Figure 52 Plaster cast of the east frieze of the Parthenon, showing girls and men (serving as marshals?) in
procession; height 106 cm, original (now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris) ca. 440–435 BC. Urbana,
Spurlock Museum, 1911.03.0017.
Source: Courtesy of The Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Worship in ancient Greece generally took place out of doors, in the form of sacrifices at an altar, not
inside a temple. The purpose of a temple was to house dedications offered to the god or goddess as well
as his or her cult image. In the case of the Parthenon, the cult image of the goddess Athena was
particularly impressive. It was made of ivory and gold, costly materials appropriate for a goddess, and
was created in the 440s by the Athenian sculptor Phidias. The statue, which stood some 10 meters in
height, has not survived, but we know that it represented the goddess with a helmet and shield, holding in
her right hand a small, winged female figure, the personification of Victory (NIKE). Athena was the
patron and protector of the city of Athens, and it was appropriate to attribute to her assistance the victory
over the Persians who had invaded the city 40 years before. The figure of Nike in Athena’s hand
presumably alludes to this victory, which, in a sense, is also commemorated by the general rebuilding on
the acropolis of which the Parthenon and Phidias’ statue represent the first phase. In quick succession,
during the remaining years of the fifth century, three other building projects were begun and completed on
the acropolis, serving to complement the Parthenon and enhance its central significance. The first was the
construction of an impressively dramatic entranceway to the acropolis, a structure known as the
Propylaea (see figure 47), built in the years 437–432 BC, immediately before the outbreak of the