The Parthenon Enigma (43 page)

As worshippers approached the Acropolis, the first thing they would see was the small, elegant shrine of Athena Nike, perched atop the old Mycenaean defensive bastion, a constant reminder of its glorious past as an unbreached citadel. Construction began on the Nike temple in the mid-420s
B.C.
and was completed around 410.
⁴⁶
It replaced an earlier cult building from the first decade of the century, a structure that replaced an even earlier, Archaic shrine. The graceful
Ionic temple of the late fifth century, the last of the Periklean vision for the Acropolis, served as an important harbinger of what was to come once the visitors passed through the
Propylaia and into the sacred space. Indeed, this beacon of Victory heralded the astonishing excess of military booty, trophies, and treasures that would dazzle worshippers once inside, culminating in a treasure trove of dedications within the Parthenon itself. All around the podium of the Nike temple, pairs of cuttings can be seen in the marble for the attachment of hooks of some kind, no doubt to affix shields upon the marble wall.
⁴⁷
A strong case has been made that the shields once held here were those taken by Kleon at Sphakteria. Just a year following this battle, in Aristophanes’s play the
Knights
, the “Sausage-Seller” comments that Kleon hung his shields in an unusual manner, that is, with their handles still attached.
⁴⁸
Trophy shields usually had their handles removed before they were hung for display and Kleon apparently chose not to do this. The strange double cuttings on the podium have been interpreted as dowel holes necessary to hang the shields with their handles intact, perhaps so they could be taken down and used.
⁴⁹

Statue of Nike carved by Paionios and dedicated by the Messenians and Naupaktians at the sanctuary of Zeus, Olympia, following their victory over the Spartans in 425 B.C. (illustration credit
ill.85
)

The Nike temple bastion is sheathed in Pentelic marble blocks that wrap around the Mycenaean fortifications that still stand beneath it. Indeed, the Athena Nike precinct is built on the very spot where the Mycenaean defensive bastion stood, at some distance out from the gateway in a highly strategic spot (
this page
). This construction was vital to the security of the Acropolis, giving a direct line of fire down onto the right-hand side of an advancing enemy. This was the vulnerable side, since most fighters held their sword in their right hand and their shield in their left. The ability to get off a good shot from high on the upper right was crucial to protecting ancient fortresses generally: similar Mycenaean defenses are found near the gateways of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Thebes.
⁵⁰

At Athens, local
memory would have held this particular spot especially sacred. It was from these high walls that the heroic ancestors kept
the enemy at bay. In fact, the architects of the fifth-century Nike temple were so keen to keep the epic past visible that they cut windows into the bastion, through which one could see and touch the Mycenaean walls, those of the so-called Cyclopean masonry.
⁵¹

Athena Nike temple and bastion, Athenian Acropolis, from northwest. (illustration credit
ill.86
)

Such immediate proximity to a preserved stretch of Mycenaean fortifications made the placement of
Kleon’s Spartan
shields all the more potent. Decades following their dedication, the Nike bastion would be crowned with a stunning sculptured parapet. On it were carved a series of winged Victories shown leading cattle to a
thanksgiving sacrifice for Athena, the goddess who made Athenian triumph possible.
⁵²
Among the winged figures we see the famous “Sandalbinder,” a Nike who gracefully bends over to tie her shoe. We also see a Nike who holds a helmet, while another adorns a trophy, and on the south side of the parapet, armor is shown, further spoils of triumph. At the very west end of this south flank, we see the goddess Athena herself (below). Her job is done, and she takes her rest, seated on a large block of stone. Her shield, no longer needed, is propped upright against the back of her seat. A Victory approaches the goddess, bringing yet another trophy from the battlefield, the base of which can be made out in front of Athena’s right foot. Kleon’s Spartan shields would thus have been beautifully echoed in the relief sculptures above them, sculptures depicting a panoply of helmets, shields, and armor, carved years after Kleon’s booty was first displayed.

