Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-08-11
LAST SUMNER LECTURE
Professor Bassett on Parthenon
and Its Sculptures.
No More Addresses in This Years
scrie. before University Of YER
mont Summer school-1nst
One of Hest.

The last Of the series OF lectures be-
fore the University of Vermont summer
school was given Tuesday In the Will
I liams Science hall by Prof. S. F.. Bas-
sett. His subject was THE Parthenon
and Its Sculptures" and his sympathetic
and appreciative treatment gave an add
ed interest to the theme. The lecture
was illustrated with lantern slides under
the direction Of Dr. II. +. Perkins.
Professor Bassett chara cterized Athens
as the teacher OF Greece, the acropolis as
the heart of Athens. and the Parthenon
as the browning glory Of Athens lie
called the Parthenon the capitalization
of reason applied to art. In it both the
Doric and Ionic styles of architecture
are united in harmony, tho Doric giving
strength and the Ionic grace and beauty.
The sculptures OF the Parthenon rep
| resent the period OF greatest develop
ment Of Greek art. The great temple
came into being rs a result Of the CON
junction of several forces, all working
| together, seemingly, to produce that ono
end. In the fifth century before Christ
both Greek sculpture and Architecture had
| been perfected and was ripe for some
|
| Persian wars had given unity to Greece
and the various States We're more or less
| in harmony for the first time The
| Olympic games were factor, also. IN
| that they had brought the physical
beauty Of the Greek to it's highest and
most perfect Development. Athens, more
over, had amassed great wealth from the
| wars abroad All Of these causes work
Ing together resulted in the great legacy
OF Greece to posterity, the Parthenon
| The Parthenon WAS built In the middle
| of the fifth century. and six centuries
| later Plu'arch writes OF It that one might
| imagine 1t had been built but yesterday.
! The FIRST of its treasures to be lost was
the statue of Athena. It was not long
after this that the Parthenon became
a Christian church, and in 1901 A. d. 1t
became church of the western, or Ro-
man Christianity. In 1i56 the Turks took
| Athens and made 1t a mosque. and a
mnaret for a time lowered over the
| Greek temple,
| Very fortunately in 1914 n French ar
tist sketched part of the sculptures for
| In 1857, during seise of Athens by the
tians, the Parthenon was blown up
and the center of it destroyed The
| Turks had used 1t for powder maya
zine in the vain hope that the Christians
would not blow up building which had
| once been a Christian church To-day
the glory Of Athens bears silent testimony
to the ruthlessness of man.
| The Parthenon was not designed for
congregational or sacriicial purposes and
thus was made possible its simplicity in
| design. 1t was the home of the divinity
and no more. a casket for the gold and
| ivory Athena.
| The Greek temple was simple and
conservative. Originally built of wood along
| certain definite lines, II progressed by de-
velopment rather than innovation to Its
latest and best form. The workmanship
| Is something that has never been
| eQualled No mortar was used and the
stone cutters of to-day would be unable
to duplicate the matchless joints
The lines OF the temple express reason
ableness pre-eminently. The temple may
be compared with the sweetly reasonable
man of Pato's republic. Only those
parts Of the temple which have no func-
tion to perform are decorated. The COL
| umns wall, etc, have n function, and
hence they were not decorated.
| The Greek temple expresses universal
| ity. In looking at the Parthenon it is i'm
possible to tell anything about its size SO
perfectly Is 1t proportional and so uni
versal and self-sufiicient is 1t In charac-
ter. skyscraper on the other hand, In
itself gives ground for judgment ms to
its size. The steps, the windows, etc.
are all proportional to the stature of
man.
The golden statue of Athena which
stood within the Parthenon was of gold
and ivory This. with one exception was
the finest work Of Phidias The flesh
parts of the statue were mace OF IVORY
the eyes of precious stones and the gar
ments and weapons OF gold. In the face
Of the goddess expressed maidenly purity
strength. purity; In fact the highest ideal
of the Greek civilization was embodied
there. As work of art she was second
only to the Olympian Z.us
Greek art attained Just the right
balance between realism and idealism
In the groups of figures still extsnt from
the famous freiz"s Of tho Parthenon this
It's exemp;ihed. And In Greek art there
was purpose essentially different from
modern art The Greek used art as a
medium to inculcate a love for the heauti-
full in the youth. 1t thus had distinctly
moral purpose.