Later Buildings on the Athenian Acropolis

Erechtheion, 421 B.C., Plan

The Erechtheion was probably part of the original Periclean building program  It was designed to replace an Archaic Athena Temple that the Persians had destroyed.  It is an Ionic building.  It was intended to be a multiple shrine and so deliberately combined three buildings into one structure. 

According to Ancient Greek mythology, the king of Athens, Kekrops, oversaw a contest between the goddess Athena and Poseidon in order to determine which god would be the patron of the city.  Poseidon thrust his trident into a rock on the Acropolis and produced a salt water spring.  Nearby, Athena magically caused an olive tree to grow.  Therefore Athena defeated the sea-god Poseidon in her battle to win possession of the city.

Here are the component parts of this complex building:

• The largest building on the right is was a shrine housing a wooden image of Athena (purple).

• On the far left was Athena's olive tree (green).

• At the top was a shrine for Poseidon's trident mark (orange)

• At the bottom is the Porch of the Maidens, which overlooked the site of the Archaic Athena Temple

The building also needed to incorporate the Tomb of Kekrops and other pre-existing shrines.  

Approaching the Erectheion looking east -- Shrine for Poseidon's trident mark on the right, Shrine to Athena in the center (with Athena's olive tree in front), Porch of the Maidens on the right	Erectheion -- Porch of the Maidens, with detail of the Caryatids
	The caryatids are related to the kore figures — but now, much less like a column.  These are idealized women in the contrapposto pose. The body revealed beneath drapery, and, like the three goddesses of the Parthenon, there are many, many folds in her drapery.
Erectheion, Shrine to Athena with Porch of the Maidens on the left (looking west)	Erectheion, Shrine to Athena with the Shrine for Poseidon's trident mark on the right

Note the Ionic columns.  Likewise, this is an Ionic entablature with an architrave and a plain frieze.

Numerous smaller temples and shrines dedicated to both mythical ancestors and Greek gods were also to be found on the Acropolis. These included the Temple of Athena Nike, as well as the huge imposing statute of Athena Promachos, which stood 10 meters tall and could be seen from some 5 kilometers out to sea. As we noted earlier, the Temple of Athena Nike was visible from the Propylaea.

The image of Nike, or Victory, was repeated in many places in the context of this small temple.  Perhaps the most famous is this relief sculpture of Nike adjusting her sandal.  Her pose is natural, even awkward.  Her body is revealed beneath the drapery.  And, once again, it appears that there is lot of drapery.  It appears to be very thin, even wet.

In the end, the idea of the Athenian empire was flawed.  Athens could not conceive of a political system that was larger than the city-state.  Hence Athenians made all decisions for all the conquered states — this was a weakness in their empire building that lead to failure.

The war had dire consequences.  The Greeks had to give states back to the Persians!  Athens (which had a large fleet) was finally beat by the Spartans (who went to the Persians to obtain their own fleet). 

Therefore, in 404 B.C. Athens lost the Peloponnesian War and Sparta won.  As a result:

• an entire generation knew nothing but warfare (some hired themselves as mercenaries)

• Greek states had exhausted their resources and so artists could not be paid.  Artists moved out of Greece

Theucidedes wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War — saying that Pericles speech was vainglorious.