The Temple of Athena Nike (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ναός Αθηνάς Νίκης, ''Naós Athinás Níkis'') is a temple on the

Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, ...

, dedicated to the goddesses

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

and

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

. Built around 420 BC, the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. It has a prominent position on a steep bastion at the south west corner of the Acropolis to the right of the entrance, the

Propylaea In ancient Greek architecture, a propylaion, propylaeon or, in its Latinized form, ''propylaeum''—often used in the plural forms propylaia or propylaea (; Greek: προπύλαια)—is a monumental gateway. It serves as a partition, separat ...

. In contrast to the Acropolis proper, a walled sanctuary entered through the Propylaea, the Victory Sanctuary was open, entered from the Propylaea's southwest wing and from a narrow stair on the north. The sheer walls of its bastion were protected on the north, west, and south by the ''Nike Parapet'', named for its frieze of Nikai celebrating victory and sacrificing to their patroness,

and

. Nike was the goddess of victory in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, and Athena was worshipped in this form, representative of being victorious in war. The citizens worshipped the goddesses in hopes of a successful outcome in the long

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

fought against the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

ns and allies.

History

The cult of Athena Nike was operable in the early sixth century BC. On the remains of a Mycenaean bastion, a cult image of Athena seated holding a pomegranate in her right hand and holding a helmet in her left was placed on top of a square limestone base. The Sanctuary of Athena Nike was demolished by the Persians in 480-479 BC and a temple was built over the remains. The new temple construction was underway in 449 BC and was finished around 420 BC. The cult was supervised by the

Priestess of Athena Nike A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

, who was appointed through democratic allotment.Connelly, Joan Breton, Portrait of a priestess: women and ritual in ancient Greece, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2007 If still in use by the 4th-century, the temple would have been closed during the

persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church ...

. Athens fell to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1456. The temple sat untouched until it was demolished in 1686 by the Ottomans who used the stones to build defenses. In 1834 the temple was reconstructed after the independence of Greece. In 1998 the temple was dismantled so that the crumbling concrete floor could be replaced and its frieze was removed and placed in the new

Acropolis Museum The Acropolis Museum (, ''Mouseio Akropolis'') is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slope ...

that opened in 2009. The Temple of Athena Nike is often closed to visitors as work continues. The new museum exhibit consists of fragments of the site before the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

were thought to have destroyed it in 480 BC. Sculptures from the friezes have been salvaged such as: deeds of Hercules, statue of Moscophoros, a damaged sculpture of a goddess credited to Praxiteles and the Rampin horseman, as well as epigraphic dedications, decrees, and stelae.

Architecture

The Temple of Athena Nike was finished around 420 BC, during the

Peace of Nicias The Peace of Nicias was a peace treaty signed between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta in March 421 BC that ended the first half of the Peloponnesian War. Background In 425 BC, the Spartans had lost the battles of Pylos and Sphacteri ...

. It is a ''

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

'' (four

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

) Ionic structure with a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

at both front and rear facades (''

amphiprostyle In classical architecture, amphiprostyle (from the Greek (''amphi''), on both sides, and (''prostylos''), a portico) denotes an ancient temple with a portico both at the front and the rear, where the columns on the narrow sides are not between ...

''), designed by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Kallikrates Callicrates or Kallikrates (; ) was an ancient Greek architect active in the middle of the fifth century BC. He and Ictinus were architects of the Parthenon (Plutarch, ''Pericles'', 13). An inscription identifies him as the architect of "the Te ...

. The columns along the east and west fronts were monolithic columns. The temple ran long by wide and tall. The total height from the

stylobate In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate () is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple). The platform was built on a leveling course that fl ...

to the acme of the

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

while the temple remained intact was a modest . The ratio of height to diameter of the columns is 7:1, rather than the more standard 9:1 or 10:1 ratio in Ionic buildings. Constructed from white

Pentelic marble Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon (, or ) is a mountain in Attica (region), Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon, Greece, Marathon. Its highest point is the peak ''Pyrgari'', with an elevation of 1,109 m. The m ...

, it was built in stages as war-starved funding allowed. Nike adjusting sandal

Friezes and parapets

Friezes

The

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

s of the building's

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

were decorated on all sides with relief sculpture in the idealized

classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

of the 5th century BC. The orientation of the temple is set up so that the East Frieze sits above the entrance of the temple on the porch side. The north frieze depicted a battle between Greeks entailing cavalry. The south frieze showed the decisive victory over the Persians at the

battle of Plataea The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Polis, Greek city-states (including Sparta, Cla ...

. The east frieze showed an assembly of the gods

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

, rendering Athenian religious beliefs and reverence for the gods bound up in the social and political climate of 5th century Athens. The west frieze has a good amount of the original sculpting preserved. Similar to the east frieze it is most likely telling the story of a battle, or more specifically a victory. There are multiple corpses depicted (more than any of the other three friezes) and imagery of one about to be killed with some figures wearing helmets. This battle between armies most likely is depicting the massacre of the Corinthians by the Athenians. Some time after the temple was completed, around 410 BC a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

was added around it to prevent people from falling from the steep

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

. The outside of the parapet was adorned by carved relief sculptures showing Nike in a variety of activities, including two Nikai setting up a trophy, and all in procession. Architects Christian Hansen and Eduard Schaubert excavated the temple in the 1830s. The building had been totally dismantled in the 17th century (sometime after 1687) and the stone built into the Turkish wall that surrounded the hill. A primitive

anastylosis Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek: ; , = "again", and = "to erect stela or building) is an architectural conservation term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or monument is re-erected using the original architectural ...

was carried out in 1836 when the Turkish wall was dismantled, the stones were recovered and the temple was re-erected from remaining parts. A third restoration was completed in Summer 2010. The main structure,

and columns are largely intact, minus the roof and most of the tympanae. Fragments of the sculpted frieze are exhibited in the

and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

; copies of these are fixed in their place on the temple.

