Great Doric Temple of Athena

At the end of the Archaic period, under the Pisistratides (529-520 BCE), the Athenians began the build a more sumptuous Temple to the Goddess Athena, south of the existing Archaic Temple, ornated with splendid pediments sculpted in marble. Entering the shrine one could see the colored pediments of the buildings, as well as numerous statues - young graceful girls and elegant horseman - in plain air: respectful offerings from worshipers to the great Goddess preserver of the city; and of its citizens, most of all artisans.

This Great Doric Temple, also known as the Old Temple or the Hekatompedom (100 footed) was built between 529 and 520 BCE in the Doric order with 142.5 ft. x 70 ft. (43.44 m x 21.34 m) surrounded by a single exterior colonnade with 6 columns at each end and 12 columns at each side. The cella (the inner sanctum) was double; in the east cella was an interior colonnade of 6 columns, 3 on each side, dividing the cella into 3 aisles. The west cella was divided into 3 chambers, with 2 approximately square rooms at its east end leaving a 3rd, larger rectangular anteroom entered directly from the opisthodomos (the back room).

The pediments, for the first time, were made with marble, and for the first time on the Acropolis, the Gigantomachy was retold on the East pediment. The figures still preserved attest that it was one of the strongest compositions of ancient times; Athena and the Giants, specially those at both ends are the most high expression of attic archaism. In the present reconstruction, that can be see in the Museum of the Acropolis, the Goddess has firmness and movement; the back and leg outline, the vigorous projection of the Aegis with serpents by the left arm of the Goddess and the tension made by the right hand that olds the spear, express in the most dynamic way the divine furor and the confidence of the Goddess.

In the heart of the inner sanctum was the statue depicted on certain Hellenistic coins, and the recipient of the sacrifices that were made at the Great Altar in front of this Temple: an Archaic standing figure of Athena wearing the Aegis with Gorgon's head, and holding an owl and a libation bowl.

In front of the Great Doric Temple was the Great Altar of Athena. The Great Altar of the inscriptions, or simply The Altar, can be traced in rock cuttings just East of this Temple; it seems to have spanned the full width of the Temple. Here the oxen were slaughtered for the general feast that was shared by all the worshippers. The sacrifice continued here on this Altar long after the Great Doric Temple had been ruined and dismantled.

A very fragmentary "hekatompedom inscription" indicates that in 485 BCE two important Temples stood close together on the Acropolis: this "new" Great Doric Temple (in the center of the Acropolis) and the "old" Archaic Temple (North of the previous one and just next to the North slope of the Acropolis).

The Great Doric Temple was damaged by the Persians in 480/79 BCE When the Athenians returned to Athens after the Persian invasion they only found ruins and ashes. The buildings and the Temples on the Acropolis were burned and the statues' remains were spread in the ground. They pitifully collected all the broken statues and architectural sculptures and buried them inside cavities in the Acropolis and covered them with earth (it was inside those pits that they were discovered in 1885-1891). Much of the material was then reused by the Athenians (and is still visible) in the Themistoklean wall on the North side of the Acropolis. Dinsmoor suggests that the western cella (the western inner sanctum) and the opisthodomos (the back room) remained in place and were used as a treasury until ca. 450 BCE

Present state

Considerable fragments of Archaic limestone and marble sculpture have been assigned to the pediments of this Great Doric Temple. Still other limestone fragments probably derive from the Archaic Temple. Four pediments, ranging from about 18 to 21.3 ft. (5.5 to 6.5 m) wide, are usually envisaged, with the following subjects: Hercules fighting the Hydra, Hercules fighting Triton, Hercules entering Olympus, and, more enigmatically, a group of figures standing in front of a certain building, itself rendered in great detail.

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