as seen from Mount Lycabettus.
The Parthenon is rightly considered the finest monument of the ancient world. The Egyptians and Mesopotamians built larger structures, but they cannot compare with the harmonious proportions of the Parthenon or the expressive sculptures that graced its pediments. The Parthenon derives its name from parthenos, a title given to the goddess Athena, that means girl, virgin, or unmarried woman. The temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. Work on the Parthenon began in 447 BC and continued until 437 BC. Political oversight was provided by Pericles, the leading man of Athens, while artistic direction for the project was provided by the sculptor Phidias and the architects Iktinos and Callicrates.
although greatly diminished, and shrouded in scaffolding today, the Parthenon still continues to awe visitors. The building was constructed on a rectangular platform (228 x 101 feet) surrounded by 46 columns, each standing 34 feet high.
as seen from the Agora. To the right of the Acropolis is the hill known as the Aeropogus where judgments were rendered.
The Parthenon
Constructed from bright, pure Pentelic marble, the architects of the Parthenon used their masterful understanding of proportions and perspective to construct a building that does not incorporate any strait lines. For example, the center of the platform (pedestal) is raised ever so slightly in the middle with relation to its four corners, the outer columns are tilted inwards several degrees, while the columns themselves bulge out ever so slightly in the middle (entasis). Thus the architects compensated for the very slight distortions in the way we perceive things.
the columns swell slightly in the middle like the muscles in an arm swell when lifting a heavy weight.
the middle of the pedestal (stylobate) rises slightly in relation to its corners. These slightly curved lines appear strait when seen from a distance, thus correcting for the distortion in the way we see things.
4:9 Ratio
One important feature of the design of the Parthenon is the careful use of ratios — especially 4:9. For example, the ratio of the width of the building to its length (228 x 101 feet) is 4:9. Likewise the height of the building in proportion to its width is 4:9. The ratio of the width of each column to the distance between each column is also 4:9. The architects of the Parthenon clearly favored this ratio.
The height of the Parthenon in relation to is width is 4:9.
the width of the Parthenon in relation to its length is 4:9.
the width of the columns in relation to the distance between them is 4:9.
The Golden Ratio
Many researchers have also argued that the architects of the Parthenon must have known and made use of the Golden Ratio. This ratio may be expressed in various ways: as a sequence of numbers known as the Fibonacci Sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…), as a line plotted on a graph (the Golden Spiral), or as a geometric shape (the Golden Rectangle). The ratio itself is an irrational number (1.6180339887498…) to which mathematicians have assigned the Greek letter ‘phi’ (Φ). Some scholars believe that the Greek geometer, Pythagoras, had already begun to experiment with the Golden Ratio in the 6th century BC. Certainly by the late 4th century BC the Greek geometer, Euclid, was writing on the subject. There is no literary evidence to suggest that Athenian architects working in the 5th century BC knew about the Golden Ratio. However, so many aspects of the Parthenon facade appear to utilize the ratio that one is forced to concluded that they did indeed know and use it.1Some scholars dispute whether the overall dimensions of the facade really fit the golden rectangle but fail to observe the ways in which the layout of the entablature, metopes, and triglphys also make use of it.
the Golden Ratio controls the width and height of the entablature.
the entablature may be further divided into 7 Golden Rectangles.
The Golden Ratio controls the size and spacing of the triglyphs.
The Golden Ratio controls the size of the metopes in relation to the height of the frieze.
The effective application of ratios such as 4:9 and Φ to art and architecture would seem to imply that beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder as is so often claimed. There are certain proportions that simply look right to the eye, just as there are certain sounds that are pleasant to the ear. This does not mean that beauty can be reduced to a mathematical equation, but it does suggest that a standard of “beauty” exists outside of ourselves. If true, then it undermines the entire premise of modern art and architecture which treats beauty as something relative and random, a matter of convention, and even something to be treated with disdain, as Picasso does in The Woman in a Green Hat:
“I deliberately painted this crooked nose […] so that you are forced to see a nose. Later […] you’ll recognize that it is not crooked at all. You should simply stop perceiving pretty harmonies and exquisite colors.”2Placard from the Albertina Museum, Vienna
No wonder many modern commentators have tended to dismiss the usefulness of the Golden Ratio for art and architecture. In the final analysis, how we think about the Golden Ratio, and other mathematical ratios, is connected to the bigger question of whether a transcendent mathematical order actually exists and whether it may be expressed in nature—a profoundly religious question.
An English translation of Luca Pacioli’s The Divine Proportion
A video that shows how the golden ratio is incorporated into the design of plants.
Another great video that shows how the Fibonacci sequence is found in surprising places.
Beard, Mary.
The Parthenon.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010.
Colaiaco, J. A.
Socrates Against Athens: Philosophy on Trial.
Oxfordshire, England: Routledge, 2001.
Connelly, J. B.
The Parthenon Enigma.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.
Samons, L. J.
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Pericles.
Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Link