Architecture and Narrative

The Formation of Space and Cultural Meaning

Sophia Psarra

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781134288854
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

Architecture is often seen as the art of a thinking mind that arranges, organizes and establishes relationships between the parts and the whole. It is also seen as the art of designing spaces, which we experience through movement and use. Conceptual ordering, spatial and social narrative are fundamental to the ways in which buildings are shaped, used and perceived. Examining and exploring the ways in which these three dimensions interact in the design and life of buildings, this intriguing book will be of use to anyone with an interest in the theory of architecture and architecture's relationship to the cultural human environment.

Part One Foundations

DOI: 10.4324/9780203639672-2

1.0 The Acropolis, Athens.

Chapter 1 The Parthenon and the Erechtheion The spatial formation of place, politics and myth

DOI: 10.4324/9780203639672-3

So grey-eyed Athena spoke and went away from him

across the barren and open water, left lovely Scheria

and came to Marathon and to Athens of the wide ways,

and entered the close-built house of Erechtheus.

– Homer (1965–67), Odyssey, trans R. Lattimore, New York: Harper Perennial, vii, p. 81.

Introduction

This study of the Parthenon and the Erechtheion is motivated by the curious contrasts between the two buildings – contrasts that have been largely unexplained by architectural history. In spite of its innovations the Parthenon was part of an architectural tradition that developed over hundreds of years. It was formal and regular and integrated the physical fabric and the sculptural narrative into a single ensemble. The Erechtheion – its contemporary – on the other hand, was a break in this tradition, combining a variety of objects and points of religious significance with a striking irregular appearance. This chapter aims to explain the differences between the two temples in light of their religious and cultural content. It addresses this task from outside archaeology, art history and classics, but uses two main arguments from these disciplines to start the investigation: first, architecture and narrative in the Parthenon were so closely interrelated that it was impossible to distinguish the architecture from the sculptural representations placed on the building. Second, the two temples were intrinsically linked through an ancient ritual that was represented in the Parthenon frieze but terminated in the Erechtheion with the offering of the woven robe to Athena (Wycherley 1978: 114). It will be argued that the architecture of the two temples, their art, the cults they embodied and the entire scheme they were part of were all tightly interwoven and equally responsible for constructing their cultural message. This message had two dimensions: a profane one referring to the contemporary identity of the city, and a sacred dimension concerning its ancient traditions. The Parthenon was intended to idealize democracy and the imperial power of Athens. In contrast, the Erechtheion was a demonstration of diverse cults founded on the archaic origins of the city.

Throughout the history of architectural thought, Greek temples either have the status of a remote but timeless past, subject to proportional and stylistic analysis, or the romantic status of antiquity and ruins. In what follows existing evidence is used not to reinforce these positions or to solve problems that archaeology and related disciplines address more successfully. Instead I will look at the two buildings through diverse fields of inquiry to locate them in a spatial, historical and ideological context. In this way, I hope to break their silence and reclaim them from the formalism of mathematical inspection, as well as from decay and solitude in the romantic imagination.

The building programme

Arriving at the Acropolis, today's visitors are initially struck by the Parthenon, or by the idea of staring at a monument that has had an enormous impact on Western culture (see Figure 1.1). But the impressions left by the building, its elegance, precise construction, simplicity and size, are reinforced by its contrast with the Erechtheion, a curiously complex and small structure built opposite, on the north side of the Acropolis (see Figure 1.2). There is no existing evidence to suggest that the Parthenon had a religious function. As Mary Beard observes, there were no priests or priestesses attached to it, ‘no ancient religious festival or ritual is known to have taken place there, and it did not even have that most basic piece of Greek temple equipment: an altar directly outside its front entrance’ (2002: 45). In contrast, the Erechtheion was associated with a number of religious activities referring to the mythical past of the city. It contained sacred sites, relics and an ancient statue of Athena to which a woven robe was dedicated as part of the ritualistic ‘Panathenaic’ procession.

1.1 The Parthenon, Athens.

The Parthenon's enigmatic silence grows larger in the presence of its neighbour. On the one side is a structure of enormous historical and aesthetic importance, the religious programme of which could be absent or remains largely unknown; and on the other side is a small and irregular shrine of strategic religious significance. What do these differences and contrasts mean? How did they relate to the social and cultural context at the time of their construction, or in later centuries, when the system that created them was marching to its final stages of forgetfulness and exhaustion?

There are two main explanations for the Erechtheion and the unconventional complexities of its design. First, it results from the diverse sacred spots, rituals and traditions as well as from the topographical variety of its location. Second, its construction was interrupted by the Peloponnesian war that led Athens from a position of domination in the Delian league to decline and final humiliation (Wycherley 1978: 143). These arguments might explain causes, but they cannot account for how the incidental can be transfigured to achieve larger significance. The two buildings were products of an orchestrated attempt to manifest the victory of Athens in the Persian wars and its achievements in culture, politics and public life. But, more importantly, it will be argued, they were an attempt to ‘rewrite’ history through a synthesis of mythical apparatus and historical event.

The building programme started after the middle of the fifth century BC on the remains of previous archaic structures that were destroyed by the Persian war. The ‘past had been wiped out’ and much of what was sacred and old had vanished until, on the initiative of Pericles, the city was sufficiently confident to undertake the reconstruction (Bruno 1974: 62). There were three major structures erected on the Acropolis: the Parthenon built on the southern edge of the rock, the Erechtheion on the northern site, and the Propylaia, a monumental entrance building, at the western side (see Figure 1.3). The Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena. The west part of the Erechtheion was devoted to Athena Polias (patron deity of Athens), while the east part was dedicated to Poseidon-Erechtheus (Wycherley 1978: 150). So, the Parthenon was simple in physical form and in religious content, being dedicated to one goddess, while the Erechtheion housed more than one god and was physically and religiously complex.

