Tales of The Parthenon Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Greek legend tells us that an early king of Athens, King Cecrops, who was part human part snake, judged a contest between Athena and Poseidon, who both wanted to be the city's patron. It was decided that whoever created the most useful gift for the city would win the contest, which was held on top of the Acropolis. Poseidon struck the earth with his trident, and a spring burst forth.

When the people tasted the water, however, it was salty, as Poseidon was god of the sea. Athena buried something, which grew to be an olive tree.

This was judged to be the most useful gift, as the tree provided oil and wood. We know today that the Persians destroyed a temple in 480 BC when they sacked and looted Athens; this temple was begun after the Greeks won the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, and is usually called the Older Parthenon or Pre-Parthenon.

Answer: The Virgin

Athena had a rather large domain in Greek mythology as goddess of wisdom, craft, the arts, and war; she was given many epithets, including "Atrytone", or "Unwearying", "Promachos", or "she who fights in front", and "Parthenos", which means "The Virgin". Consequently, Athena was worshiped using different names in different situations.

She was Athena Parthenos during the Panathenaic Games that were held every four years. A religious-athletic-artistic festival, the games included poetry reading, musical competition, athletic and equestrian contests, boat racing, and feasting that culminated in a procession and animal sacrifices to honor the goddess. Athena was also worshiped during the Lesser Panathenaia, which was an annual event, but shorter in duration.

Answer: The Athenians stole money from the Delian League.

At the conclusion of the Persian Wars, the Athenians suggested that the Greek city-states unite in a defensive league to prepare for another invasion. A total of 350 city-states formed the Delian League; they threw a lump of iron into the sea, and pledged to come to the aid of each other until the lump rose to the surface. Each of the joining city-states paid a tribute, and the treasury of the group was to be located on the island of Delos. Within a short time, however, Athens took over the leadership of the League and transferred the money to Athens, where it was used to rebuild the city.

The cost of building the Parthenon alone is said to have been 469 talents. It is very difficult to translate that cost into today's currency. However, it is known that it cost 1 talent to build an ancient trieme, the Greek warship, and 1 talent to pay its crew for a month's wages. So the money could have financed many triemes for quite a long while. One source did attempt to estimate. A ancient Greek talent was 82.25 pounds of silver; even though the price of silver fluctuates on today's market, you can do the math! The Parthenon, if built today, would have probably cost well over nine million dollars!

Answer: Marble

Pentelic marble was used for the construction of the Parthenon. It was quarried from Mt. Pentelicus, which is located about ten miles north of modern-day Athens. The ancient Greeks during the Classical Age reportedly had twenty-five quarries on the south slope of the mountain, although some sources claim that the Parthenon was the first project that used the exquisite marble from Mt. Pentelicus.

The marble is described as being white with a yellow tinge. In the sunlight the marble is a beautiful golden color.

While the ancient Romans also used marble from the quarries, today the resource is protected by law and used only for restoration projects on the Acropolis.

Answer: Doric

While the architecture of the Parthenon is considered to have combined both Doric and Ionic styles, the columns that can be seen on the outside of the structure are strictly Doric. There is an outer row of eight columns on both the front and back of the temple, and a row of 17 columns on each side; a row of six inner columns is also found at both ends.

These columns give the illusion of being straight. However, that is because the Greeks knew that if they wanted the columns to look straight, they had to be a bit thicker in the middle.

There are four Ionic columns located in the inner structure of the building.

Answer: Ictinus and Callicrates

Very little is known about these great architects; Ictinus (Iktinos) and Callicrates (Kallikrates) were given credit for the Parthenon by Plutarch. Callicrates also is credited with the creation of the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, as well as the wall that was built surrounding the Acropolis during the Classical Age; Ictinus is credited with building the Temple of Apollo at Bassae.

While it is known that both men worked on other building projects in ancient Greece, it is believed by many that Callicrates worked as the technical director for the Acropolis project, acting more as a contractor to Ictinus, who actually designed the building.

Answer: Treasury

Actually, the Parthenon had two functions - it was a temple, as well as a treasury. The "opisthodomos" was a rear room or inner shrine that was typically part of the construction of ancient Greek temples. Some believe that within the walls of the "opisthodomos", young virgins wove cloth that was used in sacred rituals to Athena, but it was also there where the treasury of Athens, that consisted of both coins and offerings, was located.

In fact, some believe that the treasury continued to the attic of the temple, where the Athenians may have stored more of their precious metals.

Answer: The statue was made of gold and ivory.

Many are still debating today the exact role that Phidias played in the construction of the Parthenon. While some say he only acted as a sculptor, others claim he was the chief architect. It is known that his friend, the great statesman Pericles, commissioned the artist to sculpt "Athena Parthenons" for the cella of the Parthenon.

The chryselephantine process typically used ivory to represent the skin of the statue, and gold for its clothing, that were wrapped around a wooden core. Precious and semi-precious stones could also be used for embellishments on the statue. Phidias sculpted both statues - "Athena Parthenos" and the statue of Zeus at Olympia using this technique; both are considered to be the foremost examples of the Classical Age.

Answer: Nike

"Athena Parthenos" was a monumental 39 feet tall; one of the hands of the statue held a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, that measured six feet tall and was made of solid gold. Sources tell that forty-four talents of gold were used for the statue, which would be the modern equivalent of 2400 pounds.

Modern historians believe that even though this use for the gold sound extravagant, the statue was made in such as way that the gold could be stripped off whenever needed elsewhere; certainly the gold statue of Nike could have easily been removed.

There is no definitive account as to what happened to "Athena Parthenos"; one story is that it was taken to Constantinople in the 5th century BC, where is was destroyed in a fire. The only representations that remain are Roman copies and images on coins.

Answer: False

The ancient Greeks didn't believe their gods lived at the temple, but they did visit and have magical powers to hear prayers and change the course of events. Consequently, the gods could hear them everywhere; they could pray at home and ask for the same outcome.

It is believed, however, that the ancient Greeks were so religious that they probably prayed several times a day at their home and at the temple of their patron deity, where they would leave offerings, usually of food or wine. In fact, even the land outside of the temple was part of the sacred area. Citizens were not allowed to visit the inner rooms of the temples, and worshiped on the outside of the building; there was an outdoor altar where they could make sacrifices to the goddess within her sanctuary. So, the ancient Athenians spent millions of dollars in today's currency on a temple that they couldn't enter? Yes!