The Extent to Which the Physical Appearance of the Athenian Agora Reflects Athenian Society - Essay Example

The ways and extent to which the physical appearance of the Athenian Agora reflects Athenian society and politics in the 5th century BC Name Date Lecturers Name Course Number Introduction The Athenian society experienced an extraordinary achievement for a long time in their history. During this time, some artists and historians seem to have flourished during the 5th century BC when the Athens city was a supreme city-state in Greece. Some of the people that had succeeded in accomplishing this included Sophokles, Perikles, Aeschylus, and Thucydides. Similarly, the Athenian society was known to be an educational and cultural center, especially for the Mediterranean until around 6th century AD, despite their power being diminished. For quite a long time, this society had been adorned with various Paramount buildings, which were financed by the citizens, as well as gifts from Roman emperors and Hellenistic kings. For this reason, it is evident that the Athenian Agora, which was a marketplace, seemed to be the foremost point of the public. Looking at the general structure of the Agora, it was square, and surrounded by buildings. It was known to be the centre of the town. Therefore, this essay seeks to explore the ways and extent to which the physical appearance of the Athenian Agora reflects Athenian society and politics in the 5th century BC. The physical appearance of the Athenian Agora had various structures, such as monuments, excavated buildings, and small objects; which reflected the activities conducted in the city. For instance, the water clock and bronze ballot, which were used to time speeches, represented the law courts. This displayed the Athenians as individuals who were living in a democratic city, as each one appointed would be given a chance to deliver their speech and equally timed. Besides, the bronze ballot indicated that they were democrats and would, therefore, vote for their chosen leader or politician. According to Hanson (2011, pg.262) the numerous shops and stalls where bronze-workers, cobblers, sculptors, and potters made and sold various wares indicated that the majority of the Athenian society used the area as a marketplace. Without a doubt, it indicated that the Athenians were mostly traders and ventured into various trading activities as a means of survival. The majority of their commodities in the market came from their own creativity, such as a potter molding clay into pots and other valuable products. Equally, the colonnades provided cool walkways for various individuals who wished to meet friends and clients in exchange for the goods and products they had (Hanson, 2011, pg. 262). When it came to religion and culture, they had a concert hall and library, which would meet their cultural needs, as well as temples and small shrines where they would regularly worship. This reflected the Athenians as people who valued their cultural and religious beliefs, such as revering their gods in the temples and offering sacrifices to the shrines. Without doubt, all these places found in the Athenian Agora indicated that almost all their activities, such as political, administrative, commercial, judicial, religious, cultural, and social positively contributed to the development of the place. In addition, the Athenian Agora was first laid and founded as a public space for the citizens in the earlier century; where it was used for scattered habitation in the iron and bronze ages, as well as a burial ground. This indicated that the Athenians had their freedom to use their public property for their own benefit. To add onto those, small sanctuaries and administrative buildings were built, as water was also made available at the fountain house nourished by a channel (Camp & Mauzy, 2003, pg.5). Across the Agora, from the hill stands, a Doric temple referred to as hephaisteion, was one of the best-preserved temples in Greece. It reflects the Athenians commitment to religion as part of their lifestyle. They dedicated it specifically to the gods of the forge and the goddess of art and crafts in their society. Openly, this temple had two bronze cult statutes, which were described by the Pausanias and worked on by the Alkamenes. Besides, some traces of a small farm situated in the temple around the 3rd century were still evident in the excavation. The building was not located in an earthquake zone and, therefore, the probability of people using it as a quarrying center was high. This indicated that even though the aliens used the structure for religious purposes, some did not respect this and wanted to turn the place into a quarry. However, its conversion to a Christian church later on made it preserved with the sculptors mutilated except for a Minotaur whose head was retained. This, therefore, clearly reflected the Athenians commitment to religion (Camp, 2001, pg.6). Another physical structure in the Athenian Agora was the Tholos. The round shape in which it was constructed matched and corresponded to the way their political leaders would sit during their meetings. For this reason, it served as the headquarters of the executive committee of the Senators. Besides, the place was highly secured and, therefore, the senators would be fed at a public expense, and approximately seventeen of them would spend their nights in the building; thus, deal with any emergency at whatever time of the hour. As such, the Tholos represented the heart of the Athenians society where individuals who served as politicians would be found in either the day or night. The building was constructed around 470 BC as an unadorned drum with interior columns backing up a conical roof of diamond-shape roof tiles, as mentioned by Hanson (2011, pg. 261). Subsequently, there was also a place called Bouleuterion, which was a meeting place for the Senate. It was large enough to accommodate a larger number of diplomats and guests during official functions and festivals. This indicated that politics was a significant part of the Athenian society, and they would ensure all those involved were comfortable and got the essential public services (Cammack, 2013, pg. 10). According to Ober (1991, pg.90), almost five hundred of the Athenian citizens were chosen by the majority to serve in this place every year. Apart from the days of the festival, they would meet at this place to prepare legislation for all the meetings, which would be done after every ten days. However, after sometime, the Athenians did not put much consideration and security to the Bouleuterion; which made it remain in a miserable state with only a few traces of discernable walls (Ober, 1991 pg. 91). The Metroon was