Comparison Between Greece’s Parthenon in Athens and England’s Stonehenge in Wiltshire

Comparison of Sacred Spaces

The two sacred architectural wonders analyzed in this assignment are the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. This decision stems from my ever-growing fascination with both countries of origin of the two constructions that will be discussed in the following report.

These renowned structures display more differences than similarities. The most apparent difference is simply the reason for existing. Ancient Greeks believed each of their cities were protected by a different God, so the Parthenon temple in Athens was built in tribute to Athena, the goddess of war, wisdom, and the arts, who they thought watched over them (DeWitte, Larmann, Shields 379). Moreover, the mysterious English rock-pile recognized as Stonehenge is famous for its lack of a history: Its constructors, why it was built in that location, even its significance, however, historians believe that it acted as an ancient observatory (DeWitte, Larmann, Shields 566). Leading to the second dissimilarity between the two compounds – the purpose they served, or are believed to have served by most scholars. Stonehenge is conceived to have possibly been used as a place for furthering intellectual interests like Astronomy. After an educated inquiry and a vigorous examination, Stonehenge established it was capable of using the sun to be able to predict solar and lunar eclipses, which would have deemed the sight an ancient astronomical calendar (Smagala). Per contra, the Parthenon’s motivation for creation is much more straightforward: It was created as a memorial to honor Athena, and to demonstrate to her how grateful the Ancient Greeks of Athens were to the goddess for her protection: It was also an arsenal for weapons and currency in wartime (Cartwright). The final difference between the two sacred spaces might be that Stonehenge has remained largely undisturbed in its structure since its creation from 3,200 to 1,500 BCE, while the Parthenon, built from 447 to 432 BCE, was actually built over a temple that previously been burned down by the Persian Army around 480 BCE (DeWitte, Larmann, Shields 379).

While most scholars believe Stonehenge was used for astrological purposes, many believe that it may have been used as a place of worship: Similar to the Parthenon, used by the Greeks to worship their goddess Athena (Smagala). Another likeness between the two could be that they both are considered to be important historical sites for their countries, as well as thought to be impressive structures for their time periods. Finally, the last – and rather obvious – similarity between the prehistoric rock-structure and the ancient Mediterranean temple is that in the end their impressions of timelessness is symbolized by their ‘rock solid’ foundations that are both comprised of different types of stone.