The Temple of
Hephaestus, also known as the Hephaisteion
or earlier as the Theseion, is the best-preserved
ancient Greek temple; it remains standing
largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral
temple, and is located at the north-west side
of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios
Kolonos hill. From the 7th century until 1834,
it served as the Greek Orthodox church of
St. George Akamates
Name
Hephaestus was the patron god of metal working
and craftsmanship. There were numerous potters'
workshops and metal-working shops in the vicinity
of the temple, as befits the temple's honoree.
Archaeological evidence suggests that there
was no earlier building on the site except
for a small sanctuarythat was burned when
the Persians occupied Athens in 480 BC. The
name Theseion or Temple of Theseus was attributed
to the monument under the assumption it housed
the remains of the Athenian hero Theseus,
brought back to the city from the island of
Skyros by Kimon in 475 BC, but refuted after
inscriptions from within the temple associated
it firmly with Hephaestus.
Construction
After the battle of Plataea, the Greeks swore
never to rebuild their sanctuaries, destroyed
by the Persians during their invasion of Greece,
but to leave them in ruins, as a perpetual
reminder of barbarian ferocity. The Athenians
directed their funds towards rebuilding their
economy and strengthening their influence
in the Delian League. When Pericles came to
power, he envisioned a grand plan for transforming
Athens into the centre of Greek power and
culture. Construction started in 449 BC, ans
some scholars believe the building not to
have been completed for some three decades,
funds and workers having being redirected
towards the Parthenon. The western frieze
was completed between 445-440 BC, while the
eastern frieze, the western pediment and several
changes in the building's interior are dated
by these scholars to 435-430 BC, largely on
stylistic grounds. It was only during the
Peace of Nicias (421-415 BC) that the roof
was completed and the cult images were installed.
The temple was officially inaugurated in 416-415
BC.
Description
Many architects have been suggested, but without
firm evidence one refers simply to 'The Hephaisteion
Master'. The temple is built of marble from
the nearby Mt. Penteli, excepting the bottom
step of the krepis or platform. The architectural
sculpture is in both Pentelic and Parian marble.
The dimensions of the temple are 13.708 m
north to south and 31.776 m east to west,
with six columns on the short east and west
sides and thirteen columns along the longer
north and south sides (with the four corner
columns being counted twice).
The building has a pronaos, a cella housing
cult images at the centre of the structure,
and an opisthodomos. The alignment of the
antae of the pronaos with the third flank
columns of the peristyle is a design element
unique middle of the 5th century BCE. There
is also an inner Doric colonnade with five
columns on the north and south side and three
across the end (with the corner columns counting
twice).
The decorative sculptures highlight the extent
of mixture of the two styles in the construction
of the temple. Both the pronaos and the opisthodomos
are decorated with continuous Ionic friezes
(instead of the more typical Doric triglyphs,
supplementing the sculptures at the pediments
and the metopes. The frieze of the pronaos depicts
a scene from the battle of Theseus with the
Pallantides in the presence of gods while the
frieze of the opisthodomos shows the battle
of Centaurs and Lapiths. Reconstructing the
themes of the pediments is difficult due to
the fragmentary nature of the surviving remnants.
An earlier interpretation identified the birth
of Erichthonios in the east pediment and Heracles
before Thetis in the west. Later theories suggest
that the west pediment was dedicated again to
the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths while
the east pediment depicted the "deification" of
Heracles, the entry of the hero onto Mount Olympus.
Only 18 of the 68 metopes of the temple of Hephaestus
were sculptured, concentrated especially on
the east side of the temple; the rest were perhaps
painted. The ten metopes on the east side depict
the Labours of Heracles. The four easternmost
metopes on the long north and south sides depict
the Labours of Theseus.
According to Pausanias, the temple housed the
bronze statues of Athena and Hephaestus. An
inscription records payments between 421 BCE
and 415 BCE for two bronze statues but it does
not mention the sculptor. Tradition attributes
the work to Alkamenes.In the 3rd century BCE
trees and shrubs (pomegranates, myrtle and laurel)
were planted around the temple, creating a small
garden.
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It
was begun in 449 BC, just two years
before the Parthenon.
