Parthenon (Nashville)

The Parthenon

The Parthenon in Nashville's Centennial Park is a full-scale copy of the original Parthenon in Athens.
Location Nashville, Tennessee
Coordinates 36°8′59″N 86°48′48″W / 36.14972°N 86.81333°W / 36.14972; -86.81333Coordinates: 36°8′59″N 86°48′48″W / 36.14972°N 86.81333°W / 36.14972; -86.81333
Built 1897 (original structure)
1925–1931 (permanent version)
Architect William Crawford Smith[1][2]
Architectural style Neoclassical
NRHP Reference # 72001236[3]
Added to NRHP February 23, 1972

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.

Today the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The statue of Athena Parthenos within is a reconstruction of the long-lost original to careful scholarly standards: she is cuirassed and helmeted, carries a shield on her left arm and a small 6-foot-high (1.8 m) statue of Nike (Victory) in her right palm, and stands 42 feet (13 m) high, gilt with more than 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of gold leaf; an equally colossal serpent rears its head between her and her shield. Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychromed (painted in colors) as close to the presumed original as possible, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the naos (the east room of the main hall) are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 BC. Many fragments of the originals are housed in the British Museum in London; others are at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

History

The reproduction Athena Parthenos statue

Nashville's moniker, the "Athens of the South",[4] influenced the choice of the building as the centerpiece of the 1897 Centennial Exposition. A number of buildings at the Exposition were based on ancient originals, however the Parthenon was the only one that was an exact reproduction. It was also the only one that was preserved by the city, although the Knights of Pythias Pavilion building was purchased and moved to nearby Franklin, Tennessee.

Major Eugene Castner Lewis was the director of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and it was at his suggestion that a reproduction of the Parthenon be built in Nashville to serve as the centerpiece of Tennessee’s Centennial Celebration. Mr. Lewis also served as the chief civil engineer for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad. Originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, the Parthenon was not intended to be permanent, but the cost of demolishing the structure combined with its popularity with residents and visitors alike resulted in it being left standing after the Exposition. In 1895 George Julian Zolnay was "employed to make models for the ornamentation" for the building.[5] Within the next 20 years, weather had defaced the landmark; it was then rebuilt on the same foundations, in concrete, in a project that started in 1920; the exterior was completed in 1925 and the interior in 1931.[6]

Some of the most elaborate events that occurred at the Parthenon were the Spring Pageants of 1913 and 1914. These extravaganzas were theatrical productions on a massive scale. With casts of up to 500, the Pageants brought in audiences from surroundings states and rail prices were lowered to encourage attendance. The entire city of Nashville reveled in the opportunity to celebrate the "Athens of the South." The 1913 performance was entitled The Fire Regained, a play written by Sidney Mttron Hirsch, and featured a mythological storyline enhanced by theatrical spectacle popular in that era.[7] The 1914 production, "The Mystery at Thanatos," had a similarly mythological plot, but was shorter and better received. A copy of the script is on file at the Nashville Public Library. The most impressive thing about these Pageants was the incredible use of visual spectacle. Both shows featured impressive displays ranging from chariot races to huge dance numbers to thousands of live birds to set pieces that shot flames, all set against the backdrop of the majestic Nashville Parthenon.

As an art museum, the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th- and 20th-century American artists donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.

In the summertime, local theatre productions use the building as a backdrop for classic Greek plays such as Euripides' Medea and Sophocles' Antigone, performing (usually for free) on the steps of the Parthenon. Other performances, such as Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, have been done inside, at the foot of Athena's statue.

It contains a replica, completed in 1990, of the Athena Parthenos statue which was in the original Parthenon in Athens.

The Parthenon got a full makeover in 2002 with a much needed cleaning and restoration to the exterior. The exterior lighting was upgraded to allow the columns of the building to be illuminated with different colors than the facade, allowing a uniquely versatile display of effects for events.

The Parthenon served as the location for the political rally in the climactic scene of Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville. It was also used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It features in the title and lyrics of the song Nashville Parthenon from the album Etiquette, by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. It was used in the 2000 PBS series Greeks: Crucible of Civilization.

The structure also figures in the climax of the Hector Lassiter novel, "Three Chords & The Truth," by Craig McDonald.

References

  1. ↑ Coleman, Christopher K. (Fall 1990). "From Monument to Museum: The Role of the Parthenon in the Culture of the New South". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 49 (3): 140. Retrieved November 23, 2015 – via JSTOR. (Registration required (help)).
  2. ↑ "Valor's Reward Paid His Memory. Tablet Unveiled to the Memory of Col. C. W. Smith. On Walls of the Parthenon. Rare Tribute Paid the Name of Soldier-Architect. Tully Brown and Lieut. Caruthers Deliver Addresses of Occasion Before Several Hundred People, Among Whom Were Comrades of Two Wars.". The Nashville American. Nashville, Tennessee. July 6, 1903. pp. 5; 7. Retrieved November 22, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "National Register of Historical Places - Tennessee (TN), Davidson County". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-03-03.
  4. ↑ Creighton, Wilbur F., ‘’The Parthenon In Nashville: Athens of the South, From a personal viewpoint’’, JM Press, Brentwood TN, 1989, revised edition 1991
  5. ↑ Creighton, Wilbur F., ‘’The Parthenon In Nashville: From a personal viewpoint’’, 1968, self published p.21-22
  6. ↑ "Timeline at the Parthenon". Metro Parks and Recreation Department, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  7. ↑ Stewart, John Lincoln (1965). The Burden of Time: The Fugitives and Agrarians. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 3–34. OCLC 859825119. Retrieved November 29, 2015.


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