After Friday's discussion on the Parthenon, I decided to do some further research. What I found to be very interesting about the Parthenon was it's Pediments. The Parthenon's pediments are the triangles that sit on top of the pillars on either side of the Parthenon. The carvings in these pediments tell a story and show the history of the Parthenon.
The Pediments tell the story of the greek goddess Athena. Athena was an important figure to the people of Athens, because they saw her as their protector. In the East side pediment, the birth of Athena is depicted. Apparently, Zeus(Athena's father) had a terrible headache and sought out the Hephaestus(the god of fire and forge) to relieve his pain. Zeus commanded him to hit him over the head with his forging hammer. When Hephaestus did this, Zeus's head split in two and Athena emerged from his head.
A large portion of this pediment is missing due to destruction from a war. It is assumed that the remainder of the sculpture depicts the other olympic God standing around Zeus and Hephaestus, watching the wondrous event.
On the west pediment, the sculptures depicted the battle between Athena and Poseidon for the honor of becoming the city's patron. The pediment, which no longer exists, portrayed the two in the middle battling each other, while other important figures watched around them.
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