.gif)
Parthenon (Nashville)
Encyclopedia
The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee
is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon
in Athens
. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition
.
building was purchased and moved to nearby Franklin, Tennessee
.
Originally built of plaster
, wood
, and brick
, the Parthenon was rebuilt on the same foundations, in concrete
, in a project that started in 1920; the exterior was completed in 1925 and the interior in 1931.
Some of the most elaborate events that occurred at the Parthenon were the Spring Pageants of 1913 and 1914. These extravaganzas were theatrical productions on a massive scale. With casts of up to 500, the Pageants brought in audiences from surroundings states and rail prices were lowered to encourage attendance. The entire city of Nashville reveled in the opportunity to celebrate the "Athens of the South." The 1913 performance was entitled "The Fire Regained," and featured a mythological storyline enhanced by theatrical spectacle popular in that era. The 1914 production, "The Mystery at Thanatos," had a similarly mythological plot, but was shorter and better received. A copy of the script is on file at the Nashville Public Library.
The most impressive thing about these Pageants was the incredible use of visual spectacle. Both shows featured impressive displays ranging from chariot races to huge dance numbers to thousands of live birds to set pieces that shot flames, all set against the backdrop of the majestic Nashville Parthenon.
, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire
's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos
statue is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece
. The building is a full-scale replica of the Athenian original; and the statue of Athena Parthenos within is a reconstruction of the long lost original to careful scholarly standards: she is cuirassed and helmeted, carries a shield on her left arm and a small (6 ft) statue of Nike (Victory) in her right palm, and stands 42 feet (12.8 m) high, gilt with more than eight pounds of gold leaf
; an equally colossal serpent rears its head between her and her shield. Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychrome
d (painted in colors) as close to the presumed original as possible,
this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture
. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos (the east room of the main hall) are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediment
s of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 BC. Many fragments of the originals are housed in the British Museum
in London
. Others are at the Acropolis Museum
in Athens.
As an art museum, the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.
In the summertime, local theatre productions use the building as a backdrop for classic Greek plays such as Euripides
' Medea
and Sophocles
' Antigone
, performing (usually for free) on the steps of the Parthenon. Other performances, such as Mary Zimmerman
's Metamorphoses
, have been done inside, at the foot of Athena's statue.
It was also used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra
in the 2010 movie Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
.
It features in the title and lyrics of the song Nashville Parthenon from the album Etiquette by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition
Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition
The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition was an exposition staged between May 1 and October 31 of 1897 in Nashville. It celebrated the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's entry into the union in 1796, although it was a year late....
.
Early history
Nashville's moniker, the Athens of the South, influenced the choice of the building as the centerpiece of the 1897 fair. A number of buildings at the Exposition were based on ancient originals, however the Parthenon was the only one that was an exact reproduction. It was also the only one that was preserved by the city, although the Knights of PythiasKnights of Pythias
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...
building was purchased and moved to nearby Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 62,487 as of the 2010 census Franklin is located approximately south of downtown Nashville.-History:...
.
Originally built of plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, and brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
, the Parthenon was rebuilt on the same foundations, in concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, in a project that started in 1920; the exterior was completed in 1925 and the interior in 1931.
Some of the most elaborate events that occurred at the Parthenon were the Spring Pageants of 1913 and 1914. These extravaganzas were theatrical productions on a massive scale. With casts of up to 500, the Pageants brought in audiences from surroundings states and rail prices were lowered to encourage attendance. The entire city of Nashville reveled in the opportunity to celebrate the "Athens of the South." The 1913 performance was entitled "The Fire Regained," and featured a mythological storyline enhanced by theatrical spectacle popular in that era. The 1914 production, "The Mystery at Thanatos," had a similarly mythological plot, but was shorter and better received. A copy of the script is on file at the Nashville Public Library.
The most impressive thing about these Pageants was the incredible use of visual spectacle. Both shows featured impressive displays ranging from chariot races to huge dance numbers to thousands of live birds to set pieces that shot flames, all set against the backdrop of the majestic Nashville Parthenon.
Recent history
Today, the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial ParkCentennial Park (Nashville)
Centennial Park is a large urban park located approximately two miles west of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, across West End Avenue from the campus of Vanderbilt University and adjacent to the headquarters campus of the Hospital Corporation of America.The park was originally farmland that had...
, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire
Alan LeQuire
Alan LeQuire is an American sculptor from Nashville, Tennessee. Many of his sculptures are installed in the city.LeQuire's father, Virgil, was a physician and researcher on the faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His mother, Louise, was a painter, art teacher, and writer. The...
's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos
Athena Parthenos
Athena Parthenos was the title of a massive chryselephantine sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena made by Phidias and housed in the Parthenon in Athens. Its epithet was an essential character of the goddess herself...
statue is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The building is a full-scale replica of the Athenian original; and the statue of Athena Parthenos within is a reconstruction of the long lost original to careful scholarly standards: she is cuirassed and helmeted, carries a shield on her left arm and a small (6 ft) statue of Nike (Victory) in her right palm, and stands 42 feet (12.8 m) high, gilt with more than eight pounds of gold leaf
Gold leaf
right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...
; an equally colossal serpent rears its head between her and her shield. Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychrome
Polychrome
Polychrome is one of the terms used to describe the use of multiple colors in one entity. It has also been defined as "The practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." Polychromatic light is composed of a number of different wavelengths...
d (painted in colors) as close to the presumed original as possible,
this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos (the east room of the main hall) are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 BC. Many fragments of the originals are housed in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Others are at the Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum
The Old Acropolis Museum was an archaeological museum located in Athens, Greece on the archeological site of Acropolis. It is built in a niche at the eastern edge of the rock and most of it lies beneath the level of the hilltop, making it largely invisible. It was considered one of the major...
in Athens.
As an art museum, the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.
In the summertime, local theatre productions use the building as a backdrop for classic Greek plays such as Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
and Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Antigone
Antigone (Sophocles)
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
, performing (usually for free) on the steps of the Parthenon. Other performances, such as Mary Zimmerman
Mary Zimmerman
Mary Zimmerman is an American theatre director and playwright, born in Lincoln, Nebraska.-Career:Zimmerman is a member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company and is an Artistic Associate of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. She received her BS, MA and PhD from Northwestern University, where...
's Metamorphoses
Metamorphoses (poem)
Metamorphoses is a Latin narrative poem in fifteen books by the Roman poet Ovid describing the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework. Completed in AD 8, it is recognized as a masterpiece of Golden Age Latin literature...
, have been done inside, at the foot of Athena's statue.
In popular culture
The Parthenon served as the location for the political rally in the climactic scene of Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville.It was also used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra
Lernaean Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...
in the 2010 movie Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film directed by Chris Columbus. The film is loosely based on The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan...
.
It features in the title and lyrics of the song Nashville Parthenon from the album Etiquette by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone was the musical solo-project of musician Owen Ashworth of Redwood City, California.-History:Ashworth started CFTPA after he dropped out of film school in 1997...
.