Seated Athena from south side of Nike temple parapet. Acropolis Museum. (illustration credit
ill.87
)

Reconstruction drawing of Bronze Athena with other dedications on the Acropolis. By G. P. Stevens. (illustration credit
ill.88
)

ACROSS SOME EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS
, the first image to greet worshippers as they walked through the gateway and into the Acropolis precinct was Pheidias’s colossal bronze statue of Athena (above), itself a victory monument, said to have been financed by a tithe of the Persian spoils taken at Marathon in 490
B.C.
⁵³
The image stood just in front of what remained of the Old Athena Temple, 40 meters (131 feet) beyond the Propylaia. Part of its base survives in situ and shows that it measured 5.5 meters (18 feet) square.
⁵⁴
Traditionally dated to the 460s–450s
B.C.
, the statue is now believed by some to have been more or less contemporary with the Parthenon.
⁵⁵
An inscribed marble slab listing expenses for the materials and labor that went into the making of the statue indicates that it took nine years for the Bronze Athena to be completed.
⁵⁶
Like the Athenians themselves, the Bronze Athena looked forward, gazing out from the Acropolis directly at the island of
Salamis, where the Athenians had won their freedom and defeated the Persian foe.
⁵⁷

There had never been anything quite like it at Athens; indeed, the colossal goddess is estimated to have stood somewhere between 9 and 16 meters (30 and 50 feet) in height.
⁵⁸
Pausanias tells us that one could see the tip of Athena’s spear and the crest of her helmet all the way from Cape Sounion, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of Athens.
⁵⁹
We have some idea of what the statue looked like, thanks to firsthand accounts and images replicating it on coins, vases, and sculpture.
⁶⁰
Athena is believed to have stood with shield at her left side and her right hand outstretched, holding a winged Nike or, possibly, an owl. Her spear would have rested at her side. Pausanias tells us that her shield was decorated with carved figures showing the battle of the
Lapiths and the Centaurs. Coins dating to
A.D.
120–150 show the Bronze Athena standing before a gabled temple that must be the Parthenon, with a staircase and gateway leading up the Sacred Rock.
⁶¹

Walking past the Bronze Athena, pilgrims would have been faced with a brilliant abundance of rich dedications from across centuries of worship and victory. A stretch of Xerxes’s cables, another piece of those we have seen dedicated at
Delphi, was displayed here on the Acropolis as well. But what could be seen standing on the Sacred Rock could not compare with the precious treasures locked inside the Parthenon, the
Erechtheion, and the
opisthodomos of the Old Athena Temple. In fact, some of the most illustrious trophies of Athenian victories were housed in this surviving back chamber of the ruined Archaic temple of Athena (
this page
).
⁶²
Here was the sword of the hated Persian general
Mardonios, who sacked Athens in 480, only to die the following year at Plataia.
⁶³
And here was the golden breastplate and bridle of Masistios, commander of the Persian cavalry who died in a skirmish leading up to the
Battle of Plataia. So deeply mourned was this talented horseman that the inconsolable Persians shaved the manes of all their horses and pack animals, as well as their own hair, to express their collective grief.
⁶⁴

Inscribed treasury accounts document a vast catalog of bounty that filled the Parthenon itself: its eastern cella, westernmost room, and porches were packed with arms and armor, precious metal vessels, jewelry, coins, furniture,
musical instruments, and more.
⁶⁵
We hear of Persian daggers (
akinakes
), some overlaid with gold, others with sheaths of ivory; dozens and dozens of bronze helmets, including an Illyrian one
from Lesbos and another from Achaia; hundreds of bronze
shields, dozens made of gilded wood; sabers and swords, greaves, a panoply dedicated by Alexander, son of Polyperchon; over a hundred spear points, used arrows, and a small ivory javelin.

There were also baskets and boxes by the dozens, some of gilt wood, others of silver and bronze; gold coins and unmarked gold and silver; gilt statues of maidens, golden Nikai,
Gorgons, monsters, and griffins; and a silver gilt mask. Hundreds of gold and silver libation bowls and other precious vessels filled the temple, along with lyres made of ivory, gold, and wood and a gilt ivory case for double-pipes. There were hundreds of pairs of earrings, and rings of gold and onyx; five wide-collar necklaces with stones; a golden belt; a necklace with stones and rosettes and a ram’s head. But the most famous jewelry of all was that dedicated by
Roxane, Baktrian wife of
Alexander the Great, who offered a gold necklace to Athena Polias along with a golden rhyton. Her gifts appear in the inventories for the year 305/304
B.C.
⁶⁶