DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.800#0427
404 ANCIENT ATHENS.
the eastern and largest of which formed properly the cella of the god-
dess, or the Parthenon strictly so called; whilst the western and
smaller one was the opisthodomus. The cella had at all events a partial
roof; but as to the number of columns which supported it, authorities
differ, for the traces of them are not very plain. Leake says' that there
were sixteen; yet in his plan he gives twenty-one, without counting the
two corner ones at the western end. It seems to be now pretty gene-
rally agreed that there were ten columns on each side, forming as it
were two aisles, and three at the western extremity.2 It has also been
disputed of what order were the interior columns. This question appears
to have been settled by M. Paccard, who discovered that they were Doric
from traces of flutings on the slabs on which they rested.3 These are
said to have been produced as follows: The Greets did not begin to
flute their columns till all the drums had been put together, and the
column stood erect in its place. In the operation, the marks of the chisel
had been left upon the pavement, thus describing the contour of the
column and its flutings. It is believed that this lower order was
surmounted by another of smaller columns. Thus Wheler describes the
cella as having a gallery formed by two ranks of columns, twenty-two
below and twenty-three above.4 A Corinthian capital was found in it,
and as the Corinthian order was invented about the time of its erection5
the upper columns may have been of that order. At the west end of
the cella, the place where the chryselephantine statue of the goddess
stood is marked by an oblong pavement of poros stone or tufa; which
was required to preserve a certain degree of moisture through its
porosity, in order to prevent the ivory from cracking. Pausanias tells
us6 that, from the dryness of the Acropolis, it was necessary to use
water instead of oil for cleansing the statue, and that it wanted moist
exhalations. This pavement in a direction across the cella is 21 ft.
long, with a width of about 8 ft. But the pedestal itself was still
larger, as there are traces in the marble floor of the iron cramps which
1 vol. x. p. 333. * Journey, p. 363.
2 See Beiile-, t. ii. p. 33. « Leake, i. p. 334.
» Ibid. p. 32. « v. ] 1, 5.
the eastern and largest of which formed properly the cella of the god-
dess, or the Parthenon strictly so called; whilst the western and
smaller one was the opisthodomus. The cella had at all events a partial
roof; but as to the number of columns which supported it, authorities
differ, for the traces of them are not very plain. Leake says' that there
were sixteen; yet in his plan he gives twenty-one, without counting the
two corner ones at the western end. It seems to be now pretty gene-
rally agreed that there were ten columns on each side, forming as it
were two aisles, and three at the western extremity.2 It has also been
disputed of what order were the interior columns. This question appears
to have been settled by M. Paccard, who discovered that they were Doric
from traces of flutings on the slabs on which they rested.3 These are
said to have been produced as follows: The Greets did not begin to
flute their columns till all the drums had been put together, and the
column stood erect in its place. In the operation, the marks of the chisel
had been left upon the pavement, thus describing the contour of the
column and its flutings. It is believed that this lower order was
surmounted by another of smaller columns. Thus Wheler describes the
cella as having a gallery formed by two ranks of columns, twenty-two
below and twenty-three above.4 A Corinthian capital was found in it,
and as the Corinthian order was invented about the time of its erection5
the upper columns may have been of that order. At the west end of
the cella, the place where the chryselephantine statue of the goddess
stood is marked by an oblong pavement of poros stone or tufa; which
was required to preserve a certain degree of moisture through its
porosity, in order to prevent the ivory from cracking. Pausanias tells
us6 that, from the dryness of the Acropolis, it was necessary to use
water instead of oil for cleansing the statue, and that it wanted moist
exhalations. This pavement in a direction across the cella is 21 ft.
long, with a width of about 8 ft. But the pedestal itself was still
larger, as there are traces in the marble floor of the iron cramps which
1 vol. x. p. 333. * Journey, p. 363.
2 See Beiile-, t. ii. p. 33. « Leake, i. p. 334.
» Ibid. p. 32. « v. ] 1, 5.