The Temple of Athena Nike

Greek Architecture is the most important and influential in Western history reaching a peak
between 400 and 300 BC. Some examples of Ancient Greek architecture and sculptures were built
primarily for religious purposes, to represent deities or to serve as temples, such as the Acropolis, the
Parthenon, Erechtheum, Apollo Didyma, and the Temple of Athena Nike. The decision to build Athena
Nike was an expression of Athens' ambitions to defeat Sparta and become a world power. The ancient
Greek goddess Nike was the personification of the ideal of victory. One of the most common epithets for
the goddess was Athena Nike. A temple to Athena was built on the Acropolis of Athens, Acropolis
meaning The Sacred Rock, the high city (Ancient Greece). Bronze akroteria (added decoration) on the
corners and central ridge of the temple roof represented Nike, and the temple itself was surrounded by
a balustrade decorated with a frieze. Early in the Temples (Athena Nike) history, it was a place of
worship for deities associated with wars, perhaps Bronze Age Nike gods or goddesses, which with time
fused with the cult of Athena Nike of later centuries, but little is known about the history, nature or
functions of the Athena Nike cult. The temple is smaller than the other temples of the Acropolis. This
5th-century Temple of Athena Nike, dedicated to Athena the Victor, stands on a projecting bastion
originally a part of the Mycenaean fortifications, to the south of the Propylaia (Freeman 2006, 73). This
bastion, which was known as a pyrgos (tower), dates back to at least the Bronze Age. In Greek myth It
is from this elevated spot that Theseus father Aegeus is said to have kept watch for the return of his son
from Crete. Theseus had promised to hoist a white sail if his ship was bringing him home alive. He forgot
to do so, and seeing the black sail approach and believing his son to have been devoured by the
Minotaur, Aegeus hurled himself from the cliff (Freeman 2006, 76).
The temple is built in the Ionic order which makes it heavily contrast with the Doric style
Propylaia, thought to have been designed by Killikrates, the architect. There were three basic orders of
Greek columns called Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The Doric style is rather sturdy and its top is plain. The
Ionic style is thinner and more elegant. The Corinthian style is seldom used in the Greek world, but the
Parthenon combines elements of the Doric and Ionic orders. The Temple of Athena Nike was 11 feet tall
from the stylobate to the apex of its pediment, which was customary in Attica (but not in Ionia). The
temple's ratio of the column height to its length is 7:1 instead of the customary 9:1 of other Ionic
temples. It was completely made of white Pentelic marble, and was constructed around 420 B.C. by the
Greeks (Kleiner 2013, 141). Through recent excavations, it is been found that an open pit existed on The
Temple of Athena Nike, in order for Bronze Age Greeks to pour wine in the pit and also put figurines of
the gods in there(The Parthenon).

This temple is smaller in comparison to the surrounding temples, but it is decorated with a
frieze that held a high place in the hearts of the people of Greece. There are four columns in front and
four in the rear. The Ionic columns are monoliths, carved from single pieces of marble. The sheer walls
of its bastion were protected by the north, west, and south by a parapet. The north frieze portrayed a
battle between the Greeks involving mounted troops. The east frieze portrayed the gods Athena, Zeus,
and Poseidon. It shows a representation of the decisive battle at Marathon, which turned the tide
against the Persians a human event, as in the Parthenons Panathenaic Festival procession frieze, the
Athenians chronicled a specific occasion, not a recurring event involving anonymous citizens (Kleiner
2013, 141). The south frieze portrayed the victory over the Persians at the battle of Plataea. In this
representation of the battle, it is interesting that to see how the Persians are depicted as humans
instead of centaurs which they almost always are in the sculptures. The Acropolis Museum is the
sculpted marble parapet with figures of the winged Victory (Nike), including the famous Sandalbinder
(Nike adjusting her sandal), that surrounded the temple platform (Freeman 2006, 73).
In Greek mythology, Nike deities were often depicted with wings. This was not the case with
Athena Nike. In other places in Greece, heavenly interventions in war and sport were ascribed to
winged Nike as a separate goddess. However, the Athenians appear to have assigned this function to
their own chief deity Athena, and Victory became one of her many attributes or titles, as in Athena
Polias (of the City), Athena Areia (the Warlike) and Athena Ergane (the Worker), as patroness and
protector of various crafts, professions and endeavors. Pausanias tells us that there was also a
sanctuary of Athena Nike at Megara, northern Attica. The statue was wingless, and named Apteros
Nike, or wingless victory. Legend has it that the statue didnt have wings so it could never leave the
city of Athens. This statue was made of wood and held a pomegrade in the right hand and in the left
hand it held a helmet. This was placed southwest of the Acropolis plateau, an important location of a
sanctuary dating back to the Mycenaean era. This relief is graceful in manner despite the position
Athena Nike is posing in. Her clothing also appears wet and becomes almost transparent; it is amazing to
see that it is made from hard stone. Perhaps the position of the Athena and the exposed clothing
suggests that Athens itself has become vulnerable, several decades after reaching supremacy. The
Temple of Athena Nike was demolished around 1686 by the Turks, the temple was later reassembled. It
was restored around mid-nineteenth century, much of the remains from the damage were used in the
repair of the fortification walls on the north side of the Acropolis.
Greek Architecture is the most important and influential in Western history. Examples of Greek
architecture influence are the White House, which looks like the Parthenon by the triangle top and ionic
columns. The Ionic architectural form is visible on many Washington, D.C. memorials and buildings. The
Lincoln Memorial, patterned after Doric architecture, is one famous example of Greek architectural style
today. Museums, courthouses, libraries, government buildings and monuments all use Greek
architectural style (Demand Media). The use of marble and limestone are still used today. Greek
architecture is one of the ways in which we still enjoy and imitate the Greek legacy.









Freeman, Charles. Greece: the mainland. 7th ed. London: Somerset Books ;, 2006
Wycherley, R.E.. The Stones of Athens. Princeton University Press, 1978
Hesiod. Hesiod. Loeb Classical Library, 2007.
Kleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardners art through the ages: a global history. 14th ed. Australia:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013.
Smarthistory, Art History at Khan Academy published on 04 April 2014
Ira S. Mark, The Sanctuary of Athena Nike in Athens: architectural stages and chronology. The American
School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1993. At Google books.
Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book I, Chapter 42, section 4. English translation by W.H.S. Jones and
H.A. Ormerod, in 4 Volumes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann Ltd.,
London, 1918. At Perseus Digital Library.
http://www.my-favourite-planet.com
http://www.ancient-greece.org