The Athenian Treasury (Greek: Θησαυρός των Αθηναίων) at Delphi was constructed by the Athenians to house dedications and votive offerings made by their city and citizens to the sanctuary of Apollo. The entire treasury including its sculptural decoration is built of Parian marble. The date of construction is disputed, and scholarly opinions range from 510 to 480 BCE.[1] It is located directly below the Temple of Apollo along the Sacred Way for all visitors to view the Athenian treasury on the way up to the sanctuary.[2]
Pausanias mentions the building in his account of the sanctuary, claiming that it was dedicated from the spoils of the Battle of Marathon, fought in 490 BCE against the Persians. The Battle of Marathon can be seen in some of the images of the metopes which compare their victory to mythology. By using the founder of Athens, Theseus, to show the victories of Athens, the treasury established Athens as one of the most powerful polis (city-states) of Greece. The Athenian treasury metopes display the earliest known presence of Theseus in a large-scale sculpture.[3] Prior to this treasury, Theseus had been depicted on vase paintings, but no architectural depictions have been found. Although Herakles was also depicted in the metopes, the added heroic character showed the Athenian's increasing devotion to Theseus.[4] The pairing of the two heroes was a metaphor alluding to the Battle of Marathon.[5] The metopes show Athenian identity and how they viewed their enemies both foreign or domestic.
The Athenian treasury was the first at a Panhellenic sanctuary that was dedicated by Athens.[4] Several other city-states built treasuries at Delphi.
The building was excavated by the French School at Athens, led by Pierre de La Coste-Messelière, and reconstructed from 1903 to 1906.[6] The structure is still visible insitu, although the metopes are reproductions; the originals are in the museum of Delphi.
^Spivey, Nigel (1996). Understanding Greek sculpture : ancient meanings, modern readings. New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500237106. OCLC 36645523.
^Neer, Richard (2004-04-01). "The Athenian Treasury at Delphi and the Material of Politics". Classical Antiquity. 23 (1): 63–93. doi:10.1525/ca.2004.23.1.63. ISSN 0278-6656.
^Smith, Allison Elizabeth (2019). The juxtaposition of styles in the metopes of the Athenian treasury (Thesis). doi:10.17615/2ze8-4t05.
^ abCite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Gensheimer, Maryl B. (2017). "Metaphors for Marathon in the Sculptural Program of the Athenian Treasury at Delphi". Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 86 (1): 1–42. doi:10.2972/hesperia.86.1.0001. JSTOR 10.2972/hesperia.86.1.0001. S2CID 193754955.
^La Coste-Messelière, Pierre de (1923). "Observations sur les sculptures du Trésor des Athéniens". Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique (in French). 47 (1): 387–419. doi:10.3406/bch.1923.3019.
The AthenianTreasury (Greek: Θησαυρός των Αθηναίων) at Delphi was constructed by the Athenians to house dedications and votive offerings made by their...
Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king. While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as early as the...
Way. The nearby presence of the Treasury of the Athenians suggests that this quarter of Delphi was used for Athenian business or politics, as stoas are...
The Athenian military was the old main force of Athens, one of the major city-states (poleis) of Ancient Greece. It was largely similar to other armies...
invulnerable to attack by land. In 454 BC, the Athenian general Pericles moved the Delian League's treasury from Delos to Athens, allegedly to keep it safe...
Greece, c.540 BC Ancient Greek Doric columns and entablature of the AthenianTreasury, Delphi, Greece, c.525 BC Ancient Greek Doric capital of the Temple...
Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato and Aristotle. Most were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics...
new offensive. The Athenians, meanwhile, were unable to follow through on their victory, since the depletion of the Atheniantreasury precluded any major...
painter-like character and an ionic 'color'. AthenianTreasury Boeotian Treasury Sicyonian Treasury Theban Treasury Bommelaer, J.-F., Laroche, D., Guide de...
000 Athenian slaves freed by the Spartan hoplites at Decelea. With the treasury and emergency reserve of 1,000 talents dwindling, the Athenians were...
had been started by Athenian tyrants but ended because of the belief that building on such a scale would cause hubris. The Athenians built the Arch of Hadrian...
revenues from the mines at Laurium has brought great wealth into the Athenian'streasury." The primary function of the first coinage is highly debated by...
Band by name was in 324 BC, in the oration Against Demosthenes by the Athenian logographer Dinarchus. He mentions the Sacred Band as being led by the...
and 4th centuries BC (the most common dates being the fall of the last Athenian tyrant in 510 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC). The Classical...
depleted the Atheniantreasury, with as much as 420 talents per year required for the military activity. This was not popular with the Athenians, and in combination...
by Plutarch, the catastrophic failure of the Sicilian expedition led Athenians to trade renditions of Euripides' lyrics to their enemies in return for...
saved had set up offerings.' The Treasuries at Olympia and Delphi (including the AthenianTreasury and Siphnian Treasury) were buildings by the various...
University Press, 1971. Boardman, John. Athenian Black Figure Vases. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. --. Athenian Red Figure Vases: The Archaic Period:...
such as Piraeus (port of Athens) or Kerameikos in Athens. The classical Athenian politician Solon is credited as being the first to institute legal public...