east facade was that of a classical temple with a room behind it and two back
rooms behind the first. The west side had four little columns in Ionian style that
were put at the tall wall. The north and south side of the west edge of the temple
were beautifully decorated. The north one is the bigger and the more exceptional,
having six nice columns in Ionian style. In the south side, six Caryatids
supported a decorated roof on their heads. The Kekropas' grave and the olive tree
got bulwarks around them in the west side of the main construction, as part of
the whole cluster. The whole construction was built within 421 and 405 BC.
The smaller monument, and for many the most beautiful among the
constructions in Acropolis, is the temple of Athena-Niki (i.e. victory), which was
built in the south-west side of Acropolis, at the end of the 420 BC decade. It is
the simplest temple there, with its facade to be composed of four columns in
Ionian style, in front of an open room. There is a frieze in Ionian style which
depicts Athenians, who fight probably with the Perses, but it is not preserved in
good shape. Sculptures of the surroundings show Athena celebrating the win
through sacrifices and concentration of the armor of the beaten. One beautifully
dressed figure of Niki, who bends down in order to put her sandal on, is definitely
one of the greatest creations of the greek art.
Picture 7: Depiction of west metopes in Parthenon decorated with Amazons
fighting against the Greeks
35