Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The chief temple of the goddess Athena built on the acropolis at Athens between 447 and 432 B.C. and considered a supreme example of Doric architecture.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The Doric temple of Athene, under the appellation of Parthenos, the Virgin, on the Acropolis of Athens; the ceremonial or official temple of the Athenians in their quality as rulers of the empire of their colonies and allies. It is built of Pentelic marble, and is a peripteral, or, as it may be called, a pseudo-dipteral octastyle, with seventeen columns on the sides, the pronaos and the opisthodomos within the peripteros having each a portico of six Doric columns. Its length is 228 feet, its breadth 101, and the height to the apex of the pediments was 65 feet. It was badly shattered in 1687 by the explosion of a magazine of gunpowder which the Turks had placed in it during the siege of Athens by the Venetians. The Parthenon, which was completed about 438 b. c., was the most perfect work of art that has been produced, its construction and its sculptured decoration in the round, in both low and high relief, and in color embodying the best genius and skill of Athens at the pinnacle of her glory. See
Elgin marbles (under marble), and compare cuts under cella, Doric, Greek, and Hellenic.
Wiktionary
- n. An ancient temple to Athena and monument in the city of Athens. It is a symbol of Greek achievement in the arts and of Athenian democracy.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A celebrated marble temple of Athena, on the Acropolis at Athens. It was of the pure Doric order, and has had an important influence on art.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the main temple of the goddess Athena; built on the acropolis in Athens more than 400 years B.C.; example of Doric architecture
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek Παρθενών (Parthenōn). More information: see there. (Wiktionary)
- Latin Parthenōn, from Greek, from parthenos, virgin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“By common consent, the Parthenon is a great work of art.”
“Well, if the Parthenon is a bathroom for pigeons, then ....”
“So, in truth, the Parthenon is a special memorial which functions as a technology for channeling individual desire into the production of a national sodality premised on an invented tradition and its redeployment in support of imperialism.”
The Ruins of Empire: Nationalism, Art, and Empire in Hemans's Modern Greece
“And as regards the temple which they call the Parthenon, as you enter it everything portrayed on the gables relates to the birth of Athene, and behind is depicted the contest between Poseidon and Athene for the soil of Attica.”
Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 8 Italy and Greece, Part Two
“If you're walking, it's a bit spottier: Parthenon is one option; Arucola another.”
The Washington Post: Going Out Guide: Leaf-peeping, pizza places, cafes and dinner near the Avalon
“Winlow's flight -- to Andrew Grant's articles in the 'Parthenon' -- to the caricature of Harbinger in the 'Cackler', inscribed 'The New Tory.”
“However, while what we now call the golden ratio was known to Euclid (as the extreme and mean ratio) it isn't terribly likely that the designers of the Parthenon were aware of its existence, nor that they would have attached any importance to it if they did.”
“It starts from the wrong premise that putting them back on the Parthenon is the best thing to do and not.”
“Well, if the Parthenon is a bathroom for pigeons, then. . .”
“Self-described as the Parthenon's La Pasionaria, she reignited a smoldering controversy and turned the sculptures 'restitution into an international crusade that her countrymen have continued.”
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