The Altar of Zeus and The Parthenon are both examples of the architecture of Ancient Greece. The Parthenon is a temple on top of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece while The Altar of Zeus is an altar built on the Apollo Hill in Athens. It was constructed in 466 BC with money from fines imposed after the revolt which ended the rule of the tyrant Hippias. The older temple was destroyed in the Persian sack of 480 BC, and Delphi (where The Altar of Zeus is located) became a pan-Hellenic sanctuary.
The Parthenon is made out of marble and limestone while The Altar of Zeus is built with limestone blocks. The Parthenon also has many sculptures carved into it while The Altar of Zeus does not have any carvings. The Parthenon has a large number of statues carved in Pentelic marble, while The Altar of Zeus only had one statue at its time which was made from wood by Phidias between 438-432 BC. There are many similarities between The Parthenon and The Altar of Zeus.
The Parthenon is about the birth of Athena, while The altar of Zeus was also built to honor The Temple of Zeus at Olympia where The Olympic Games began. The Parthenon is dedicated to Athena, The Greek goddess of wisdom and The Altar Of Zeus is for The god Zeus. Another similarity between the two structures are their location hills on which they were both built upon. The Parthenon sits above the Acropolis in Athens, Greece while The Altar of Zeus sits on top Apollo Hill in Athens, Greece as well.
The architecture of Ancient Greece had a lot of similarities but was still very different from one building to another depending on what purpose it served or who it belonged to. They are similar because some of The Parthenon’s design characteristics are The Doric order, The triglyphs, The metopes, and The columns. The Parthenon was also decorated with many sculptures on its exterior as well as some that were not visible from the outside such as those of Phidias which were inside.
The architecture of The Altar Of Zeus is very different than The architecture of The Parthenon because it does not have any carvings or sculptures anywhere on the building and is made out of limestone blocks. They also sit at two completely different locations: one on top an Acropolis and one on top of a hill in Athens, Greece.
The building of both The Parthenon and The Altar Of Zeus had a lot in common in that The Parthenon was built to honor The Temple of Zeus at Olympia where The Olympic Games began. The Parthenon is dedicated to Athena, The Greek goddess of wisdom while The Altar Of Zeus is for The god Zeus. Both structures also sit on hills in Athens, Greece and are both made out of limestone blocks but The Altar Of Zeus does not have any carvings or sculptures anywhere on the building. Another similarity between The Parthenon and The altar of Zeus is their location: one sits above an Acropolis in Athens, Greece while the other sits on top of Apollo Hill from which it gets its name from.
The classical period, epitomized by the Parthenon and the many other temples built during this time, is classified as a balance between stability and fluidity. The rigid doric order of the Parthenon adheres to these principles, resulting in a perfect singular structure with no deviations from symmetry or proportion. The Altar of Zeus on Samothrace is also an architectural feat for its time, but deviates from the strict formality of the Parthenon’s doric order as it seeks to better represent its religious contents.
In doing so it becomes less stable and more emotive as opposed to the classic definition of ‘perfection’ embodied in the Parthenon. The architectural style applied throughout reflects this divergence from the Parthenon. The planar elements of the building are more dynamic and fluid, including a lack of horizontal lines that were highly emphasized in the Parthenon.
The roof is also a key architectural element that symbolizes the transition from classicism to dynamism because it employs a curved surface rather than a triangular pediment, which was the standard for Greek temples during this period. The formality of canons seen in its predecessor is traded for movement and emotion as the overall design sacrifices structural stability to allow viewers’ connection with their religious experience by way of interactivity.
The interplay between architecture and religion is therefore what separates these two buildings from each other because they both seek to achieve different aims through unique uses of space and form. The Parthenon is designed to depict a religious ideal through its structure, whereas the Altar of Zeus serves an interactive role as it aims to connect viewers with their surroundings. The case can therefore be made that the Parthenon and the Altar of Zeus are not only aesthetically different but also represent two diverse approaches towards ancient architecture.
The Parthenon and Hellenistic Altar of Zeus represent two different approaches to architectural design. The first is the classical approach, which follows a canon religiously. The second is an innovative departure from these rules, and takes artistic liberties to create new forms. The Hellenistic altar represents the latter approach as it challenges the established conventions for designing temples. On first look, these structures appear to have similarity in that they both function as religious spaces, used as places of worship and ritual sacrifices.
The interior space of each building was designed with these purposes in mind; at Pergamon, within this temple stood a 10x10m marble altar on a raised platform for animal sacrifice (the “hierothesion”), surrounded by steps for ritual. The Parthenon served a similar function, housing a 50×77 foot rectangular room which could fit up to 1,000 worshipers. The commonalities end here, however. The Hellenistic altar was constructed at the top of a hill from limestone and marble from Naxos – common building materials within this region during the second half of the 3rd century BC.
The Parthenon, conversely, required transportation from all over Greece; it is estimated that enough stone was used in the construction of the temple to build two more temples like it (Burford). The Altar was built using primarily local materials while Parthenon stones were brought by boat and loaded onto wagons pulled by thousands of men (Caloyianis). The Parthenon was built from local stone, but also from marble brought from Thessaly and limestone from Mount Pentelicus.
The stones were covered in a thin layer of stucco, which served as a type of mortar for the construction of the temple. The facade included columns made from Parian marble while the interior had Ionic columns made from marble quarried on Naxos – two types of marble with visibly different colors. The Parthenon incorporates building materials that come not only from across Greece, but also across continents; it incorporated Egyptian granite at its base and Libyan porphyry to cover the center chamber (Hansen).
The Hellenistic altar is constructed using only local materials abundant within this area, whereas Parthenon materials are imported from Greece’s various regions. The Altar is also much smaller in scale, standing at an estimated 6 meters tall, while the Parthenon stands 40 meters tall (Grant). The Parthenon serves as a symbol of Greek power and influence, built by King Pericles to show off Athens’ growing imperial strength after defeating the Persians.
The Hellenistic altar does not serve this purpose; instead, it was built within a sanctuary for religious purposes. The Parthenon served multiple functions throughout its time including religious, military and political – but ultimately served as storage space for war trophies collected during Athens victory against Persia in 479 B. C. , marking the turning point of the Greco-Persian War. The symbolism behind