The Parthenon in Athens, Greece, is not only one of the most famous examples of classical architecture, but also illustrates the application of the “Golden Section” in its design. And since the Parthenon is so huge in scale, it is meant to serve as a monument to the virgin goddess Athena. The structure was built by the ancient Greeks from 447 to 438 BC, but it was not until around 300 BC that the Greek first documented their knowledge of the “Golden Section” when it was written in a historical document by Euclid called “Elements.
The “Golden Section” is a proportional ratio of 1:1. 618, which occurs in many natural objects. Within Euclid’s “Elements” it basically states that “a straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the less. ” There are a few insights into figuring out whether the “Golden Section” was used in the design and construction of the Parthenon.
First off, the Parthenon was constructed using very few parallel lines to make it aesthetically pleasing. Also, unfortunately the Parthenon is now in ruins, which makes its original features and height subject to discussion since it can’t be measured exactly. In addition, even if the “Golden Section” wasn’t used on purpose in the Parthenon’s design, it still may be present nonetheless since it occurs in the natural world and because of this there is a human influence of what we consider to look appealing.
And finally, from photos of the Parthenon which are used for the analysis, this often introduces an element of distortion because of first of all the angle from which the images are taken or the quality of the camera used to take the pictures. The Parthenon also applies the idealized rules of proportion for the human body to its design, by being an architectural wonder within itself while also standing as a moment to the goddess Athena.
The Greeks used the rules of proportion to create a harmonious design as an ode to the goddess, and both the vertical and horizontal measurements work with each other as a means to create proportional harmony. It’s pleasing proportions come from the ratio 9:4, which is a mathematical idea which relates the relationships of length to width, width to height, and the space between the columns when they are compared to their diameters. In addition, when it comes to distorted scale, all the supposedly straight lines which comprise of the Parthenon are surprisingly slightly curved after all.
The genius architects that created this classical structure knew that these lines would give the impression of being totally linear in nature. This helps because of the how the human eyes tend to see a column as thinner in the middle, so they made the columns in reality bowed instead and slightly slanted inward. Also, the columns at the corners of the building were made to appear thicker since they caught the light more than other columns in the structure. Because of this they would appear thinner, so the architects did what they had to do to make sure they appear normal as a whole.
