What you should know about classical Athens You might not want to stay too long, however, for five years later, Athens will make a decision that will set her on a downward spiral, ultimately leading to her total defeat at the hands of Sparta and her allies. In short, human excellence has reached a peak. Athens’ manpower is revitalizing after a devastating plague she rules a maritime empire that dominates the eastern Mediterranean she has invested more faith in the judgment of the common man than any society before or since Sophocles and Euripides are writing tragedies that will provoke audiences 2,400 years later medical science is advancing and the Parthenon, the greatest Greek temple ever built, crowns the Acropolis. The year is 420 BCE, when Athens and Sparta are enjoying an uneasy peace. What do you need to know in order to survive? Imagine you suddenly find yourself transported back in time, to late 5th-century Athens.
Although soil type was certainly not the only consideration that ancient architects made when chosing where to build their temples, it was clearly an important one.įlores, Graciela. As archeologists continue to explore what life was like in ancient Greece and try to understand exactly why architectural structures were located in certain places, Retallack’s soil samples could offer important clues.
The people that worshipped at these temples probably had ways of living similar to the gods they were worshipping (for example, worshippers of Demeter being farmers or other people working in agriculture), their local temples and deities relating to their own sources of livelihood. Retallack’s discovery emphasizes the fact that ancient Greek architecture was clearly related to the natural landscape, and temple locations were chosen carefully and with regard to their deities. Hades and Persephone, whose influence was over the underworld which they ruled together, had temples in their honor mostly located in caves and other dark, underground locations. Other gods, whose influence might be more difficult to equate with one type of soil, such as Hades or Persephone, still had temples located in areas that related to their influence. And Dionysus and Demeter, gods whose influence was primarily agricultural (wine and the harvest), both had temples over extremely fertile soil ideal for planting crops. Hunting grounds, characterized by a certain soil type, were the sites of temples to the gods Artemis and Apollo. Temples built to honor Aphrodite and Poseidon, both gods that had strong ties to the ocean, were built near harbors and on soil unsuitable for cultivation. Retallack discovered that the soil on which their temples were built reflected these spheres. Gods and goddesses in Greek mythology had specific spheres of influence in which they exerted their power. What he found was logical and yet still surprising- the ancient Greeks appeared to build their temples on soil that directly related to the god or goddess the temple was honoring.
Retallack from the University of Oregon at Eugene performed a study in which he analyzed samples of soil from eighty-four Greek temples. A recent discovery may shed light on why the Ancient Greeks chose certain locations for building their temples.