The Persians had a lot of influence on the Athenian classical art. They helped shape the Athenian art. The first Persian invasion of Athens was 480 BCE. According to Pollitt, the Persians kept on harassing the Athenian villages (65). They destroyed the sculptures in the Parthenon. They tended to attack the sculptures as if they were real humans. Many of them are beheaded like the one that are at the modern day Parthenon. Persia and Athens never got along very well. The Persians kept on attacking the Athenians so that they can gain more power, but Athena was there to save the Athenians. The old Parthenon was left in ruins as a “reminder of the impiety of the barbarian” (pg 66). Pericle’s later rebuilds the Parthenon as a sign of the status of Athens and as icon of Greek victory over the Persians. Athens achieves high statue with the Persians out of the picture. They make allies incase war was to break out again. Many people were killed and they were given a Pericle’s funeral. Athens had sufficient funds available after the Athens defeated the Persians and they were no longer at war. So they dedicated the money toward art in building monuments. Evan after the Persian war, the Athenians were still at war with Anti-Athenians. Pericle’s funeral speech points out that man can “shape the word to his own vision of it (67).” Man is the measure of all things meaning that knowledge is subjective. Example of this is in the Parthenon, the way that the sculptures are sculpted to give an impression. They Greek or Athenian artist tried to create order out of chaos. Their lives were a mess with all the conflict, but they can depict they life that they envision in their work. Many of the sculptures were done during and after chaos, but the artists were able to give it their own impression (72). “Man was the measurer, and things had to be measured in the light of his experience (74). Basically the experience that the Athenians experienced from the Persians helped shape their art. Like creating order out of chaos. The Metopes are great example of creating order out of chaos that the Athenians made. This influenced the classical art enormously especially in the temple and sculptures.
In conclusion, the Parthenon encompasses many fundamentals of the classical period. The Parthenon also has many Athenian aspects incorporated in them as well. Athens olive trees is apart of the Athenian society due it being the major export. It was provided by the Athena, the goddess of wisdom, art, craft and many other things. She helped the Athenians defeat the Persian after they were sacked. The experience that the Athenians went through by being attacked by the Persians influenced the classical art period. The Athenians made order out of chaos. This could be seen in the Parthenon. The friezes that portray events that happened involved chaos, like the involvement of the gods fighting. Also, dead soldiers are shown. The Friezes portray the history and thanks to the goddess that helped them. Basically, the experiences of their daily lives shaped the classical art elements seen through out the Parthenon.
Parthenon vs. Nike of Samothrace
The Nike of Samothrace is similar to the Parthenon Athena Parthenos. The ancient Greeks symbol for victory was Nike. It was created before the Parthenon around 250 BCE or even earlier. The purpose of the statue was to remind the Greeks visitor of the important roles that the gods play. Athena Parthenos was build as thanks to her for helping the Athenians defeat the Persians. The sculpture portrays the traditional classical style. The Nike is detailed like Athena. There are obvious similarities in the sculpturing of the both Athena and the Nike.
The Nike’s massive body is stabilized by the powerful backward thrust of her gigantic wings. According to several scholars, the Nike is associated with the victory of the Rhodians against the fleet Antiochus III the Great. It stands on top of a stone ship. It was originally thanks to the deities as apart of a fountain (Lahanas). Athena served as a protector and deity to the Athenian. She is there to guide and help them. The movement of the large figure, and the strong contrast of light and dark on the on the sculptured figure exemplify classical art. Also the contrasting texture of the feather, fabric and skin symbolize Hellenistic art (Stockstad 156). The statue is missing a head, which can be inferred that the city was also sacked like Athens.
By Abader Almosawi
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