Temple of Athena at Paestum, Campania, Italy, ca. 500 BC

Image by Norbert Nagel. Temple of Athena at Paestum. 

At an archaeological site in Italy, called “Parco Archeologico di Paestum”, stands one of the best surviving examples of ancient Greek architecture – the Temple of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and strategy.

According to Greek mythology, Athena was born from Zeus’ forehead fully grown and armoured. She is known to be the wisest, most courageous and most resourceful of the Olympian gods. She is associated with the crafts in the household, giving mortals the gift of cooking and sewing. She was a significant figure to the people of Attica (a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens) which resulted in a city being named in honor of her – the city of Athens, also known as the capital of Greece; which was also a reflection of her gift of the olive tree which became the symbol of peace and plenty.

Depiction of Greek goddess Athena.

It is not rare to see Greek history and architecture scattered throughout the country of Italy. The coastal areas of southern Italy were colonized by various ancient Greek city-states, including Magna Graecia. These certain sites were selected by the Greeks due to their fertile lands and, at the time, its beneficial geographical position for trade.4 As a result, Paestum, located in Italy, contains the Greek Temple of Athena. The identification of the temple as belonging to Athena, not Ceres, as proposed in the eighteenth century, is now secure due to the discovery of over one hundred terracotta figurines depicting Athena, and a later fragment of pottery with the archaic Latin inscription MENERVAE (the Roman equivalent name for Athena).5 Also, among many temples located in the area, the Temple of Athena sits on the highest point of Paestum; which was very common in Greek towns, as temples dedicated to the goddess Athena were always built on their highest points.2 It is also the first structure seen upon entering this historical site.

Temple of Athena is built on a slight rise in the highest part of town.

As one approaches the front façade of the temple, it becomes noticeably clear that part of the limestone pediment has been preserved or restored; in fact, one of the triglyphs inserted into the pediment is still preserved.3 It is common that in Greek temples, the rectangular blocks located between the triglyphs were decorated with carved figures, as seen in the Parthenon in the city of Athens; however, that is not the case in this temple due to the lack of naturally occurring marble in Southern Italy, and only coarse stones could be used for carving. Nonetheless, holding the pediment are 6 twenty-feet tall fluted columns of the Doric order, classifying this temple under “hexastyle”. Along the rest of the exterior are 13 fluted columns that continue on each of the longer sides; while the 6 columns of the inner pronaos are of the Ionic order.

Image from John Griffiths Pedley's book on Paestum. Plan of the Temple of Athena at Paestum.1

Doric is a classical order of architecture characterized by a masculine, sturdy, fluted and heavy column with a plain capital. In contrast, Ionic is a classical order of architecture characterized by thinner and fairly smaller columns, giving the column a more feminine quality, along with a capital using volute. Essentially, this idea of using both Doric and Ionic order in one structure is what makes this piece of architecture so meaningful. During the time of the construction of the temple, ca. 500BC, the Ionic order was emerging to popularity. For the first time in Italy Ionic columns were being incorporated in a Doric temple. Consequently, through the temple of Athena in Paestum, this critical change in architecture history is manifested.   
                           

1 Pedley, John Griffiths. Paestum, Greeks and Romans in Southern Italy. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

2 "Paestum History Italy | Greeks." Paestum History Italy | Greeks. Amalficoastdrivers.com, n.d. Web.

3 "Paestum Temple of Athena (Ceres)." WwwPaestumorguk. Www.paestum.org.uk, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

4 Cartwright, Mark. "Paestum." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

5 "Poseidonia, Temple of Athena (Building)." Perseus Hopper. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.