Parthenon. Its stylistic conventions have become the paradigm of Classical architecture, and its style has influenced architecture to this day. The Parthenon epitomizes all the ideals of Greek thought during the apogee of the Classical era through artistic means. The idealism of the Greek way of living, the attention to detail, as well as the understanding of a mathematically explained harmony in the natural world, were concepts that in every Athenian’s eyes set them apart from the barbarians. These ideals are represented in the perfect proportions of the building, in its intricate architectural elements, and in the anthropomorphic statues that adorned it.
The Athenian citizens were proud of their cultural identity, and conscious of the historical magnitude of their ideas. They believed that they were civilized among barbarians, and that their cultural and political achievements were bound to alter the history of all civilized people. The catalyst for all their accomplishments was the development of a system of governance the likes of which the world had never seen: Democracy.
Democracy, arguably the epitome of the Athenian way of thinking, was at center stage while the Parthenon was built. This was a direct democracy where every citizen had a voice in the common issues through the Assembly that met on the Pnyx hill next to the Acropolis forty times per year to decide on all matters of policy, domestic or foreign.
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Architects: Iktinos and Kallikrates.
Date of construction: 447-432 B.C.
Cost of Construction: 469 talents (1 talent = cost to build one trireme, the most advanced warship of the era, also equal to one months salary of the ship's crew. The annual gross income of the City of Athens at that time was 1,000 talents)
Length: 69.50 m. (227.96 ft)
Width: 30.88 m (101.29 ft)
Materials: Pentelic marble, limestone foundation
