{"id":144,"date":"2015-04-21T09:14:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T13:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/?page_id=144"},"modified":"2026-07-31T04:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T04:50:11","slug":"erechtheum","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/greece\/athens\/erechtheum\/","title":{"rendered":"Erechtheum"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dr. J’s Illustrated Erechtheum Lecture<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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View\n from inside the Parthenon. The Erechtheum was built over a long\n period of time, since construction was halted during the Peace\n of Nikias (starting in 421 BC, this was a brief period of\n respite during the Peloponnesian War) and resumed in 410 BC. The\n temple was probably completed by 395.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Erechtheum is a very complicated structure, but it has three\n main parts: the main section of the temple, the north porch, and the Porch of the\n Caryatids. The main section is again divided into an eastern and a western\n cella.\u00a0In\n the foreground is the terrace wall of the old temple.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The\n east cella, the large area behind the six Ionic columns, was dedicated to the worship of\n Athena Polias. The Panathenaic Procession terminated here, where the olive wood cult\n statue of Athena was draped in the peplos offered by the Arrephoroi, elite young Athenian\n girls hand-picked for this sacred duty.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The terrace wall of the Old Temple of Athena is in the foreground. The\n building is so difficult to figure out because it spreads over and beyond shrine areas and\n must rearrange itself. A good example is how the SW corner of the Caryatid Porch lies atop\n the Grave of Cecrops, access to which is gained only via a secret passageway. Do the\n Caryatids guard his grave?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Particularly complicated is the west\n cella, accessible by way\n of both porches and home to shrines to many deities: altars to Poseidon, Butes and\n Hephaestus, and a snake pit dedicated to the chthonic gods. A 32 foot beam ran across its\n length; there are cuttings in the wall for a supporting strut, and rosettes decorated\n these walls. The ledge above the door to the Caryatid porch held Kallimachos’ famous gold\n palm-tree lamp.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n View of the Erechtheum from the SW. Pausanias (1.27.2) perpetuates a\n mystical truth about Athena’s tree: the day after the Persians burned\n the Acropolis in 480 BC, he claims, the tree produced a new shoot four\n feet long.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tradition has it that this olive tree can\n trace its roots back to the tree Athena originally planted in her winning bid for Attica.\n Although the tree was cut down by numerous invaders (e.g., Sulla in 86 BC, the Turks in\n 1456), each time a sprig from the original was saved and replanted. The last replanting\n was made in 1952 by members of the American School, who saved the tree from oblivion after\n Germans occupying the Acropolis cut it down in 1942.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Near the north porch of the Erechtheum is the grave of\n Erechtheus, mythical\n king of Athens. He is identified with Erichthonius, who is said to be the son of Gaia and\n Hephaestus (and reared by Athena), and is later associated with Poseidon. Thus the temple\n was from the beginning sacred to both Athena and Poseidon, as well as to\n Hephaestus,\n father of Erichthonius, and Butes, brother of Erechtheus. Outside this entrance also was\n the altar of Zeus Thyechoos, “Zeus Supreme,” to whom nothing that breathed was\n offered – not even wine!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n The columns of the North Porch sport a guillache pattern and\n held glass inserts of four colors.\u00a0A hole in the floor allows one to see the marks of\n Poseidon’s trident, and an open space in the ceiling allows Poseidon to re-hurl his\n trident, should he wish.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Although certainly remarkable, this three-pronged mark in the\n rock is not the site of the salt water well that Poseidon caused to be by striking the\n ground with his trident. That long-lost well would have been just inside the north door to\n the cella. Pausanias said that on a windy day, the sound of waves could even be heard\n coming from it. (1.26.6)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This is the south porch of the\n Erechtheum, commonly called the Caryatid\n Porch. Who these Caryatids are meant to represent is as hotly debated today as it was in\n antiquity. Are they criminals forced to bear a heavy burden? The Arrephoroi chosen to\n deliver the peplos to Athena? Young initiates of Artemis at Brauron? A group of\n upper-class Athenian women? Or in this case is a pretty support beam just a pretty support\n beam?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n This close-up of the Caryatid Porch shows how the women seem\n to be caught in mid-stride: the three on the left have bent left knees (note how even in\n marble the garment drapes naturally), while the remaining three bend the right knee.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Caryatid Lord Elgin brought out of\n Greece and sold to the British Museum in 1816. It is the best preserved of the 6\n Caryatids, the other five of which were moved in 1979 into a nitrogen-filled chamber in\n the Acropolis Museum in Athens, but too late to save them from the ravages of pollution.\n More photos to be uploaded soon…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The ceiling coffers of the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheum\n are almost entirely intact. Some sources say that the portico ceilings were paneled and\n painted dark blue with gold stars (much like the east portico of the\n Propylaia), and some\n say that they were inset with panels of variously colored glass.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n Here two of the Erechtheum’s three pedimental areas are visible (the third\n is over the north porch), but none ever had pedimental sculpture. Although many pieces of\n the frieze survive, its theme is not known.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Huge\n fragment of egg and dart molding of the Erechtheum (above left). The\n Caryatids, too, are crowned with egg and dart molding (above right is a\n close-up of the Caryatid in the British Museum) The building was known\n for its particularly elaborate architectural decoration, and much of it\n can be seen in the British Museum (you have to go to the basement).\n Below on the left is an anta capital from east porch of Erechtheum, and\n on the right is architrave block from the same porch:
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Reconstruction generally follows the principle that one should be able to\n tell the original from the new – that is why the replacement blocks are a lighter color.\n The purpose of reconstruction is to use only as much new material as is necessary to\n provide a true representation of the old and allow appreciation of it in its fullness –\n not to trick the viewer into thinking that something new really dates to antiquity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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With\n special thanks to Professor John Younger of Duke University for his help in making these\n pages more accurate. Any errors are my own.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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 <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Dr. J’s Illustrated Erechtheum Lecture View from inside the Parthenon. The Erechtheum was built over a long period of time, since construction was halted during the Peace of Nikias (starting in 421 BC, this was a brief period of respite during the Peloponnesian War) and resumed in 410 BC. The temple was probably completed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":30,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page_fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-144","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2154,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions\/2154"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}