also an essential structure. The Athenians used it as a sanctuary for their mother gods, as well as an archive house where the official records would be kept. This was made possible due to the four rooms set side by side and entirely supported by Ionic columns. It showed the Athenians valued their history and origin. Besides, the archives could also act as a memorial place for what had happened in their earlier days (Camp, 1992, pg. 94). Another important structure was the Monument of the Eponymous Heroes. They were exactly ten in number and reflected the ten tribes of the Athenians that were formed by Kleisthenes. Anyone who wanted the citizenship of the state had to belong to a given tribe and attend all the festivals in honor of these tribes. All these developments formed a foundation upon which the Athenian democracy was built. Characteristically, the monument took the form of a ten bronze statute, which represented all the ten heroes of the tribes. Each tribal statue would have announcements and notice boards where essential information regarding their citizenship would be placed for public viewing and other informative purposes. Some of the information that would be displayed in this monument included public honors, proposed legislation, military conscription, and upcoming legal events. Most importantly, the monument was vital for the Athenian society in the dissemination of the majority of the official information, especially, the days before television, newspapers, telephone, and radios came into being. Notably, there are also cuttings and refurbishment in the monuments sill, which indicates that the tribes might have transformed gradually with time and era (Camp & Mauzy, 2003, pg.17). A Panatheniac wall, which was built around the 3rd century AC, is another physical appearance of the Athenian Agora. Researchers have highlighted that it was created after Herulians sacked the Athenians due to insecurity; thus, the Athenians were sensitive of their lives and wanted to avoid any abrupt attack from their enemies. Therefore, the Athenians were able to protect their territory from any external violence by outsiders. More so, this operation indicated the creativity of the Athenians, as they used the architectural pieces that were broken from the monuments and buildings destroyed by the Herulians to build up the security walls. Subsequently, the Library of Pantainos also reflects a lot concerning the Athenian society and politics. It was purely dedicated to Emperor Trajan, the Athenian people, and the Archegetis. The library acted as an educational and cultural building, reflecting the function of Athens as the chief university town in the Roman Empire. It also indicated that the Athenians valued education as part of their lifestyle and the library was a booster. Titus Flavius Pantainos, who was the dedicator of the library, was the son of the prominent head of the philosophical institution and usually referred to himself as the chief priest of the rational thinkers. The library had instructional inscriptions. This reflected how much the Athenian Society appreciated learning, and the library would make the city an informative place where they could learn and expand their knowledge (Camp & Mauzy, 2003, pg. 31). Lastly, it is quite visible and evident that the Athenian agora reflected the Athenian society and politics to a greater extent. First, it showed the extent to which they were able to live a democratic life without any dictatorship or rule of law imposed on them by the diplomatic leaders. For instance, they had ballot boxes, which indicated that they had the freedom to choose whatever leader or service suitable for them. For this reason, there were enough buildings needed to run their government. Besides, the government had also set a law courts where their dealings, cases, and complaints would be addressed justly, according to the law. Secondly, the Athenian agora reflected the degree to which the economic life of the Athenians had substantially increased. The public squares provided a conducive environment for them to go about their daily businesses in terms of trade. For example, the bronze workers, cobblers, sculptors, and potters made and molded their products before selling them to the people in the various shops. Thirdly, the Agora reflected how much the Athenians respected and valued their religion and cultures. There were specific places set aside to be specifically used as shrines and temples in case they needed to worship or offer sacrifices to their gods. Besides, they had a place where they would keep their official records to act as a reference for their various cultures and traditions of the past and present. Conclusively, the Agora reflected how much the Athenians were sensitive to their security after their enemies previously attacked them. They built a Panatheniac wall, which acted as a defense mechanism. It was essential and also significant to keep them together and avoid intrusion by outsiders and keep them in peace (Hanson, 2011, pg. 262). Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the various physical appearance of the Athenian Agora reflected the Athenian society in various ways in the 5th century AC. The Agora reflected the Athenians as democrats, religious persons, and traders. Notably, the Athenian valued the Agora since it served them with different purposes, especially, the public places, such as shrines, temples, and law courts. Each building or structure was designed and located in such a way that it served the specific special activity it was meant for, such as market, religious processions, election purposes, and political activities. Specifically, the Library of Pantainos showed that they valued education as part of their lifestyle; the law courts and ballot boxes indicated that they lived in a democratic city and valued human rights. The large markets signified their means of livelihood as traders. Conclusively, all the monuments, small objects, and buildings all adequately reflected the Athenian society. References Camp, J. M 2001, The archaeology of Athens. London. Yale University Press. Viewed 7 September 2015, < http://www.yale.edu/yup/pdf/081979_front_1.pdf > Camp, J & Mauzy, C 2003, The Athenian Agora. A short guide to the excavations. Viewed 9 September 2015, < http://www.agathe.gr/Icons/pdfs/AgoraPicBk-16.pdf> Cammack, D. L 2013, Rethinking Athenian Democracy. Massachusetts; Harvard University press. Viewed 11 September 2015, Hanson, V 2011, The life in two City- States: Athens and Sparta. Viewed 12 September 2015, Ober, J 1999, The Athenians and Their Democracy. Viewed 12 September 2015, http://web.stanford.edu/group/dispersed_author/docs/ReviewAthenianstheirDemoc_Ober. pdf Read More