Does Parthenon Really Change?

Parthenon is a temple in the Athenian Acropolis, Greece that dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. Throughout centuries, the sculpture of the Parthenon has been changed in many ways, such as the change of the color of decorative stonework, the faade of the building, and the change of the perspective about the Parthenon. In other words, Parthenon has been changed in its sculpture, architectural, and function. The Parthenons sculpture has been changed from its original design. There are a big difference between the sculpture of old Parthenon and the sculpture of Parthenon nowadays. The design of sculpture renovated because of the old design needs to be renovated. According to Joan B Connelly (1 January 1996) in his book Parthenon and Parthenoi: A Mythological Interpretation of the Parthenon Frieze, the decorative stonework was originally highly colored. But, by the time, Parthenon, the temple that was dedicated to Athena, changed through construction that continued until 432. Then, by year 438, the sculptural decoration of the Doric metopes on the frieze had been completed to replace the original decorative stonework that was originally highly colored. Second thing that has been changed from Parthenon is its architectural. Actually the architectural design of the Parthenon does not really change. Until now, the change that happened on the architectural design just a little bit renovation. The renovation means to make the faade of Parthenon become better than before. According to Jeffrey M. Hurwit (2005) in his book The Parthenon and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the architects began in 447 BC and the building was completed by 432. Since that day, the Parthenons design has not changed its character. The only change that happened on the architectural design is only for the refinement. John Julius also said that its architectural refinements were legendary. Last but not least, is its function. This happened because of there are some countries that ever conquer Greece. Although the Parthenon is architecturally a temple, it is not really one in the conventional sense of the world. But, because of the unstable condition that happened in that century, the function has been changed several times. According to F.B. Tarbell, in A History of Ancient Greek Art, the Parthenon survived as a temple still intact in the 4th century AD. But, in 5th century AD, because of a war, its function changed become Christian Church named Parthenos Maria or Church of the Theotokos (Mother of God). At

that time, the great cult image of Athena was looted. Then, in 1456, Athens fell to the Ottomans and a portion of the Parthenon was converted into a mosque. The Ottomans were respectful of ancient monuments in their territories and did not willfully destroy the antiquities of Athens, but at the same time mad no special effort to protect them. In conclusion, the Parthenon does not really change in many ways. It just changes in some ways. Although the function of the Parthenon ever change significantly, but the changes do not make Parthenon lost its character. Some of the changes even mean to make the Parthenon better than before.

Daniel Alvin Chaidir XIA-1/4