1.2 The Erechtheion, Athens.

1.3 Plan of the Acropolis, Athens. Point A is defined by the intersection of the central axis with the visual lines produced by the extension of the retaining wall and the edge of the Erechtheion sanctuary. Beyond this point the north portico of the Erechtheion would no longer be visible.

1.4 Plan of the Parthenon showing the progression of the procession on the frieze and the thematic content of the metopes and the pediments.

1.5 Propylaia, Athens.

(a) View from the approach route.

(b) Internal view.

The Parthenon was built on the foundations of an older temple of Athena as an entirely new Doric structure (in 447–435 BC). It differed in size and proportions from the previous temple and had many new features, the most important of which was the continuous frieze characteristic of the Ionic style along the inner side of its peristyle. The building was composed of two parts, each with a separate entrance: the cella (naos) housing Athena's gold and ivory statue, and a smaller room, the ‘parthenon’ (maidens’ chamber), which gave to the entire structure its name. The Propylaia was constructed next as a monumental gateway to the sanctuary (see Figure 1.5a, b).

Work on the Erechtheion began in 421 BC and was complete in 405 BC. Similar to the Parthenon, it was built on the site of a previous structure, the Old Temple, and was used to house a sacred wooden statue of Athena.¹ The Erechtheion was built in the Ionic style and gathered several shrines and sites of religious importance in one structure (see Figure 1.6). Most of the design irregularities are found in the western area of the building: the northern portico extends outwards to give access to a courtyard containing Athena's olive tree and the sanctuary of Pandrosos; a small porch with female figures in place of columns is attached on the southern side. Finally, the western façade consists of a set of columns resting on a wall instead of the usual porch. This wall is perforated by a door connecting the interior with the courtyard and the sanctuary of Pandrosos at the lower level.

The morphological properties of the two buildings can be best understood in the wider context of Greek religious architecture. The following section examines the main types of Greek temples and their evolution from a single enclosure to a monumental structure with a peristyle (pteron), known as the peripteral temple (naos peripteros).

1.6 Plan of the Erechtheion with shrines.

1. Eastern section: A. Altar of Zeus Hypatos, B. Altar of Poseidon and Erechtheus, C. Altar of Boutes, D. Altar of Hephaistos. E. Thrones of Priests.
2. Western section: F. North porch, G. Altar and marks of thunderbolt, H. Salt spring and trident marks, I. Tomb of Erechtheus, J. Athena Polias, K. Hermes, L. Lamp of Kallimachos, M. Persian Spoil, N. Caryatid Porch.
3. Pandroseion: O. Tomb of Kekrops, P. Temple of Pandrosos, Q. Olive Tree, R. Altar of Zeus Herkeios.

The evolution of Greek temples

The new architects of the Parthenon followed a design so different in character from the old that it became necessary to reposition every block of stone … (Bruno 1974: 63).

The Parthenon was the first Doric monument to make use of an Ionic frieze and eight columns along its short side. In spite of these innovations, the design was a product of a tradition that extended from the Mycenaean ‘megaron’, the basic prototype of temple design, to the peripteral building (see Figure 1.7a–g). As temples grew in size and complexity two main characteristics prevailed: an increase in the number of spatial layers such as porches and peristyles, and a formalization of relationships through bilateral symmetry and proportions. The properties that remained invariant in this evolution point to four distinct types: first, the temple in antis, where the side walls of the naos project outwards, enclosing two columns and forming a porch (Figure 1.7a); second, the prostyle temple with four columns at the entrance defining a portico (Figure 1.7b); third, the amphiprostyle temple, where the front portico is repeated at the back of the building (Figure 1.7c).² The fourth type is the peripteral building in which the naos with its porches is surrounded by the peristyle, as in the Parthenon and the Hephaesteion in Athens (Figure 1.7d, g). The interior also developed from a single room to a colonnaded space. At the beginning there was a single row of columns (Figure 1.7e), then two rows placed on either side of the central axis (Figure 1.7f), and finally a continuous colonnade that surrounded the god's statue (Figure 1. 7g).³

1.7 (a–g) The evolution of Greek temples is characterised by a gradual introduction of layers separating the interior from the outside space.

(a) Temple in antis, old temple of Nemesis, Ramsus.

(b) Prostyle temple.

(c) Amphi-prostyle temple,

(d) Peripteral temple.

(e) The temple of Apollo at Thermum.

(f) The temple of Poseidon at Paestrum.

(g) The temple of Hephaestus at Athens.

The introduction of layers around the naos increased the depth between inside and outside. Spatial depth in religious buildings establishes a categorical distinction between the interior and exterior space. At the same time the axis coordinates the spaces arranged along its course and synchronizes the realm of the god with the human domain (Hillier and Hanson: 1984: 181). The peristyle wrapping around the naos and the porches eliminated distinctions between the front, the back and the two sides. When parts in a composition become similar, the mind can access the simplicity of the whole. The Greek monuments were positioned obliquely so that a si...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Illustration credits
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part One: Foundations
• Part Two: Architecture and Narrative in Literature
• Part Three: Spatial and Narrative Interactions
• Part Four: Theoretical Synthesis
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index