Comparing Parthenon to Pantheon

While studying for my exam I came up with a small trick which helps me in reminding myself that Parthenon is situated in Athens, whereas Pantheon is to be found in Rome. The trick is as follows: word ''Athens'' contains no ''r'' and with the help of reversed logic we are going to match it with ''Parthenon'' (for it would make more sense if PaRthenon was situated in Rome), leaving us with ''Rome'' to be matched with ''Pantheon''. Bit later on, I have decided to collect data and make a (use)full study on the differences of the two, the following text is the very result!

To begin with, Greek architecture is one of columns and beams. It is important to know that Greeks, in dealing with the matter of architecture, do not use arches and non-flat ceilings. The very temple is built in form of a megaron- a so called ‘house for God’, basically a beginning point in developing other types of structures. At first, Greek temples were wooden, later to be replaced with stone. Also, there are three different types of Greek temples to be taken into consideration, as there are three different orders of ancient Greek columns- Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.

The Parthenon is an ancient temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena built in the 5th c. BC on the Athenian Acropolis. The Parthenon is considered a lasting symbol of ancient Greece and it’s ancient democracy, as well as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The temple is named after Phidias’ statue of the goddess Athena called "Athena Parthenos" (Virgin Athena) which was located in its central room. The epithet " Parthenos " was given to Athena after she made a testament, swearing to her father Zeus she will never have a lover. Chastity and sexual restraint are part of the qualities that were worshiped in her cult.

Roman architecture takes on basic elements of Greek architecture, which then further develops and adapts to own lifestyle and way of living. A big difference, compared to the Greek architecture, is the use of arcades , arches and concrete (used as a substitute for stone). The Romans have using the round arch come to the discovery of the vault (lining round arches in the same direction) and the dome (vault rotation of 360 degrees).

" Pantheon" is the name that was passed to us by a historian named Cassius Dio. He explained that the name literally means dedicated to " all the gods ", or as he also sensed, comes from the similarity of the built in vault with the heavens. Pantheon was built during the reign of Hadrian and Agrippa renewed it during the reign of August and hence the inscription on the front. The perfectly preserved Pantheon has survived several robberies, modifications and restorations. This is partly to be credited to Byzantine emperor Phocas, who gave this building as a gift to Pope Boniface VIII. in the year 608. He had transformed it into a church with the name of St. Mary of the Martyrs.