A t h e n s
T e m p l e s
The Hephaistheum:
The Agora of Athens is dominated by the
Hephaistheum, which stands, surrounded by strips of lawn and clumps of
oleander, atop the hill of Kolonos Agoraios on the northwest side of the
Agora. This Temple was dedicated to Hephaestus, the blacksmith God, and
Goddess Athena. Two lateral stairways lead up to it. For many years this
Temple was assumed to be the Sanctuary dedicated to Theseus, whose exploits
are featured on its metopes. In fact the real Theseum, built by Kimon in
475 B.C.E., stood on the east side of the Agora, at the foot of the Acropolis.
The Hephaistheum by contrast was built in about 449 B.C.E., two years before
work began on the Parthenon, and its architect is unknown. Having escaped
destruction several times, the Temple remained practically intact until
the mid 7th century C.E., when it was occupied by the Christian church.
The Hephaistheum is a Doric hexastyle Temple.
Its stylobate and superstructure are of Pentelic marble. The front and
rear porches are distyle, in antis. The inner colonnade originally
included two levels of Doric columns, surmounted by a wooden entablature.
A monumental door separated the pronaos from the naos (the
inner sanctum), which was dominated by a colossal statue of Hephaestus.
The statue of Athena occupied the second place.
The reliefs of the frieze, along with the
metopes of the Temple, are sculpted in Parian marble and represent the
labors of Hercules and the exploits of Theseus. Only eighteen of the sixty-eight
metopes were sculpted; the fifty others were probably painted. The pediments
were adorned with sculptures, of which only the smallest traces remain.
The frieze of the pronaos illustrates the mythical contest of the
Athenians and Lapiths against the Centaurs.
The Cult:
Another aspect of Hephaestus' relationship
to Athena comes to fore here where he is not the consuming God of fire,
but the bridegroom, husband, and father of the divine child. In the month
of Pyanopsion the festival of Apatura was celebrated, at which the youth
of Athens, in phratries (brotherhoods) under the protection of Zeus
Phratrios and Athena Phratria, received the initiation which they needed
in order to get married. At this festival Hephaestus was particularly celebrated:
men, dressed in their most beautiful garments, lit the torch at the fire
of the hearth, sang in praise of their God, and sacrificed to him. There
is no report in the fragmentary evidence of a torchlight procession, but
such can safely be assumed, and for the Corinthian Hellotia a report of
such is handed down explicitly.
On the last day of the same month began
the festival which Hephaestus and Athena shared in common, the Chalkeia.
This day was celebrated like a wedding: the artisans presented grain swingles
to the Goddess. The secret of this festival was not given away, with the
result that more stories were told about it, such as that Athena was given
to Hephaestus and placed in a chamber for him, or that he followed her
and embraced her. All variations allow the Goddess to leave the embrace
a virgin, but they allow a child to originate nine month latter from this
same embrace.
Only in a later period was the festival
of Chalkeia - named such after the material and art of the founders and
smiths - celebrated exclusively by artisans as though it were a festival
of Hephaestus. Earlier it belonged among the most important festivals of
Athena and was called Athenaia.
Views:
Aerial
view of Agora
Aerial
view of Agora, from NW, with Hephaistheum, Acropolis, part of Areopagus
View
from Acropolis
West end of Bouleuterion with Hephaistheum
in distance, from S
Hephaistheum
in distance, from SE
Overall
view from SE
Distant
view of the Temple, from NE
General
view: Hephaistheum at top; Metroon lower right; steps of Propylaea
lower left, from SE
View toward SW up the stairway
leading to the Temple of Hephaestus on the Kolonos Agoraios Hill
View from N section of Metroon toward NW and monumental
stairway to Temple of Hephaestus, from SE
View from Tholos (lower left), across the E side of the Metroon, toward
N and Temple of Hephaestus
View toward NW, across
the Agora to the Hephaistheum
Temple
and W side of Agora from Areopagus
Northwest area of Agora with Hephaistheum
on left, from S
West Agora with Hephaistheum
in background, from SE
View
from SW
View
from Stoa of Attalos
View
from E end of South Stoa II towards NW and Hephaistheum
Temple of Hephaestus and Giants
from Stoa of Attalos
Remains
of steps leading up Kolonos Agoraios to Hephaistheum, from NE
Remains
of steps leading up Kolonos Agoraios to Hephaistheum, from N
Northeast face of the Acropolis
with the Agora below, from E
Front
of the Temple of Hephaestus, from below and E
Tholos in foreground; New Bouleuterion to left; Metroon to right; Hephaistheum
in distance, from SE
Entrance
to Temple, from E
Entrance
to Temple, from E
View through
the entrance, from E
View past NE
corner, from SE
The E, front
colonnade, from S
East
entablature and pediment
Southeast
corner from SE
Southeast
corner, from SE
West
end of S side, from SE
East
half of the S side, from S
South
side, from E-SE
South
side, from SE
South
side colonnade, from SE
North
side, from NE
Detail of central
section of W frieze
Beams and frieze
of W porch
Detail of S corner of west
pediment
Metopes
at E end of S entablature
Northeast corner with Apples
of Hesperides metope
Southwest corner with Hercules
and Lion metope
West
half from SW
Links:
Timeline: The Greek
Period
Perseus Project: Temple
of Hephaestus
The Temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria:
At the foot of the hill of the Agora is
a line of foundations that shows where the main public buildings of the
ancient Athens stood. On the west side of the Agora, between the Stoa of
Zeus Eleutherios and North of the Temple of Apollo Patroos are the remains
of a tiny Sanctuary with 17 x 11.9 ft. (5.2 x 3.65 m) dimensions, dating
from ca. 350 - 338 B.C.E., dedicated to Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria,
the tutelary divinities of the phratriai (fraternities) into which
citizens were grouped.
Inside was a simple cella with a
small altar in front; joined by a small wall to the Temple of Apollo Patroos
and forming an architectural unit with it. In the 2nd century B.C. a small
porch was added.
The transitional stage between the orders
of mother-right and father-right was characterized in Greece by male societies,
which in the course of history lost their character (well known in ethnology)
as secret societies and remained classifications of men into phratries
(brotherhoods). The phratriai of Athens had the task of assuming
responsibility for the early maturational ceremonies for young boys at
the feast called Apaturia, and then for leading them step by step toward
the stage of marriage. They also registered the marriageable maidens and
accepted them into the phratrie as wives. As Phratria and Apaturia,
Athena is the Goddess of these ancient male societies. Among the male Deities,
Zeus Phratrios stands in the first position beside her.
Views:
Inscription
from temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria, from E
Left
part of inscription from temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria
Center
of inscription from temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria
Right
part of inscription from temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria
Links:
The Gate of Athena Archegetis:
This monumental gateway formed the entrance
to the Roman marketplace. A propylaea with coping supported a pediment
adorned by statues. On the lintel an inscription stated that the monument
was erected by the people of Athens thanks to the generosity of Julius
Caesar and Augustus, between 10 B.C.E. and 2 C.E., and that it was dedicated
to Athena Archegetis (Athena who governs). Between the columns of the gateway
were three openings leading to the marketplace, the central one being for
wagons and horses, and the side ones for pedestrians.
Views:
The
Gate of Athena Archegetis (Greek Min. Culture)
Links:
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Copyright
©1998-1999 Roy George
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