In what ways was the Parthenon an unusual example of a temple in Greece of the 5th century B.C. Relate its unusual features to the historical and political circumstances in 5th Century Athens.
When you look at the Parthenon and try to show what is different about it, and why this difference has occurred, you must look at it in the eyes of the Athenians in the 5th Century, and how they would have seen it. This is what I will try to do in this essay, with the help of what we know now about the political history in Greece of that time.
The first thing that you notice about the Parthenon as a temple, isn't the actual building itself, it is the rest of the acropolis, the surrounding buildings. Most Greek temples wouldn't have had this, and the fact that it is all surrounded by a wall, with only one entrance, means that there is something inside worth protecting. …
