humanity, most of the Parthenon's peripteral [external] colonnade is still standing (or has been reerected), and art historians know a great deal about the building and its sculptural program.  The architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates."

- Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, pp. 127 - 128
 

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Bronze Statue - Poseidon or Zeus

"The male human form in motion is, by contrast, the subject of another Early Classical bronze statue, which ... divers found in an ancient shipwreck... off the coast of Greece.  The bearded god once hurled a weapon held in his right hand, probably a thunderbolt, in which case he is Zeus.  A less likely suggestion is that this is Poseidon with his trident.  The pose could be employed equally well for a javelin thrower.  Both arms are boldly extended, and the right heel is raised off the ground, underscoring the lightness and stability of hollow-cast monumental statues."

- Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, pp. 124


 

Bronze Statue - Paris or Youth from Antikythera


 

Bronze Statue - The Charioteer (detail) **

"The statue is almost all that remains of an enormous group. ... The moment chosen for depiction is not during the frenetic race but after, when the driver quietly and modestly holds his horses still in the winner's circle.  ... A band inlaid with silver is tied around the head and confines the hair.  The eyes are made of glass paste and shaded by delicate bronze lashes."

- Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, p. 123

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Amphora - Oenone and Paris

Greek vase-painting was a complex process involving layers of glaze and careful engraving.  Originally the earliest ceramics were made by applying black glaze on red clay resulting in figures which were black and a red background.  Later, artists traced the figures in the red clay then glazed the backgrounds black, applying a light line of glaze, resulting in red figures against a black background.  The final development involved using multiple types of glaze, post-firing paint, and clay to create polychromatic (multi-colored) ceramics.  Most vases depicted Greek mythology and were commonly used in all Greek households - each specific vase type designed to contain a different type of material (perfume, oil, wine, water, grain, etc.)  This particular vase depicts the grief of Oenone for deliberately having let Paris die at her feet.

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Overview of Delphi Complex: Note, from upper right to lower left, the Stadium, the Amphitheater, and the Temple to Apollo.

Amphitheater (Delphi, Greece)

Starting Blocks at the Stadium (Delphi, Greece)



Tholos - Temple to Athena (Delphi ca. 375 B.C.)