Architecture and Meaning on the Athenian Acropolis

Architecture and Meaning on the Athenian Acropolis focuses on the architectural complex which is generally considered to be one of the outstanding achievements of Western civilisation. Though the buildings and sculpture of the Acropolis, erected over the course of the fifth century BC, have been scrutinised by scholars for more than a century, Robin Rhodes' sensitive analysis is the first to consider the ensemble as a whole and to explain how the monuments communicate meaningfully with one another to form an iconographic narrative. His study also examines the sculpture and decoration, which were conceived together with the abstract features, while relating both to the larger issues in Greek architecture and aesthetics. Among the themes treated in this landmark study are: the relationship between landscape and religious architecture, the humanisation of temple divinities, the architectural expression of religious tradition and even specific history, architectural procession and hieratic direction, symbolism and allusion through architectural order, religious revival and archaism, and the breaking of architectural and religious canon. Taken together, they constitute the specific narrative of the Acropolis in the Periclean Age.