The Athenian Agora was a public marketplace for the Athenians to gather to discuss philosophy, politics, and economics. Socrates usually came here to teach philosophy to the Athenians and soon got executed in the jail near the Agora.
Below is an image of the overall Athenian Agora.
Here is a map of the Athenian Agora and some places on the West side that we will be talking about!
The Royal Stoa was the headquarters of the Archon and the Areopagus and stored the written copies of the laws. Socrates was indicted for his impiety and corrupting the youth in the Stoa.
The left image shows the Royal Stoa with Goddess Themis of Justice in the front to demonstrate the support of fair laws and honor this goddess of fairness.
The Altar of the Twelve Gods on the left image was used to dedicate honor to the twelve Olympian gods. In the image, we could see the two sacred entrances and boundaries to the altar and it was a 'zero mile marker', showing us how highly the Athenians valued and honored their gods.
The right image is the temple of Hephaesteion in the Athenian Agora. The temple has doric columns, triglyphs, metopes, and the uninterrupted frieze. Those structures were in the Parthenon as well, making these two places look similar in architecture. There were three rooms in the temple: Pronaos( front porch), Naos( gods' residence), and Opisthodomos( back room). As the temple was modified later, the Apse was added in the front to create a structure of the church.
The left image is the Apse of the church.
Below is the image of the Bouletereion in the Agora. The Bouletereion orginally consisted of 100 citizens, and 10 people were from each tribe. In the classical era, there were 500 people in a big room, and 50 people were from each deme. They met every day to discuss about politics, economics, and military policies. They drew up proposals to present to the Ecclesia, which was the assembly of democracy of ancient Athens.
The Prytaneum was a public hall in the Agora containing the state hearth and serving as a place of meeting and dining for the Prytanes. The below image shows where the Prytaneum was located.
The Prytaneum was a place to convene the Boule and the Ecclesia for meetings. Each deme rotated into office by lot for 1/10 of the year. The representatives lived in the Prytaneum during their term and dealt with the state matters. They also controlled weights and measures. Surprisingly, the president of the Prytanes only served one 24-hour term a year, which was very short.
Besides, Socrates proposed to live out the rest of his life in the Prytaneum when he was asked to suggest a sentence for himself after his conviction.
The left image shows the Statues of Eponymous Heroes. These ten bronze hero statues were honored in the Agora and their names were used to label each deme in Athens. Moreover, the wall under the statues had the 'constitution' of Athens that the Athenians would come to stay informed and get engaged in the city news.
The right image shows us the Simon's House by the Athenian Agora. This was where Simon held his shoe shop at the border of the Agora, since he could not go into the Agora. There was a boundary stone to locate where Simon's House was. Socrates would usually come here to discuss his philosophical ideas with Simon while he worked. Simon would write down their conversations, making him the first person to write a dialogue. Later, people found that the name 'Simon' was written at the base of the cup at this location, so they believed that his shoe shop was held here.
The left image shows the prison where Socrates was imprisoned and executed with the poison hemlock for his impiety and corrupting the youth. Socrates convinced the jury at trial that he should be honored by the city for his great service to the Athenians. People believed that Socrates was imprisoned and got executed here because they found his votives and his two-cell room.
The right image shows the Stoa of Attalos in the Agora. This museum has storage rooms, stores, offices for the Athenians living in the Agora. There are ostracism and voting objects in the museum that contributed to the political life and events in the Athenian Agora.
National Archeological Museum's object:
Statue of Themis represents her statue in the Royal Stoa in the Athenian Agora. She was a goddess of law and order. The goddess was depicted as having a bearing leg and a relaxed bending leg. I found it interesting how this standing position was similar to that of the lady pillars in the Caryatid Porch in the Acropolis. Themis wore a thick folded garment with her arm holding her heavy clothes. The statue was made of Pentelic marble and it was found in the temple of Themis. This statue shows Themis’s nobility and power of order. It is interesting to see how her face was depicted in a neutral mood with discipline.
Reflection:
I found the Athenian Agora to be the exciting 'heart of the city' and the central lives of Athens! One of my favorite spots in the Agora is the 'Altar of the Twelve Gods'. I found this site to be sacred in their entrances and I like how the Athenians made boundaries in the wall for the altar. It was interesting to me how the altar was marked at mile 0, showing how significant the altar was to the Athenians. I have always liked how the Athenians embraced their values and honored their gods in a highly respectful way to protect their place. They also valued their Eponymous Heroes and used their names to label the demes. I like how these bronze hero statues were placed near the 'constitution' of Athens so people could gather there to stay informed and engaged in the city with their demes.
On another topic, I am also interested in the temple of Hephaesteion since the temple before was the place where the gods lived; and it was soon modified to represent the church, which still influences the structure of the church throughout the contemporary world. Furthermore, the doric columns, metopes, and frieze in the temple of Hephaesteion resembled the ones in the Parthenon at the Acropolis, too. I found this to be fascinating of their connection. I also appreciate the involvement of Socrates in the Agora as he taught philosophy and engaged in the discussions with the Athenians. I admired Socrates for believing that he had done nothing wrong to Athens and that he should be honored for his good services to the Athenians for his sentence. Moreover, I personally think that Socrates received an unfair execution, but I still think that his truthfulness to Athens made him even more powerful to his people!
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