The Parthenon In Nashville, Tennessee

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The Parthenon was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, by the people of Greece. The replica was made to represent the Athens of the South which is Nashville because at the time it was one of the few places in the south with significant growth of culture and education. While the completion of the original was in 432 B.C., Nashville’s replica was completed in 1897 by architect William Crawford Smith. The original Parthenon is thought of to be the most important surviving building of Classical Greek era. The replica Parthenon was originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, for it was not intended to be permanent.
Although the Nashville Parthenon was finished in 1931, the statue was not added until 1982 and finished in 2002 by Alan LeQuire. Built according to the most accurate information of the time, she faces the east door and stands 42 feet high, weighs over 12 tons, and holds a 6 foot tall statue of Nike, the goddess of victory in her right hand, with a massive shield in her other that protects a cobra beside her. She is covered in a gold leaf dress, crown, sword, and shield and made of gypsum cement with steel armature for
Three epic battles are painted across the back side of her shield, which are also portrayed on the outside of the building with the previously describe sculptures and frizzes. Her face is painted with bright blue eyes and red lipstick. She has such a blank stare it gives off a stern but eerie feeling once walking into the room. Personally my favorite part of the exhibit because of how massive and intriguing the giant statue is. I love seeing metaphors within the sculpture such as Medusa’s head adorned across Athena’s shield, indication to the old Greek mythology story where Athena slayed Medusa. I feel as if this piece shows great significance to Greek beliefs that the gods protected them. The serpent beside Athena is said to represent the people of Athens and Athena’s shield protects the serpent, as she does them. This assumption only further emphasizes my previous notion that the original Parthenon was made for Athena in hopes she would protect the people of Athens. However that is only my assumption as no absolute reason has been established as to why it was built and its purpose.
The entire Parthenon, building and art within, is an amazing exhibit providing tons of knowledge about ancient Greek art and beliefs portrayed through the building. I have always enjoyed learning about ancient Greece and being able to explore a replica of one of the most well-known Greek buildings really helps