The Parthenon and Liberal Education

270 Pages·2018·7.158 MB·English

by  Geoff Lehman, Michael Weinman

The Parthenon
and
Liberal Education
SUNY series in Ancient Greek Philosophy
—————
Anthony Preus, editor
The Parthenon
and
Liberal Education
Geoff Lehman & Michael Weinman
Cover art: Façade and North Colonnade of the Parthenon on the Acropolis, Athens,
daguerreotype, 1842, Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (French, 1804–1892).
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2018 State University of New York
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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lehman, Geoff, 1971– author.
Title: The Parthenon and liberal education / Geoff Lehman and Michael Weinman.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York, 2018. | Series: SUNY
series in ancient Greek philosophy | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017013762 (print) | LCCN 2017059383 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438468433 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438468419 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Philolaus, of Croton, approximately 470 B.C.– | Mathematics—
History. | Plato. | Philosophy, Ancient. | Parthenon (Athens, Greece)
Classification: LCC B235.P44 (ebook) | LCC B235.P44 L44 2018 (print) | DDC
182/.2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017013762
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction
Thinking the Parthenon and Liberal Arts Education Together xiii
Part I
Plato on Dialectic and the
Problem-Based Study of Mathematics
Chapter 1
Dialectic and the Mathematical Arts in Republic (9.587b–588a):
Philolaus’s Scale and the Final Bout between the Just and
Unjust Souls 3
Chapter 2
Dialectic and the Mathematical Arts in Timaeus (35b–36c):
Philolaus’s Scale in the Construction of the World-Soul 23
Chapter 3
Platonic Dialectic, Pythagorean Harmonics, and
Liberal Arts Education 39
Part II
Harmonia and Symmetria of the Parthenon
Chapter 4
The Parthenon and the Musical Scale 61
vi CONTENTS
Chapter 5
The Corner Problem 105
Chapter 6
Refinements and the Question of Dialectic 129
Afterword 157
Appendix A
Pythagorean Musical Ratios 165
Appendix B
Principal Measurements of the Parthenon 167
Appendix C
Elements of the Doric Order 169
Appendix D
Ground Plan of the Parthenon 171
Appendix E
Glossary of Technical Terms 173
Notes 177
Works Cited 211
Index 223
Illustrations
Figures
4.1 The Parthenon, Athens (447–432 BCE): view from
the northwest 67
4.2 The Parthenon: view from the southeast 67
4.3 Model of the Acropolis as it looked around 400 BCE
(Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto) 69
4.4 Ground plan of the Acropolis in the fifth century 69
4.5 The Parthenon: column capital and entablature,
west façade 71
4.6 Battle of a Lapith and a Centaur: metope from the
south flank of the Parthenon 72
4.7 Diagram of the Doric order as it appears in the
Parthenon 73
4.8 Diagram of the Ionic order 74
4.9 Erechtheion, Athens (421–406 BCE): Capital and
architrave from the east façade 75
4.10 The Temple of Athena, Paestum (late sixth
century BCE): view from the southwest 77
4.11 The Temple of Hera Lacinia, Akragas (begun ca.
460 BCE): view from the southeast 79
4.12 The Temple of Hera Lacinia, Akragas: ground plan 79
4.13 The Temple of Concord, Akragas (begun ca.
440 BCE): view from the southeast 80
vii
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
4.14 The Temple of Zeus, Olympia (begun ca. 457–56 BCE):
east façade elevation 81
4.15 The Temple of Zeus, Olympia: ground plan 81
4.16 The Temple of Poseidon (or Hera II), Paestum
(begun ca. 460 BCE): west façade 82
4.17 The Temple of Aphaia, Aegina (ca. 490s BCE):
view from the southeast 83
4.18 Photograph of Le Corbusier on the Acropolis,
September 1911 85
4.19 The Parthenon: interior of the south peristyle 86
4.20 The Parthenon: view of the southwest corner 87
4.21 The Parthenon: west façade 89
4.22 The Parthenon: ground plan 91
4.23 The Parthenon: section, showing the Doric and
Ionic orders of the interior 98
4.24 Parthenon replica, Nashville (begun 1920s): interior
of the naos 99
4.25 Figures K, L, and M from the Parthenon’s east
pediment 102
4.26 Figure M (Aphrodite?) from the Parthenon’s east
pediment, detail 103
5.1 The Parthenon: northeast corner 108
5.2 The Parthenon: entablature, northwest corner 109
5.3 The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin (1788–1791):
entablature, northwest corner 109
5.4 The Parthenon: east façade, south side of the
entablature 112
5.5 The Parthenon: east façade 117
5.6 The Parthenon: east façade, north side of the
entablature 117
5.7 Doryphoros, ancient Roman copy in marble of a
bronze original of ca. 450–440 BCE by Polykleitos 121
ILLUSTRATIONS ix
5.8 The Temple at Segesta (420s BCE): view from the
southeast 124
5.9 The Temple at Segesta: view from the southwest
corner, showing curvature 126
6.1 The Parthenon: view from the northeast corner,
showing curvature 132
6.2 The Parthenon, west façade, Ionic frieze: beginning
of the Panathenaic procession (?) 135
6.3 Diagram of the column inclinations of the Parthenon 137
6.4 Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, Façade and North
Colonnade of the Parthenon on the Acropolis, Athens,
daguerreotype, 1842 137
6.5 The Parthenon, west façade: detail showing Doric
capitals and Ionic frieze with Doric guttae underneath 142
6.6a and Jacques Carrey, drawings of the south and north sides
6.6b of the east pediment of the Parthenon, 1674 (Paris,
Bibliothèque Nationale) 153
6.7a and Jacques Carrey, drawings of the north and south sides
6.7b of the west pediment of the Parthenon, 1674
(Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale) 154
6.8 The Parthenon, Ionic frieze, depicting the Panathenaic
procession (?): south side, bulls being led to sacrifice 155
6.9 The Parthenon, Ionic frieze, depicting the Panathenaic
procession (?): east side, central scene (ritual with the
peplos of Athena, or sacrifice of the daughters of
Erechtheus and Praxithea?) 155