Parapet of Nike

On the parapet, there would have stood a famous marble statue of a wingless Nike. The positioning of this statue has Nike leaning towards her right foot with her right arm stretching towards her sandal and her clothes slipping off her shoulder. For a while, there has been much debate over what the imagery of this statue is supposed to represent. There are many other uses of Greek sandal-related art found on cups, vases, and even on the friezes of the Parthenon. However, these versions all depict the subjects bending down with both arms stretched out to adjust or tie their sandals. The difference in imagery between one hand and two is what has caused discrepancy behind the meaning of the statue of a wingless Nike. It is most likely that Nike is instead removing or loosening her sandal as opposed to adjusting or putting it on. This use of imagery is thought to be used to demonstrate the action of removing footwear to those entering the temple to pay tribute to Athena, as this was a traditional action of worshiping in this space. The statue was discovered in 1835 near the temple. It is thought to have stood on the south side of the temple. It is currently held by the Acropolis Museum (inventory number Ακρ. 973). The famous parapet of Nike removing her sandal is an example of wet drapery. Wet drapery involves showing the form of the body but also concealing the body with the drapery of the clothing. Some friezes are from the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. The friezes contained a cavalry scene from the battle of Marathon and a Greek victory over the Persians at the battle of Plataea. The battles represent Greek and Athenian dominance through military power and historical events. A statue of Nike stood in the ''

cella In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...

'', or otherwise referred to as a ''naos''. Nike was originally the "winged victory" goddess (''see'' the winged

Nike of Samothrace The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Niké of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally discovered on the island of Samothrace in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating ...

). The Athena Nike statue's absence of wings led Athenians in later centuries to call it ''Apteros Nike'' or wingless victory, and the story arose that the statue was deprived of wings so that it could never leave the city.

Cornice and cyma

Cornice

The cornice follows standard architectural design and sits immediately above the frieze and wraps around the entire structure. Many sections of the cornice that have been discovered are believed to be part of the Temple of Athena Nike, however, some archaeologists think that some of the pieces found near the temple might not be part it. These pieces of the cornice are lined on the inside with an array of holes, supporting the idea that the cornice was held in place by dowels, which connected it to the frieze. Many of these cornice pieces are so weathered and worn that the dowel holes are no longer visible. The cornice stretches flat and with no moldings that would create a design. If there had been a design, it would not be sculptural. There is evidence that would suggest that the cornice would have at one point been painted. However, because the architecture has been worn for such a long time, any knowledge of what the design could have been is long lost.

Cyma

Just above the cornice, on the north and south sides of the temple, rests the cyma. They sit at an angle on both sides, creating the slope that makes up the roofing and the pediment. Stretching along the cyma is an order of lion heads that extend outward. At each end of the cyma, where the corners would turn into the east and west faces of the temple, there are cuttings just above the cyma where an akroteria would have been placed.

Akroteria

The main body of the central statue that made up the akroteria was composed of bronze, not marble. There is evidence of gold foiling and gold wiring through the main bronze core. Researchers have hypothesized on the form of the statue, but there is no trace of the original sculpture to indicate what the central akroteria really looked like. The same can be said for the statues that would make up the east and west akroteria. Both were made of bronze and it is impossible to know what the figures could have been. Theories around the figure of the central statue include the winged horse

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

or the monster

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

. However, these theories may be unlikely as the proportions of these animals’ bodies would not match where their feet would be placed in the akroteria's base block.Schultz, Peter. “The Akroteria of the Temple of Athena Nike.” ''Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens'' 70, no. 1 (2001): 1–47. .

Statue theories

A possible theory for the central akroteria would be a bronze tripod, similar to the ones that would have been on the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. This hypothesis has not been discredited for a few reasons: 1) It would be a realistic answer for the shape of the statue since the tripods dimensions would fit in the cuttings of the supporting block (unlike the animal theories). 2) A tripod would have been a likely statue to have a bronze core when serving as an acroteria. 3) The Tripod is commonly used as a symbol of victory. A commemorative trophy is another theory for the central akroteria that has yet to be disproven for many of the same reasons as the tripod. There are also some sculptures on the surrounding parapets that depict Nike setting up a trophy. The last theory that has yet to be discredited is a central akroteria of a flying Nike. The idea is that a statue of a winged Nike would have been set just above a shield and on either side of her would have stood a Nikai holding weapons dedicated to the goddess. The akroteria at the temple of Zeus in Olympia would be a good statue for comparison with the exception of the two Nikai. This shape for the central akroteria would explain the cuttings in the supporting block that would not have matched with some of the other forms.

References

Sources

* ''Greek architecture''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

, 1968. * ''Greece: From Mycenae to the Parthenon'', Henri Stierlin,

TASCHEN Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt Taschen and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Tasch ...

, 2004.

Footnotes

External links

Dr. J's Illustrated Temple of Athena Nike

The temple of Athena Nike - Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Temple of Athena Nike, Athens
.
The Temple of Athena Nike: A Small Shrine Dedicated To One of Athena's
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athena Nike, Temple Of 5th-century BC religious buildings and structures Temples in ancient Athens Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Athens Acropolis of Athens

Nike (mythology)